Ours came from Thermoworks. They had one for $39 before the holiday but DH always wants the best. He bought one with the circle IR and a probe. We didn't need the probe because we have the Thernopen also. I use my TP all of the time. The IR was a Christmas present this year. I don't think it would work for oven temp but others might know the answer. You just point to an object and get the temp of the object. Whichever induction you buy, you will love it. There is a learning curve. I generally preheat my pan for 1-2 minutes before sautéing and with my new toy, I can verify the pan temp. No matter which unit you purchase, there will be noises but even gas makes noise- just different noises. One GWer said there induction did not buzz and posted a YouTube video - it made noise just like mine. With the fan running, it is hard to hear the noises. Pans- if the magnet sticks- they work. I have an eclectic collection of pans for my induction. All Clad, CIA, LeCr, ScanPan, Staub and more- but only one of each size except for 2.5 qts- I have 2 of this size. Here is a link that might be useful: IR laser

pollydill, we don't have ours yet, but it's sitting in the warehouse waiting on us : ) I've read tons of reviews, making my decision based on GW/Houzz reviews. I can't answer most your questions, but regarding cleanup, most recommend the glass cooktop cleaners as excellent for it. I remember one person had a burnt milk stain that came up with the razor cleaner. During our in-store demo of the range, cheese was purposefully burnt on. The razor cleaner got most up, followed by a wipe-down with glass cooktop cleaner and cloth. All gone. Water was brought to a boil for another demo, and the pan lifted up - I placed my hand on it 2 seconds later and it was only a little warm. Not uncomfortable to the touch. I'm sure any glass cooktop can be scratched. I'd keep salt and other things cleaned up, not scootch pans across it : ) Then the cheese would melt to the pan, not the cooktop if it's induction.

We absolutely love our Bosch induction range purchase 2017. I did a review on it after purchase here and there is a long thread of comments from that post: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4725146/brief-review-of-newest-bosch-induction-range-hiip055u#n=116 we don’t have issues with the electronic control layout; like anything you get the hang of it. It is nice to have no knobs to clean. We are particularly in love with the flex zone which was hard to find on a range top in 2017. The control board did die at one year and was replaced without problem under warranty. We have had no electrical problems or any problems whatsoever with the machine since. The advice to get the longest warranty available is a very good one as all appliances these days have so many electronic parts.

Since folks occasionally come across this thread, perhaps it's time for a 2023 update. Bosch Bosch has released a new "Pro" model in their 800 series line. The 800 Series Induction freestanding range (model number HIS8055U has front control knobs, but a rather small oven at 3.9 CuFt. While it does check my boxes for individual burner controls, preferably knobs, there's a few things to note: Oven size is rather small No bridge burner While Bosch themselves don't list out the wattage of each burner, it is a 40A circuit, so it may be a little less power than the Miele, Wolf or Fulgor Milano And this is a rumor and something I heard on a few appliance review videos, but unable to confirm: This product is the Smeg cooktop. If so, the burner power would be two burners at 3,000 W and two at 1,400 W. Which is indeed quite a bit less than the other top choices I had listed in the original post So overall it may look great, has front control knobs for each individual burner, but it may not have the power and/or reliability of the Bosch Benchmark slide-in induction range. Thermador They have been known for their "Freedom Induction Cooktop", especially in the 36" version. There are no truly dedicated burners, but a large "flex zone" on both the left and right side that are each powered by two separate inductors. You can use each zone as two individual burners or as one large cooking zone. You can slide pots and pans around over the entire zone and with several different programming options, it will remember your setting and transfer it to wherever you move the pan. Or you can set it to be in incrementally lower power settings front to back. So it can be on 9 at the front, 7 in the middle, 5 further back, etc.... Sear and just slide it back to lower the power setting. Extremely high tech and super impressive. So now Thermador has released this in a 30" induction range. The Thermador Liberty® Induction Professional Range 30'' Pro Harmony® (that's a mouthful) with model number PRI30LBHU is a sleek looking cooking range, with an impressively capable induction cooktop. What stood out to me: The Liberty or Freedom cooktop is phenomenally flexible, powerful and high tech. A little overwhelmingly high-tech even However, in a 30" range, it seems a little small. While the entire glass cooktop is 22 1/2" deep, a large section in the front is taken up by the controls. Based on some initial measurements, that means the flex zone cooking surface is only about 15 1/2" to 16" deep. I have to find one in person to confirm that, but based on images and scale, that's it came out to. Sounds awfully small to me And, for me, the biggest sticking point is the lack of individual burner control. On the 36" version there is a very sleek looking control panel that is very intuitive with a slider control. On the 30" version, it looks very much like the Bosch controls and hence not my personal favorite. But it may work for you All that being said, it's probably been the most exciting release in the 30" induction range world for the last year. The images attached are the size of the Thermador cooktop and the comparison the controls of the 30" Liberty range vs the 36" Freedom cooktop Other updates Dacor Has completely abandoned and discontinued the 30" induction range Fisher & Paykel Someone did point out that DCS sold the household appliance brand F&P to Haier. Which is a Chinese conglomerate that owns GE Appliances, Hoover, Hotpoint, Sanyo and a few other brands. I have not necessarily heard anything bad about F&P and know several folks have purchased F&P 9 series Classic models since they come in different colors to match your desired interior Fulgor Milano They seem to be more prevalent now than they were when I wrote the original article. And many people are quite impressed and happy with the quality. One re-occurring comment I see is that the oven seems to indicate that the preheat is complete, while the temperature is not fully distributed throughout the oven cavity yet. Especially in simple bake mode. The workaround seems to be to preheat with a convection mode to ensure the entire oven cavity is heated through and then switch back to the preferred baking mode. A bit of a workaround, but it that's the only complaint, I think it remains a strong top contender GE Cafe and Profile No major updates Miele Likewise no significant updates. The induction range is still on version 3 and remains equally impressive as it was when I posted the original article. Wolf Only has released a style update with a different oven door handle. Wait times seem to have gone down, but no feature or other technical updates As far as I know those are the updates I was able to find, so I hope this helps those continuing to shop around