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

Thank you all for great info! Wolf's cold spots in the middle is a little bummer. I wouldn't expect this kind of design on 5 way bridge cooktop. The elements suppose to be made by French company Jaeger Hiflux. Their Crescendo model is quite different from what I have ever seen in induction cooktops. Check this out.. http://www.jaeger-sas.com/#!induction-en/cl7w Anyway since Wolf has no flex in bridge mode then we might take another look into 36" GE Cafe model which was #3 on our list. It has only one no flex bridge mode, but it's much cheaper than Wolf or Miele. That model has many positive reviews including #1 on CR rating (99 out of 100). On both GE & Wolf we like simple, clean interface. GE is better with 17 vs 10 levels on Wolf. On GE minus side is power sharing (not quite sure how much problem is that in real use) and only 1 year warranty vs 3 year on Wolf. However much bigger problem on GE Cafe is SS color. My DH says that specific color is clashing with our choice of Silestone Kensho countertop (light gray). I don't see it as bad but we might loose it on that argument. No question the decision between Miele vs Wolf vs GE Cafe is giving us more headaches than any other appliance.

Thank you, thanks to the Covid I was able to be onsite every day during the remodel. It was the most fun I have had in a long time and our contractor was amazing, I even DIY’d a central vacuum system since we brought the entire house down to the studs (taking pictures the entire way...which i would highly recommend to anyone as we were able to locate things, verify subs work, plus prove to inspector items were according to code that were now hidden). anyway, that’s off topic to your question. We gravitate toward peace and quiet and find the fan noise loud; part of the annoyance is the pitch is high so best way I can describe it would be: it’s similar to a leaf blower in pitch/tone with volume level slightly below lowest level of a range hood. And the hotter your oven cooking temperature the longer it remains running to cool down, I haven’t actually timed how long it stays on, but as an example if we bake something at 350 the fan runs for probably 15-20min after shutting down. It doesn’t help that our ovens face the dining room and with an open concept kitchen/living and just cased openings to the dining the sound echos a lot so we are considering options such as acoustic panels (https://www.acoustimac.com/acousticart). This is our first foray into high end appliances and had no idea the ovens had this “feature” so it was a bit disappointing when everything else is so nice...but our food comes out so much better and if you run the vent hood motor on medium or high setting it would totally drown out the oven fan, so there’s that solution i suppose, lol! Seriously, though, if we ever do another house I would seriously consider creating an oven alcove that helps reduce the noise and the direction it is thrown. another interesting discovery is there is a secondary fan that runs 24/7 (at least I assume as I have never not felt it running) that you can not hear and only barely feel a breeze when right up against the oven (comes out just between the upper oven and the control panel). It is cool air so it appears Thermador is vigilant about keeping the electronics from over heating even when off. finally, i forgot to mention how interesting the fridge/freezer column are in that you never hear the compressor kick on like a “run of the mill” fridge, just a fan kicks on very infrequently and only for about 30 seconds then quiet...oh and the ice cubes, love the pyramid shaped cubes and the fact they don’t stick/melt together (unless power goes out), but unfortunately almost an entire drawer is gobbled up by the bucket being centrally located and scoop off to one side for easy retrieval...but again we only have the 18” freezer column.

It seems Samsung really stepped up their game with their 2018 induction cooktops. While Samsung 30" goes for $1950 and $2200 for their "collection chef" trimless model, Miele doesnt look like they have changed much at $2800 price. Miele tho comes with 5y warranty vs 1y for Samsung and has pretty solid reputation of a bit overpriced but very reliable .