I remember that thread about the Miele Induction unit. I really wish that the OP had come back and let us know if it was ever resolved. Her unit was behaving very oddly, and I really think Miele had the responsibility to fix it. If mine behaved like that, I'd hate it, too. I felt so badly for her. That said, I did have a learning curve on the Miele touch controls, they kind of annoyed me in a minor way for a few weeks until I got the hang of it. The problem was that I was pushing the controls instead of just resting my finger on them. The kids, the husband--they all had no troubles at all, so I knew it was ME and not the cooktop. :-) At this point, it responds just fine to my touch and I have no issues with it. If I rest something over the controls for a few seconds, like a hand, a towel, or a pan lid, the cooktop beeps at me and turns off. If I brush my sleeve across it, or quickly wipe a towel across it to clean up up a spill, it does not shut down. I don't recall ever having it shut down due to a grain of rice or small piece of food--it would have to land just right, I'd think--and a large enough piece could affect it. Just last night a family member had a large boil over on pasta, and we picked up the pot, quickly wiped off the mess, put the pan back and it just continued on without shutting down at all. This cooktop gets very heavy use, as I cook everything from scratch, daily. I love being able to set a separate timer for each burner and use that function all the time. Most people who get induction seem to like their units, no matter which one they get. I chose the Miele because I liked the hob layout and I liked the feature set, and there was absolutely nowhere on the cooktop for crud to get caught and hide. (this was a a problem on my old stove, which was the bane of my existence!) Good luck with your decision!

Lyno, I have this great barbecue that's meant to go over the gas burner. It's a round with a grating across and two stubby wood handles called "El Asador". Very handy for roasting eggplants for Middle Eastern cooking where you want a charred outside and a gooshy inside. And peppers, etc., too. There are woks made especially for induction which are shaped much more like a traditional wok inside but have a flat bottom on the outside. Kind of a pedestal shape. As I understand it, all pots with induction compatible sides will warm up on the sides on induction. The excitation passes along the metal. A lot of pots have compatible bottoms but not sides. But as Erika said, you have to heat it up. What I haven't heard yet from someone who really woks a lot is how well standard induction (as opposed to wok specialty units) work. One thing people like about their blast furnace wok burners is that the flames and burning gases rise along the shape of the wok much like on the traditional solid fuel fires. I don't know that you can get that kind of feel in an induction wok on a standard burner. My portable is the Supentown Mr. Induction, which I got because it was really cheap and white. There are far better units for not much more money. One thing to be aware of while you're experimenting is that most built-ins run on 240V. Most countertop units plug into standard outlets. With those you won't see things like instant boiling. Rather, you'll get to try out cooking in a pot that heats rather than the burner, see how much control you have, etc. Things I learned: With gas, I would put on a cast iron pot then go get ingredients. Do that on even weakass cheapo porto induction and you'll burn your oil or whatever. Also, you can't just walk away from a big pot until you know your settings. What seems like a simmer might actually scorch. I also learned I wanted more settings for things like delicate sauces. That's at least 17, not 9 or 12. BUT, I was able to compensate on Mr. Induction by fiddling up and down with the settings. The response is instantaneous! So the more control settings are just so I have to adjust less. I made some perfectly good sauces with the thing. I don't really understand the boil water fast thing, other than it makes pasta off the shelf a quickie meal, but whatever. What's more important than the 0-60 mph, is how it handles in bumper to bumper and how hard it is to park, so to speak. So do your tests. Also find showrooms where you can use their installed gas cooktops and rangetops, and the induction units too. The biggest differences between different induction units are the controls.

From notes I took last spring when I had to replace my Kenmore (Electrolux) cooktop, the cutout dimensions I know about are listed below. Note that examples I looked up of Kenmore/Frigidaire/Electrolux, Thermador/Bosch, Dacor, and Miele were nominally too large in one dimension or the other. The biggest issue is that it is unlikely that any manufacturer will support installation into a too-large cutout, even if the cooktop is large enough to not fall through. Some reinforcement may be needed in such cases. ref: current cutout 35.5 x 19.625 from message above Wolf CI365 35. x 19.5 Jenn-Air JIC 4536XS 33.125 x 19.25 (top overlaps cutout but support area may be too small requiring some added steel or wood support) Fagor IFA-90BF 35.44 x 19.5 GE PHP960DMBB 33.875 x 19.125 (see Jenn-Air comment) There may be newer models that have better fitting dimensions. Electrolux and clones have common installation cutout dimensions of 36 x 20.5. These allow for air ventilation at the edges, a ventilation scheme they once used but which is not used on the present Frigidaires. Some contraction of the cutout size might be acceptable, but gaining a whole inch front-to-back seems unlikely. Thermador/Bosch have common cutout dimensions of 34.875 x 20. I don't know if the width would allow squeezing into 19.5 inches. The top is 37 inches long so it will overlap adequately. Added support at the ends may be required depending on how the device is designed. If you can tolerate the Mother of all Messiness, you could have the granite cut in the kitchen. In such a case masking all the cabinet hinges, drawer glides, and other moving mechanical items in the area is one of many steps necessary. kas

I'm with Fori as well. I have had almost this exact set up twice. Both gas, though without the grill (one had a griddle) and both times the cooktop did not reach the wall, leaving a few inches of gap. I thought this was normal. In the first case, the house came with a stainless steel sheet glued to the wall. There was no other backsplash, just painted drywall on the surrounding walls so the ss may have been needed for code, I don't know. What I do know is I ripped it off in frustration within a few months. The previous owners managed to get it clean for showing the house when it was for sale but I could never replicate it. It looked filthy all the time. Hardly any grease actually splashed back there but even just a dot smeared and looked worse after cleaning. I'm not very tall so reaching back there to wipe properly was a total PIA. My current house also came with a huge gas range and there is a window immediately behind it. So I can see every speck. Contrary to popular belief, not a lot of grease and grime actually hits the window or trim. When it does, the glass is much easier to clean than the stainless was. (And no, the glass doesn't break when I'm cooking, and yes this is permitted by code where I live, and no I do not fear for my life with this set up...). I'd imagine that your tiles will be even easier to maintain. I say throw up a cookie sheet and see how dirty it gets when you cook, I bet you'll be surprise at how little actually makes it back there. Your tiles and countertops look great together btw!