Thermador - Freedom Series 36" Built-In Electric Induction Smart Cooktop with 56-Elements Freedom Cooking Surface - Dark Gray

Welcome to the new world of cooktops. I’ve been cooking my whole life. I’m a foodie. I thought that has was the ultimate. Maybe it was up to a couple years ago. Thai stove top is much faster with boiling water - literally in seconds. And the control over the heat is mind boggling. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I am amazed with this technology. And it’s easy to clean and looks great.

I really like this cook top. Heats fast, and you can set pans anywhere inside the white lines. So far it is working great.

Only thing to consider is that these were on back order and it took several weeks for it to arrive. Love cooking with it. Note that the built in cooking alarm or timer is very quiet even on loudest setting. Not really a concern since many other ways to set alarms and timers.

So, I was replacing this model with a newer one as the old one stopped working. The new one arrived, was installed, and did not work as well as the old one did. But it was beautiful and the bells and whistles were much more improved over the old unit (literally, the new unit made sounds and had added features such as pot prewarming as well as the standard fast boil). However, that may be because the new one was defective - something you would not expect for an item this expensive. The left side would turn on and begin heating, but after a period of time would shut down and appeared to only work at half the rated capability - it wouldn't even fry an egg once it stepped down its power level. The right side would heat up and do just fine, but if you were doing extended cooking on that side - it would just shut down and wouldn't turn back on until it had cooled down. Both of those conditions are a no-sale for me as I do a lot of cooking, including long term simmering. Fortunately, this happened within the 14 day return window and I didn't have to deal with trying to get it repaired. My biggest fear was that they did what a lot of companies do and messed with a winning product making it nowhere near the quality and usefulness of the original. Now I'm nervous about repurchasing. Based on my feelings right now, I cannot recommend the product especially when I compare it to my model from 2014....

The Thermador Freedom Series 36 inch is an impressive induction cook top. From the heating boost for high temperature to the ability to move a pan anywhere on the cooktop and have it remember the temperature and pan size literally defines what and how an induction cook top should perform. Its immediate heat reduction and cooldown are also impressive. It forces me to have everything ready when I cook because it is definitely ready to perform.