Thanks for your suggestions, bamboo and fruitnut. Given the accolades, I'm very, very anxious to try Sweetcrisp. I should have bought one last year, but better late than never. I've seen a lot of praise for Jewel's flavor, but, based on your description, fruitnut, I might be happier with another variety. I had my eye on Star and Windsor, so I might go with one or both of those. Have either of you (or anyone else) tried Palmetto? From what I can read, it gets very high marks for flavor. As for your question, rayrose, I do have a couple of potted SHB (O'Neal and Southmoon). The lower chill varieties like Sweetcrisp worry me a little bit because of early bloom times, but I can't resist trying them. I already have to protect some of my early bloomers (mostly rabbiteyes), though, so it shouldn't be too much trouble. I used a heavy weight frost blanket over a small greenhouse frame last winter, and that worked very well. This post was edited by shazaam on Tue, May 21, 13 at 21:26

One year after unveiling my fabulous kitchen redo...here are my comments. LOVE THE MIELE SPEED OVEN AND USE IT ALL THE TIME...for baking, cooking, broiler, micro It is a great size, can fit cookie sheets, roasting chicken or just about anything but a turkey in it. And does a fabulous job on it all. The cleaning issue almost scared me off but I'm glad it didnt. I'm particularly happy that it when in at eye level since I am using it so much. I have yet to burn any garlic bread while broiling it...that was such a problem the other 35+ years of my cooking life, that it is the first time in 35 years we have been able to do without a toaster oven on the counter. Why am I using the Miele so much? Because the Electrolux Builtin electronic (all electric) range has been "turning itself off" shortly after reaching temperature since the first time I ran the self cleaning. 10 visits later and MB they have figured out the problem...after replacing all the electronics in the range. After the new installation, I will IMMEDIATELY run the self-cleaning again to see if it goes bad again. But I loved the Electrolux up until that point......

I read the exchange above a few weeks ago and it stuck in my mind because I've been thinking maybe we should refinance (again). We refinanced three and a half years ago to a 30-year mortgage at 6.125%. Rates are so much lower right now that I keep wondering if it would be worthwhile to take advantage of them. However, every time I do the calculations, it does not seem worth it. For example, I just did them again, using a plan offered by ING as comparison to what we have: 2.990% for five years, based on a 30-year amortization, with the balance due after five years. Compared with keeping our current mortgage, the overall savings (i.e., the balance at the end of five years minus the closing costs -- which are low right now because they have an offer going of discounting $2,000 from closing costs) would be a bit less than $4,000. Rates any higher than the 2.99% (e.g., if we went with a straight 30-year mortgage from a bank) would yield even less in savings. The ING mortgage would be about $350 less per month than what we're paying now. But I think overall, taking tax deductions, closing costs, and all the rest into consideration, it would be more or less a wash, right? Plus, a plan like the one offered by ING forces you to either pay off or refinance after five years, whereas with our 30-year mortgage, we have the security of a stable payment that is really fairly low. We have no other debts, btw, and are putting the max into retirement accounts. We live on about a third of our gross income.

I struggle to give credibility to any one that can't substantiate their claim with a photo OK, here's the problem with this. Nobody really cares whether you "give them credibility", whether you believe their experience is true or not, or whether you believe Wolf chipping is an issue or not. Certainly not enough to go digging through their hard drive looking for a picture to post just for you. Particularly since your posts frankly seemed a bit rude. I understand you may not have meant them to come off that way, but they did. Maybe if you'd asked in a different way, you would have gotten pictures. Such as "I'm wondering what the chipping looks like and what areas it tends to happen in. Would you mind posting a picture?" instead of "I think you're lying. Prove me wrong with a picture." All people are trying to do here is share their experiences, and then let others make their own buying decisions based on that information. Most new posters who join these forums and ask questions are pretty trusting, because spammers and people with conflicts of interest generally don't last very long here. If someone replies to a question with their genuine experience with a product, good or bad, the original poster may ask them follow up questions to get more details or clarify things - but since they're grateful for the time that person took to write their responses, they aren't going to thank them by grilling them for evidence that they actually own the product or have/have not had issues. If you don't find the information relevant to you, and want to believe that we're biased against Wolf, are "fear mongering", and that a company like that would NEVER allow something like this to happen, etc. Then go ahead! Nobody is trying to stop you from thinking that, and it's no skin off anyone's back that you bought a Wolf and like it (many people here were in that same boat at one point!). But when you then basically accuse people of making up stories about problems and being too stupid to use an oven properly without the enamel flaking off - you can expect a response. Still, of course it's a public site that anyone can join, and people with agendas occasionally make their way onto it. However, if someone is suspicious of a member, it's usually super easy to spot those people by giving their profile a quick glance. If they just joined the forum, and all their posts are strongly positive or negative about a particular product or service, chances are there's something fishy going on. However, if they have been posting here for years about a great variety of different topics, they probably know what they're talking about and are just trying to help. And, another way to spot someone genuine is to see if their opinions change over time! Again, most of the people here who criticize Wolf about this issue had nothing but good things to say about their ovens before they ran into trouble, and that can be verified by looking at their posting history. Complaining about a product failure 2.5 years after warranty expiration is not terribly reasonable In most cases, I would agree with this. Stuff happens. If something like an ignitor or even a control board happens to go bad not too long after the warranty expires, it may not be the most fun situation to be in, but it could have just as easily happened if you'd bought a different brand, and engaging in online tirades against the manufacturer would not be the most productive thing to do. Just suck it up, fix it, and move on with life. However, replacing an oven liner isn't like replacing an ignitor or a control board. It's the equivalent of performing open heart surgery on a range. The fact that it is more economical in most cases for the manufacturer to replace rather than repair is very telling. And when there seems to be a pattern of the issue happening to more than just 1 or 2 people - it's concerning, and I would argue complaining about it is quite reasonable. Wolf seems to recognize this as well, and although they won't admit that the chipping can actually be a safety hazard, or that it is a widespread problem - they have been known to confess on the phone that it is a recurring issue. In the first "problem" link above I see an oven that was repaired to the satisfaction of the owner, much to the dismay of some. Well, this particular oven was still in warranty, so of course it was repaired to the satisfaction of the owner. It better have been! There has never been any question about Wolf being willing to honor their warranty. They have been said by many to be polite and efficient when dealing with warranty repairs or replacements. The questions start to arise after the warranty expires. Like any manufacturer, Wolf is not obligated to do any goodwill repairs or replacements out of warranty. However, due to the price premium they charge and the advertising they do, people expect more out of them than other manufacturers. In many cases, they have lived up to this expectation, like in the links I gave. Promptly replacing products, in or out of warranty, and after several replacements, if there was still chipping, buying back the oven without resistance or fighting. But the problem is that they are inconsistent. In other cases, they have unfortunately not lived up to it, like in the cases of wekick and the Kails. Both were left with unusable products in under 10 years of use (under 5 years in the case of wekick) with no option to sell back their ovens, or repair without spending thousands with no guarantee it wouldn't happen again. When there are that many reports of this exact same issue happening (and evidently countless other incidents out there that didn't make it onto the internet or didn't even get noticed by the owner), that doesn't seem fair. In the third link I see an actual problem that's from metal fatigue. Does that really matter? I have used self clean ovens of various brands for decades and never run into any issues with the cavity becoming damaged. Besides, the Wolf chipping has been reported in units that have not had self clean run even once. That was her third oven, and the two before it had met the same fate. After three defective ovens in less than a year, can you blame someone for not wanting to try another? Yes, this was one of the cases where Wolf did the right thing, but again, with so many failures that early on, they kind of had to.