If you have one of the models with the two control knobs on the right, the rightmost one is for degree of temperature heat and the one to its left is for percentage of steam, from 100% to 0%. Ignore the buttons on the far left for now.

For steaming, set the temp to 210 (or 220 for sturdy veggies) & the steam to 100%.

The oven has a shortcut: with both knobs in the straight up position, move the temp (right) knob one click to the left, & it will select the default steam settings. For anything else, first set the percentage of steam knob to what you want, then do the temp left click for the default temperature setting for that steam percentage.

If you want to warm up a plate of food, put the plate on the wire rack (usually in the second slot from the bottom), set the steam to 60% & temp to 250 (or left click), and your food will be piping hot in about 10 minutes. This is great for reheating without drying out the food or overcooking it, which a microwave can easily do.

Setting zero or 20% steam means that your oven is now a convection oven, capable of roasting or baking just like regular ovens. Set whatever oven temperature you need.

The far left buttons are for auto start, duration, & stop functions. If you are setting these, the oven could very well ignore subsequent settings unless you cancel the auto function. The checkmark button gives you a status display of current temperature & steam setting; you can push this whenever you want. The up-arrow button purges the steam out of the oven so you can open it without getting a blast of steam in your face & the kitchen; wait to open the door until you hear the beep after pushing it (about 6 seconds). The plus & minus buttons by themselves are timers: Press the plus button until it displays the duration you want, and it will set, countdown to zero, and beep. Press the minus button once & it will count up, but you won't get any beep, just a display of elapsed time. Press plus & minus together to clear the timer function. The plus & minus buttons are also used with the auto start & stop functions to set them. These take some experimenting. I recommend you not use the auto functions until you are confident about the rest of the oven controls.

One thing I wondered about was the need to preheat the oven. If you do preheat with steam, you must purge to open the door, which drops the temperature. I now only preheat if I'm using the oven as a convection oven (zero or little steam).

If you are using just the steam & temp controls, any changes to them should work. If not, I'd try contacting the area Gaggenau office for support & a recommendation for service. I did this for some questions that I had. The manual is more cryptic than I'd like, but I find that the "wheel", reference card, and cookbook that also came with our oven to be very useful.

Have you calibrated it yet? You must do that before it can be used. You can download the full manual from their website, but here are the instructions for calibrating (remember that the right knob is temperature):

Remove all loose parts from the oven
compartment (baking tray etc.).
Close the oven door.
Open the water tap.
Calibration starts automatically as soon as you
turn the âÂÂTemperatureâ control knob to any
temperature. The symbols âÂÂDurationâÂÂ, âÂÂKeep door
closed", âÂÂ00:15 h" and âÂÂCALâ for calibration
appear in the display. Calibration takes around
15 minutes. The elapsing time appears in the
display.
Note: do not open the oven door during
calibration.
An audible signal sounds after completion of
calibration. âÂÂ--:--â appears on the display.
Turn the âÂÂTemperatureâ control knob back to the
0 position. The appliance is now ready for
operation.

When we first moved in, I didn't have the manual since the builder was putting together a notebook to store all our manuals together. I tried using the oven by turning knobs and trying to figure out what they did - it's not intuitive.

I have to say that I love this oven and keep on discovering new ways to use it. We did an open house over the holidays and I wanted to cook a bunch of eggs for deviled eggs- I put 18 in the oven and they came out perfectly in 20 minutes. I used it tonight to refresh a French baguette. I use it nearly every day - sometimes for a whole meal, sometimes just for a veggie. I've baked pies, roasted chicken, cooked fish and seafood. It's great for roasting or steaming veggies. I'm hoping to bake bread this weekend.

Thank you both so much for posting.

I played with it over the weekend. Itook your advice and used just the temp and steam knobs, it seems to work. I think part of the problem was that I expected to see steam if the steam feature was on, even at 60%. When it didn't look steamy I fiddled with the bottons on the left, and that messed it all up.

It sure isn't intuative. I think there are two problems with the design. First, they told me when I called for help, that since they sell in so many contries, they use symbols, instead of words. It's clear why that would make it easier for them, but it's not easier for me. I also think that they are tring to make the control panel look sleek. Well, that might look better, but again, it doesn't make it easier for me.

When I got it to work, it does a great job. I'm ready to try the bottons on the left. If I mess up, it there an "exit" botton?

Again, thanks so much for your help. It's amazing how much this site has helped me aleve frustration. You would think that the company's help lines would be a better sourse of help, but it's not. I guess, in fairness, I was calling a couple of day before Thanksgiving, maybe they were short of help.

I suggest you try the plus or minus timer buttons next. They just show time & do not affect the oven operation. Press plus (+) until you get the duration you want to time; the oven will take about 5 seconds to "set" this, will show a steady bell symbol in the display, and will count down to zero & ring a chime. Press the checkmark button to cancel the chime. When you next press the + button, it remembers your last setting. You can press + to increase the time, - to reduce the time, or press + and - together to make it zero.

Pressing the minus (-) button will immediately display a stopwatch counting up; no chime. Press - again to stop the counting. Press + and - together to zero.

There's a clock symbol button at the far left upper position of the buttons that Gagg calls the Timer button; this does control the oven by time. To use this to turn off the oven after a duration, first set your steam & temperature control knobs. Then press the Timer (clock) button once, and use the + button to set your duration. You can use the - button to reduce the time if you go past it. Press the checkmark button to "set" the function and the display will show a square oven symbol. When the duration time is reached, the oven will chime and shut off. However, be aware that if you press any buttons at this point, the oven will resume whatever you set the steam & temp for. To really turn the oven off, you must return the control knobs to zero-zero. To cancel the automatic control before the duration time is completed, press the Timer (clock) button once, then press the + and - buttons together, and turn the temp & steam knobs to zero-zero.

You can press the Checkmark button anytime to check temperature.

Like many machines, Gagg ovens only make sense after you use them awhile. The buttons really are logical, just not in any written language. Also, they are consistent: our Gagg convection oven has exactly the same button functions as our Gagg steam oven.

Deegee-on what setting do you refresh your bread? So far I have never gotten that to come out right.
TIA

Gizmonike,

When you speak of warming up a plate of food, what kind of plate is it you're using?

Thanks!

I put regular dinner plates of food on the wire rack, either porcelain or stoneware. I've also warmed food up in pyrex. You can use anything that is oven safe.

I've purchased an extra wire rack and half pans in solid & perforated to supplement the full pans that came with the oven.

gizmomike, I wish that you wrote the instruction books. I wonder if they actually try the instruction out on real people, before they print them up. They should do that, then, alter the instruction, rather than print them, and get all these consumers to call costomers service.

Where do you get your extra pans and racks?

I ordered them online from Universal Appliance. I found the descriptions vague, & made sure I checked the part numbers. For example, the pans that came with the oven are KB220-000 and KB220-324. The wire rack is GR220-046. Half pans are good for smaller quantities & 2 can slide into the same slot: KB220-114 is solid, KB220-124 is perforated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gaggenau steam oven accessories

WOW!!! I went on that site and saw the prices! A 1/2 tray is $89.- plus shipping for one of them. There has got to be a better way. Do any of the commercial steam trays fit the Gag? If anyone has found one, I sure would like to know.

I had the same reaction, but the price for the steam oven itself is seriously ridiculous, so what are a few trays after that? I've shopped & measured; the Gagg is unique, and unfortunately so are the trays. Since we committed to the oven, I want to get the most use out of it. I also don't want to find out later that I can't get the trays anymore because my model has been discontinued.

Jillypie-

I put the steam setting on either 60 or 80% and I turn the temp setting one click to the left. It takes about 10 minutes. This isn't in the manual but it is in the cookbook that came with the oven. Did you get Gourmet Spa Cuisine? There's a section on crisping baguettes and rolls and it's on the front cover overleaf.

While I do use the trays that came with the oven, for some smaller things I often just use small baking dishes and put them on the wire rack. That way i can just pop the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

Oh yes, I absolutely love my Gagg steam oven! After enjoying it for almost two years, I know I'd replace it in a heartbeat if I had to, despite the outrageous price. I've learned to steam many of the things I used to boil---potatoes or shrimps, for example. It's much faster than waiting for a pot of water to boil, and if you're in a severe drought situation, as we were last summer, it saves water.

For steaming small quantities, I use an inexpensive Chinese bamboo steamer, placing it on the wire rack; a 10"-diameter one works fine, and you can stack two if necessary. Usually, they come in three-piece sets (two round baskets plus a cover), but since you don't need the cover in the steam oven, try to find a place that sells them singly (sorry, I can't remember where I got mine).

But stick with the steam oven, and don't be afraid to experiment a bit after you feel more comfortable with the knobs and buttons. I think you'll come to love it as much as most owners do.

---Margaret

I was thinking I would get a dozen or so, pans, and freeze whole meals in them. and put them right on the racks. Or, for parties, prepare several trays that could be put into the combi as the night goes on. At those prices it doesn't seem practical. I think, however that I will be able to find commercial steam trays that are the right size. If I do, I'll let all of you know. I went shopping in my own kitchen, and found several pieces that I already own that would work pretty well.

Is there a place where I can get more recipes. I would really like to make flan. My mom always made it in a double boiler. What setting do you think it would need?

Again, I want to thank all of you who have helped me with this. I've been cooking with it a bit lately. I'm getting the hang of it. I guess one should not try this for the first time when company is coming. It takes a while to learn this, at least for me.

FreeDee- there is a recipe for flan in the Spa Cuisine cookbook I got from Gaggeneau.

I've been making some great food in the Combi, again, thanks for your help.

I've got another question. On the wheel thing that tells you recomended settings for different foods, it lists: "steam only, convection only, and, Combi". Is that something that I controll separetly, or is that something that just happens when you set the steam and temp settings? I see that poached chicken, for example, says 100% moisture and steam only. How does that work? If I leave the temp botton straight up, while the steam knob is at 100%, that is the off position. How do I get the steam only to turn on?

Steam only is the 100% steam setting. You usually want 210-220 temperature; the "left-click" temperature knob will default to 210. 220 can be used for sturdy/dense foods.

Convection only is the 0% steam setting. Set whatever temperature you want.

Anything in between will activate both steam and convection heat--this is Combi.