I was at a showroom Saturday and this is what I was told about the simmer setting on the Thermador ... there are multiple adjustments to the simmer setting. The highest simmer does not tick. As you adjust the simmer down, that's when the ticking comes into play. The setting of the simmer determines how often the burner shuts itself off and then turns itself on again, which causes it to tick, tick, tick as it re-lights. There are a number of seconds between each re-lighting, and depending on which simmer hash-mark you have the burner set to, the time between the tickings will be more or less. The reasoning, according to the rep, is to prevent scorching, even if left unattended for a long time. So, if you don't want it to tick, set the burner to the highest simmer. If you don't care if it ticks, you can adjust it lower and lower yet.

Hi Sorry about your fire - that sounds awful. And sorry for long response. I'm in similar appliance hunting mode and trying to pick the best appliance package for under $14K. We could probably pay more but already feel like our kitchen project is out of financial control and costing more than i ever thought! So what i did is that i really like the advantium and i like the bosch dw (thermador is same). Really all i want is the culinary rack (3rd) in DW so that limits the model #s. KA offers this as well. Miele - i just don't love for the price. The thermador package didn't work for me because i really wanted the advantium as my second oven (and thermador doesn't have equivalent). Plus the free DW isn't the one with the third rack. (you can pay $500 to upgrade to that one though) Bosch is offering 15% rebate by mail if you buy at least 3 800 series appliances. And monogram is offering $1000 instant rebate if you buy a cook/rangetop, oven, and hood. With my current quote that i am considering, I'm getting about $2300 off total by combining those 2 offers for 6 pieces (mg rangetop, mg advantium, mg hood, bs dw, bs fridge, bs single oven). Looking at your appliances here are my immediate thoughts: if price is no object subzero makes the best fridges if not antiquated stylewise. They are so solid. i have one that 23 years old and it runs great and still looks good. the service has been good. but i can't spend 2/3 of my budget on one appliance! wolf is good and stylish but i found the specs to be better other places: monogram then thermador - and cheaper. don't do downdraft ventilation if you can avoid it. look at hood companies - vent a hood, best hood. they are nice. my friend has a samsung fridge and its beautiful but the plastic is breaking and she doesnt recommend it. i like the electrolux ovens. very cool. but no package options. bosch and thermador are very similar if not the same for some products. i'm trying to figure out if the bosch 800 series oven i'm looking at is the same as the massterpiece thermador oven at a lower price. thermador is higher end brand than bosch. gaggenau is even higher end. rangetops are really nice - more burners and higher output and in monogram all are the same. but you lose a drawer underneath. i'm coming to the conclusion that the oven problems that some are reporting is due to fancy electronics being destroyed by self clean. thermador and monogram get terrible reviews here for ovens. with equal price and specs i would go with the subzero and wolf (i know this isn't true - sorry!). I would doubecheck what you are getting for free. it may be low end compared to everything else you are getting.

The problem with the doors is that they aren't plug n play like the installers are used to. May not be so much an issue with custom panels since the cabinet installer generally puts those on, but with stainless, they are shipped separately. That protects them in transit and the initial part of the installation when so many SS doors and side get dinged or scratched. When mine were installed, they shipped all the brackets and seals separately too. The guys said it was a lot different than the typical built-in fridge that was more like a DW -- plug it in, slide it back and set a couple of screws. If it needed panels, the cabinet guy would come back to do those. Mine are stainless, so it was a lot different. The fussed a bit over the installation since it was the first they'd done, but they took the time to look at the instructions and do it right. My contractor's guys didn't want to look at installation instructions, the guides to make sure they got wiring placed correctly, etc. They got to do a few things over. My fridge was installed once and correctly. I've had it 2-1/2 years now and love it. I say you salesman has installers that can't bother to read directions or try anything new. If it is different, you don't need it. So he thinks. nutherokie, if you have problems getting anyone to install them, the instructions are quite detailed and complete. A couple of folks here have done them DIY and they looked fabulous. I know I've seen them in a light wood, contemporary kitchen that was DIY installation, but I can't remember the name of the owner. Good luck -- you'll love the columns.

Now I can answer you- yes, there are a new set of T'dor rebates out. Not as good as if you bought back in Dec '07. I'm nowhere near accepting appliances on a new build but I snapped-up that action right on 12/31/07.