24" (or metric equivalent) is the standard size in Europe. My mother managed to feed a family of 5, plus assorted hangers-on, from a 21" oven for decades :) It depends on how and what you cook. Personally, I have no issues with a 24 oven - I had all my 'smaller' baking trays etc from the UK, so when we bought this house, with a 24" oven, I didn't even think about it. I had no problem roasting a 12lb turkey (yes, you could do 14lb, but it takes some arranging) in the oven. Roast potatoes and vegetables were done in the oven while the turkey rested on the counter (as it's supposed to do) for half an hour before serving anyway. The old oven here wasn't convection, but baking wasn't a problem with it. The ovens I've had in the UK were all convection. When we remodelled the kitchen, I increased to a 27" oven, but it hasn't really made a massive difference - except that it takes longer to heat up, despite being convection. I don't bake massive casseroles or sheet cakes or several trays of cookies at the same time, so I think it really depends on your family's style. On the other hand, had no trouble making massive lasagnes or trays of baked ziti. But, no, I don't think a 24" oven is too small, if you have the right equipment. I can't see the point of buying a huge oven simply for one meal of the year (i.e. to accommodate Thanksgiving Dinner), while the rest of the year you use huge amounts of unecessary heat to bake a potato . . . But that's just me :)

So, make a niche(s) with the proper electric service and size to have a built-in put in if you really need it to sell (but I bet you won't)--if you're planning to sell within three years, get the built-ins already, but otherwise, they're going to be just so many used appliances. If yours are truly ratty, you can buy new versions of each. If you WANT a speed oven, and intend to use it as such, that's another story. Go for it! Read through the manuals, etc. But I think you'll find that it's not at all the same thing as your Breville toaster oven. You can use the convection oven settings on a speed oven to perform some of the same functions, but it's a real oven, with limitations, not a toaster that tap dances. I sometimes use my speed oven the way others use a toaster oven--mainly for heating up frozen appetizers or reheating casseroles when other ovens are full, but my old (dead) toaster oven was beloved for making great toast, which a speed oven isn't, and not for other uses. I do zap sandwiches on MW mode, and once in awhile lightly defrost or melt, but if I used a microwave more, I wouldn't have such an expensive machine doing it. I agree with putting enough thought into a remodel that it won't limit resale, because you never know what the future will bring--thus make sure there's place for built-ins to be built into--but unless it's a flip, it should be designed for your own use and enjoyment, and you used the key words "heavily use" and "love".

We are too attached to the DW to live without one, but we actually are planning on creating another island on the left hand side of the kitchen opposite the stove, using 2 extra cabinets from the set we purchased (see below). I guess I could modify the right cabinet in the pic below to create a space for the SO? But this would require doing more electrical work and a loss of cabinet space we definitely need! I‘m just still not clear about why it’s so hard/inadvisable to put the CO where the microwave is right now. (I don’t want to keep the microwave, the SO is going to replace it and do much more!) I realize it would be a little high with the vent underneath, but I’m tall! :-) And if the SO is usually mounted in a built in cabinet above a wall oven, seems like being above heat generally is not an issue... and with sufficient clearance being above the flame on the stovetop shouldn’t be a problem either? I will definitely call Miele to get their take as well - reviewed the manual but that wasn’t helpful bc the only options depicted are above a wall oven in a built in cabinet, and under a countertop (which btw I’ve seen some folks advise against bc it’s dangerous w/children and increases the risk of steam burns since the steam rises when the oven is opened).

You have a lot of decisions to make. :-)). Just some brief comments....except on the griddle. Gas Burners What works well for one person might not work at all for another. What type of cooking do you do? Any high heat applications like stir frying? What type of cookware do you use? This could have an impact on the type of burners you choose. There are big differences between Wolf/Monogram’s dual stacked, capped, sealed ring burners and BlueStar uncapped, open tray star burners. The size of your range may be dictated by the size of your kitchen. Search some of the posts by Kasecki to find out about ventilation. I cook for up to 60 and I have a 36” range, 6 burners, plus a couple of induction plates, an Instapot, a small Nesco cooker, a couple of hot plates and I simmer in my oven a lot of the time. I have the Wolf DF which has the burners that are on the Wolf AG range now. I would definitely consider the BS star on my next range. Griddles You can get a griddle in three ways. They each have benefits and vary tremendously in the ways they are made. Built in Griddles These mostly have the benefit of a thermostat so that you can turn the knob on to certain setting and you will get an easily reproducible temperature. There will be a constant variation in that temperature as the burner cycles, maybe +/- 25°F-50°F depending on the thermostat. It is very difficult to find out what those numbers are. They also have a little more stability, compared to an add on griddle. There are a lot of differences in how these are put together. Cooking surface- Wolf and BlueStar have rolled steel, but BS’s is half the thickness of Wolf. This seasons like cast iron and becomes nonstick If you let it. Wolf being thicker will heat more evenly over time but takes longer to heat and turn up or down. Steel heats unevenly so you have areas that are hotter. Wolf refers to this in their manual. Monogram has an aluminum base clad in stainless. The aluminum is to provide more even heating as it has much better heat transfer properties but there was a thread not long ago about how difficult the stainless on it was to clean. There are some griddles that are all aluminum because it conducts heat so well. Some have a surface that is removable to clean. Some have a chromium finish which is sold as making it easy to clean but reviews say it is hard to clean. Heat source- Blue star gas a burner like this. Wolf attempts to have a heat source that provides more even heat so they use an infrared burner. Some built ins use an electric element with an aluminum plate, which might provide the most even heating depending on the thickness of the aluminum. Look at the amount of BTUs. Wolf is about 15K but a few go up to 18K. Add on or overlay griddles You can buy these from a restaurant supply very inexpensively. Some of the advantages with an overlay. -flexibility of using the griddle or the burner. You can take the griddle off to clean and put it away if you want to. -You can get whatever metal you want. Steel will season easily but tend to have zones of hotter and cooler temperatures. Some people like that because they can cook on one part and hold on another. You can adjust the front and back burners to different levels of heat. There are aluminum griddles and some have a nonstick surface. These are great when you need even heat like for grilled sandwiches or pancakes There are 2 burner and 4 burner sizes or you can just use 2 -2 burner griddles if you need more space. I have the bare aluminum griddles because I tend to grill a lot of sandwiches. They do season over time If you don’t scrub the seasoning off. I also have a nonstick one. I thought I would buy a steel 4 burner but when I got to the store, I could hardly lift it. The aluminum weighs less. These se are my faves and I have the 15”x23” in bare aluminum. You can transfer these to the oven too. http://royalindustriesinc.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_22_48 A lot of posters like these too. https://www.dvorsons.com/ChefKing/Griddles.htm You can position the griddle wherever you want to on the range top. Sometimes I turn it so it covers two burners on the front. -The 2 burner overlays like the Royal Industries and Chef King in the 15”x23” have almost 50% more cooking area than the 2 burner built ins. It is easy to calculate the usable area of each. -You can have a lot more heat. Even with Wolf’s 15K BTU burners, which is on the low end, you would have 30K BTUs compared to the usual 15-18K. It can go up from there. There is yet another choice, the countertop Griddle. These are usually thermostatically controlled and work pretty well but vary in quality. Of course they are not as “cheffy”. They are usually made of aluminum though. These comments were made above. ”Burner top griddles are fine for some people but they are not even heat across the surface” This depends a lot on what metal the griddle is made of and it’s thickness. Rather than whether it is built in or not. Any that are aluminum have better heat transfer properties of the cooking surface. As mentioned above, you have your choice with an add on. “ nor do they maintain even heat over time.” If you consider how the heat is applied to the griddle, the overlay receives a constant inflow and has a pretty constant loss of heat once you adjust it and it comes to equilibrium. The thermostatically controlled griddle has a swing like an oven, so I would disagree with that. You do have to adjust the heat in the beginning but it is like cooking with a pan. Not sure if it is even significant in cooking unless you had too big of a swing with the thermostat. I’ve seen some electric skillets like that. Steam oven- Do you mean a dedicated steam oven or a combi oven that fully functions as a convection oven and also as a steam oven? Have you looked at Miele? We have a poste here “M” that can speak to the combi ovens, also called CSOs(Convection Steam Ovens) Wall oven- This is a whole discussion by itself. What are you thinking here? Gas range oven- If you do cook for large groups, it would be a good thing to have an oven that holds a full sized commercial tray. Even if you don’t use the full size, it is nice to be able to use twok half sheets side by side.. Wolf is not big enough for that even in the 36” oven. BS, Monogram and some others are.