An alternative to the oven + speed oven would be the Turbochef. It's new technology but I'd definitely check it out to see if that's an option. It has a super fast oven on top and a conventional one on the bottom.

Thanks rococogurl. I have seen them in a showroom but I would say we are not that adventurous.

Do you know what other brands are known to be reliable? I don't know whether it is the specifics of this forum or a reflection of the reality but I find a bunch of issues with every brand I do a search on (other than the Miele).

The other favorite is Gaggenau, very high end. After that the Fisher & Paykel and Monogram ovens generally get few complaints.

Thanks rococogurl,

What about the DCS? Since I am looking at the DCS range, they would definitely go together. They look fine except for the two things I posted on another thread - the controls are not a touch screen but "buttons" hidden under the screen. I wonder if these can break more easily. Also the convection fan is exposed (unlike the Miele fan which is covered by the mesh-like cover). Do you know anything about this oven (good or bad)

Just curious, I looked at the pictures of your kitchen in the finished kitchen blog and looks like you started off with Viking. Did you have problems with it and had to replace it?

Thanks
annab

I went through the same exercise a year ago and chose the 36" Wolf cooktop, a Wolf single oven with a Wolf convection/microwave on top. I have been using them for four months and am very satisfied.

I chose the cooktop because (1) Wolf has a good reputation for quality and service, (2) I liked the layout of the burners, the placement of the knobs on top and the backlit indicators that a burner was on, and (3) the appearance of the grates which are very solid. I was also influenced by the fact that we are using propane and Wolf makes both an LP and a NG version, rather than having the system retrofit by an installer, which is true for some brands. I cook a fair amount but don't need all the burners to be high BTUs as they are on the range tops. I purchased a separate All Clad griddle which straddles two burners nicely. Previously I had cooked only on electric stoves. The one thing I notice with the cooktop is the need to be careful not to turn the burners too high or the flames come up the sides of the pot and cause scorching. It may be that the Thermador star design is better in this regard as the Wolf burners appear to heat the edges of the pot faster than the interior of the bottom. However, the simmer is fantastic. It never needs to be adjusted.

The ovens were a more difficult choice for me. I went with the Wolf in large part because of appearance. My ovens are placed next to the Sub Zero fridge and everything matches nicely. The regular single convection oven is a good size. It bakes and roasts well; the broiler is nothing special. I have put three trays of cookies in at once and they all cooked perfectly. You do have to remove the racks for cleaning. Some GE ovens are attractive because the racks can stay in. I notice that there is much more spattering of grease in a convection oven than my older conventional one. Therefore I remove unused racks when roasting meat or poultry. The controls look complicated but are actually fairly intuitive once you go through them once. All in all an excellent choice but I am not sure the performance is any better than less expensive ovens.

I was unsure about the convection microwave. It is, as Wolf readily acknowledges, a Sharp or Panasonic product with an expensive trim kit. The exterior is black plastic and not up to the standard of the regular oven. However, the microwave works well. It has about 100 watts less power than a regular microwave but that does not seem to make a huge difference. I was surprised that I use the small convection oven as much as I do. I use it for warming bread or leftovers and cooking small pieces of fish or chicken. It heats up quickly and is probably much more energy efficient than using the large oven for these tasks. It worked well for baking a single pie crust but I use the larger oven for cakes. I also use the convection oven for warming plates or holding side dishes as I did not get a warming drawer.

Hope this helps. Wolf was a good choice for me but I am sure there are other options.

We have had DCS double wall ovens, both convection/radiant combos, for 3+ years. No problems at all with the control pad or with the fans.

Anna, I don't know the DCS ovens.

Yes, I started out with the Viking. They bought it back and I bought a Miele 1-1/2 yrs ago. The FKB has older pix. The newer pix of the oven are here http://www.atticmag.com/kwlyellow.html

There is no comparison between the two.

We have a 30" DCS wall oven and are not very happy with it.

The racks and being able to cook on the oven floor are great, however it is not very even and the fans are quite noisy.

The big problem though is reliability. The display died after about 3 years and now a year later most of the broiler coils don't light up anymore.

Overall, I'd not recommend this oven.

Now we need to find a good oven.