For anyone else out there with this question, I can tell you my experience so far. Just installed Gaggenau 30" double wall oven, Stainless Steel model BX280610. The height at the top of the unit is 70". I am 5'4" and was worried about it being too high. No worries. It is the perfect height. I can easily reach and see something baking on the top rack. Also, before using the oven it is recommended to wash the inside thoroughly, including the trays and racks. I could reach every corner of the oven cavity without standing on my tip toes. I am extremely happy with the height we chose. Installation was easy because we were replacing an existing wall unit and electrical components were already in place. Once the cabinet space was reconfigured, the rest was a breeze. When it arrived, we plugged it in and slid it into place. The screws were a bit of an issue. I was prepared for that because of some installation comments I had read online. We were able to tighten all three screws on the left (handle) side of the oven and the bottom right corner screw. The middle right-side (hinge side) and top right-side screws were impossible to get to and we just left them alone. This was the issue I had previously read about and leaving the screws out (at least for the time being)was not an issue for other users. The upper oven door hangs slightly unlevel, which makes it a little bit difficult to open and close. We have some calls out to a recommended installer to see if the door hinges can be adjusted in some way to level the door. That was yesterday. Have not heard back yet. As for my first impression, let me just say ... IT IS GORGEOUS! Everything I hoped it would be. My sister said she never thought she would hear herself describe an oven as beautiful, then said there were no other words for it but WOW! and BEAUTIFUL! Okay, so that's how it looks. Using it will take some time (and I'm guessing quite a bit of time) to evaluate. The manual is more of a start-up guide. I know the oven has many wonderful features, but I don't know how to find them! I'm no rocket scientist, but I do consider myself a bit of a techy. I love a good manual. I usually read them from cover to cover to familiarize myself with any new electronic gadget or appliance. Honestly, I don't know how, or even if, I can set simultaneous timers. So far I have only been able to set one timer. What if I have things baking in both ovens? Does anyone out there know if it is possible to run two timers? I can supposedly store up to 16 baking profiles, but how? It's not even addressed in the "manual". If there are experienced Gaggenau oven users out there ... HELP!

I was so on the fence between Gaggenau & Miele; both are amazing appliances & I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Now that we've used our Gagg for 6 months, I am so happy we chose it. The side opening door is WONDERFUL and there is so much choice on the heat sources (top, bottom, both, with or without convection, broil, rotisserie, probe, even optional heated baking stone). Have you ever "grilled" your turkey? We much prefer it roasted that way. We brine our bird in advance, set the grill up for indirect heat with the cover on, & use pre-soaked wood chips in our grill's smoker box (or on the charcoal) for a great smoked flavor. The recipe & technique from Pam Anderson's book, The Perfect Recipe, is wonderful. We don't stuff the bird but place chopped onion, celery, & carrot inside the bird and in the pan below the bird with some water. You should use either a V rack or place the bird directly on the vegetables, breast down to start & rotating breast up after an hour. I usually use a disposable roaster pan for easier cleanup, & use the drippings to make gravy (inside on the cooktop). Afterwards, be sure to save the carcass for soup!

We have them (Gagg 30" double). You know, all my pans fit in our ovens but, like any convection oven (or any convection oven at which I looked three years ago), that fan does protrude. But all my pans fit so it hasn't been a problem for me. We're vegan so we're not cooking a turkey or roast which might require bigger pans. That's not to say we cook in Barbie-sized pans -- we've cooked sizable casseroles and with sheet pans. The ovens are INSANELY expensive but man-oh-man do we love them! Both my partner and I, in playing the "if we had to do it over" game, never second-guess those ovens. For us, the side-opening feature is too fabulous, and once we learned the control system icons it is so simple to operate. LOVE them!

Bosch ovens are rebadged/rebranded, somewhat upgraded Frigidaires. This is not necessarily bad, as they also make the well-respected Electrolux ovens, which are even less expensive than the Bosch. The other three are independent manufactures, or were last time I checked. Brands get sold frequently in the appliance world. For instance, Jenn-Air has had at least three parent companies in the past 15 years, while Kitchen-Aid has had at least two, and last I knew they were both owned by Whirlpool. The Bosch Benchmark are very new and while I've seen them mentioned here once or twice, I admit I know nothing about them. We did have a Bosch double oven in our old home, but it would be about 15 years old now, so any info I can provide would be wildly outdated. I can only say it was miles better than the 27" builder special POS, GE oven it replaced, and did not need a repair in the five or so years I used it, but it also wasn't extraordinary in any way. I believe Miele now makes (a.k.a. assembles) all U.S.-market appliances, except for their very top-of-the-line dishwashers, in the U.S,; and last I knew still design their ovens in-house, instead of rebadging another brand's oven with their own skin and logo. (Another common industry occurrence: For instance, Wolf doesn't make microwaves, they just redesign the outside of Sharp's.) When I was looking, Miele's main, unique draws were their "perfect clean" system, for those who dislike self-cleaning ovens, and "masterchef" program cooking settings. I read a while back that they may have done away with their perfect clean system (can anyone confirm/deny?) and are now focusing on moving towards self-clean where you can leave in the accessories. That, to me, is a very nice feature, which I had on my old GE Monogram ovens, and found worked very well, at least in their implementation. (The ovens themselves? Not so much. But the self-clean racks and supports were awesome.) Also in the pipeline, but not yet available from Miele, back when I was last oven shopping ... Some sort of steam assist cooking feature on their top-of-the-line models. Have no idea of its efficacy in Miele's planned implementation (I know KitchenAid's similar claim was pretty much regarded as a flop that was less effective than simply spritzing a spray bottle or adding a pan of boiling water to the oven), but potentially worth exploring, especially if you're a bread baker Aesthetically, the Miele look is ultra-sleek and modern. They don't offer varying styles, but they are one of the few higher-end brands that do make black and white ovens. Gaggeanu are, or were, THE most expensive ovens on the market. They are all still made in Germany, as far as I know. Their 36" single ovens (300 series) have long been considered amongst the best in the industry. Buying two of them will cost as much as a very nice car. They are the Lamborghini of ovens, and I admit I know no one in real life that has even one. Their double ovens feature side opening doors, supposedly very even heat and are generally very, very well respected. Forum member "Rhome410" has a set and is usually very vocal on ovens threads and is a great resource. She also has a blog you can access here: http://rhome410.blogspot.com, where she talks about her ovens. I have a Gaggeanu plumbed steam oven (previous gen to what's offered now) and I LOVE it. I've had a few issues, and it was unquestionably ridiculously expensive, even with a "deal," but Gagg customer service has been responsive, even outside of warranty. Finding people who service this niche brand hasn't been all that easy, which is another potential downside. (I'm in the midwest.) On the con side, I, personally, HATE the look of the Gagg (stainless under glass) -- it's very ultramodern -- and the controls are futzy and non-intuitive. Function = great; form = your mileage may vary. I currently have the new Wolf M series double oven, which replaced (just this week), my former L-series, which suffered from the porcelain problem you mentioned. It's too early to tell if this is a fix for that, but I can attest that the baking and roasting prowess of the Wolf is better than any oven I've ever used, service is OUTSTANDING and, in my very limited use so far, the new oven seems superior to even the really great one it replaced. Despite my issues, I'm very happy with my choice of Wolf and wouldn't hesitate to buy more of their products. In fact, I plan to the next time I need to replace something. I've posted about both ovens here already quite a bit, so I won't repeat myself with specifics. If you're interested, you can search "wolf and applnut" or "wolf and applnut2" for more info. (Applnut was my original GardenWeb name. Had to change to Applnut2 when Houzz took over the site.)