I would not recommend any 120V speed oven. You need the current capacity of a larger 240V circuit to get good convection heating. I have a 120V convection/microwave in my motorhome and it simply is not in the same league as a real speed oven.

What you could do to save some money would be to get the Miele "Chef" model speed oven, but put it over the Electrolux pair. There is no law requiring you to settle for poorer performance in order to match nameplates. But that said, the only reason I have the Miele speed oven in the first place is that it went into the same wall as our Miele Coffee System and when I found one available for sale cheap I figured I might as well get something to match. It was only after getting the Miele and using it that I found out how useful the bugger is. Anyway, you might want to try to visualize whether you could appreciate the look of a Miele Speed Oven over the top of an Electrolux.

Mojavean,

Thank you very much! My wife is now thinking the Bosch 27" series 500 single oven might look alright sitiing below the Miele Chef Speed oven, they both have black knobs, both have amber lights (I think) and both are German!

What are your thoughts re. Chef vs Master Chef?

Thanks!

The Masterchef models have a labyrinthine menu system with all manner of pre-programmed dishes where you select by food type and weight and the machine does the cooking for you. I never use that stuff. I figure out how I want the dish cooked and just select the mode. I could get by with just the chef model without complaint, I think. However, I prefer the flush, no knob, look of my Masterchef as it goes well with my coffee system. If the knob fits your design I would certainly entertain saving the money and going with the less expensive model.

I have no experience with the Bosch ovens, though, and cannot comment on them. Have you looked at the Wolf wall ovens? They are very highly regarded by their owners on this board so far as I can tell.

Mojavean, thx again for sharing your experience - this is invaluable to us and our decision! Another question re. how you control the Chef - what type of choices do you make? You said, 'I never use that stuff. I figure out how I want the dish cooked and just select the mode.' Is it possible to give me an example? I am imagining the Master Chef would have a menu with a choice for 'Baked Potatoes' whereas you go through choices that you know are good for baked potatoes?

Regarding the 'look' of the Chef knobs, the Bosch also has two knobs, albeit stainless instead of Miele's black knobs - so the Chef would be more consistent with the Bosch 500's knobs.

We would have considered the Wolf oven, but alas they are 30' or 36' only and we are constrained to 27'. Aaarggh. If we ever need to replace this vertical rack in ou kitchen again, we will more than likely need to remodel as 27' products will probably not even be available.

I thank you in advance for your answers! Steve (and Dawn)

PS - I included a rough mockup of the Bosch Warming Oven, Bosch 500 Oven plus the Miele Chef Speed Oven.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Sure, Steve. The masterchef mode is reached through a series of menus. Poultry, vegetables, casseroles, etc. There is no specific selection for baked potatoes on my unit, but I am using an earlier model. Can't tell what the new ones have.

The way the speed oven heats is either through a convection element/fan in the rear wall of the oven, a broiler element up top (and in the bottom of the newer masterchef models) and a microwave. You manually select from a series of modes. Convection, broil, microwave, combination bake (microwave and convection concurrently) combination broil (micrwave and broiler) and a few other combinations that you ferret out by going to the Miele site and reading the manuals for bothmodels.

The way I do it is I figure out what I am going to make. Casseroles get done much quicker using combination modes with microwave so I use that. After years of ownership I now know that to do baked potatoes, the best method is to microwave them on high for a few minutes, then switch over to broil to brown the skins. Frozen items seem to come out pretty well using the combination modes, too.

Please keep in mind that I do not have the "Chef" model myself so I can't say much about it other than I am not specifically put off by the lack of the masterchef menu feature. But my Miele gear is all flush panel with no knobs which fits the look of the wall where they sit. I really like how the Miele looks with the Bosch, though. Nice work on that mockup.

Its gonna really help if you can find a store with these Miele ovens; go through the current Master Chef menus and fiddle with the Chef's knobs. You'll get a better idea of what you're getting.

Being a simple person, myself, I'm often content to just follow the menu prompts and let the oven do all the work. [FWIW, my Miele speed oven is about 18 months old, now. I like it.]

But an occasional drawback to the menus (aside from the fact that Miele doesn't give a choice for potato; although Advantium may) -- anyway, a problem is that some of their cooking times run a bit long. While this may have reduced the number of lawsuits Miele gets about undercooked food, it also means that stuff sometimes gets overdone.