Yea, my wife and I are in the same dilemma we love the idea of the Wolf Steam oven, but are not sure we can live without a microwave. While we don't cook in our micro we do use it for a lot of stuff that we just don't think we could do as easily in a steam oven. That being said we are really leaning toward getting both the Wolf Steam oven and a micro, probably a micro-convection at that just to have yet another small place to cook.

But at least going to the Wolf cooking demo we got to ask our questions so we knew better what to expect from the unit.

Good luck!

Hi,

We are also going with the Wolf Steam oven and a micro. I agree, sometimes you just want the speed of a micro.
Marilyn

I think given the popularity of steam oven in general it is a win-win for me.
by the time i put left overs in to heat up, set the table, round up the kids, and have them wash for dinner it is easily 20 minutes. the other plus i see is not having to stir the leftovers while its heating up as microwaves, even with a turntable have hot and cold spots.
I bet i use the steam oven more than the range as it is smaller.
I still think i will need a small micro somewhere.
i have gone to two demos and am facinated with what it can do.

ordered one last week to serve as my second oven and it will be in sometime in early July. Very excited. Most interesting feature to me - bread baking. I bake a lot and I'm excited to stretch my repertoire beyond the dutch oven round loaf.
Other things I'm excited by: leftover reheating/refreshing, steamed fish, and testing the oven as a sous vide device (tried it with a Wolf Chef at a store and it was very cool.) fun distractions but not the reason for the purchase.

We've had ours about 3 weeks and the thing is genius. Heats up very quickly and easy to use. We bought a lot of high end appliances for our remodel and this is by far my favorite and the only thing that seems to do what it claims. I've mostly used it for roasting chicken and veggies, steaming vegetables, and today reheated some pizza that I had previously frozen. if i had to make up something to complain about it would be the cleanup of emptying the water tray and wiping it down. it takes about 30 seconds

you do not need to have a water line. it is not plumbed. i installed mine 2 weeks ago and love it. i just wish there was a cook book for it. i know they are working on one but can't wait. i have been making sour dough bread on auto steam bake and it is great. just wish my induction would come in. they say back ordered for 2 more months.

I also went to a cooking demo at our local Wolf SubZ showroom, last week. I already wanted the steam oven but DH was resisting. After the demo he was sold on it too. Yay :)

The chefs at the demo pointed out there are 2 things the steam oven can't do that a microwave can: microwave popcorn and heating liquids like a mug of tea or coffee. I still think there will be times I just want to quickly zap something in the microwave so we will still have one in the new kitchen.

The fact that the Wolf is not hooked up to a water line doesn't bother me at all, I think the Gaggenau is the only one that is. The Wolf has a larger oven capacity than the Gagg.

For those who are reluctant to commit to steam oven as it might eliminate space for microwave and not provide function that a micro does: I am purchasing the wolf steam oven. I do use my micro every day; for reheating coffee, melting butter, thawing, etc. My solution is to stash a small micro (13"x12",18") in a 15"deep pantry. It is large enough to accommodate a dinner plate. I was not willing to dedicate wallspace or drawer space for a built in Micro. Can't wait for the steam oven, it should be great fun. Buon Appetito

For those who are reluctant to commit to steam oven as it might eliminate space for microwave and not provide function that a micro does: I am purchasing the wolf steam oven. I do use my micro every day; for reheating coffee, melting butter, thawing, etc. My solution is to stash a small micro (13"x12",18") in a 15"deep pantry. It is large enough to accommodate a dinner plate. I was not willing to dedicate wallspace or drawer space for a built in Micro. Can't wait for the steam oven, it should be great fun. Buon Appetito

Try caplanbooks.com and find their Steam Oven Cookbook. They advertise it is the 1st cookbook with recipes for the steam combi ovens. We just began construction so no steam oven yet. I am loving your comments and can't wait to get our oven. Happy cooking!

Thanks, Hjscm and Barry!

I reeeeaally shouldn't have clicked on this thread. When I thought it had to be plumbed I was almost over it...now I'm looking up the videos about it online :)

Does anyone have a price range?

Madeline, the dealer near me said pricing on the Thermador and Wolf was similar -right around $3,000.

Hi,
I just noticed my comment was posted several times. I'm not sure how I managed to do that, very annoying. Sorry about that!

Mjocean, happens all the time, especially lately. Not sure how, but some GW glitch puts posts up 2 and 3 times in a row.

Thanks, Barry. I'm going to go the showroom to take a look today.

Watched the video and read some of the Wolf manuals last night, and it looks like there isn't an option *without* steam. I'd be replacing my everyday 30" wall oven with the steam, leaving me with the oven in my 36" Wolf DF range, which is a bit large for most of my everyday oven use.

Any thoughts on whether y'all will be using te steam oven as your "everyday" oven for roasting veggies and meats, baking things like lasagna and Stromboli, etc? (I make Stromboli a lot, lol).

I know the manual says it does everytjing, but I'm trying to get a handle on whether it truly functions just like a traditional oven but better, or whether it's more of a specialty oven, to be used only for certain things.

Thanks :-)

Madeline, while there is no regular bake, non convection mode, you can choose convection ( which is no steam ), convection humid, or convection steam. In my mind, it can be a substitute for a regular electric oven, mainly because I have not used mine since I got a combi. While convection cooking can dry out foods more than just straight non convection baking, that really isn't an issue with a combi because you can add a little steam if you are afraid it will come out too dry due to convection.

Okay, gotcha. I didn't realize there was a straight convection mode. I need to study the online manual a little more closely.

Tks, Barry!

Are there any concerns with using the Steam Oven at high altitude? I will be at 6,500 ft in Utah. Everything takes longer to cook at this altitude, so will the pre-programmed recipes be of any use?

Thanks, Lee.

i would think it would add some time. i have the miele in my house in tahoe at 5,500' and doing something like artichokes takes about 10 minutes longer than here at sea level.

i looked at recipe site but it is only the ones in the book. none added. do you know when the new book is coming out? also can't find book at caplans.
one more question. does anyone know when the 36" induction are going to be back in stock?

I understand why you can't use RO or distilled water in the steam oven, but why not filtered tap water?

We are on a well and have a whole house softener. We also have a chlorinating system and a filter that then removes the chlorine. I'm willing to spend thousands for the oven, yet I don't want to buy bottled water for it.

I suppose I could collect my own mineral water from the outside hose bib, but our untreated well water smells & tastes terrible. I would also think it would be harder on the oven & require descaling more frequently.

@mjocean i found the page and the book but there is no where to buy it. i emailed them but have not heard back
thanks

Well our remodel is almost done, but we have use of the appliances now. I used the steam oven over this past weekend to make a roast using the probe and the roast turned out perfect. We then made some cookies last night and I tried both the steam oven and the Wolf L-series and they both did a great job. Still have a lot of learning and testing to do, but love the Steam oven so far, can't wait to try some bread in it.

Phil

I see you have Wolf steam and L series ovens. This is exactly what we are considering for our kitchen remodel. Did you stack them in your kitchen. If so, are there trim kits available for steam to match 30"? Or 36"? Wall ovens. The steam oven appears to be smaller.

Is the Wolf steam oven worth $800 more than Thermador? That seems to be how the prices are shaking out although I can't get a solid price on the Wolf, just "more-or-less". Is it really worth the extra?

Ellessebee, I can't comment on the Thermador as I don't have it, but so far we love our Wolf Steam oven. It has been great to use and we look forward to learning more about it and using it even more. Have you compared the two in terms of sizes and features?

Phil

I would not put the steam oven under an island since it will probably see much more use than the regular wall oven. I would want it so I don't have to bend over to use it - though that may be a personal preference.

Thanks Barryv, I had the same thought. I'm sick of my current look with the stacked ovens, but I guess that really is still the best option.

Marie29, we went with a 30" L-series oven, and wolf steam oven and the wolf micro-convection oven.

We put the 30" L-series on the end of our island and it is great there.

We then put the steam oven and the micro stacked on one another with the steam oven on the bottom. It seems to have worked out great for us at least. The micro is about at eye level for me, and I'm 6'1" tall. It puts the steam oven at a great level for my wife and I (she is 5'4") and when you pull the door down it is very easy to access everything in it.

Phil

Phil, thanks for sharing your set-up. That sounds ideal; we still haven't drawn up the final plans, so I think we'll change to the same configuration.

Any news about a cookbook?

Is there an option to plumb it in? How often do you wind up refilling the water?

I went to a few high end appliance shops in Scottsdale to look at various steam ovens after doing some research online. I had learned about the Sharp Steam-Microwave-Convection oven while doing my research. What I found out is that 2 employees at one shop and one employee at another shop had the Sharp; they all loved it. After hearing that, I just couldn't justify spending that much money when I could buy the Sharp for $549 on Amazon (it is black, but it has a stainless steal handle and you can buy a built in kit). That's what I ended up with and I'm happy with it.

We selected all Wolf/Subzero appliances...should move in sometime in October. We decided to put our microwave in our walk in pantry - we really only use it to make popcorn or re-heat coffee. That way, I don't have to pay all the extra money for a built in microwave that costs close to $1,000. I can buy a cheapy for $80 and hide it in the pantry. I didn't want to waste counter top space either.

Hi Sue et al... Just installed our steam oven yesterday. Just for kicks to check it out, we put a TJ's frozen french style flat bread with caramelized onions and gruyere (almost like a puff pastry style crust). In our conventional wolf oven it is good but oh my, the layers puffed up and the crust was perfect in the steam oven. We used the Wolf Gourmet setting. We are trying chicken tonight. I agree with folks that there aren't many recipes but this thing does a lot of the thinking for you.... So far; so good.

Hi Phil,
If you are still checking this, would you mind posting a picture of your micro and steam stack. I've been trying to figure out how to make it all work together and that sounds like a great option.
Thank you!

If anyone is still checking this, I'd love to know your thoughts after a year or so of owning the steam oven. I am looking at it also.

We have had our Wolf steam oven since May, and I'm really impressed with what it can do. I've tried several of the sample recipes, and they have turned out well (fish rolls, fish in puff pastry, chicken); it also does rice and baked potatoes to perfection.

That said, I do feel that I am not using it to its capacity. The main reason is that it's so hard to find any recipes. I've found some on the miele website, but it would be great if Wolf would develop a cookbook specifically for their product.

I've just started trying my own recipes with some adaptations (and crossed fingers!), and now I'm finding that I'm not even using my beautiful new L series wall oven anymore. The steam/convection combination does everything so well!

Those of you with the convection steam ovens, can they replace a regular oven? I was all set on getting the Wolf range, but am now thinking about a Wolf cooktop + the convection steam oven. My kitchen is small and i have room for only 1 oven. Thanks.

If you get a combi oven with a broiler, it will do anything a regular oven can do, and more. If you want to bake 3 dozen cookies, they probably won't fit all at once, same is true if you were trying to cook large amounts of food, but the cooking process is the same, only quicker, because it heats up in 5 to 10 minutes, much faster than the oven in my stove.

I agree with Barryv, the Wolf CSO doesn't offer a broiler though, so if that isn't a deal breaker then you would be good to go.

It is smaller than a normal sized oven, but they show that you can cook a 14lb turkey (or something like that) in it.

It has racks so you can do multiple racks of cookies or other baked goods at once as well.

We use it, by far, the most of any of the ovens we have in our remodeled kitchen. We love our CSO and are so glad we splurged on it. We use it way more than the microwave to reheat stuff now. It does take longer than a micro, but it comes out soooo much better.

Good luck,
Phil

Hi,
We love our Wolf CSO and it is our " go to" oven. However, I recommend you have at least one "traditional" size convection oven with broiler in addition to the CSO.
Best of Luck,
MJ

Hi everyone,

No one seemed to respond to question of using highly filtered well water with the Wolf steam oven... does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Most combis recommend against using distilled water - I think the concern is that distilled water would in essence remove minerals from whatever you are cooking. If you put your well water through a good filter, my guess it that it would work fine, though you might want to call Wolf. The hardness of the water will impact how often you have to descale it.

I have the steam oven and micro drawer. They don't line up height-wise. I was unable to stack and have them side-by-side, so I had my cabinet guy build a shallow drawer above the micro for potholders, etc.

Lammie, the instructions say to use tap water, not RO or distilled. I have a well with a water softener, which I don't think works very well anymore, and an RO filter. My appliance repair person (she is here a lot for my Viking dishwasher) keeps asking to make sure I am not using the RO water in my steam oven or ice maker (I am not). She said the water draws minerals out the supply tubes. Well water should be fine, but you may want to keep a descaler on hand. I but the one Wolf recommends from Amazon.

Thanks so much barryv_gw and orchidslayer!

I'll look into a descaler. If our water wasn't softened, we would all have scales, so I'll test our water softness level too.

We just ordered a Wolf Steam oven and then heard from a couple of people that they constantly break down. Has anyone had this experience?

Hi cillavin,

We have been using our Wolf steam convection oven for over 2 1/2 years with no problems. This is the first I have heard that people are having problems with the oven. We love ours and I'm sure you will, too. Have fun!

MJ

I have trouble with too much steam or the water not draining away. I suddenly started going through way more water than normal and after I was done there was a big puddle on the bottom of the oven. I had my repair person out and she called Wolf twice (the same afternoon) and talked to their techs. One of them suggested I descale twice (the light saying I needed to descale was not on). I did this, but I still have the problem. I called my repair person and even sent pictures of the remaining water and she said she would contact Wolf. This was last summer and, even though I called the repair shop repeatedly, she never returned or contacted me about the problem. I probably should call Wolf directly as they have great customer service. I am a snowbird and am away from home for the winter, but expect I will have to deal with this again when I return. I just hope my warranty doesn't run out before this can be fixed.

Orchidslayer,
Did you finally get your Wolf Steam Oven fixed?

To the steam oven owners out there,
Sorry to bump into an old thread here. We are planning to add a steam oven to our kitchen and I’ve been looking for reviews on the Wolf product. How well has it been lasting for you past the warranty period? Are you still happy with it after gaining more experience with steam oven recipes, or do you wish for more manual control? Thanks for any advice.

Wolf is fabulous to work with. I don’t remember what they did with the steam oven, but I know they sent me a free control panel for my microwave drawer when it was out of warranty, but there was a known problem with the panels. I think they covered the part and labor for the steam oven. It still puddles on the bottom more than it should, but it is better.

I still love my steam, but I probably am not using it as well as it should be used. But I would definitely buy it again. In fact, I a few years ago I bought a small Cuisinart countertop steam oven for our winter place. We just moved to another (winter) house this week. The house is brand new and came with great GE appliances (the oven has a air fryer), but when I decide to replace them I am going with Wolf.