Bea - I'll start from the top and work down.

Dishwasher - Asko makes a great machine - the problem - if it goes out and you need parts you are going to wait. I've had customers wait 1 month + for parts which tends to = not very happy customers.

Cooktop - Good choice. Induction is fantastic and you can't go wrong with the Profile. Have fun boiling water lickety-split!

Wall Oven - I'd personally go with the Kitchenaid (U series I presume?) and save a little money. If you're going to spend the money on a premium brand I'd look at the Dacor before the Wolf.

Microwave - I went with the GE Advantium and haven't regretted it one bit. I've cooked everything from cookies to Filet Mignon in it.

Venthood - Anyone who doesn't direct you in the direction of a Vent-a-Hood is doing you a disservice. It is the quietest, most powerful hood on the market - and the only one that is fire safe. They do everything from fancy scmanshy to plain jane.

The Guru has Spoken

Here is a link that might be useful: The Appliance Guru's Reviews, Commentaries, Giveaways, Guides and More

Hi Guru,
Thanks for the input! Here are some questions
1. If not the Asko dishwasher than which one?

2. Does the kitchenaid heat evenly? I certainly liked the looks of it.. a lovely piece of equipment. Have the problems with the fuse/self-cleaning mode been fixed?

3. Thank you for the advice on the GE - we have a GE now and it ought to be easier to fit another GE.

4. Glad the GE cooktop is a good one... breathing a sigh of relief here.

5. Ventahood is what we looked at - I'm glad it's a good choice!

Thank you Guru, I definitely value your opinion
Bea

Bea,
I'm glad you posted this because I feel overwhelmed with appliance choices. Still can't decide if it's really worth the extra $ just to have a name (though if I resell right after reno, it would make a difference here.)

From all that I have read, it seems that most dishwashers do a pretty good job. Many people I know have the Miele, but I don't like the top slide out rack for flatware. Consumer reports gives Bosch a very good rating and I see them in many of the new spec house kitchens in my area, but someone just told me that they don't hold as much as others.

I have Bosch dishwashers and have no complaints about what they hold. They are much better than others we had: a GE, a Frigidaire, and a top of the line Maytag (the worst)...for cleaning, quiet, and organization/fitting more in.

I would think there a lot of oven options between the prices of a Kitchen Aid and Wolf? I don't know much about the KitchenAid, but it must be much better than when I was looking a couple yrs ago to be at the top of your list with the Wolf. I didn't consider Wolf because of the price. Miele was my if-price-was-no-object choice, with Monogram and F&P neck and neck, until I found my F&P on Ebay for a great price. Other ones I've read good comments on, especially when it comes to even heating, are Bosch and Electrolux Icon at the lower price end...when comparing to prices like for Wolf and Miele.

I have a Monogram wall oven and love it. Wouldn't have considered a Kitchenaid when I was looking, but that may have changed now (doesn't seem like as many negative posts). I'm sure you could get a good wall oven for less than the price of a Wolf.

Ovens - We have a GE Profile now and want to steer clear of the GE ovens (I realize they are probably better now, but once burned it's hard to repeat). I really liked the DCS and FP oven but the small interior size - and the fact it's much smaller and we'd have to redo the cabinets -made us skip those. I really didn't like the Miele - programming - too much like a computer and as a vegetarian it was all "meat" cooking options. The salesperson couldn't find one veggie option except a baked potatoe so it would be a real pain to scroll through all that to set an oven. I like the push button options on the Kitchenaid and on the Wolf. I like the gasket on the oven (not on the door) to prevent spills & hardening of the gasket which leads to poor oven temps later on. I also liked the roll out shelf (one on each oven) and ok, yes the blue interior is pretty (not that pretty matters that much to me, I'd rather have function than pretty). I heard that Electrolux went into Sears to keep the iine from being discontinued. The place where we are buying appliances has had the line for 18 months and hasn't sold one piece. That is kind of scary when you look at parts and fixing if anything goes wrong. So... that's pretty much why we went to Kitchenaid - Wolf.

Dishwashers:I agree, Valleigh, this appliance stuff has driven me nuts too - too many opinions pro and con, too many great items going bad... made me indecisive too. Here;s what I figured out. (and believe me I have NO clue, I'm just sharing what I'm basing decisions on. We looked at Kenmore, Kitchenaid, Bosch, Miele, LG , Samsung and Asko. Of all of these the miele/asko are the most expensive. We have a kitchenaid fridge that is a HORRIBLE fridge so I'm afraid of the Kitchenaid dishwasher (see what I mean I'm comparing apples to oranges and deciding against kitchenaid (even though I'm entertaining the idea of the Kitchenaid oven- definitely not the way to go). LG and Samsung have problems with getting parts/service and neither one seemed to have great reviews - I think they are too new. Bosch, people love them or hate them, not sure if that's in the expectations (moving from a heat drying American machine to a European one?) The salesperson told me that all of their Bosch customers keep a full coffee filter (the kind at hotels) in the top of their Bosch to absorb odor - and you need to leave the door open and the filter pristinely clean or it smells. Also, for us, the fact that there seems to be some kind of a relationship with Sears & Bosch... and a lot of unhappy folks we said no way. Let me say that there are also MANY happy Bosch folks out there. So, we are down to Miele and Asko. Miele - we didn't love the silverware holder either - looks like it would take some getting used to. Also, the arms in the Miele are not as well built as the Asko - Asko is all stainless (even the arms and if you notice the arms have more holes and the holes are slanted and larger). Asko felt more "solid" when opening the doors and pulling at the racks. The two Asko we're looking at have four shelves/baskets. These can be removed if you aren't using them (I like that). The Asko also had assisted drying with a large fan on the door to completely dry the interior. My understanding of Miele is that most of the time they are dry, but not all of the time? Also, at our place Asko was less expensive, and they have a 3 year warranty (longest one available that we found). The fact that they believe in their product, and that we are buying locally from a store who has a parts department makes us think that if their are problems we'll be able to get service & parts??? Fingers crossed on this last one. The thing is we have made probably 6 different dishwasher trips, took pictures, took plates/cookie sheets to check fit etc. We tried to be thorough, so I guess that's about it for the dishwasher!

I think I've rambled on enough!
Bea

Asko dishwashers are good.

You're making a lot of decisions using specious logic (*grin*) and eye-brow raising opinions (coffee filters filter particulates not smells). But I won't fault you for those opinions - you've got to do something to whittle down your choices a small handful that you'd consider ;-)

But to address some of the erroneous data points on which you're building your case:

Dishwashers: DWs don't come with organic matter for them to produce smells - something is wrong with the customers' installations OR their refusal to clean out filters etc. that is the cause of the smellsl; not the DW. In the 4 years now I've owned my Bosch the only time it smelled was when we had a plumbing blockage which took over a week to manifest itself in slow-drainage to a backup. I have no coffee filters in my DW!

And not to beat a dead horse, but if, after 6 DW forays, you surmised what you did about Miele suggests that perhaps those trips weren't quite as well utilized as all that. ;-) But Askos are excellent machines, so no need to beat that drum.

Ovens: I hear you on Miele's nested menus - well-intended but not the most efficient.
That said, the example you gave speaks of the Masterchef programmed menus. Some of the best cooks on GW with Miele's have never used the stored programs. Miele ovens are par excellence - excellent performers, even heat, numerous heating modes hence flexibility, excellent design and construction. You'd purchase them for their performance and their reliability. To reject them for the reason you give is saying that you don't like the oven because you don't like the recipe book it comes with. Use your own recipes and store them on the Masterchef!
BTW, I say this as someone who passed on the Miele for another brand (and I love my oven very much, no doubt about it) for some reasons of sizing and fitting in my kitchen, so obviously I don't believe that this is the only oven to have. Still, I think this is an excellent oven and, while it has its annoyances (nested menus), to pass on it for the reasons you've given suggests that you should probably give this another look. Definitely if you're straddling a KA-Wolf fence, at any rate. I'm a vegetarian too, and I had no problem finding things to do on the Miele.

Good luck with your appliance hunt.

I only want to comment on the Miele DW, in particular about the utensil tray. I CANNOT BELIEVE that is the reason you are crossing off the Miele DW. OMG, the utensil tray is one of the BEST things about the DW!!! Think about it: in a "traditional" utensil basket the utensils are jammed in, scraping against each other, there is no way the water can get into them in every nook and cranny since they are jammed together, and you often have knife points and fork tines pointing straight up, with your arm perhaps reaching across those sharp objects to load the DW. In contrast, the Miele utensil tray exposes all the utensils to the full spray of water and soap, the utensils are not scraping each other, it is super easy to load and unload (the tray comes out of the DW if you want to carry it someplace), there are no knives pointing up to graze your arm across, and I believe it holds more utensils than a basket. Seriously, once you have the utensil tray, you don't want to go back to the basket style.

But also, not only do I love the Miele's utensil tray, but it's a wonderful machine too. I saved a lot by not buying the model with the hidden controls, so my Miele DW was not so much more expensive than other brands. I recommend the Miele DW's highly.

Just regarding capacity, I thought the Bosch's seem to be smaller on the interior than other brands. You should go to a store, and bring with you a large platter or something large that you frequently put in the DW. See how it fits in the models you are considering. That test will help you a lot. Having said that, ALL DW's today are smaller inside than ones from 10 years ago or so. That's because they're all energy star rated and highly insulated for noise. That insulation takes up some capacity of the DW, and you will see that across the board.

I'll second shannon - I love my Miele with the cutlery tray! Once you get the hang of loading it, which is a bit putzy, you'll soon find you make up the extra loading time with the unloading! Group like items as you load and unloading can be done with a couple handfuls! Grab all like spoons in one hand and done, and so on. And everything is always clean, clean, clean...and more room on the other levels with the baskets gone. You really should reconsider the cutlery tray... I wasn't sure, but, I am now!

Other appliances I love (after 18 months of use):

My GE Profile Induction (frameless) cooktop

GE Advantium 120 paired with a GE Convection oven. The advantium is my workhorse...don't overlook this gem of an appliance. It bakes, microwaves, speedcooks, warms, and proofs....does it all (except wash the dishes!). The more I use it the more I love it!

Good Luck!

I have 2 Bosches now and one in the last house...NO odors...Ever. I have NO idea what a coffee filter could do, which says a lot to me about the credibility of that particular saleperson. Unfortunately, it's not safe to assume that someone selling appliance knows a whole lot about them. Thankfully there are good ones out there, but you have to build your own knowledge to be able to choose who to trust.

I second what Mindstorm said about the Miele oven...Most I know with the Miele oven, including my sister, an accomplished cook and baker who has had hers for 3 years, don't use the MasterChef or go through the menu system to use the oven...But do appreciate the accuracy and performance, and the great customer service they receive if they have any question at all in learning and using the oven.

Best wishes. It is a complex task to know how to sift through the good and the bad for all the appliances.

I'll "3rd" Shannon. The reason why I picked the Miele over any other dishwasher was the location of the cutlery tray.
Love not having to bend over to put in and remove the silverware. I did do some studying about it's performance and reliablitiy and user comments before I bought.
We love the dishwasher,never hear a peep outta it---if it wasn't for the fact that we chose the "Optima" that's built in(wood panel), but still shows the control panel, --We like seeing the Miele display panel),We wouldn't know if it was running or not. Does a great job cleaning too.
For those who don't want the cutlery tray on top, I believe Miele has an option for a lower one, but we sure like it up on top, we get nuff exercise without doing the bends, retreiving sliverware or the tray that holds them.

Gary

Miele's cutlery tray...

The ONLY DW that will clean our chopsticks!! :)

{{gwi:1411638}}