I've had no trouble with my Thermador 6 burner stove. It's 13 years old. We are now into the 2nd week of a major remodel of the kitchen knocking out the old mudroom laundry room to make a bigger kitchen. I will keep the Thermador. I am looking at an ASKO Dishwasher. I had nixed the Miele because I want to throw silverware into the DW. But if Gary is right, then I could reconsider the Miele. It looked like the ASKO has the silverware tray on top too but without the annoying slotted utensil tray. (The difference seems to be the difference between Rome's airport and Frankfort). I want an all refrigerator column so I am looking at the Thermador. I have a full freezer in our shed 10 feet away from the kitchen . (We are cattle ranchers). So all I need inside is an ice cube maker for my smoothies. But maybe a small freezer drawer for frozen fruit for said smoothies, a couple frozen pizzas, and of course the Ketel One Vodka. (No more kids at home). Could put the 18" Thermador freezer someplace though. Other columns are Lebherr, Viking. So advice on columns? And what about beverage centers? I looked at Marvel and Viking. Yikes. My biggest problem is a separate convection/microwave. Every 10 years, it seems, we are warned of the dangers of microwaves and cancer. Is a combo convection microwave good for making that extra dish for Thanksgiving and parties? Politically I'm trying to buy as much American and local as I can (local guy making our stainless steel sink), but the next best thing are European manufacturers who have union workers who make decent salaries, not slave labor. I have to decide by tomorrow and I'm still a tad confused.

Thermador is extremeley reliable. I had a Thermador 36" electric coil cooktop for 18 years, 4 burners and griddle in the middle, not one problem, still works, but we did a big house reno including the kitchen, so went with new appliances. I now have the Thermador built in oven, very good unit, largest capacity out there too. It is pure convection, pure convention or combo of the two. The only small negative I have is the spacings of bars on the oven racks themselves are a bit wide, only time I notice it is if I do a large batch of banana loaves and instead of doing 2 large loaves, I make 6 mini loaves. Then you have to space the mini loaf pans exactly right so they dont keel a bit. I went with a Viking 6 burner induction cooktop. I had a Dacor built in oven previously, same type of model, either pure convection, pure convention or a combo, worked great, but had a few issues at the end, ie: sensor went (they dont have thermometers) and was fairly expensive to replace. Also, Dacor does not seem to keep parts in supply for as long. If I kept it much longer and would need parts, some would not be available. My friend has a Thermador star burner gas cooktop, she likes it a lot and has no problem with simmering. I would buy Thermador again in the blink of an eye, they are extremely reliable from my experience.

How old are your current Dacor ovens? The Discovery ovens with the oscillating element under glass work in a very different way than regular ovens. The idea of the oscillating element is to keep a very narrow temperature. I would want to try before you buy. I had this type of oven and unless it has been dramatically changed, it did not work for me It has a very hot preheat and the manual warns against putting food in while the oven preheats. In order to keep food from burning, once the oven has reached the set temperature, the preheat will not come on until the temperature drops 150-200F. The problem is if you are baking cookies or something where you are opening and closing the door, the preheat cannot come on and bring the temperature back up. The oscillating element are not enough to make up for the lost heat. It might work if you preheat and then put your food in for an hour and don't open the door. A regular oven works by kicking the bake element on when the temperature drops by 25F. Maybe they have fixed this problem since I had mine but the only way to tell is to try it by baking something that requires opening the door frequently.

looking for opinions please