Tony and Scott - Thanks...I like the look of the Thermador. Breezygirl, If I go with the rangetop over the range, I am leaning toward the Wolf E dbl ovens plus the Wolf Steam Oven (I detest steaming on the rangetop). Would love the Gagg oven and steam oven but can't bring myself to spend that much with all the other appliances. The current SubZ and Wolf incentive takes some of the sting out it plus our builder claims I will be "delighted" with his builder discount on Wolf and SubZ. We shall see. Going to look at the Miele suite when I visit Trevor at the end of the month. Maybe I will go that way. Cheers, M

"What would you say is the biggest difference between the gas or electric for the main oven" There are some very specific differences. Most people like their food to be browned because it adds flavor to what you are cooking. In order for food to be brown, the Maillard reaction must take place. In order for this to happen, need to evaporate water. I would look at what happens in either oven. In a gas oven, there is moisture released in the combustion of gas but because there is much more ventilation in a gas oven, it and the moisture from what you are cooking are ventilated out so you have superficial drying of your food which promotes browning. This will also add more heat to your kitchen. An electric oven is more of a closed system so will hold on to the humidity more. You can increase the superficial evaporation in an electric oven by increasing the heat or using the fan. In reading some marketing materials, Wolf and Capital, come to mind, they will state that gas is "moist heat". In the past that was the belief. That would be true of the flame but does not take into consideration the oven as a whole and the effect it has on what you are cooking. They also seem to think that the external moisture from the "moist heat" produces moist meat when it would have nothing to do with it. It is a function of the internal temperature. There are certain irreversible physiological changes to meat as the temperature rises which dictate the amount of moisture in meat fibers. Some also attribute crispiness to the moistness but again is is drying that produces that. On on the other hand, an electric oven can hold on to moisture which can be a benefit in baking because it promotes starch gelatinization. It can affect the amount of rise, browning and crust formation. This is why bread bakers add moisture at the beginning of baking and/ or use a cloche in a gas oven. The cloche is then removed or moisture allowed to escape and the drier environment promotes browning.

I've had the Elux Icon speed oven over 5 years now. Completely trouble free except for a screw that came loose on the handle. The Miele Speed oven will broil alto most post here aren't bragging about the broiling ability of the Miele Speed oven. The Elux will not broil but does everything else and quite well too. Operation is more simple than the Miele, especially using it as a microwave, just enter the time and hit start. The other thing I like about it is I can read the display and operate the controls without fetching my reading glasses, I can not see the Miele controls without said glasses. I like the fact that the display completely disappears when you are not using the speed oven, except for a white clock. We do have the matching Elux Icon regular oven, so things "Match" alto "Matchie Matchie" was not the reason I bought the oven, The Blue interior, The fully gliding out racks (Really handy since our oven is below counter---the huge glass and the well lighted interior helps out a lot too for undercounter installations. Myself, had I not bought the Elux, my 2nd choice would have been the Wolf oven, as they do have great service, and I would say it's a "WASH" as far as post go, here in GArden web about problems with either oven, (Wolf or Elux). For the way you cook, since the Bluestar is "ruled out" "Me thinks your "Safest Bet" would be the Wolf! Gary

Hey Shaotung Mommy, It's a great idea to the get the big blower -- I have a 1400 CFM blower mounted on my roof and it works great. With the blower on it will not heat up your kitchen. Remember to make sure the construction crew avoid sharp turns or too many turns in the blower ductwork. I think I used 10" round duct. If you have upper cabinets make sure they are set back 3" from the sides of the cooktop, so you will have 36 + 3 + 3 = 42" between your upper cabinets, and your range hood should be 42" wide to catch smoke billowing up from the woks. Also make sure the range hood has adequate depth to catch the smoke and heat from the front burners (woks on the front burner probably will extend past the front edge of the cooktop). Most stock range hoods are too shallow for these powerful cooktops. The hood height above the floor and cooktop... I used a piece of foamboard to determine how high I wanted mine. Obviously you want it as close to the cooktop as possible but it needs to be high enough to keep you from banging your head. I've had only one person bump their head on the hood. It didn't draw blood but they didn't do it a second time! The last issue is the make-up air. With a 1400 CFM blower the air has to come from somewhere or it won't be very effective. I was not able to come up with a good make-up air solution so I need to open windows when I turn on the vent fan/blower. It is cold in the winter here near DC, but it will depend on where you are located. I hope you have a window or two in your kitchen, or a doorway to another room where you can open windows. Enjoy! Billy