Thanks beers- were you able to find any info on it at all? I think it looks great actually and at 3999, I cant stop thinking of it. My concern being the KA customer service horror stories of the last version and the self clean destruction feature) . But I havent found ANY reports (pro or nay) on the new one. PLEASE do give me an update when you get it!

The nuggets button strikes me as just plain weird. The manual lists five other specialty buttons for the oven. The "crispy pizza" button might be useful if its function is to set the oven to use only the bottom element for heating/reheating. Many electric ovens these days use both the upper and lower elements for at least pre-heating and some reportedly even run the upper element during baking when temperatures drop too low (as from opening the oven door.) The others sound plausibly useful (unlike the nuggets button) but seem dubious when you think about them. The "proofing" and "defrost" buttons apparently run the oven a little over 100 degress F. I do the same thing with my present stove by turning on the oven light. The "keep warm" button apparently automatically sets the oven to 170F on a three hour timer for keeping completed dishes warm while you do other things. Not sure what this really is intended to accomplish since the NE597 has a warming drawer. Anyway, what is so inconvenient about setting the oven to convection bake at 170 degrees? The "slow cook" button is mystifying to me. There are "low" and Hi" selections but the manual gives no indication of what temperatures they represent. Apparently, you can use it for roasting meat at a some unspecified low and slow temperature. Why I would not just pick a setting such as 190 or 220 F and dial it in? The manual does not explain. I wonder if riderman357 has anything more to report on the replacement NE597 that he is supposed to be receiving?

We bought a Thermador SS 48" side by side. However, we bought it at Sears Outlet. It had a tiny little scratch on it, but for 1/2 price, we were willing to deal with it. I absolutely love this thing. My DH thought it was a monster when we were at the store--but now he loves it. We can fit all of our condiments and beverages in the door, leaving the fridge part for food. Since it isn't very deep we can see everything and don't lose stuff like we used to do all the time. Regarding the price--once we started looking at fridges we were in sticker shock. So when I realized I could get this one for the price of a French Door model, we had to go for it. Here is the best part--they only sent 2 men out to deliver it. There should have been 4-6 men. It ended up getting scratched and dented a bit more. So I negotiated with the store manager and suggested they buy new skins for the doors and new handles rather than sending a crew out to lug it back to the showroom. He agreed, so we are ending up with a perfect Thermador. It's great!

Waterloo360t, Capacity is best judged on usable space. One of the things I looked at was if I could fit a 9x13 pan in front to back but also how the shelves/door compartments are sized and how they can be placed. Cubic feet can be misleading.