Thank you both so much for your suggestions. I am feeling like I am really leaning toward induction, but I am disappointed as I just read rave reviews on Elux ovens, but awful reviews on their cooktops, and vice versa for Bosch. If I could install a Elux oven under the Bosch cooktop I think Id be very happy, but Im not sure if that can be done. I don't want anyone voiding my warranties because we mixed appliance brands. I could possibly put my oven in my island? Glad to see I have an option to get a very professional gas range if I go that route. I'm not sure yet what the discrepancy is regarding the size of the hood. Would a 20" pass inspection and adequately remove grease & odors or not? If it would, don't know why I'd need bigger? But if it wouldn't, think I better look for more affordable range, if I go that route. What type of hood would I need for an induction cooktop? I believe the requirements are lower? Induction sounds like it would fit me best, especially since I've never used gas I think maybe I just don't know what I'm missing. But I have to figure out how to get a decent oven in an acceptable space.

THANK YOU! I really appreciate this! I have had to rethink the addition to my kitchen since the bids came in too high, so trying to fit everything into the smaller original footprint. This will help. Sadly now I have a 36" gaggenau induction cooktop and a 30" Wolf single wall oven (new, floor models) to resell before I can buy the Ge products. I thought I was so fortunate to snag those at the time, never dreaming how much it cost to add on.

maryil: " I am very interested in the Miele Convection Steam Oven, and having a 30" induction cook top. I would like to have a conventional oven as well, but not really a 30", a 27" would be fine." As you have discovered, there are great differences between both the actual vertical dimensions of various cooktops and ovens and -- just as importantly -- the clearances that specific models of cooktop require below, or that certain models of oven require above, the appliance. We have had an arrangement such as the one you desire, but not with the brands that you have been looking at, for almost 15 years now. From our (possibly obsolete) experience, the LG induction cooktop is the skinniest induction cooktop that you are likely to find. It is about the thickness of an Apple MacPookPro laptop of 2008 or so vintage. Part of its secret is that the exhaust for the air that the cooling fan blows over the electronics when the cooktop is in operation is at the rear of the cooktop above the surface (in the stainless trim). The exhaust slots are very skinny: about the thickness of a U.S. nickel, but they seem adequate to the task. Because the volume of the room is for all intents and purposes infinite for the purpose of accepting the cooling airflow, considerations of saturating the exhaust area as could happen for units that exhaust into the enclosed volume beneath the cooktop are moot. Among wall ovens, we found that the Bosch convection (not steam) ovens were a few inches shorter, top-to-bottom, than the other brands that we measured or checked the specs for. That would allow you to mount a Bosch lower (farther from the underside of the cooktop), but you then would be stooping lower to lift your Thanksgiving turkey out of the oven as your guests salivate. Because we had no problem with clearance below a cooktop, we used the compactness of the Bosch wall oven to mount it high, with a shallow drawer under the oven for hard to store items like cookie sheets and pizza stones.

I got a 30 inch Wolf induction cooktop last spring & have been very happy with it. My concern was finding a layout that worked well with large pots & pans (10-12 inch base diameters) without crowding the remaining area. That eliminated cooktops with a big center burner. I like the bridge feature more than I thought I would, using it for caramelizing onions on a griddle, making gravy in a roasting pan, & of course for breakfast & lunch foods. It looked to me that Wolf had good reliability compared to other brands I looked into. Two year warranty too. I paid more in hopes that it wont fizzle out in a few years. I gambled on something unusual for a new oven & am so glad I did: a GE Profile Twin Flex oven. It's two small ovens in a single oven space. The lower oven is big enough for turkey or big roasts or simmering a 12 quart stock pot: more capacious than it looks. The upper oven is great for sheet pan meals, casseroles, etc. I'm impressed with how evenly it bakes, its quiet operation, the versatility of two ovens, how it doesn't heat up the kitchen. It has a probe feature, proofs dough, & a warming feature. If GE Profile's other ovens are as good, you should definitely check out that brand. https://www.geappliances.com/appliance/GE-Profile-30-Smart-Built-In-Twin-Flex-Convection-Wall-Oven-PTS9200SNSS