I am also considering buying Gaggenau combi-steam and have a couple of questions. I've posted them already on the forum but somehow have not gotten any answers. I apologize for my repetitions, but I feel that real experts are on this thread and thus you may know. 1. Gaggenau combi-steam oven manual says that the oven cooks with normal pressure of the steam. I've contacted Gaggenau and received that as a reply: "Thank you for your email and interest in Gaggenau Appliances. I can confirm that our Combination Steam ovens are non pressure. Pressure steam ovens work by building the steam in a pressured and sealed cavity, although cooking in a pressured environment can cut down on cooking time it doesn't allow you to cook different food types to the desired and required time and also to maintain taste and nutrients. As different types of food require different lengths of cooking time the Gaggenau non pressure system will allow you to access the oven adding and taking foods out at different times to ensure the varying types are food are cooked to perfection whilst having them cooked and ready at the same time." Miele combi-oven does not say anything about steam, only mentions that if the door is opened, the operation stops, and pressure needs to be equalized. Do you cook with Miele in stages, meaning do you add things in the process? Can you please comment on it? Is there real difference btw Miele and Gaggenau ovens or not? And does it matter? 2. I also hoped that Gaggenau oven would have pull-out racks but it does not. Miele does. Gaggenau however has a side door. Will I miss the pull-out racks if I go with Gaggenau, or direct access to the oven ensures that I really do not need the racks? Thanks a lot! MTC

I agree about the potential dangers of putting it in an island. Bending down and opening the door with your face near, the way people do with an undercounter oven, could get you scalded. More than that, if this is a plumbed, rather than tank, model unless you have a basement underneath where you can sink the plumbing, you won't be able to make it work. That said, I wouldn't be without mine. If you stack the Gagg combi-steam with a Jenn-Air single oven you might need to make some accommodations for the plumbing. It can be worked around, but the Gaggenau single oven is designed to work with plumbing for the combi- coming up behind it in the cupboard. If that won't work with the Jenn-Air, you might have to send it through the wall or something. If this is a fully plumbed model, it's basically a sink. It needs a cold water line and valve, and a drain with a trap. Those are usually located in an adjacent cupboard. I don't think there's an aesthetic problem with putting two dissimilar ovens together. For the combi- you'll need a spacer between it and the regular oven anyway, and that should give you enough separation to say these are two different things. Unless.... do make sure that this isn't one of the aluminum ones. Those are quite blue. I liked the look, but got stainless because even though there's hardly any stainless in my kitchen, there was enough to make the blue aluminum look bad. Maybe it would be better to pair the combi- and the microwave (and you could get any microwave), and keep the Jenn-Air double ovens. :) Make sure you check out all the details about the installation with your plumber and/or GC before you leap.

@Sarah, I bought the 36" fridge/freezer combo (bottom freezer), and a 24" wine cooler column. The fridge has been installed about 4 years ago, the wine cooler still standing in my garage - need to make room for it and have been procrastinating. Also my better half developing a bit of a wine habit has not helped to incentivize me to install a full wine rack - unfortunately. Had 0 problems so far. It just freaking works. @JJ Mekai, in my experience you don't get a better longevity from any other brand. Don't know about Miele, but I did have to replace my Miele dishwasher (installed in 2007) about a year ago. The Gaggenau cooktop and vent hood installed at the same time don't even blink. I may replace some parts because they get rubbed off for looks... but functionally they are rock solid. Sorry... the hood had a snafu once couple years back. Circuit board replacement, cost me $350 to fix. The ovens, and they are used daily, as the refrigerator, installed about 4 years ago, knock on wood, are rock solid and seem to just keep on ticking.

Hi Kimberly, Great questions. I understand what you're trying to accomplish and would be happy to give you some input. In regards to the column refrigeration, going with the the Frigidaire branded columns is something I see many people do (when you don't want to spend $12-14k for the sub-zero's). That said, I would not recommend the Frigidaire "Gallery" series, and instead suggest you look at the Frigidaire "Professional" Series. The difference between the two series is in aesthetics of the door fronts. The Professional Series will have the 'Pro-Style' handle, which matches MUCH more closely to the Wolf/Bluestar range handles. I also think the surrounding trim kit accessory blends in much more with the pro-style handle than the Gallery series, which uses a flat curved handle (more euro style). Image of the Pro-Series fridge/freezer with trim kit. Two bits of info you should keep in mind when purchasing these: 1) The Frigidaire columns are not 30" wide like Sub-Zero... they are actually 32" wide (each). The trim kit will also add to the required width cutout in the cabinet. So if you want to install them side by side with the trim kit, your cabinet opening width needs to be a total of 66". Important that the cabinet maker knows this as it can alter the design/plans they came up with so far. 2) The stainless steel doors on the Frigidaire (gallery or pro) is Finger-Print Resistant. While this is no doubt a wonderful feature, the color of the stainless will be noticeably different than the stainless color of the Wolf/Bluestar (or any other brand. If the fridge/freezer are on a wall by themselves, without any adjacent appliances, you wont notice this really. But if you have another appliances right next to them you will definitely notice it. "Mind over matter", if you dont mind, then it don't matter! : ) Frigidaire Professional does not make a 'pre built, all-in-one' micro/oven combo..but they do make them as separate units which you can install directly above and below each other. You would have a small 1-2" piece of cabinet between them but it achieves the same thing. I recommend you consider these so that you have them match the fridge/freezer. Here is a link to the convection microwave oven Here is a link to the wall oven For the dishwasher..to be honest I am not a huge fan of the Frigidaire dishwashers. I've seen issues with them ranging from noise complaints to service issues and it's not something I would buy having the choice. You are better off buying a 'Panel-Ready' dishwasher which accepts a wood panel (that the cabinet maker orders) as the door front. It hides the dishwasher completely and you don't need to worry about matching it now with the stainless/handles of other appliances. Go with Bosch or Miele for the brand dishwasher. Both are rated incredibly well and are designed to take a wood panel and sit flush with the cabinetry (so you wouldn't even know it's a dishwasher at all!) Bosch will be less expensive by a few hundred dollars than the Miele without sacrificing quality. Hope this was of help to you, thanks. - Brian