I went through the same exercise a year ago and chose the 36" Wolf cooktop, a Wolf single oven with a Wolf convection/microwave on top. I have been using them for four months and am very satisfied. I chose the cooktop because (1) Wolf has a good reputation for quality and service, (2) I liked the layout of the burners, the placement of the knobs on top and the backlit indicators that a burner was on, and (3) the appearance of the grates which are very solid. I was also influenced by the fact that we are using propane and Wolf makes both an LP and a NG version, rather than having the system retrofit by an installer, which is true for some brands. I cook a fair amount but don't need all the burners to be high BTUs as they are on the range tops. I purchased a separate All Clad griddle which straddles two burners nicely. Previously I had cooked only on electric stoves. The one thing I notice with the cooktop is the need to be careful not to turn the burners too high or the flames come up the sides of the pot and cause scorching. It may be that the Thermador star design is better in this regard as the Wolf burners appear to heat the edges of the pot faster than the interior of the bottom. However, the simmer is fantastic. It never needs to be adjusted. The ovens were a more difficult choice for me. I went with the Wolf in large part because of appearance. My ovens are placed next to the Sub Zero fridge and everything matches nicely. The regular single convection oven is a good size. It bakes and roasts well; the broiler is nothing special. I have put three trays of cookies in at once and they all cooked perfectly. You do have to remove the racks for cleaning. Some GE ovens are attractive because the racks can stay in. I notice that there is much more spattering of grease in a convection oven than my older conventional one. Therefore I remove unused racks when roasting meat or poultry. The controls look complicated but are actually fairly intuitive once you go through them once. All in all an excellent choice but I am not sure the performance is any better than less expensive ovens. I was unsure about the convection microwave. It is, as Wolf readily acknowledges, a Sharp or Panasonic product with an expensive trim kit. The exterior is black plastic and not up to the standard of the regular oven. However, the microwave works well. It has about 100 watts less power than a regular microwave but that does not seem to make a huge difference. I was surprised that I use the small convection oven as much as I do. I use it for warming bread or leftovers and cooking small pieces of fish or chicken. It heats up quickly and is probably much more energy efficient than using the large oven for these tasks. It worked well for baking a single pie crust but I use the larger oven for cakes. I also use the convection oven for warming plates or holding side dishes as I did not get a warming drawer. Hope this helps. Wolf was a good choice for me but I am sure there are other options.

Thanks for the feedback. I really don't know why I am having so many issues/problems making decisions for this bathroom. Perhaps because we started serious DIY renovations on this 70's house 6 years ago, were going to add an addition for this BR and had hired and started to pay a design/builder who we basically fired after receiving an estimate of $70K to frame a 210sq ft addition! I think I went through a grieving process at losing my dream bathroom (life intervened, and we ended up helping our son buy his first home), and it took me over a year to actually get this project moving. So, good news, I just handed over my Visa, and I'm getting the Riobel system in brushed nickel with thermostatic valve and volume control! Emco also carry the Moen Iso line, so I'm getting all my BR accessories in brushed nickel too at less than the HD price in chrome, so I'm one happy camper. I went to a plumbing supply store, and asked them to give me a quote to compare apples to apples...so she knew without my saying so, that I had gone to another showroom. When I rec'd the quote this morning, it was lower for all items except the main valve, which was higher by $22. I told her it was good, except for the one valve, and she met that price. I wasn't pushy or demanding, just honest. I hope to be able to share that the Riobel system works great! Supposed to be very good, and I like the idea that it is a Canadian company, made in Canada, and I don't have to worry about shipping, duty and having to deal with a foreign company if problems occured... Glad I didn't have to give up volume control, my Brushed Nickel finish (which in some lines was going to be exorbitant), or my thermostatic valve! On to the next..gotta pick between two colours of my limestone lookalike porcelain tile...

A real hood, mounted under-cabinet, will surely be better than an OTR microwave oven attempting to perform kitchen ventilation. A real hood rated at 400 CFM, and not too restricted by the house's ability to provide MUA, given short duct to outside without too many bends, might flow 250 - 300 CFM. I am confidant that any microwave oven claimed to be 400 CFM is actually just a 400 CFM in open air fan buried in the MW's tortuous duct path. I'd be surprised if it could flow even 200 CFM net. Note that the 400 CFM MUA rule is for hoods ducted outside; if a filtered (surely) recirculating hood were used, there is no MUA issue. VaH make an expensive but reportedly adequate for real cooking ARS recirculating hood. It might not fit your circumstances. ralph_zone8_ncwrote: "I agree the microvisor is just an eyebrow but wouldn't it block the air from going up to the ceiling and surrounding cabinets and if I turn the vent of the microwave to pull air, wouldnt it be able to capture some of the air?" With respect to eyebrow capture, it will (temporarily*) capture any part of the cooking plumes that strike it. However, they will reflect out again into the room if the blower flow rate is not high enough. Flow rate needed to assure successful capture and containment depends on the temperature of the grease being vaporized and the area over which the grease plume is being generated and whether combustion products are entrained. I recommend for most a value of 90 ft/min under the entire hood aperture when cooking with gas. This corresponds to 90 CFM per square foot of aperture. The value 60 may suffice if an induction cooktop is being used. But please note from the Figure 4 table on page 9 of Greenheck's guide -- your needed (or at least recommended) flow rate (CFM) may vary. http://www.greenheck.com/media/pdf/otherinfo/KVSApplDesign_catalog.pdf ----- *Because this eyebrow has minimal depth, the blower flow rate in its vicinity will be less than the average over the capture area. Reflection, at least of hot grease vapor may be insurmountable with a microwave oven fan system. Water vapor might be adequately dealt with if it makes it that high.

This just recently happened to me as well. It happened over one month ago, and the smell is finally gone. Ugh! Here are the things I tried: 1) Wipe down the interior of the microwave with acetone based nail polish remover. This worked great to get the yellow stains from the popcorn explosion out of the white surface. 2)Scrub interior with baking soda, then with white vinegar. 3) Fill a large bowl with water then cut up a lemon put the slices in the bowl with some dish soap. Boil the mixture in the microwave for several minutes. 4) Every day when you're not using the microwave keep a bowl of baking soda in it, dispose of it and use fresh every few days. This is seriously one of the hardest problems to deal with. I think to truly rid yourself of the smell, you may have to take the microwave apart to wipe down the interior fan, etc. Since Im getting rid of my micro when I remodel and I'll have a new one it wasnt worth it for me, but you might want to try the other things first then use that as a last resort. Good luck, and Im so sorry you have to deal with this in your new kitchen. Yukk!