Do you have an appliance showroom in your area? I don't think there is anything that beats actually touching and feeling the appliances and seeing what you like.

When I was selecting appliances, I went to a showroom with my kitchen designer. She did not influence me in any way - she wanted me to form my own opinions. I knew that I wanted a gas range with the ovens underneath - 48" - as my wall space is limited and I did not have the set up for wall ovens (and didn't really want them).

I looked at Wolf, Dacor, Viking, Thermador. Two factors to consider for me were the knob/display set up, as well as the griddle set up (we are going to have 6 burners and a griddle). I did this in March, so it is a bit fuzzy now, but I remember that each brand had their own griddle set up; a friend of mine chose Thermador simply because she liked how the griddle could be removed and cleaned. I seem to recall that Dacor did not have a built in griddle, but you had to use something that you put over the burners.

I also looked at timer/controls. Dacor had great controls that were more electronic (for the oven), but this came at the expense of oven space in the height (I seem to recall that it is wider, though).

I really liked the Wolf burners the best. I do cook a lot, and the ultra low simmer function is wonderful.

Bottom line, after looking at all of the choices, I really liked the Dacor and the Wolf the best. In the end, I went with the Wolf. After spending all of that time looking, my kitchen designer told me that her clients almost always come away with a feeling towards one of the models.

On another topic, I am interested in your choice of fridge. Until yesterday, I was planning on doing the two 27" subzero side by sides, but now I am leaning towards the 48" subzero. When I first moved into my current house, it had a 36" side by side subzero that I hated with a passion - both the freezer and the fridge were too small. So I have a negative feeling towards side by sides even though the 48" is a totally different thing. I really like my 36" fridge over freezer, but the freezer drives me crazy as it is so small.

P.S. - From what I understand, the appliances that you mentioned are professional grade, so if you are a big time cook/cooking enthusiast, you might notice the difference, but if not - you will probably be just fine with the Kitchenaid. Another thing to consider is whether you want your kitchen to be more in line with the neighborhood for resale purposes. This is probably why your builder is recommending Kitchenaid. I replaced my 20 year old subzero fridge (it died) with a kitchenaid fridge 2 years ago, since we are putting this house on the market soon. I also got kitchenaid double ovens. I have been really pleased with the fridge. The ovens not so much, although now that I am using the convection setting more frequently, I am liking my ovens much more.

I cook a lot, and my kids cook every weekend, so to me the professional grade appliances are worth the extra cost in the new house, plus I am doing the kind of kitchen that is typical (and expected for resale purposes) in the area where I am building.

From what I recall KitchenAid only has th 48" range in dual fuel and that ones north of $8k. For that price, you can have the Capital Culinarian or Bluestar RNB. I prefer open burners but if you prefer sealed, Capital and DCS are both options as well.

I think you are totally right- I need to go to some more appliance stores, and with a more neutral person! I am really being strong armed into certain directions by the guy who helped me (who works with my builder), and that bugs me. I do not have a kitchen designer...I'm starting to think I need one but I don't know any good ones.

We have a 36 inch side by side in our current house and I hate it!!! It is tiny and neither side holds anything. I am hoping that the 48 inch will be a different story, and I like the organization better with a side by side.

spider96 it has often been written that a good kitchen has two of whatever you use most, one at each place where it will be used. Two cheese graters if that is what you use often. Two pepper mills. Whatever.

In other threads where they claim to want the best but not to show off, you may find I've expressed an opinion about having two of everything, in terms of appliances too.

One thing that constitutes wealth in all cultures since time immemorial is the peace of mind that comes from having the best insurances, the best security practices, the best failsafes already set up, so that no matter what happens, you are still able to function and operate at a high level almost as before.

Having a single 48" fridge is not my idea of using money wisely.
Having two fridges is more my strategy.
One could be a foreign make and perhaps the best value for money possible: e.g. http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/LRBP1031.html
The other could meet totally different criteria of power and function.

Often the weak point in fridges and freezers are the chilled water and ice making.
Stand alone single purpose devices are better than combination devices.
One more thing that constitutes wealth is the knowledge that you are not going to be bothered by your purchases needing servicing.
Consider getting a separate chiller.
Consider fridge/freezers that don't make ice.
Consider getting a chest freezer since they do one thing and only one thing, and extremely well.

For ovens and cooking, I'm more flexible in my outlook.
Whatever you want will be fine by me.

: - )

More later.

HTH

You can always buy the Wolf with optional black knobs.

And the standard grates not the wavy grates.

It will look like a standard pro-style range.

If you want high performance without a flashy name then the open burner Capital Culinarian is for you.

The only real advantage to sealed burners is cleaning up sauce that fell directly on the burners.

At least in my kitchen that does not happen very often and although more difficult it is still not very difficult to clean on an absolute scale.

Here is a link that might be useful: Capital Culinarian

Also, let's be honest with ourselves.. part of redoing a kitchen *is* about showing off. When we are done with our kitchen, you can be sure we'll be entertaining a lot just to show of all the blood and sweat that went into it. So what!?! Tell your contractor and *his* appliance dealer to take a flying leap. Or to be nicer, thank them for their advise and tell them you've made up your mind. Never forget that they work for you.

Ok, you don't want to be showy but all appliance manufacturers are trying very hard to make their ranges look "professional". Honestly, if you take the emblems off, most of the people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between viking/wolf/KA/GE. Give me a bottle of spray paint and I'll turn the KA knobs read for you. That use to be a signature of Wolf but now everyone offers red knobs.

Now let's say you buy a Captital Culinarian because you felt it provided the best performance. Your neighbors come over and say wow, nice kitchen... I think I've heard of Capital. Aren't they expensive? You say. Actually not any more than a Kitchen Aid but I chose it because it has the best performance. The conversation will likely end right there if the person isn't very interested in cooking. With someone who is, you can expound on the advantages of open burners and how powerful the burners are. Now instead of being showy, they realize you did your research and bought the best range to cook on. It just happens to look really nice too. Oh, and it doesn't cost any more than an equivalent KitchenAid... smart!

Actually, if you got a Capital you might have people asking why you didn't get a Wolf or Viking? That was one reaction I got when people saw my DCS range for the first time :-)

Yeah, loved the look on people's faces when they saw that I'd replaced my Viking 6 burner sealed cooktop for a Bluestar 5 burner open. It's obvious most thought it was a downgrade at first. Most ask why I did it and once I explain about open vs sealed burners etc. In every case, the people who own sealed burners nod when I tell them that I could never use my most powerful burner with my sealed Viking because all the the heat went around the pan.

Several of my friends have told me later how they hate me for explaining that to them because they'd always thought that the large burners where too powerful to use. Knowing that it's because all the heat is wasted up the sides drives them nuts. To which, I respond.. "My job is done."

Be sure and check the specs on the the 48" fridge as well. Because it is not as deep as the standard 36" inch counter depth side by side, you don't have nearly as much storage space.

The 48" SZ will give me less than 3 cubic feet more than my current fridge standard counter depth GE Profile for 10k more. The freezer is about the same (maybe 1 or 2 cubic foot difference).

We designed our laundry room with room for an inexpensive upright freezer, as I do cook in bulk and buy in bulk often. The 36" fridge with freezer drawers (both SZ) and a stand alone freezer in the garage or laundry will cost you about the same but you will have 21 cubic feet of fridge and 20 cubic feet of freezer, or thereabout. If you are concerned about fridge space (I am, having 3 soon to be 200 pound 6'3" boys and a husband who is the same size!), this may be an option.

If you are concerned about what your neighbors might think, you can always put a panel on everything except your range - that way no one will know what you've got!

Hi We remodeled about 10 years ago, so I am not up to speed on current specs.

At the time we did our remodel, I was getting a 36 inch range,

The oven space in many, including Wolf, were not deep enough to accept a sheet pan front to back (meaning you couldn't fit 2 brownie pans or cookie sheets across)

I chose the Thermador all gas, and because the range is not flush to the counters, it is a bit deeper, deep enough to hold 2 sheet pans, or 1 big "lunch lady" full sheet pan.

So I wanted to mention so that you do compare the oven size on your options.

PS, Have been very pleased with our choice.