A side opening door on a wall oven is wonderful. When I was trying to find one, I asked about Gaggenau around here, and I was warned that it was hard to get parts and service, and they are pretty expensive to begin with. That may not be true in your area. Check around and see how available service is. Also be aware that new 24" usually have less interior space than old 24" ovens. I gave up a 1961 24" wall oven, and my new 30" wall oven has the same interior dimensions. Find out the interior dimensions - even if it means writing the company - before you buy one. Your catering DD will need to know if her cookie sheets will fit.

FWIW, I have Gaggenau 30" double ovens and they are wonderful for roasting, baking,(also has a rotisserie) and anything else you can think of...they are simply the best ovens money can buy. That said, they are expensive and depending on where you live, finding qualified service could be an issue. I have found their C/S to be very responsive as well. Alternate ovens would be Wolf.
Good luck!

Thank you Ginny20 and clarygrace, I will be sure to check interior space, and take a look at Wolf ovens. I'm in the SF Bay Area if anyone has anything to suggest for my area.

Gaggenau is an excellent baking oven.

Miele makes a 24" oven too but had a few problems a couple of years ago not sure if resolved.

KitchenAid makes one as well if you want something any repairman can handle although you will not find it difficult to repair a Gagg in the SF area.

Below is a out of box 24" Gagg with no damage.
$2499 plus freight.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GAGGENAU-24-SINGLE-ELECTRIC-WALL-OVEN-STAINLESS-STEEL-BO251631-/271006050406?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item3f19382866

However,if you do not buy from local authorized dealer Gagg will not recognize warranty,they may offer a goodwill repair but you will not have 3 year warranty.

Below is link to the premier authorized dealer in your area. Last time a saw one it was $3499 but prices may have changed in 15 months since.

Here is a link that might be useful: BSC Culinary

deeageaux, thanks so much for this. I don't think I am brave enough to buy without warranty, but I will take a look and also check out the link. This is very helpful.

The Wolf 24" is a steam oven. When researching new appliances, I was surprised how little interior room a 24" has.

I own a Cadco Unox countertop convection oven. I didn't do any research on it when DH brought it home from work (restaurant supply co) four years ago back in my old single oven kitchen so I can't say how it compares to anything else. I just needed a second oven!

I am not overly thrilled with it for a few reasons, some of which are probably my own fault. Because my old kitchen was small and counterspace was very limited during my busy cooking times when the Cadco was needed, DH set it up in the garage. It was my first experience with convection so I wasn't used to how it worked and didn't use it often enough due to its location to really find the sweet spot of fudging temps and cooking times from a non-convection oven. Consequently, I found the baking uneven and frustrating. While I was so busy in the kitchen, I didn't have time to run out to the garage to peak at the oven contents or rotate pans often. Some items on parts of the pan would be burned. Some items took longer to bake than they did in my regular oven. I was grateful to have it, but had to plan carefully what to cook in it while entertaining and planning a large meal to ensure I could serve a yummy meal on time.

We still own it, and I toyed briefly with the idea of keeping it even though I have 30" double Wolfs now in my new ktichen. With the warming drawer, I'm sure I'd never use it so we plan to sell it. HTH!

According to my Field Service Manager at BSH they have their own factory Gaggenau service technicians in the San Franciso area so parts or service should not be an issue.

Thanks, breezygirl -- I guess I have not even given any thought to how difficult it might be to convert baking times for a convection oven, I'll have to look into that more. And thanks to javkis for the encouraging words about Gaggenau service in the Bay Area. I have contacted BSH for a price.

"OR"

Gary

Beaninn, if you are in the SF Bay Area, do take your daughter to Purcell Murray in Brisbane for a cooking demo and time using the oven. They have a wonderful, well-equipped demo center for BSH appliances. They have free 2 hour classes where they will cook for you as well as schedule time for you to bring in your own food and try the appliances out.

We had a door issue with our Gaggenau steam oven and only had to wait a few days for the part to be shipped to our local service provider and then installed (under warranty). Our oven also was missing one of the included pans and a simple call to Gaggenau support resulted in it being shipped promptly to us. Support was generally excellent.

With Gagg you don't need slide out racks. You open the door and it stays open; you just reach in and get your pan.

Gagg 3.2 ct ft vs 1.8 cu ft capacity for Fagor.

Fagor has no self-clean(905 degrees in Gagg),proofing,temp probe,acutal temp display,air catalyst to clean air before discharging into kitchen etc etc etc.

Without slide out racks, one hopes nobody buys the Gagg and installs under counter. It sure would be a job to do a turkey with same, come Thanksgiving. One would need a "wench" to wrestle the turkey from the oven numerous times for basting etc. As Mojavean said, those side opening doors are a great way to see how "break and dent resistant" your flooring is.

All the Money Gagg charges and not even slide out shelves, Yep, "It's the best Money can buy", alto a "Wench" might not be that bad of an idea, especially one with blue eyes and blond hair!!!

Gary

I have heard the new Gaggenaus will have easy slide out racks. My new steam oven with broiler arrives next Monday so I will ask and report if the easy slide out racks are true.

I wasn't trying to imply that the Fagor has all the features of the Gaggenau or that it's as good, only that I think it's a bargain for $850. It doesn't have decent interior lighting either, or a pizza stone option. But I'm fine without self-cleaning which I hardly ever use (or need) anyway.

It's true that a side-opening door alone makes it easy to walk right up to the oven and insert or remove your food, without having to lean over or around an open drop-down door. But it's still easier sometimes to slide out the rack and drop your tray on it, or pull your roasting pan directly upwards after you've rolled it out.

I you want something with steam and convection, other options would include the Thermador ME5201 which runs around $3,000 and the Wolf CS024 which is probably in the same price category. Though you will get steam cooking, the interior is smaller since it needs to hold the water container used to supply the steam. Both have the drop down door.

lee676 or anyone else with a Fagor: Can you comment on the broiler function please?
TIA

i wish i had a Fagor 24". It's a lot of functional items at a great price.

I would like to replace my old 27 inch kitchenaid wall oven/microwave-convection unit. I keep putting it off due to the fact I am frustrated that there is no way to fit a larger unit in the space and my famly cooks and bakes quite a bit. If anybody has suggestions...I know a few people who have put in Dacor (Is that considered one of the better brands?) I saw I can get a Gagenau steam convection combo (24 In) on Amazon for $1700...seems cheap...is this a worthwhile unit?

I put in a 27 in. Gaggenau steam convection and a standard Gaggenau oven. I use both, and I use the steam oven most often as a re-heating oven. I like it much more than a regular microwave, thought it takes longer.

I bought both as discontinued (but unused) items, and I haven't had any problems.