No real steam visible when hot. As long as you can see bb's of water going in, and as long as it really steams up at 200F, it should be okay. One caution is that you should really have a fine filter inline (Gaggenau sells one). At least in the early models, the water for the steam goes through an orifice that is only 0.6mm. I was verifying operation of my floor model in my shop, using a garden hose, and a small piece of something clogged it up after a while. I took off the side (just sitting on my work bench) and was able to troubleshoot and fix it. Lucky I didn't have to pull it out of a cabinet. Anyway, so far so good with the inline sieve/filter. Gary

Actually, I think the cavity is the same size. There's no difference between the 30" new one and the 24" one except trim, and the optional water tank instead of plumbing. I doubt the 27" has a different sized cavity from current by more than a centimeter or two, and is probably exactly the same. The opening of mine is just about 18" deep, 12" (usable) across, and 8" (usable) high. I can fit my graniteware roaster, barely, or my large (17") Pyrex baking dish. I don't know what the side racks are like on your model. Mine are C shaped pieces of stainless which are attached to the oven walls and the location of most of the hard to clean crevices. The others are around the drain, which is in the center bottom. Again, I don't know if yours is the same, but I doubt it's too different. You can make anything for a small, nuclear family in this oven that you can cook on convection. That's hot air only--no other heat source. Most things you bake should do fine. Maybe not a souffle, but even then you can cheat and use baking powder and salt to give it rigidity. The convection in the small oven seems a lot gentler than the big fan convection in the big oven--I assume because it doesn't have to be stronger for a small space. I'd be less worried about delicate baked goods here. Plus, add 30% steam and the weight of the air might (speculation here) counteract some of the ill effects of the blowing. A butterflied (spatchcocked) chicken will fit in one of the pans. A vertical chicken will not fit, and you wouldn't want to clean up even if it did because of the spatter. Similarly, you could fit a small turkey (I've never cooked one under 22 lbs. so most of them seem small to me...), but, again, because of the spatter, I'd use a roaster or one of those covered clay turkey pots that are supposed to be so good (they don't come in 25 lb. size!). I often cook for mobs. One can't invite A without B, C, D, E, F, and all of G's kids. The combi-steam is my smallest oven. Probably a similar size to some people's counter top "toaster" ovens (way bigger than real toasters). I usually have the main in the big oven (Gagg 30" single), the made ahead sides in the Advantium on convection, and the alternative main in the combi-. People rave about using the combi- for breads, and, as I said, I intend to try it, but my standard batch of challah is three loaves and they just barely fit in my mother's 27" Gagg single. They're a little more comfortable in mine. They don't like convection at all, but even if they did, I could only fit one in the combi- at a time, which means a smaller batch (hard to accomplish) or retarding the rise. This is also a recipe which can flow over if the yeast is too active, and a potential for getting into those danged crevices. The cavity size is that kind of European oven that is lovingly (not) known as Easy Bake. You really can cook anything that you can feed to the number of people who fit in a tiny European apartment in it. Like four or five. And you can bake in small quantities. Not necessarily room mother amounts of cookies, but you can even do that if you have patience and time. If you're not bothered by the crevices you can cook just about everything that fits, though there's no broiler. Oh, and you can't reach in and turn things or stir them or, probably, baste. Opening up isn't good because you let the steam out, but there's no room inside for hands, so you'd have to take things out to tend to them. I generally only use mine for stuff that can stay in without attention. In a suburban home, you really should have (or have room for an easy retrofit) a larger oven. For a tight little bijou flat with two chairs and a sofa, it's plenty.

I have 2 miele 24" ovens and had the same problem you do. I ended up with the 373's with internal rositsseries- in retrospect Id have bought one and a steamer. I dont regret for one second buying them- they are food processing machines extraordinaire (look at my review on epinions for detailed reasons) One can cook so much I rarely use the second one and only then because Im lazy. They can cook a deceptive amount of food because of the quality and usability of the rack systems and their heating properties are amazing as is recovery time from an opened door. 24lb turkey cooked to perfection with zero input in 3 hours and 30 minutes. The only problem is the price. Uncle Dave

Have you seen the long running threads about the Cuisinart on eGullett? Part 1 (Dec. 2013 to Oct. 2015) Part 2 (Oct. 2015 to now) Near as I can tell, there is a negligible difference in actual capacity between the original CSO300 and the new "N" model. The "300N" has a redesigned (removable) water reservoir for the steam function (removable to make it easier to clean). Also, the "300N" offers the convenience of a specific setting for "steam clean" (as opposed to running a steam cycle in an empty oven on the plain "300" model.) Seems to me the older reviews will be equally applicable to the newer "N" model. I have a smaller kitchen but have been tempted by the optional steam oven functions of the 300N. Tempted mostly because Costco.com carries it. Same price (and free shipping) as Amazon. The attraction being the Costco absolute satisfaction guaranty --- if you don't like it, return it for a full refund at your local Costco. Re your question about getting both the BSO and CSO: I see no reason for that. My take is that the tradeoff between the models is that the Breville SO has more capacity (i.e. will fit a standard ¼ sheet pan) while the CSO offers the option of steam oven functions (but still functions with the regular small oven functions you get with the Breville.) My hesitation has been that the capacity of the CSO (which I saw at BB&B) seemed a bit smaller than I wanted. Very much a YMMV thing, though, as indicated by the enthusiasm in the eGullet threads.