Hi. We installed a 36" 800 Bosch in November. The cost to upgrade our service from 40 to 50 amps was $450 - BUT that included the electrician putting in one new outlet in the kitchen plus installing a ceiling light fixture in the family room (both were run from existing outlets). His estimate for putting in the 50 amp line & breaker originally was $500, but it ended up to be less -- always a plus! We went for the 36" because we did just what others have suggested here: consider how we cook and what and how many burners we use frequently. We discovered that we often use three burners at a time (pasta boiling in one pot, sauce being prepared in another -- often a skillet -- and veggies cooking in a third). So we wanted some room to do that and the right sized burners to match the pans we use. Also, since we were going to use a downdraft (again) instead of a hood, we wanted at least one of the larger burners near the back. Additionally we liked that the Bosch had only one of the small 6.5" hobs -- some brands had two. That's a hob we knew we wouldn't use much. All in all, we have been very pleased with our choice. Oh, yes, we did have to cut back the cabinet sides a bit. BUT, since prior to this cooktop, we had a 36" Thermador radiant cooktop, the cabinet had already been cut. It's lasted for 14 years with no problem. We expect to get 14 yrs from this one!

Looking for pearls of wisdom from the community on 30" KA vs Bosch Microwave / Single Oven combination Pricing is near identical and I have no experience with either of these. Pro's and con's swing me back and forth constantly. I will be purchasing the matching 30" warming drawer as well if that will influence the decision I am only familiar with Dacor and your thoughts are warmly welcomed

I'm wavering between the NIT 800 series and the NITP Benchmark series also. The only difference that I can see is that Benchmark has the flex induction for $500 more and requires a 50 amp circuit instead of 30A. Both recognize and adjust to different pot sizes ("Pot Sense") and both have shut off timers for each individual hob. Combining two hobs to form a single larger heating surface seems kinda cool. However, I have grill and griddle inserts to replace two burners as a single surface and didn't use them (other than for additional counter space) after the novelty wore off. Which was quickly. My sister and her husband used her griddle and grill inserts a lot when they had 4 children at home. After that, eventually never. If I confirm that the only difference is flex induction, then I'm going to save myself $500.

I have a Bosch 500 that is about 3 years old, and it's just fine on drying -- there's still water in the crevices or concave areas. No problem drying plates, glasses, pots, or pans.....Plastics dry better if there are fewer of them in the load (i.e. a lot of plastics in the load will still have some water on them, but with only a few pieces of plastic in the load, they'll be properly dry)......that's because of the way the drying cycle works, without additional heat. I actually like that better - not only is it more energy efficient, it means I can put plastics in the bottom rack, because it is no hotter than the top rack (traditionally, plastics were meant to be in the top rack only, because the heat element was in the bottom). I've also found that not opening the machine right away when it stops actually helps the plastics dry better (I suppose because there's still enough heat in the machine to dry them).