It's Star-K certified for standard halachic use, meaning you can't insulate food against heat once Shabbat has started. You could leave it on a low temperature to keep your food warm for Friday night dinner, but once you open it, you have to take all the food out and not return any of it to the oven. However, you could turn the temperature up for a few minutes right before candlelighting to let the oven get really hot, then turn it off and let the residual heat keep your food warm. Then there's no problem. But there's also no heat. :-) Nor are you supposed to take cold prepared food from the fridge and warm it up in an oven or a warming drawer for Saturday lunch, because you're heating it in an insulated environment. That said, I know plenty of people who do use warming drawers and ovens in precisely that way. Consult your Rav on this; he's the only one who can say for sure.

We're looking at ovens for our kitchen remodel, so I'm curious to hear which ovens you folks went with and how you liked them. If Bosch's steam oven was as large as Miele's / Wolf's / Gaggneau's plumbed I'd go with Bosch. Sadly, Bosch's 1.4 cu ft steam oven is tiny (same as Thermador's and Gaggneau's non-plumbed), too narrow for our use. Also, Bosch's side-opening door only opens 90 degrees or so, not the 180 that Gaggneau's does. I'd rather lean over a hot door than worry about burning my elbow by having one right next to my arm. I do really like the Bosch Benchmark pull-down 30" oven, and I think it would match decently well with the Miele Combi-Steam oven if we went that route at 1/2 the price of Miele's 30" oven. Our first choice for steam oven would be Gaggenau, but at $8000 it's almost twice the price of the Miele. And their styling is so distinctive, we'd probably have to pair it with Gaggenau's $6000 regular oven. How is it that $2000 ovens now come with gliding racks, but with Gagg at three times the price it's a $400 extra?

I’m not sure my opinion is a huge help, since 1) I haven’t fully researched ovens in a few years now (thank goodness), and 2) I’ve become a bit jaded by spending for premium ovens to get quality, only to get problems. F&P and Wolf were my best baking ovens, but too many porcelain problems. My Gagg doesn’t have the porcelain problems at all, and, while I love the amount of control I have in choosing which elements it employs for what I’m baking, and whether it uses convection fans or not, I’d never pay the price for it again. -Mine was an outdated floor model, so a comparatively ‘good deal,’ but still more than I wish I’d spent. And a new one at new prices? No way. I’m pretty much fully on board with what 59 Dodge (Hi, Gary!) said above. Elux used to be a good choice, but I wouldn’t trust it now. When we first looked at ovens, Miele was my ‘If price was no object’ dream oven, based on their strict quality control in the manufacturing process, from start to beautiful finish. However, several years ago some very experienced bakers had some temperature issues that Miele didn’t seem to be addressing to their satisfaction. Also, my sister, a specialty dessert and wedding cake baker, bought on of their double wall ovens, and was never impressed as she thought she would be. The performance was ‘fine,’ but not spectacular, and she said they were small inside. So, this is where I part ways a little with Gary, I am not sure I’d consider Miele...although all of my concerns may have been addressed in recent models; I just don’t know. They’re pretty pricey and I’m less inclined to take expensive risks any more. Bosch is made by the same parent company as Gagg. We can hope that, but certainly not count on, they use the same materials or technique in coating their oven interiors. (They don’t have a stellar reputation for service, but then, with my Gagg oven or Bosch dishwashers, I haven’t needed to find out!) We haven’t seen anything here, that I know of, about porcelain problems...or, really, any other problems with Bosch ovens. Last I looked in person, they had roomier interiors than other brands and good lighting, and from what I see in current ads, their styling has improved and looks great. All this to say, I’ve decided that if I replace ovens or do another kitchen, Bosch is at the top of my list. If the baking isn’t as controlled as Gagg or as perfect as Wolf, but I’ve got GOOD performances, spent half (or less), and don’t have any hassles, I’d be very happy. Also, I had a JennAir ‘convection’ range about 15 years ago. It turned out not to be ‘European convection,’ but their own version that used another fan set up. Like you found with yours, it was all hype. When, because the oven vented hot air right in front of the electronic board for the cooktop, so it kept melting the wires, they gave me a partial refund. I replaced it with a plain, non-convection GE that did better 2-rack baking! So if that’s the kind of performance you’ve had, I’m betting the Bosch would be a big jump you could be happy with. Best wishes.

My understanding is that the silencer has to go before the motor (i.e. vent liner --> silencer --> motor). It's silencing the fan and motor noise, so it wouldn't make sense to have it after the motor. If you have enough space in the attic to put an inline blower after the silencer, then you wouldn't need an external blower. For us, the silencer barely fits between the attic floor and ceiling, so we had to have an external blower. The contractor was worried it would be loud outside (it's on the slope above our deck) but it's fine.