This topic has kept me up at nights. Like you, I hate using a big oven when a smaller one will do. So, I have decided on a speed oven--likely Miele, although GE and Electrolux makes them also--which is a microwave, convection oven, and I think/hope it toasts as well. They are a little less than a half-oven. I would go for the wall oven, warming drawer, and toaster oven/speed oven for you, and skip the double ovens. I think double ovens are great if you bake in large quantities where the food needs to be precisely cooked at different temperatures, but for meats and potatoes and such, the temperature differential is not really a big deal. It is easy to reduce/increase both the temperature and time and still have everything come out fine. A warming drawer is fantastic. Remember, with a convection oven, things cook faster, so for that occasional large meal, it is easy to cook many things and as they finish, put them in the warming drawer while you go onto the next item. Also, with 6 people in your house, you will have kids coming and going at all hours of the day. Rather than say, "Honey, let me heat up dinner for you," you can relax on the couch with a glass of wine and say, "Honey, your dinner is in the warming oven."

Gnatty--I think you're safe in buying a used machine. I see a lot of them at yard sales at very reasonable prices. I suspect that a lot of them were Christmas or Mother's Day gifts. Mostly very lightly used, if they were ever used at all. If/ when I need to replace mine, I will buy one from a garage sale. Not much risk when you're spending $10 or less second hand. If you have bad luck w/ the first one, you can just go buy another one and still come out $$ way ahead vs buying new. If you open up the machine & pull the bucket out, the condition of the 'well' the bucket sits in may give you an idea of how much the machine has been used. My machine is used for mixing/ kneading only. I bake in the oven. Prefer the bread machine for mixing & kneading because it is easier clean-up. I never wash the bucket--any little bits of left behind dough dry & flake off. Otherwise, I would have to use my KitchenAid stand mixer, have a bigger chore cleaning up and put more wear and tear on the mixer. My stand mixer is an old Hobart KitchenAid that I would like to preserve for as long as possible.

There is both an electric and a gas oven in my kitchen. My gas oven is ''old-fashioned'' (I believe someone referred to it as analog, because it has a dial, rather than a digital temperature selection) and the thermostat cycles quite a bit to work at keeping the heat at a particular temperature. It isn't as accurate as the electric, there is no window or light to view what's going on in there, and the gas oven takes longer to bake exactly the same thing as the electric oven. There is no convection with a gas oven, like with an electric, and if you've used a convection oven, you'll know what the advantages are. (I always preheat in convection mode, because it's much faster; I bake my pizza on convection as well as bread.) I know about this because I've tested both my ovens extensively. Yes, Velodoug knows exactly what he's talking about. I have a gas range mainly for the cooktop, and the oven for those times we lose power; typically in the winter during storms. It's my second oven, and a reliable ''back-up''. (No...Just like Doug, I don't turn it on in the summer months either.) My electric oven is better insulated, has a window so I can check progress without opening the door, and because the temperature is digital, it typically ends up where I want it to be. With a gas oven, you regulate a recipe by sight and smell, not by time the recipe states it should be done. If you're hanging out in the kitchen all day, or using your old gas stove to heat the room (like I used to 30 years ago), No Problem. It's Done When It's Done. Your Nose Knows. In the electric oven, my pizza recipe turns out the same every single time, and I know exactly how long to bake it to get consistent results. Not so with the gas oven. That doesn't mean you won't get good product; it simply isn't as accurate and doesn't bake the same way. You tend to get moist heat with gas, and there is a natural convection, but side by side, I'll go with electric every time. I wouldn't spend that kind of money ($7K) on any gas oven (mine is also a Lacanche), over a Gaggenau for what you want to use it for. (I don't have experience with other pizza ovens, so I only know about what I'm using. I thought you were asking for experience, not just opinions.) Typically, I preheat my oven to 550 degrees before putting in a pizza, which is done to a golden brown with perfectly charred cheese and a golden bottom crust in 8 minutes. I use my oven heavily for everything. Good luck to you. I know it's daunting to spend serious money on appliances that don't do what you want them to. I hope your next appliance will give you everything you want from it.

Hope it works out! Now that you have mastered Jim's bread and enjoying it, you might want to up-grade and try the Forkish pinch recipe. It is a bit sturdier and not much more effort. It can handle other grains. You can even use half for a Boule, then fridge the other half for dinner rolls, burger buns, pizza crust. It is also good the next day for a grilled cheese or toasted for soup. Freezes well. Jim's intention all those years ago was to bring a good loaf of bread easily into the home kitchen. Little advanced prep...no-kneed. Best warm and does freeze well for croutons for soups. Not the best next day. We don't find it great for tweaking and using other grains. Forkish bread can handle that. Especially soaking your grains for 12-24 hours. Letting them soak up any liquid needed to start the process becoming a plant. I often whiz in the blender to make a wet slurry before adding as a liquid ingredient.