Victoriajane, I have had a 36" pro-style DCS range and a 24" GE wall oven. I use the GE for almost everything. I used to make a big turkey in my range oven, but have switched to making smaller ones (which I do at the beach now anyway in a 30" range oven) so now the only time I use my big oven is when I bake cookies. I'm replacing this range with a Lacanche Volnay, which doesn't have a huge oven and supplementing that with a 24" Gaggenau wall oven. I won't miss my huge oven at all...if I bake cookies, it'll just take a little longer since I'll have to use smaller trays. Maybe I'll even learn how to do them using convection so I can bake more than one tray at a time (which is what I do now).

I had the same thoughts as you when I was researching ovens and really believed for a while that I needed the biggest one out there. But after analyzing how I cook, I realized it was a waste in my kitchen.

Cheri, thank you so much - that definitely puts my mind at ease. Now another question...I have a 33"cabinet in our island that is designated for a built in microwave. (We will have a large drawer for tupperware underneath.) Before I discovered this forum, I didn't even know there were such things as the advantium, etc. Now that I know, and considering I may want to supplement my 36" range on occasion (holidays etc), should I consider something like an advantium rather than a standard microwave? pros, cons? and what other models/brands are there? and how big of a cabinet do you need for a 24" oven? thanks!

I have a friend with an Advantium and one other oven. She still wishes she had a second oven. i was going to suggest that you get your "old-fashioned" range with one oven and do a wall oven to supplement. I even saw a book recently that had the oven in a cabinet behind a lattice door that folded back when the oven was in use. The kitchen was supposed to look English country--it did. I also saw appliances on Spice Up My Kitchen that are made to look old. They were in red. I doubt they were European (maybe). They were unlike anything I have seen before. More like they were from the 40s. Pretty cool. Don't know the brand...

Ok, just saw something like these on www.lehmans.com.

good luck!

Do you want something like this?

Here is a link that might be useful: range on ebay

the appliances kelleg was talking about are Heartland appliances classic. They are gorgeous.

Heartland appliances are also available at Abt. They have a cool website with a lot of info and really helpful customer service if you call on the phone. I am a satisfied customer, that is all. I use their website for research, I have considered the Heartland Legacy series in the 30" but I think it is a bit pricey for me unless they can move on it when I purchase the rest of my appliances.

Remodelfla, yes, that is the fratelli which is one of the models I'm considering. There are at least two satisfied owners here on GW, and the price is certainly right. Two reservations: burners are quite low (but again, probably fine for my needs) and I can't find one anywhere that I can look at in person. For that price though, taking a leap of faith is tempting...

kelleg, cookie, and owls4me, it is good to hear positive comments regarding Heartland...not a whole lot of information out there. I am actually interested in the Legend range, not the classic (the Legend is the one that looks like it came out of the 1930's or so.) The only thing I don't love about it is the electronic control pad for the oven. Looks so solid, though.

When working in the kitchen I appreciate things more when I use them and they work well than when I look at them. :-) I have seen some great kitchens here whose style integrity hasn't been hurt by including modern looking appliances in a more vintage look. Your vision for your kitchen is what counts, but also include the vision for what you want to accomplish and how.

I don't think you need to be a pro or a gourmet to appreciate adequate power for recovery time and decent heat up time (like for boiling water). I would be concerned for going with looks over performance, but I've never had gas before getting my Wolf rangetop, so don't have a lower powered gas experience to compare to. I think it would really bother me to have burners that were half the power of the rest (looking at the range linked above), but it depends on how many you'll use at a time and what size pots and pans you use, too. To me, worrying about that stuff was the advantage of going to gas over the electric I'd had before.

I hope you find something gorgeous and that performs as you need.

I was thinking along the same lines as Cheril in that the smaller oven cavity of the Euro models probably won't interfere with what you'd want to do.

I have a GE Monogram 36". The oven is massive, but I am only ever putting into it my roasting pans, cookie sheets, etc. that I already owned when I cooked with my previous range, a standard 30" KitchenAid. The real gain for me with the 36" is the four burners on top and the griddle, and the HUGE gain is the low low simmer I can get on any of the burners. This is my favorite feature of all.

I think you are smart to go for the look you want and you shouldn't feel pitiful whatsoever for caring about the looks... after all, I am sure you are putting an arm and a leg into this, why shouldn't it meet your vision?. Obviously you want a functional kitchen that does what you want it to do but within that you can choose the appliances, tiles, finishes, colors, etc. that will achieve your look. The looks and the function aren't two mutually independent options - you can have them both!

We have a Lacanche Cluny 1400 range which has 2 small ovens and a warming cupboard. I fretted over the oven size for months before ordering. I can now say, it was not worth all those sleepless nights, as the size is fine. We cooked a 13lb turkey w/o any difficulty at Christmas and could have cooked a bigger one if we wanted. As for baking, I did have to get some smaller baking pans (of course loved the excuse to get new pans) and have made cookies, brownies, pies over the holidays. I will say if you are a huge baker, making dozens of cookies at a time, a larger oven is a huge asset as you can bake them in larger quanities, but for the kind of baking I do (2-3 dozen cookies at a time), it is fine. I would go with the look you love and not worry about 4 cubic feet of oven size.

Why not save some money, get more storage space, and go with a 30" range? 30" is plenty big enough for a 25 pound turkey if you feel the need to feed the whole block. I have the GE Cafe, and it's a great compromise between a "consumer grade" and "pro grade". The 18K btu burner does the high heat cooking great, and goes down to a nice simmer. The griddle works great for pancakes, quesadillas, grilled sandwiches, and reheating pizza. Need a second oven? You've got one! Instead of a lower storage drawer, you've got a second oven. It's perfect for casseroles, bread, or even a pork loin roast. It packs a lot of punch in a small space, and small price. YOu could use the extra 6" (and extra $$ you save) and get 2 3" filler pull outs for spices.

If you want color, you could do what a client of mine did and have the oven door powder coated. (He chose red.) I think that cost him around $400. I was seriously thinking of copying his idea myself, if I could figure out which color I'd never get tired of.

Hi Victoriajane--
have you called eurochefusa (fratelli distributor) to see if they can direct you somewhere to look at the fratelli?? That's what I did and was shocked to find a wholesaler literally 2 miles away who had one in his shop. He doesn't market heavily direct to consumers and works out of an industrial park so he had escaped my radar. Eurochef might also be able to hook you up with a satisfied owner--if you were near me I know I'd let you try mine :)
I was concerned about oven size too when shopping the berta and fratelli (berta oven is slightly smaller) I took my largest pans into both showrooms and put them in the oven, adjusted the racks etc. I fit a 24 lb turkey at Thanksgiving no problem in my largest roasting pan and can fit 3-4 9x13 pans in the oven at one time properly depending on what I have in them and how they need to be arranged. I could only get 2-3 in the berta. The 36" wide provides a bigger oven left to right than I've ever had, but the european style ovens are not quite as deep front to back. The nice benefit with the fratelli though is that it is literally counter depth. It looks fabulous and the front of the stove is even with the front of my cabinets and doesn't stick out at all. I don't think you need to be embarassed at all about wanting something that is not only functional, but looks nice/fits your vision ( a pro range is certainly gorgeous as well in the right environment). I love to cook, think I'm pretty good at it, and it makes me really happy to be a good cook on a pretty stove :)

I absolutely love the lacanches but they were out of the question from the beginning due to budget...

Good Luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: EurochefUSA