I disagree with him on the Thermador ovens. Every single one of the ones I've been involved with over the last 5 years has needed a warranty repair with a year ! Some have needed a recall and ALL of the built in microwaves have died. I'm not talking about hundreds of appliances here, but enough to see a pattern - and all have come at different times from different distributors in different states - so it's not a case of getting a bad batch. I agree with him that Samsung is not a good bet for fridges either. I'd stick to GE too, IF I were getting a regular type. NO way , no how would I get a Kitchen Aid anything - especially a dishwasher. First , you have to deal with the bozos at KA and their denial that there is anything wrong with their products. Just google the self cleaning oven fiasco and the dishwasher fires and floods. I understand that issues happen, but denying they exist and doing nothing abiut then for the saps that already paid their money doesn't sit well with me. Dacor came out with a dishwasher a few years ago and it was pretty much a disaster. Floods, ect...They halted production and ended up buying back a lot of the units ! They didn't blame the customer or their installer or tell everyone "uh, we can't find a problem" and then try to slip in a bandaid fix on the QT.

Time for an update. 5 months (to the day) after receiving the NXR, it is finally installed. I ran into issues with cabinets and after exploring all options I could think of, finally gave up and installed the NXR as is. No range hood at this time until a kitchen remodel can be done and that is simply not in the budget anytime soon. The space I had to fit the NXR in is 30 1/8 inches wide. So I was a bit nervous about that. The main problem we ran into was the rear legs digging into the linoleum and stopping rearward progress. The guy helping me had a great idea and we dry soaped a couple of yardsticks, put them under the feet, and slid the range into that tight space. The adjustable feet were not very cooperative. We removed the toe kick and sorta had access to the front feet and no access to the rear feet. We could get one side to adjust, but not the other. The feet would not budge. The mistake we made was sliding the range in place before testing the foot adjustment. So we ended up shimming the left side feet. And finding a level reference was challenging too. I ended up using the oven racks as they seemed to be different from the front lip. I see no signs of any damage to the porcelain. The range was well packed and arrived without incident. I ran the burn in process. That is definitely stinky! And I am amazed at the burner control. From high, there are 3 steps ending in a simmer that looks barely enough to warm your hand. I had to turn off the kitchen lights just to see the flame at simmer. I bought a ChefAlarm and rack clip from Thermoworks to calibrate the oven. I hope to have time to do that soon. Testing oven accuracy Here are some pics of the burners. In the 4 burner shot, the lower left is high, then 1 click down going clockwise until the bottom right is at simmer. So far, I'm quite pleased with the NXR. I just need a new kitchen to go along with it! Edit: one thing I noticed (and it may be entirely normal) is that 30 minutes or so after doing the burn in process for the oven, the top of the oven door and the lip remained too hot to touch. Is that normal?

We enjoy Costco's short rib meat. Since there are just two of us, a couple of strips will do for our supper, so I brown all of it and freeze the rest in ziploc bags for future meals. We've had good luck with their filet mignon, and the pork chops too. It's best for me to go into Costco without a cart, and I try to stick to my shopping list, but it's not easy.

I haven't looked at Costco prices for probably 5 or 6 years so I won't comment on their current pricing. But when I was there the last couple times I did some random price checks on some common things I purchased. Examples: Dawn Dish Liquid, huge jug, must be cheaper right? Nope. Cheaper (per ounce) at Walgreens! Plus Walgreens would accept a coupon for it which made it substantially cheaper, plus I wouldn't have to buy a gallon at a time. Another plus, the bottle is much more manageable. Tide laundry detergent. Cheaper at Target and K-mart, plus they had more varieties if that's important to you. Shampoo? At the time I was buying the bonus size White Rain for $1. ) Not even close. Coffee? Limited brands, larger size came to about the same price per ounce or slightly more. These were just some staple item examples that I did to get a feel for their "great prices" that so many people raved about. For me, I didn't see it as a viable option. Others disagree of course so they're doing quite well! I will also say that prices can be deceiving there. With the huge quantities it's hard for many people to really compare prices. Many items aren't conducive to unit pricing comparisons. Number of sheets of paper towels might be a different size or weight. And nobody has really mentioned spoilage and your potential losses there on the bulk purchases. Nor do people factor in the cost of the extra refrigerator or freezer to buy the bulk. It's part of the cost. And of course, instead of buying one or two candy bars, you buy a box of them! There's almost a cult-like following for certain stores, this one included and when you're almost brainwashed into thinking "everything is a bargain!!!" some can't wipe the rose tint off their glasses. So, while there can be some savings, the fact is it can easily be offset by overpurchasing. I was at the other warehouse store and needed some paper plates so I bought a pack, WAAAAAAY more than I needed at not a great price either. But I've had paper plates for about 5 years without buying more. Aldi would have been a better choice but I happened to be there. I hear the "I'm saving SO much money" but they don't know what they're actually paying so how would they know? LOL Gas usually is cheaper. (Occasionally it's not.) It's true you'll probably spend a lot more than you expect. But when you look at what's happening, you'll understand why. You buy way bigger sizes than you generally need and usually want. So the price of paper plates is $15 instead of $2! (And yes I know you're probably going to have more plates so you don't buy them for a while but the point is, $100 doesn't go too far at these places!) I'm not criticizing Costco or the people who like it, but if your goal is to save money, be prepared. Have a price book and/or know your unit prices. Compare it rationally. If you normally buy store brands, and/or use coupons factor that in when you compare. And don't go there hungry! :) If you don't care what you spend, then enjoy your shopping. The warehouse stores have become almost a "fashionable" place to some people and I think that's why some shop there. One question for the Costco members with their cashback card: Out of curiosity, is Costco like Sam's in that the cashback earned on the card is in the form of a check made out to the store? Once I saw that you had to spend it there, I threw out the card application.