We landed at Thermador through a bit of a roundabout route. Our kitchen designer had originally recommended the Gaggenau wall oven because the side swing door provided meaningful utility in our prior layout (the new layout will work OK with either style door). We had decided we wanted an induction cooktop and he recommended the Gaggenau induction cooktop because of its fairly shallow depth. We then went to a BSH showroom and took a look at both the Gaggenau and Thermador induction cooktops. We couldn't find enough functionality difference in the cooktop to support the significant price differential (the magnetic knob was neat but we are confident we can live without it) so decided to drop down to the Thermador cooktop. (We had also looked at Monogram, but shied away from the required 12" deep clearance to combustibles that unit requires). We liked the high power, available boost on all zones and generally low power sharing that the Thermador induction cooktop provides. We had separately decided on the Bosch 800 series dishwasher because of the top Consumer Reports ratings, the now available cutlery rack and reasonable price compared to most of the Miele dishwashers. Having then dropped down to the Thermador cooktop, on one of our final visits to the local appliance store, the sales person with whom we were dealing (who is excellent and knows his stuff cold) mentioned that if we were going to get a Bosch dishwasher and Thermador cooktop, we might consider the Thermador oven and dishwasher since the Thermador dishwasher is basically the same as the Bosch dishwasher. That's about as far as we've gotten. If there's another route we should be considering, nothing is locked in stone except: we would like a very good dishwasher (doesn't have to be the world's best, but very good and quiet is a requirement), we would like a 36" induction cooktop, we would like a good double wall oven and the double wall oven doesn't need any microwave functionality since we're getting the Advantium.

I got a Miele Chef Speed oven. The reason it won over Electrolux was due to the fact that I can do undercounter(E'lux does not allow undercounter) installation AND that it is only 24 inches wide. For me, the space constraint was very important. I thought the functionality was quite similar; minor differences here and there. MW function works like a standard MW... We use is as MW quite a bit to reheat food/coffee. My kids don't eat baked potatoes. With all due respects to the great potato race.... no need for that function. regarding above post....I have never MW'ed corn on the cob. I rarely use the MW to actually cook food. I don't think the food tastes very good when cooked in the MW, IMHO. We tend to roast the corn on the cob in its husk on the BBQ... Try that sometime. The corn is moist and sweet. It takes about 15 minutes but worth every minute of it. I have Viking gas range with gas oven. I find that the amount of heat generated from the gas oven is far suprerior to the Miele speed oven even though it has 240V for roasting vegies and meat. This is what I noticed years ago when I first transitioned from electric oven to high powered gas oven; higher heat output even though the temperature was the same. However, Miele bakes pastries better/more evenly than the gas oven. I actually love having BOTH gas and electric ovens. They behave very differently! The reason I got a Miele versus a MW with convection oven was its 240V baking ability. I am not sure how cookies/pies would bake with 120V convection oven. Does anyone know? The Miele bakes very evenly and functions superbly as a second oven. I bake pastries/cookies etc with the Miele preferentially over my gas oven. I don't use the Miele to toast bread. I like the toaster's ability to pop up the bread when done. If I use the Miele speed oven to toast bread, I have to watch it or "program" it for a few minutes. It just is too much trouble when I can slide the bread into the toaster and push a button. I still have the toaster oven on the counter, but the only time I am using it is for toasting bread.... We have not quite decided what to do with the toaster oven. The space is not a premium so we are keeping it for now. Hope my own reasoning/experience helps with your decision making. I did not get the Advantium because it really seemed to not work quite as well as a pure baking oven. It also seemed to have cavity that is not as tall. I can bake two full trays of cookies quite evenly in the Miele. I need to experiment with three trays.

In my last house I had an old gas double oven and a separate gas cooktop. I am a baker first and a cook 2nd. I always had beautiful cakes, cookies, breads etc. When we redid the kitchen I was disappointed not to have the gas double oven option (we were not looking at high end items -- I got GE profile electric double ovens and gas cooktop) At no point during that remodel did I think (or be told) that you can't bake cookies, cakes etc well in gas ovens. Now with this remodel all I am hearing is the difference in baking with gas is sub par if you want to do cakes cookies etc. and it is making me 2nd guess myself even though until the last couple of years I have always had a gas oven. The good news is is that I think the Wolf DF is really ugly and I really like the looks of the 48" AG -- plus it is cheaper -- and I know I can cook well in it -- only thing that is really holding me up is the no self clean -- I am just not an oven cleaner :-(

Thank you for your well wishes, Linda. I've decided that widowhood is definitely not for the faint of heart. I've been a member of the club for ten plus years and although I'm a strong and stubborn ole Yankee who tolerates living alone perhaps better than most...there are times when it's more challenging than I would wish. I have no children of my own and the very few relatives that remain are too far away to be part of my active life. My neighbors are a self-absorbed lot not open to sharing much of anything with their own let alone with a single old lady. I learned very early on that married couples of almost any age bracket in this area do not want to socialize with single women...no matter what their age. They're really rather a strange collection and one of these days before I take my final trip...I plan to write about this entire experience. I've lived all over the world and I've never seen a population such as this. I don't know if they're a sign of the times or just a local oddity. Unfortunately...I don't have the option of moving so I just meander through daily life enjoying it through my eyes...giving and helping where I can...and ignoring the lesser attractive parts. It seems to be working! I would love to have some Le Cruset pieces but with the glass top stove...and my own slowly failing eyesight...it's probably safer that I don't. It's beautiful cookware. :-) When I bought this stove I bought a new edition of flat bottomed cookware from Cuisinart that has turned out to be a wonderful asset. It conducts heat very easily and evenly...and performs miraculous fetes over very low temperatures. I think its performance is probably why I've never invested in a crock pot. But once the holidays have passed and shopping becomes less of a physical challenge...I plan to take a look at what's available just to satisfy my need-to-know. Happy Thanksgiving, Linda...and once again...thank you for your help.