diab123, We went through a very similar decision - we had (and loved) Miele MasterChef Speed Oven, Miele Microwave and Warming Oven. We remodeled and tore out the ancient in-island Chambers electric oven so we needed a 2nd oven (to our beloved speed oven.) We had a hard time justifying the retail price of the Miele over the Electrolux as the Elux is so well liked on GW. And, the MasterChef is even more $ than the Chef model (as you know). However, the dealer (whom we like) had a floor model 30" Chef that we got for an extremely good deal so Miele was the way we went - made it easy. To your questions: Europa and Classic is simply a difference in the handles MasterChef does get you rotisserie MasterChef also gets you Auto Roast which many here like. I believe I read somewhere that the 30" Elux is a little larger than the 30" Mieles All that being said, my DW LOVES the Miele Chef oven: 1) Everything she has made in it has come out wonderfully (I can attest) 2) It (of course) has the wonderful fingerprint resistant stainless which I think is a Miele exclusive and DW LOVES this feature. 3) It matches our other Miele appliances (although not a big deal - now that we have it - it is pretty cool). 4) We did not like (at all) the look of the Elux Wave Touch with the curved handle - this did not seem to bring the "high scale" look we were trying to achieve in our remodel. And, the Miele handles are straight - which means the oven would look different in that manner as well. So, we were limited to the Elux Icon Professional (with a straight handle) at around $2,700. We purchased our (floor model) Miele Chef for less than that so it became a "no brainer" for us. 5) When it is cooking away at 400 degrees it is very quiet and the cabinet sides are not warm at all - the front is also not very warm - can easily touch - it is a high quality unit. DW figured out a little trick since we have the MasterChef speed oven - if DW is uncertain what baking mode to use in the chef oven (this is our first convection oven) she goes to the MasterChef menu on the speed oven and figures it out and then uses that mode in the Chef oven - kinda cool. In our remodel the new oven has been placed on the opposite side of the kitchen from the other Miele appliances so we could have (more easily) lived with another brand oven. However, we are just as happy with the new Miele oven as we are with the Speed Oven. Best of luck - I really think the ELux Icon Professional would be a fantastic oven too - another issue - we could not find an Icon Professional in the entire Denver Metro area that we could even go to look at (I think for the $1,000 difference most people go with the standard ELux oven). Best of luck!

The rotisserie produces delicious chicken. Yes, it does require trussing but since it's rotating it's self-basting and wonderfully moist. The other way to do chicken that's a bit less messier and also delicious is to use the rack on the lowest runner with the drip tray underneath. Make sure the chicken is patted dry -- I rub it with some olive oil and herbs or spices. Put it in the center directly on the oven rack and use autoroast at 400 for 1 hour 10 to 15 minutes. No need to truss though doing so will give the cooked chicken a better appearance (not always necessary) and may make it easier to handle. If you like the chicken on the stand this one should be even easier.

Cool idea about countertopping the table! Especially if you do it in one of the metals you'll get a nice old/new contrast. (Can't help thinking artistically about your period kitchen--I mentioned the repros because they look cool, not for any thought they'd substitute for a couple dogs turning the spit :) ) While you're doing up your table, you could also make a simple box riser clad in the same stuff to hold your burners. That would give you "shelf" space underneath to stash a couple of tools, plates or the pepper pot :) Your idea of having two separate portables sounds great to me. If you're cooking a lot of stuff you might want the elbow room. I've been experimenting with the Mr. Induction, with is the SR-1881. It's easy to use, but I was looking for something to try out induction cooking, and use later for entertaining, or maybe (if I find some cheap pots) for my art studio, so I was interested in cheap and white (it was on discount). For $100 more you get 7 power settings but a range from 110°F ~ 440°F, rather than the 9 power settings and 120°F - 420°F range of the Mr. I. Since the lowest setting on Mr. I is lower than I've wanted, that end of the range isn't much help, though the extra approx. 20 degrees might speed up the boil by a few seconds :) My pots are mostly LeCruset. It's fun watching the whole pot of water boil, rather than the bubbles coming from right over the flame. It wasn't the superfast people talk about with induction, which is probably a power issue. The lowest settings don't have much flexibility. I made a great marsala sauce, but it made up faster than I'd like. The bottom setting isn't warm enough and one up is too bubbly. I had the same problem with some soup I just made. Medium is pretty darned hot :) The timer is great :) I think they all have that. For an experiment, I used my big oval 5 qt. dutch oven for the soup, which is way too big for the burner. (I wanted to see what happens when you don't follow directions.) I didn't notice any problem with the soup in the edges cooking, but when I turned my back on the too high simmer, I did get a burn patch right over the center circle, just as if it were any other cooking element. What was really great was being able to put a plastic jug of water for the soup right next to it and not worry about it melting :) So far my favorite pot, my 2.5 qt. Le Cruset soup pot, is my favorite pot to use on Mr. Induction, even though it has curved sides. One thing to remember about induction cooking is that it only heats where there's iron. Therefore, if your pots are clad all the way up the sides, it'll heat up the sides. If it's only clad on the bottom it'll only heat from the bottom. I'd think there would be uses for both!

Grandma had what I believe to be a 1945 O'Keefe & Merrit that I just revamped (not calling it restored, not sure I deserve that) but it does not have the grillevator, it has a long door on the left for storage only, an oven and a broiler, four burners and a griddle in the middle. Since it was missing the clock I bought a 50's on Craigslist ($75) and screwed in the clock. All of the knobs were better on the newer one so I'm having the old ones painted red as well as the old crumb trays painted red since the 50's are chrome, the red will be my xmas look! so I guess I'm ending up with a mishmash but it still reminds me of my great grandmother making goodies for us back in the 50's. I wish my mom had grilled some of the fish we ate everyday since our relatives were fishermen and we could not afford red meat or chicken, she vegetables and made it like a stew since it made it go farther, she served it with beans and rice since we live in Mexico and its what we ate back then. Anybody ever heard of abalone chorizo?, yep, we ate that too and lobster burritos, what I would have given for a juicy steak! All in all I love the look of my redone kitchen and all it took was some elbow grease and about $100.00 so far!