I've had a Gagg combi for about 18 months and absolutely love it. I had a Gagg convection oven in my old house which is what got me to look at this, since I loved the way that cooked. This one has the added benefit of being able to add moisture to roasting or baking, so it isn't an either/or set up. I often cook a quick dinner with only the combi steam, and don't even use the burners on my range. I've written about this before, but to sum up, you control both the moisture level - 0%, 30%, 60%, 80% and 100% - as well as the temperature. There's a cookbook and a "wheel" which helps teach you what to do. I use the 100% steam setting at 220 degrees for things like veggies, fish, poached chicken breasts and I like that fact that it begins steaming almost immediately. It's wonderful for boiled eggs. I've used it to cook meatloaf or ribs at 400 degrees and 100% steam - you get crispy, browned top but very moist interior. I recently did a braised oxtail dish on my stove top for the first step (since I was browning them) and then, the next day, finished it by slow cooking in the Gagg, I just measured one of my largest baking pans- it measures 17" by 12" and fits into the oven - it's tight by it glides in and there's enough room for air to circulate (because of the rack supports on the sides). I think that because it's a smaller size it's more energy efficient in terms of heating up and coming up to steam and maintaining the moisture level. But, I have no proof - just my gut feeling. I like reheating things in the Gagg much better than in an microwave - especially things like beef or chicken - they taste fresh cooked. I've done mundane things, like reheat pizza - 375 with 30% moisture - or refresh a stale baguette. I've roasted chicken - haven't done a turkey but based on the size of my roaster, I bet a turkey up to 15 pounds would fit. What do I use my microwave for? Reheating my coffee, popcorn, warming maple syrup. Not much else. I could probably do everything but the popcorn in the Gagg- maybe I'll experiment! LOL. In short, I use it instead of my stovetop, I use it for baking (pie crusts are great), I use it for roasting (with moisture to keep the meat moist and tender.) I've been surprised by the versatility and how often I turn to the Gagg instead of my range/burners/ovens/microwave. Last night, I roasted some cauliflower which comes out nutty and caramelized. I love to do meat - ham & cheese, sliced chicken & monterey jack, etc. - on an egg twist roll and bake it at 400 with 30% moisture. Yummy! Right now I'm reheating some roast chicken and stuffing from Sunday.

The convection steam oven can be used just like a normal convection oven though it heats up much quicker. With our family of four we use it the most of all the oven's (have a 30" Wolf below it and a 36" BS range). Almost anything we do for a dinner can be done in the steam oven rather than heating up and dirtying one of the larger ovens. It roasts meat and chickens the best of any oven using convection humid mode. Bakes bread excellent except for high heat baking (only goes to 445), use it for cookies, dutch/german pancakes, makes an excellent crust on any food. Don't get caught up in the 'steamed food' mindset, it's all convection oven when you want it to be. We do use the steam mode for veggies (we'll never micro them again), sometimes fish, though I do prefer fish baked or fried. It makes excellent rice and I've even done pasta in it (though not as handy as I like checking pasta in a pan for perfect doneness). It's the only way we make rice now. I've made custards in it, works great, no water bath. Reheating food is great, again no more micro for that. There are a lot of modes that make food more convenient to prepare. My DW likes to make hard boiled eggs in it (obviously not boiled), she just leaves them in the paper carton and steams them, got to be careful taking them out if not on a cookie sheet as the paper gets pretty limp. I made brown sugar (turbinado) bacon in it last weekend and it turned out awesome, nice and crisp in about 25 minutes. Like I mentioned we use it a LOT. It's a bit pricey for a rice cooker, or a micro replacement but for all the other things it does I would lose my 30" Wolf over the steam oven anyday of the week. For me the only limitation is the heat range as max is 445 but I do make cast iron pan pizza in it and it turns out wonderful. For normal pizza I crank the BS to 'beyond' 500, some breads want a higher heat. It doesn't have a broiler so having at least one oven with one works great. I have the Wolf CSO so do fill the water reservoir manually but that's maybe twice a week at the most and takes all of a minute. We've had ours over 2 years and still haven't used it to it's full potential. Once you get it you'll understand how great it is, it will inspire you to cook differently and more conveniently with better results over a std oven or microwave. IMO there s/b one in every kitchen, it's more of a workhorse than any other appliance.

The way I understand things, hard water is bad, because it leaves deposits. Contaminated water is bad, because the contaminants can clog things. Demineralized water (distilled or reverse-osmosis) is bad, because complete lack of minerals makes water more prone to corroding metals. And acidic or alkaline water is similarly bad. So, ideally, you supply soft clean tap water. Where that isn't available, an ion-exchange water softener can remove hardness without removing total amount of minerals. And a carbon or particle filter can remove contaminants, if applicable. These restrictions are true for all kitchen appliances regardless of brand. So, switching from Miele to Wolf just because the wording in their manual is different doesn't actually buy you more reliability. Switching from plumbed to supplying suitable (!) bottled water would help though. And you can do that with either brand. And installing appropriate point-of-use water treatment would work just as well.

I went through the same question some years back. Miele has more features for the $$, so I originally wanted that, but at the time they didn't have a combi/convection steam oven that could take 208V (what I had), so I settled with the Wolf instead. And I must say, I've been really happy with it. It works, it's not fussy. Yes, it doesn't have the color swipey screen the Miele has, but I'm not convinced I miss that all that much. Would I like a broiler? I think so, as it is something I use, but I do have another big oven with the broiler (that unit almost always takes a backseat to the convection steam unit) and I can use that when I'm broiling something, so it's not too bad. I've kept tabs on the Miele, and I've discovered that considering that if you don't get a plumbed unit, the Wolf is more forgiving than the Miele on how much water is in the tank (I'm pretty lazy and never fill it up all the way, and the Wolf lets me still use it as long as I have enough water). If you really want to go into the details about adjusting settings, moisture level, turning on upper element broiler, you'll want the Miele, but if you just want to use it, I think you'd like the Wolf. I certainly don't regret having to "settle" for it at all.