CLKW, you can make your own danged matzah balls! Texas is a big place, so I don't know if this is hundreds of miles away from you, but they had Kenny & Ziggy's in Houston on TV. E-mail me if you need a recipe. I think you really need to research more on the manufacturers' websites. Read through the operating manuals and get to know the appliances before you make a decision. The portable unit Dan linked looks like a a good unit. When I landed here induction wasn't very popular in the U.S. so I wanted to try it and got the cheapest one I could get on Amazon (Mr. Induction). It was enough to convince me. Commercial units like Dan's have different kinds of controllers than home units do. This one has thermostatic control, whereas home units have levels numbered from 1-9 (some with half stops). Cooktek (also commercial) has 1-100. Zoneless, as has been said, is also different, though the controllers are similar. I forgot to answer up topic about the self-import. If you do that, talk to your insurance first about it not being UL listed and get a letter for your file (kept at your agent's office) that says it's okay with the company. Talk to your electrician about wiring. And talk to your local servicemen. I wouldn't go with the De Dietrich. People were self importing these all over the place a couple of years ago, but when things went wrong they had orphan appliances. Instead, if you find an AEG, for instance, that you like, talk to the local Electrolux service and see if they'll take care of you. There likely won't be a warranty, but if you need a fix make sure someone can fix it. And know that the timers won't work right because they use the frequency of the electricity to mark time and they're different here and there. My serviceman said to just make a conversion chart. Re steamers, the in counter is more like a using a bamboo steamer in a wok. The combi-steam oven is an oven which also has steam. Very different. The steam is the same, but the mode of cooking is different. You'd have to ask someone more familiar than I with the in counter steamer, but I'm not sure all leftovers will fit. They'd have to be shaped correctly. Plus, people have said that you can just put a plate of dinner for a straggler in the combi-steam to refresh, which you can't in a counter steamer. It's not a bad appliance--just be aware of what the different ones do and don't do. You can't stack three different brands of ovens three high. I think you're getting a little star struck. Okay, for getting a crisp crust on bread in a normal, electric oven, use a pan of water. For steaming vegetables, use a steamer basket in a pan of water on the stove. I suppose you could use the oven, but getting it right would be hard. You can also use a plastic steamer basket in a microwave, in a corningware pot of water, or a bamboo steamer basket in a wok of water. There are other ways too. In a Gagg combi-steam, put in perforated pan in oven. Oh! You might want to look into the KitchenAid Steam Assist oven. That's a full sized oven with some steam. Not as fancy, not as expensive, but a full sized oven with a trick up its sleeve. I don't understand this sentence: Can I get steam oven results by sticking a pan of water in the combi oven and using microwave and oven to cook my leftovers? Have you tried that? I haven't tried any of it because they're just finishing my kitchen now. The combi- doesn't need a pan of water, so I think there's a typo somewhere. I haven't used the pan of water with leftovers. If it's just for myself, I'm more likely to zap it if I want it hot (and often would rather have cold). If it's for more, I'll redecorate it and put it in the oven. If you want more info on reheating and refreshing with the combi-steam, search on Gizmonike. Re prices, I don't think the Gaggenau convection oven is all that much different from the Miele, especially since you're already at the top of the scale. The Gaggenau combi-steam is more double the currently available Miele steam oven because the latter is steam only. For the same price as the latter, you could get the KA. I don't know much about the KA, but it's an oven with some steam, not a steam appliance. You'd have to find out more, but I don't think you can just put stuff like veg or rice in to steam only. But I don't think you can probably stack it with the Miele either. A lot of it depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it. It's very hard to know when you're not all that used to cooking well. It'll be more fun and easier in your new kitchen, but maybe you should start trying these things now. Put a custard cup or ramkin or whatever you have with water in your oven and see what happens. Steam some stuff on the stove. Etc. Fancy tools make life easier, but everything you do is much easier when you know the basics behind them. In school we had to calculate cube roots and natural logs even though we had calculators and there were tables in the back of the math book. Same with kitchen tools, before you use a food processor, learn to use a knife. Before you use a dough hook, learn to knead. Before you use a steamer, learn to steam on the stove. That way you'll learn what things are supposed to look and feel and taste and sound like, and won't be relying on machines to tell you what to eat.

I did that exactly, ellessebee. I have the 240V OTR Advantium mounted above the counter. I also have 15" wall cabinets so it fits and works like a charm. I don't think there are any differences in the cooking features between the wall oven and OTR models. The oven cavity is pretty big, because I can fit a half sheet. There are two considerations you need to keep in mind. 1. The OTR does need to vent, because it performs a cooling function after using the non-MW functions. I have mine blow out the front, above the door. In hindsight, I would have run some duct up and over to the adjacent rangehood. 2. The door needs and extra inch of clearance on the hinge side (left) to open. When the contractor first installed it, the whole unit was flush with the cabinet and looked awesome. He was so proud of himself, as was I. I went to use it later and couldn't open the door. It also blocked the exhaust in the front. He had to come back and reinstall it by tacking 2x4s (actually measured 1.5x3.5) to the back wall and then installing it. Now it all works beautifully, while taking a slight hit in the aesthetics. Another benefit to mounting the OTR model OTC is that the underside is heat and moisture resistant. So my coffee maker has a permanent home under there where I don't have to worry about the steam damaging the undersides of the cabinet. Oh, and the built in light of the OTR serves as task lighting for the area underneath. So I also saved money on lighting there. This post was edited by jscout on Mon, Jan 28, 13 at 13:26

Does that heat up the room more than a standard oven? Heat has to go somewhere. It seems having the oven heat go over the cooktop instead of over the top and side of the oven door into your legs is preferable. Range hood can more effectively remove heat if it is over the cooktop. Any Pro's or Cons of convection? Pros: more even heat and faster cooking times. Cons: cost and many times you need to adjust recipe for faster cooking.

We're building a new house and the placement of the appliances is pretty much fixed at this point. We didn't have any idea of how tricky this would be. Speed oven, Steam oven plus 30" convection oven and induction cooktop. Where to put them all? And how to decide which manufacturer so that they all match, without breaking the bank? We're thinking that the 30" Convection oven will be the one we use least. The Miele Steam seems better than the Bosch, but that means we have to make everything Miele to match. Miele 30 " convection is a lot more expensive than the Bosch. And how many of you have a Speed oven and what do you use it for? Currently, we use a Microwave to heat a bowl of soup, or warm up coffee, or reheat leftovers. We roast a lot of chicken and use a Convection oven..same with fish. We're a retired couple so it's mostly the 2 of us, and wonder how often we'll have a crowd and use everything at once. Plus, we're moving to FL and will have a good grill with a rotisserie, so will have that option too. Also wondering about a plain Microwave +Combi Steam+ Convection set up. But we're thinking that for resale value, we should have a Speed Oven. Can any of you tell me which appliances you use the most and do you have any experience with Bosch cooking appliances? And has anyone out there ever installed a wall oven under a cooktop, rather than buying a slide in or built in stove?