Christie, I have one of the older models of the Gagg combi-steam that I bought for about $2500 US as a showroom sample in the summer of 2008. (That was a lot of money on our budget!) It stayed in the showroom for six months, then in the garage for another six months until we were ready to install in the kitchen reno. I was pretty intimidated by it at first so procrastinated on actually using it, happy just to admire how pretty it looked! I finally got brave a few weeks ago, dug out that little paper wheel cooking guide from my box of appliance manuals, took a wild guess as to the settings, and cooked brown rice in it. WOW! Great texture and no boilover gunk on the stove! Then a few days later reheated half a quiche that had been sitting in my fridge for a few days. AMAZING! Crust was crisp, filling piping hot and still moist, like I had just baked it (maybe better!) I have also reheated dinner plates full of various leftovers, and each item comes out great with no stirring. Now, every time I think about popping something in my microwave, I consider the steam oven. I am not a gourmet cook but this unit is really interesting and inspires me to experiment. The neatest thing for me is my husband's enthusiasm about this unit. He actually has very little sense of taste and substantially reduced saliva due to radiation treatments 3 years ago. His enjoyment of food is based mostly on its texture and whether it "goes down easy." He has complimented me on every item I have prepared using the combi-steam and that made it worth every penny! Have fun deciding!

Well, sous vide cooking just refers to cooking the food completely enclosed (usually vacuum packed, hence the name) in a constant temperature water bath. So, no liquid can evaporate. After that, it's all about time and temperature. A good sous vide setup can maintain +/- 0.1 degrees for days across the entire food, much better than any oven. The temperature of the bath can be anything up to just below boiling. A Gagg combi set below 212, with 100% steam does exactly the same thing, just with a little more temperature variability. Actually, there is another difference: cooking at thick slab of meat at lower temps can take hours (sometimes more than a day, which is also why one might want to double check pasteurization charts), a sous vide setup is much more energy efficient than an oven and won't time out on you like the Gagg might. For meats, the temperature chosen can be as low as the desired internal temp when finished. This way it is impossible to overcook the food (it's OK if it sits in the bath after it meets the required internal temp, it'll just hold at that temp) and 100% of the meat is rare (on a grill, going for rare, only the center is rare, the parts of the meat nearer the surface are typically more medium to well. This is why rare-meat lovers go so gaa-gaa over the process - they get more of what they like. If the sous vide meat you see prepared is rare or rare-ish, that's because the cook chose to finish at that temperature. There's nothing to prohibit setting the water bath to the temp needed to cook the meat well done (since well done temp is also below 212). But because rare is in and because this techniques shines for that level of doneness, that's usually what you see. I think there's also a dismissive idea among some foodies and chefs that well-done meat lovers don't care about quality, so why bother using the sous vide technique for them, we'll just throw that rare piece on the grill and dry it out and till it is cooked through and through. Heck, why bother even starting with a better piece of meat for them in the first place -- just grab that uglier slice and use that. Our family members are mostly rare meat lovers (yes, even lamb and duck), but I don't think snobbishness about it is warranted and I do see the problem you face. Now, it's also true that using only sous vide you can't get any sort of crust or maillard reaction. Why? This requires the surface to be dried out. The real cooking geeks have an uber cool technique for this problem as well. The problem being: how to make a crust as thin as possible so the meat just under the surface is not dried out and doesn't cook any further? Well, take your perfectly cooked but crustless and ugly looking meat slab, dip it in liquid nitrogen and then drop it in the fryer. Time it right and only the very surface will get crisped up.

I don't know the answer but I am curious. if I were you (and having the benefit of hindsight) I wouldn't hesitate to call any of the Miele USA "Experience Centers" and ask to talk to any of the design staff. If you are in the US start with the Princeton, NJ center, their US headquarters. Even better if you can get to a center. The staff at these centers are a world apart from anyone you'll encounter at any appliance dealer, they use the products for demos and classes and typically have the appliances in their own homes. And it's their job to know the details on what you are asking. And report back and let us know. P.S: A little searching and I found this: https://www.mieleusa.com/media/ex/us/PressReleases/2021/9.2021_Generation_7000_Launch.pdf. Food View sounds interesting. There's also this thread: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6229141/miele-7000-series-speed-combi-steam#n=10 Advice on calling the experience centers still stands.

Sounds like you have thought out aspects of your cooking and are on the right track. Your choices sound great. If you have a pantry you can always put a small mw in there if you need it. That being said, I still have a hard time at the thought of giving up a mw completely and am installing a mw drawer as well as the larger cso Miele oven and a wall oven. (I envy you your lacanche though) I like the idea of the miele cso as I like the convenience of the plumbed model and know that I will love the ease of the directions and programming. Someone here mentioned that with the smaller model you can't fit multiple racks of taller items in the smaller ones. so I felt this is a good area to splurge and go larger. As to your comment about enjoying cooking more in a beautiful, convenient space that is indeed very true. The kitchen that I am planning a renovation has such limited counter/prep space, limited storage space and a crappy oven. It is so frustrating to cook in it that I HATE cooking now. Cooking in that kitchen is like trying to build a house with a nail file and a pair of scissors. I just came back to my "real" kitchen in my other home and it is such a different experience to cook when you have the space, well thought out cooking zones and good appliances. My only other advice is to think about how you cook and the steps taken between areas. I divided my kitchen up into zones and it is so efficient. I have general everyday prep with frig, mw, speed oven, cooktop, clean up,, trash and dw and storage all within a few steps near a casual eating area. Then I have a baking zone, for storage and prep of all things baking related near the ovens, a wrapping and food storage container zone, pantry storage, entertaining zone ;entertaining clean up with an additional dw, tras and sink and storage for those dinner services and flatware services there and so on. (Hope that makes sense. )