Thanks dbabrams. Currently we do not do any of the holidays at my house. Travel out of State or to In Laws in town for all holidays. I understand I can cook an 18 lb turkey in the Wolf steam but have to bisect it. For what its worth, there are only 3 of us and I don't think I would choose to roast a bird that huge for anything - at least not in the next 8-10 or so years. Thanks for letting me know about the Miele broiler. Going to a Wolf Demo on Aug. 3 so I will ask how they do it (and how it tastes).

If I was going to do that I would def go with Miele as it has a broiler as the above poster said. I do find that the Combi steam is a little too small to use for things such as baking cookies or pizza on a stone where you need the space of a bigger oven.

Also even if it works for you, it may be a resale problem in the future especially if you put in smaller cabinets which can not fit a standard full size oven. Many people would find the small ovens to be inadequate.

We have a 24" gaggenau combi-steam oven and a smaller oven (larger than the gagg) with our Lacanche range and I have to say I like smaller ovens way better than conventional 30" ovens or larger. They heat up fast, cook more quickly and deliver great food. We cooked a 18lb turkey in our Lacanche oven at Thanksgiving without deconstructing it. That said, I do find the Gagg to be a little size limiting and would not chose it to be my only sized oven. The Lacanche fits 1/2 sheet pans that we use to roast a lot of veggies on - the gagg does not. But for some people 24" ovens would work just fine. I do think most people prefer larger ovens but I think its partly because they've never given the smaller ovens a chance. We are not selling our house anytime soon so I just got what I wanted. We hardly ever use our microwave but we do have one to warm a little water quickly and pop popcorn. It plugs into the wall and is hidden behind cabinetry.

I would say the salesperson is blowing hot air...there is no way I can see achieving what a broil element can with steam or convection. If broiling is important to you I would ask the salesman to demonstrate this to you.

Yes, don't listen to the salesman, he probably gets paid better if he sells a Wolf over a Miele.

We're getting the Wolf Combi Steam + Wall Oven. Haven't used them yet (a broken granite slab is pushing the install dates back), but our plan is that we'll probably use the steam oven most of the time, and the big oven just for holidays, or when we need a second oven or the broiler. Again, not speaking from experience just yet, but my understanding is that we'll probably use the steam oven for a lot of things that we currently do in the microwave (like reheating leftovers). My wife has never been a big microwave fan anyway, so we'll probably just continue with our small countertop model. I would personally rather leave out the drawer microwave and invest that money in a full-size traditional oven.

I don't think Wolf ever said that their steam oven has broiler like capabilities. They do say that they can somehow brown the outside of meat with a combination of heat and steam. As long as you'll have at least one oven with a broiler though, I don't see that the lack of a broiler on the Wolf should sway your purchase decision.

Finally, keep in mind that the Wolf 30" steam oven is really a 24" oven with a bigger faceplate that matches their traditional ovens. It only goes up to 450 degrees as well, so I'm not sure that your pizza stone will do you much good.

Ooooo- good points there greasetrap! Thanks!