I had chosen the Icon for its' looks. Both ovens perform pretty much the same, just a couple of additional bells on the Icon. Either one will work beautifully. I didn't do a lot of research on the Electrolux rangetops/cooktops, as I had my heart set on a 6 burner cooktop and ended up with the Bertazzoni Italia....what can I say, I lived in Italy for many years and it brings me back home a bit...it is a nice cooktop with a great 18K burner, and the two center burners are of the same caliber, so good for using the griddle! They make a rangetop as well. My kitchen designer/GC is also very knowledgeable on appliances and he really likes the Bertazzoni for its' engineering. AJ Madison carries the Bertazzoni line so you can take a look. Many here will recommend Wolf or CC or Bluestar, everyone has their favorite, so enjoy the exploration! Marcolo makes a good point about KA dishwasher problems. I had an older model before we switched and it worked wonderfully...sadly it seems KA is having some difficulty with new models. You may want to rethink the dishwasher, a Miele or a Bosch. Cheers!

Just a note, in case anyone is considering the Elux Icon "Professional" style High Speed Oven because of its styling. The AJ Madison site, as well as a couple of other appliance sellers online have photos of the Icon high speed oven which DO NOT represent the actual oven. Their photos make the design look substantially better IMO. The actual oven has the door window considerably narrower than the controls window or the handle. The mysteriously revised photo shows the oven door window equal in width. We've called Elux today, and one of the online dealers, and no one can explain the two different photos. All the photos indicate the same Model number. The dealer says it's a generic photo given to them by Elux. And Elux says they have no idea what the photo is. Here's a link to Google Images for Icon Pro High Speed oven which will pull up many examples showing the window both narrow and wide. The NARROWER window is the real thing according to Elux. Too bad, because it does not match the width of the single wall oven. We were hoping that the wider window is a new revised version coming up, but Elux denies it. Here is a link that might be useful: Icon PRO High Speed Oven photos

Bella--I'd love to see the pics of yours, if you don't mind! John--I like the idea of painting the thing. I've had old vintage garden chairs powder coated. Sometimes I think my KA must have a passport it uses to mix a large batch of thick dough the way it shimmies for the door! I thought a commercial kind like this was supposed to be for heavy use. Now I'm considering something like Kate's mixer thread was discussing when I start baking bread again. It might not want to leave me the way my KA does. Nat--I like the idea of it in a pull-out on the top instead of the bottom like Jakabedy's. Melissa--Mine doesn't have a splatter guard. I know what you mean though about having to store it anyway. Macybaby--I don't want to cut into that peninsula space for two reasons--baking and buffet service. I NEED that space. Yours looks great! Thanks for the sourcing tip. Calimama--Yeah, I don't leave the kitchen with the mixer on. Florantha--That black object is my Gaggia espresso machine. The windows were put in a couple of weeks ago. I had considered an appliance garage/hutch there before (I think maybe you suggested it on another of my threds) to hide the Gaggia and still may do that. Putting the mixer there won't work as the baking area is on the opposite side of the kitchen. Will--I need power on that peninsula somewhere. The fridge panel is just that--a cabinet panel--so I can't put an outlet there even though that's the perfect spot. Desertsteph--Thanks for explaining. That makes sense. Joyce--A pullout sounds like a good way to go. Kashmi--I forgot about the decals! So cool, but I don't think it's really me. I like the toaster story!! Jill--Mine was stored a distance from the kitchen before so I don't think I used it as often because I didn't want to drag it out. I can see that if it were really handy, I'd use it more often. Your espresso machine sure dwarfs mine! Motodetroit--That could be the answer for me!! Some of those boxes are much too country for me, but I'm sure I could find the right one. I could leave it on the counter covered. Easy to use when necessary. Keeps the dust off. And then I could tuck it in the pantry when I need the buffet space! Perfect!! Thanks! Thanks for all the great ideas and experiences. It comes down to: Visibility/Accessibility--leaving it on the counter with a possible cover. Not my ideal, but easy to use and it doesn't take up base storage. Storage/Accessibility--using valuable base storage just to get it out of my view but having to lift it out to use, either with a lift or brute strength. Sounds like another form vs. function problem for me! ;)

Thanks everyone! It was a great way to "break in" at least part of my kitchen! The Strawberry Festival was a great success! It was held on land that we've purchased to build our church as a "Light on the Hill". The Festival was held in celebration of making the half-way point of Phase I of our building. Another 18 months and we hope to be in our new church! Now, to your questions: What makes it my baking center? Well, a lot of thought went in to that. It's a combination of the configuration and location. First off, when everything is finished, my KA mixer will be in the far left corner (along w/functioning outlets), my baking paraphernalia will be stored in the cabinets/drawers of that same corner, and the DOs are diagonally across from it. The "center" is made up of a mini-peninsula + the area b/w the peninsula & cooktop. My vision has been that I will have my cookie pans on the mini-peninsula, I will roll out my dough on the counter to the left of the cooktop, and I will have my mixer, cookie cutters, etc. in the corner...everything right at hand w/plenty of room to do it all! Here're the best pictures I have right now... Baking Center in upper right corner... In lower left corner here... Ovens across from peninsula....but not right in it's path...next to the pantry... You can see the end of the mini-peninsula that's part of my baking center on the right. Gluten-Free Shortcake 2 1/3 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake mix 3/4 cup shortening mix together then add 1/2 cup milk 3 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted 1. Heat oven to 425F. 2. Stir ingredients mix, milk, sugar and butter until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. 3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9"x13" pan ... check it frequently, I don't remember how long it took to bake...maybe 18 or 20 minutes? From: http://leaisglutenfree.blogspot.com/2007/05/shortcake.html While just about anything can be baked/roasted using convection, there are some exceptions...cakes being one. My understanding is that it has more to do with aesthetics than actual baking performance. In most cases you want a cake with a smooth top. Convection baking does not generally lead to a smooth top. Usually, when I'm making just one or two batches of brownies, I use regular (thermal) bake. However, I had 12 pans to make so I decided to use convection mode so I could bake 3 pans at one time in each oven. The temperature was reduced by 25o but they took the same amount of time to bake. So while bake time per oven load was the same, I was able to bake more at one time...instead of doing 6 "oven loads" I was able to do it all in 4.