Thanks for the feedback, which confirmed my nagging feeling this hood wouldn't be right for me. Too bad -- I really love the aesthetics. But I'm convinced now to get a 10" under cabinet hood now that is as deep as my range top. Any feedback from the forum about Best by Broan undercabinet hoods with the SS baffle filters would be great!

For dishwashers, Miele is generally considered to be "top of the line". We couldn't justify the price, so we went with an 800 series Bosch and have been very happy with it. It cleans very very well, and its very quiet. You should take some of your own dishes and silverware to the appliance store to see which machine they fit in better.

Hoods are a pretty simple affair. You either like the looks or you don't, and it either moves enough air for your application -or doesn't. Some people like to factor in quietness, but I'd sy that's a miniority. Re: the Miele- pros, nice design, good company standing behind it. Cons, hi price.

If you are considering a gas range, the Wolf all gas range does not have the blue interior so does not have the amount of chipping the wall ovens and DF ranges do. Chipping on a Wolf gas range is mentioned in one of the lawsuits but many posters here have reported issues with the blue but few if any with gas ranges. The terminology "open burners" vs "sealed burners" is used by manufacturers in an ambiguous way. Every burner used to be "open" until the 1980s when new burners came out that were capped to prevent food from getting into the burner ports and the burner tray was sealed to prevent food from getting into the works of the range. The first prostyle range to come out with "open" burners was Viking. This referred to the burner tray only. It was still capped. Since then there have been many variations of what have been called "open burners". The burner tray has very little to do with performance other than some people have a preference for one or the other for ease of cleaning. There are other attributes that do affect performance. You can look at BTUs on the high end for high heat cooking and the low end for simmer. BS has never given out the BTU rating on the low end of their burners but most users here seem to think it is sufficient. There are a few features of the BS star burner that effect delivery of heat and differentiate it from Wolf and Miele dual stacked ring burners. I am assuming that you are looking at the RNB. It is the star design that gives it the ability to disperse the heat over the bottom of the pan. You have two chances to distribute heat---the burner and the pan. The star is a benefit if you use pans that conduct heat poorly like cast iron, steel or even cookware that is plied depending on how it is layered. Consider if you notice a ring of heat on the cookware you have now. If you have heavy copper or aluminum you may not have any issues with it. You have to match the size of the pan to the burner to take full advantage of this. I use 12-14" pans a lot so this is not as much of an advantage for me but I have copper and aluminum pans that distribute heat. The key is getting the pans thick enough. I have two aluminum pans that look about the same but one conducts heat much more effectively than the other. The star burner also delivers more heat to the bottom of a wok and many choose it for that alone. Another aspect of the burner that effects delivery of heat is that the star burner is not capped. This allows the heat to go in a more straight up direction. BS increases that effect by aligning the burner ports along the rays of the star so as the burner is turned up, any flare stays more in the footprint of the burner. Capped burners have more flare but the amount depends on how it is engineered. The dual stacked burner cuts down on that somewhat. The BS range top disassembles for cleaning. Some people have strong opinions about this but here is how it works. https://youtu.be/3K2DR2ub1sA In looking at the oven, BS is wide enough to hold a full commercial baking sheet. Compare broiler sizes. Miele has dual convection fans and self clean. Consider service available for each brand.