If you already have a speed oven, a combi may not be a great addition. I don'h have a speed oven, I have a regular 30 inch range with a gas oven that is 4.5 cu. ft - preheat times are close to 1/2 hour My combi is closer to 1.5 cu. feet, actually a little smaller, so it preheats in 5 to 10 minutes. It is much quicker to cook a fairly decent amount of food. Second, combi's have a reheat feature which combines heat with some moisture, so the food does not dry out as much as reheating in a normal oven. Third, the steam function comes in handy on occasion, tonight was steamed shrimp, last week was steamed corn.

Thanks barryv. I will be buying all new appliances for the new house, so I'm wondering if I should stick with speed oven or switch to steam. Switching to steam would mean I need a m/w I guess.

There is pretty much nothing that you can do in a steam oven that you can't accomplish in a regular oven. It's just that the combi-steam is so much easier!! Especially if it's fully plumbed. Reheating plates of food is kind of magic. If you know the times and temperatures, and are good with setting dishes of water in your oven, or in a bain marie, or other older methods of steaming, you don't need a steam oven.

That said, those of us who have them adore them.

I hate steaming vegetables in any common way I know. With the steam oven, I just put them in a perforated pan, and steam blanch, steam, or steam-roast as my heart desires. In it goes, out it comes, beautiful, delicious, easy.

There's all kinds of other stuff you can do, but I don't have time just now. I've done long lists before, however, if you want to look them up. :)

Congrats on the new house.

Thank you Plllog. If I opt for a steam oven I guess the only down side is needing a separate microwave. I will research a bit more, but I presume the steam oven can function as a regular oven too. Thanks

Sochi, if you get a combi, it can function like a conventional oven with a few exceptions. Many combi's don't have a broil element, though one or two do. Most only have a rear heating element, and for those ovens, when you bake, it is convection only, you can't bake without the fan. In general, the much smaller size means it will preheat far quicker, and while they look small, they can actually cook quite a large amount of food.

Agreed with Barry. Given that you'll have a conventional oven as well, it shouldn't be an issue unless you want to produce ten trays of cookies or hors d'oeuvre at one exact moment. Though for that you really need a commercial convection oven rather than two conventional home ovens. :) Even the ones with broilers don't have the kind that you get in a really good conventional often, but it's supposed to be good enough if that's all you've got.

What I end up doing for feasts is planning which item needs to go in which oven, and it might be a combination (I have Gaggenau combi-steam and conventional, plus Advantium, which is also a full on convection oven). Like a whole brisket on the first day of cooking goes in a medium-large roaster in the big oven. After cooling overnight, skimming and slicing, I have transferred it to a smaller pan to finish on the second cook in the combi-steam on zero steam. Or when I wanted the big oven for something else, instead of roasting a turkey, I put parts of one and a half in the combi-steam. I like the Advantium on convection for reheating casseroles. There's sometimes a little hopscotching, but everything gets made. For most purposes, a full sized conventional oven and a combi-steam should be enough cooking capacity for a family. Add microwave or not as you like.

Sorry. I think this might be incoherent. If so, I'll try again when I'm more awake.

Not incoherent at all, thanks again plllog and barryv. I did more reading last night, I think I'm sold, likely on the Miele combi plus an oven. Looking forward to trying it out!

I wonder why Pillog said it may be incoherent, I thought that the post was right on the money. The one thing I would add is that if you are used to microwaving something for a minute or two to warm it up, a combi will be slow going when it takes 5 to 10 minutes.

People do love their combi steams. When my b-i microwave blew out a few years ago I looked at combi-steam as a replacement. We use the micro all the time and can't imagine being without one. My thought was that I wouldn't steam as much as micro. So I stuck with micro and bought a $35 Oster countertop steamer which is easy to use and dos the steam function. Also got a Breville countertop oven which I also use to reheat and do smaller tasks that don't require the main oven.

Think it depends on the family needs. For a new house there is the Miele multi range that comes with various oven options I believe. I'd certainly look at that.

Thanks Rococogurl. I am looking into the Miele range as well. I cook gluten free baguette, bread regularly now and add steam into a pan when baking, I believe the Miele range and wall ovens can both do that too. We don't have a microwave at our cottage and we manage, but it is an adjustment for certain. We use our speed oven more than our regular oven, so I think I certainly want a small oven of some sort.

I was thinking of a combi steam plus a less expensive induction range like the Bosch. Trouble is i don't love the look of ranges, even the Miele.

Are the combis big enough to bake baguette I wonder?

I'm getting a 48" Miele range which has a large steam assist oven and a smaller speed oven. We will also have a separate combi steam wall oven, but won't have a separate mw since the speed oven can be used as one. We are a few weeks from finally putting these appliances in and I will definitely post my impressions on how they perform.

I would definitely want to test out the Miele steam range steam-assist oven for bread before I bought it. Believe the steam injection is automatic -- unclear. One of the Miele appliance center/showrooms should be able to permit that. I believe some have cooking classes as well.

Don't think any 24" oven works well for baguettes or batards. Just not enough room. I use an oven stone for those as well pizza so that's for a 30" or larger oven. Can't see any issue with boules or even a 1 to 1-1/2 pound country loaf in smaller depending on heat source and height.

People like ranges. But I feel there's more flexibility with separate components. I also don't like standing in front of hot ovens while using the range top (but that's just me). It is more efficient in terms of space management sometimes. Cost is another issue.

Of course, there are no steam-assisted wall ovens mainstreaming -- yet. Sometimes I think it's easier to just go with commercial stuff if you can get it serviced. OTOH I do love my conventional 30" Miele wall oven (9 y.o.) which does everything well. I have the micro and the Breville for small jobs -- combi would replace micro and Breville so some gain there. I roast and reheat. Steaming not so much.

I have a baking stone for my combi-steam. It is 11.5 x 15". I could probably fit another inch or two (to 16" or 17"), but my contractor just cut down an existing stone that I had to fit the width of the oven. Lots of height.... unless your baguettes are more than 5" tall (assuming you are baking on middle rack).

My Gaggenau combi-steam will take a loaf up to about 17". It's deep, rather than wide (same cavity as on the 24" model). It's more convenient for me to bake bread in my big oven, so I do even though I got a thin stone for the combi-. Recently, I've been using a lot of clay baking moulds for whole wheat breads, but have yet to try one I was given for baguettes. For me, it's more about having options. Rather than doubling up on the same kind of cooking, I have three ovens that do different things (plus a cheap toaster oven in a drawer for toasting and immersion sous vide regulators.). I can always figure out a couple of ways to accomplish my ends and make a whole list work out.