My best advice is to go for the 30" wall oven, at a comfortable height for reaching in with your forearms parallel with the floor. That will give you the best strength for reaching and lifting. The reason for 30" is it's the current standard, and the 27" ovens available are still sold as retrofits. I believe many are older models that they just keep making. If you're going to age in place, the last thing I'd think you'd want to do is remodel the kitchen again in 10 years if you need to replace the oven. Since you mentioned Bosch, I think you should really look at the side opening one. That will make it much easier to deal with if you have any future physical limitations.

Agreed about not getting the combined unit. There are very few good reasons to do that. Relocating a few things that you need in the kitchen less often out of the kitchen proper is worth the bit of storage you give up with a slightly larger oven and separate microwave. Unless you go for the Advantium or something (and it doesn't sound like you're looking for the speed features on the Advantium), a regular microwave on a shelf or in a cubby would be a cost savings and work just as well. If the area has a couple of inches of "play" all around it'll make changing models easier too.

It sounds like the real research you need is about the broiler. Did you use it for actual broiling? The broil grill in the Bosch (for example) ought to be adequate for that. Did you use it as a small oven? You might want to look at a countertop model like the Breville or Cuisinart as an alternative. Would the Advantium do for you what your small broiler does for being a small oven? (I haven't used the one with a broiler in it, but most of them in convection only ovens, which is what Advantium is when it's not a microwave or speed oven, are adequate for a little browning, but not like a full on oven broiler.)

8'x10' is a good sized kitchen. You should be able to fit everything you want in it.

Thanks for the response - especially the input regarding 27" wall ovens being increasingly obsolete. It's worth 3" of counter space in order to have more standard cabinets for any replacements.

Regarding my old stove, it wasn't so much the "broiling" ability in terms of function but that it was a small oven - at my eye level - side opening door. I basically used it as my oven unless I was baking or roasting some kind of large thing when I would use the standard oven at the bottom.

The Speed Cooking aspect of the Adventium isn't that functional to me but having a smaller oven for the kind of smaller baking/roasting etc. that I do is appealing.

Of course, having a wall oven at a convenient height which does it all would offset my need for a smaller oven at a convenient height. Although theoretically nice, from a practical point of view my lifestyle is not such that I need two ovens - aside from being able to bake four cookie sheets at a time.

Breville ovens are good. Even the Cuisinart convection toaster oven I bought a year ago has great functionality for my single cooking needs. The only drawback is that it takes up valuable counter real estate. A built in Breville/microwave - or one that sits in a cubby would probably be the ideal for my situation but at that point, one might as well just go for an additional wall oven.

Bosch makes a combination oven with their speed cooking/convection/microwave as the second upper oven. The theoretical advantage is that they are technically two separate units so they can be swapped out separately if they die separately. Of course, one could also buy GE wall oven and Advantium separately but I think the cost of two separate units is higher than the Bosch unit. Most of the GE dual Advantium ovens seem to be 120 which I have read isn't particularly good. Also there appear to be ergonomic issues with accessing the upper ovens if one is short - as I am.

I, too, rejected the built in micro for the same reason as you. We put ours in a cabinet above the wall oven and used a garage lift door to hide it. We have to reach up a bit to get things out, which some folks don’t like, but we rarely use the micro, and never for anything large or terribly hot. If you use the micro a lot, a Sharp micro drawer will get it off the counter and be easier to replace, I would think.

Other options you might consider for space saving are a counter depth fridge or one of the narrow, sleek fridges like this gorgeous Bosch and an 18” European style dishwasher. Bosch makes a couple, including one you can panel so that it blends beautifully into the cabinetry. Blomberg may also have one you can panel. In a small kitchen it looks sleek. A Bosch induction cooktop will allow you to have a wonderfully large drawer right under it, as its depth requirement is shallow. Some other brands take up that space.

Looks like between plllog and me, we will have you in an all-Bosch kitchen . . . which is no bad thing, really. (Look for package rebate deals, btw.)

Thanks for the input.

My designer has approved my getting a 30” oven so I’ll be going with the Bosch side opening oven. Having an ideal wall oven height way offsets losing 3” of counter.

It can fit in a 30” cabinet? I was getting a bit confused by the clearance specifications in terms of how much space needs to be next to the wall of the cabinet. Can anyone confirm?

And it does appear I’m heading in a Bosch direction as this weekend I realized that an induction cooktop makes perfect sense for me. I’m leaning towards the Bosch Benchmark because it appears there is more flexibility in terms of having a combination burner for large pots.

From what I’ve read, some brands are more sensitive and the pot size is critical.

Any input into evaluating induction cooktops would be appreciated. I’ve started contacting various appliance stores and none of them seem to have many in stores to look at.

Thanks.