IMO you buy appliances with the decision based on how you use the appliance not how they all come from the same maker. Get regular old stainless and shop for what you need for how you cook and shop for food they will all look fine together. I have never ownded all my appliances from one maker and never will

1. Start by checking Consumer Reports for recommendations. You'll frequently find that expensive appliances from manufacturers such as Thermador and Jenn-Air don't perform any better (and are no more reliable) than products from more common manufacturers.

2. appliancesconnection.com as the best search engine in the business so you can locate products that meet your specifications.

3. It appears that unusually-size appliances such as 18" freezer and 24" refrigerator may only be available from less common brands or may be extremely expensive. For example, the cheapest 18" freezer at appliancesconnection.com is a Bosch at $4K but you can buy a Fisher Paykel RS36A72J1N 36" counter-depth refrigerator (for custom panels) for about the same price.

I second the Consumer Reports suggestion. It's been years since I bought a major appliance without consulting their ratings. Look at the individual categories to see how the results align with how you cook. The user reviews are enlightening too. Things like noisy convection fans in ovens were noted there, but didn't make the ratings. My last three dishwashers have been Bosch/Thermador and great performance. The Thermador oven I had was the best oven I've used.

Googling the appliance and brand plus "sucks" has been interesting also. Of course common brands show up more, but sometimes you can get some good info that way.

Nothing says you have to use all the same brand of appliances either.

>>following >>

@Rita - who is Sophie Wheeler & where can I find her?

I'd be a little cautious with the 24+18 column setup, while 42" may sound large, this setup is actually pretty small particularly on the freezer side. It's also pretty expensive with the larger units not costing much more. A single 36" unit or larger columns may be better for you, make sure you check it out for yourself.

I have Thermador column fridge, 48" range, dw, hood and I'm happy with them.

Consumer Reports just put out a magazine with appliance reviews. I would get that & cross reference other sources online.

- check out many sources for reviews to hopefully find unbias opinions.

- when reading reviews start with the bad reviews then progress towards good. Unfortunately, companies can pay for fake good reviews these days.

-factor in service reviews in determining, where to buy appliances, too. I have had better service working with a local appliance company than with the bigger companies. Hopefully will not need service, but if you do, good to be prepared.

-a good backwards online search is " How do I fix my ______ appliance?". Read the comments. The more people asking how to fix something is a red flag.

I shy away from combo appliance units, because if 1 goes the whole thing has to be replaced.

I did a kitchen for an appliance engineer once. He taught me a lot.

He explained simply, different appliances have different life expectancy & that's why he never buys them combined.

He also suggests more manual parts over computers, because computers mother boards go bad faster, expensive to replace.

-Certain appliance manufacturers specialize in a type of product. Study the manufacturers history. What are they best at.

-Avoid water dispenser on outside of fridge door, prone to rusting the front of door & leak often.

-Glass stove tops can crack if something drops on them too hard.

-A lot of places price match

- Some credit cards extend the warranty 2 additional years automatically. Get points. And if it's a lemon can dispute it. A credit card gives more benefits than financing. Pay off before bill to avoid interest, when possible.

-keep all receipts & manuals togeather for warranty needs.

I hope something I mentioned, brings you closer to your goals.

Something additional to think about on the column-style fridges and freezers - they are not always common widths across all manufacturers. When it dies, you could be stuck with the same manufacturer assuming they even still make that appliance.

If you're building or remodeling outside a major metropolitan area, research what your service options are for the brands you're considering.

For a DW I suggest Miele or Bosch. When considering wall ovens one can be a combi/steam oven like a Miele. People with one generally rarely use the 30" oven. An induction cooktop is a popular choice instead of gas. Miele or Bosch again. Look for the number of levels of power adjustment. If you want to save counter space in your layout a slide-in range like a Bosch Benchmark induction paired with a Miele under counter combi/steam oven(24") gets you 30" of added counter.

agree with others, buy each piece for how You use it. they do not have to match. CR, not for higher end appliances.

check out Liebherr refrigerators. DW, i would go Miele. Ovens, depends on your use. cooktop, i would go induction, have it and love it!!!!

Sophie Wheeler (pro) is an active, respected contributor here. He/she offers very qualified advice.

What are your actual needs and your actual budget?

I was hoping Sophie would pop in on this thread. The last time the subject of a good range at very reasonable price came up, Sophie suggested the Frigidaire induction. Here is a different thread where this range is discussed. Sophie comments that it is not the range for a person who wants an all-out make my kitchen a chef's dream come true range. There is a good discussion of the pros and cons of the range here.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/did-you-see-this-900-induction-range-dsvw-vd~4939106

I don't know why commenters are stating that Consumer Reports is no good for high-end appliance reviews. It recently tested ranges and a fancy-pants $6400 Wolf DF304 range didn't perform any better than a $1500 LG LDG4315ST.

Induction ranges are wonderful compared with smooth-top electric. CR reviewed a number of them.

Just looking at the specs for the Wolf and the LG, there is a huge difference in BTU per burners. That's going to be extremely noticeable in everyday use. If they didn't notice that difference, then I really wonder what the hell they were doing.

But apart from that, there are lots of little details. The Wolf doesn't have control on the back panel. So, you don't need to reach over hot pots to make adjustments. It also looks as if it would be much easy to keep clean.

And if I do a web search for reviews, the first thing that pops up is comments that the LG bakes unevenly. The next thing that you see is that the ovens have a high failure rate, the knobs disintegrate, and LG's customer service is reportedly sub-par.

I personally wouldn't buy the Wolf either, as I think there are better models in that price range. But honestly, if CR thinks these two appliances are equivalent, then I don't think we need to continue this discussion. That pretty much settles it on how trustworthy those reviews are. And I wasn't even putting more than 2min effort into comparing the two appliances. That's what comes up in the first few search results.

CR has a bias toward lower more democratically priced merchandise.

They have a lot of biases in general, but they're "non profit" and "don't accept ad dollars", so people think they're the be-all-end-all.

From CR:

Cooktop high: How quickly the most powerful element could raise a 6-liter (6 1/3 quart) pot of water from room temperature to a near boil.

Cooktop low: The ability of the lowest power element to melt and hold chocolate without scorching it. Highest-power element's ability to hold a large pot of tomato sauce below a boil.

Baking: This reflects the evenness of cookies and cakes in multi-rack baking tests.

Wolf DF304:
Cooktop high: G
Cooktop low: VG
Baking: VG

LG LDG4315ST:
Cooktop high: VG
Cooktop low: VG
Baking: VG

"The Wolf doesn't have control on the back panel. So, you don't need to
reach over hot pots to make adjustments. It also looks as if it would be
much easy to keep clean."

Those are the kind of things that consumers can evaluate for themselves.

"But honestly, if CR thinks these two appliances are equivalent, then I
don't think we need to continue this discussion.

CR did not say that the two appliances are equivalent. Consumers cannot evaluate performance in a consistent way which is what CR does and what its ratings report. As far as the reviews you have read, they are anecdotes. And people report bad things much more than they report good things so anecdotes are biased, though they can still be useful if the reader takes bias into account when he considers them.

That pretty much settles it on how trustworthy those reviews are.

CR is lying? Why?

"I personally wouldn't buy the Wolf either, as I think there are better models in that price range."

But why do you "think" so? Consumers need data to make rational decisions.

So, you are saying, CR only looks at data that they can easily quantify and compare, but it ignores other information. Don't outright dismiss anecdotes. They are quite useful. Every appliance has bad reviews. In fact, they are usually the first thing that I read. If the reviews don't include bad anecdotes, then you probably haven't found a representative sample set just yet. But there are very real differences in both quantity and quality of negative feedback.

Of course, that is difficult to put into a chart. And it is even more difficult to compare between two very distinct products. But that doesn't excuse skipping over this information.

A recurring pattern on Houzz is that people complain how CR measures things that are irrelevant and uses testing methodologies that skew the results away from real-life needs. E.g. they didn't tell us if they used the correct size pots for these burners. And given that Wolf and LG have very different burner layouts, it's quite possible that identical pots behave very differently on both appliances. It is possible to correct for this problem, but it takes more effort; and I don't see that CR did that.

As a consumer, I need to know all these things. I also need to know if my appliance is going to be difficult to use. I need to know if it is difficult to clean. I need to know if it is likely to break at the end of the warranty period. I need to know if customer service is reliable. I need to know if people are generally happy with their appliance years later. I need to know whether it easily lends itself towards the type of cooking that I do. And yes, I also need to know the simple measurements that CR took. But that's only part of the bigger picture.

The fact is that you are never going to be able to determine all (or most) of the things you list objectively. (CR does attempt to calculate reliability through surveys.) The usefulness of "I need to know if people are generally happy with their appliance years later" is mystifying. The reliability of an old model is likely to have nothing to do with the reliability of a new one. How often do you read, "my 30-year old GE [whatever] was great so I'm going to buy another" from someone who doesn't know that GE Appliances is a Haier company and has nothing to do with General Electric anymore. Or that Maytag is owned by Whirlpool.

As I wrote earlier, anecdotes are fine if one considers bias (e.g., negatives reported more than positives, confirmation bias, etc.) but it's pretty darn useful for an organization to take the time to compare products uniformly and find that a $400 Whirlpool WDF520PADM dishwasher washed better than a $1700 Bosch Benchmark SHX89PW55N (though latter rated slightly higher overall).

If you have the time to go read every thread, there is no perfect appliance and it will drive you batty! To me, the appliance packages are GREAT! Thermador or baby brother Bosch (I have combo oven, 36" electric cooktop, range hood and DW) -- and happy with them. They have a beautiful building in Irvine, CA and other locations where you can try every single appliance.

Then, you buy from a local mom/pop appliance business and they'll give you a great deal, rebates and provide service, etc. Or, check with mom/pop and find out what they recommend and what they have the least issues with.... They may be able to piece it together for you..... No appliances last 20-30 years anymore....sad.

What I like about CR evaluating performance is they take a set of products on the market at the same time and compare them. Reviews of products may or may not reflect what a given company is selling currently. This gives me a baseline of facts to use as well as considering features and user reviews. There is no way most (any?) of us are going to buy several appliances, put them through our own tests and keep the one we like.

M - it is unreasonable to expect something like the pot used in a given test to be changed for different stoves. Controlling variables like that is experimental design 101. A deeper dive into ratings than 2 minutes on the internet provides valuable information to help make an informed decision. The OP was considering Jenn-Air and Thermador, both routinely appear in CR ratings. If they want to compare some of the features objectively, the option is there.

Consumer Reports is not the end all be all.

It's 1 resource of many resources to start to compare.

The graph & list formats are good templates to start from then cross reference others sources & make your own list.

Keep in mind,

They are in the service business of selling information to the masses, therefore they migrate to the most popular appliances.

So, if you are looking for something not as popular then certain items might not be listed or much use to the reader.

"They are in the service business of selling information to the masses..."

Precisely. And while manufacturers, appliance stores, architects, designers, houzz commenters all push fancy-pants appliances, CR's ratings demonstrate that they that don't necessarily perform any better than less-expensive products. For example, in its tests of dishwashers, CR found that Bosch models from $540 to $1700 performed similarly and the $540 models were top-rated.

"The reliability of an old model is likely to have nothing to do with the reliability of a new one."

Wise words, Lawrence! Lots of consumers are learning that the hard way.

cpartist & wiscokid - We have a budget for high-end appliances, but not a whole wolf/sub-zero suite. Our actual needs... are to cook and refrigerate stuff. Do you mean in terms of specific appliances? We need a 30" fridge column/ 18" freezer column / 30" double oven / 36" cooktop / hood liner. That in mind, do you have specific recommendations?