Would these appliances go well together? Your advice please!

5 years ago

As you may see from my other thread about the 42" FD built-in fridge, I am trying to select the appliances for my new home. After thinking about it for a long time, I have come up with the following priorities:

1. It would be nice to have a combination steam oven! I think that I would use this a lot, more so than my regular oven. Honestly, I would probably then only have an additional regular wall oven so that it's going to have a "double wall oven" there.

2. Gas rangetop vs induction cooktop - still cannot decide on this one as I do a lot of wok cooking BUT my woks do have a flat bottom! But let's assume that I will get an induction cooktop for now.

3. Ventilation - would love a quiet but powerful one.

4. Microwave - probably would get a stand alone machine because the speed ovens and built-in ones seem to be much less powerful (1000W or below while I can get a Panasonic or LG one wiith 1200W power for much less).

5. Dishwasher - I don't use it as much so nothing too fancy but quietness and reliability would be important.

6. Fridge - I have space for 36, 42 or even 48" built-in fridge there, but I am leaning towards a 42" built in FD for now.

Given these priorities, I have come up with the following list - please comment:

1. CSO/oven - Miele 6865 because I love its capacity and the fact that it's plumbed in, while the Wolf one is not plumbed in. Then to add a trim kit around it to make it look 30" wide, and pair it with a Miele 6180.

2. Induction cooktop - Bosch Benchmark 36" NITP668UC. The Miele one has less powerful and its shiny surface seems to be show more scratches. The Wolf one has a better layout with the big one on the far right hand side, so that is another contender.

3. Ventilation - should I go with a Vent-A-Hood here? Or go with a Bosch HCG56651UC? Or something else?

4. Dishwasher - probably something mid-range by Bosch

What do you think? I know these will work well for me, and it's within my budget, but would they also look good together? I think that Bosch is not quite at the same league as Miele, so will they be OK together?

If I go with a gas rangetop that will be a whole different story....!!! Yikes.... the Miele 36" rangetop is very nice but it generates too much power so that the ventilation will be a nightmare as my builder already told me what the CFM limit is for my new home and the Miele 36" gas rangetop will be too much for it.... hmm..... so what 36" gas rangetop would you get in order for me to stay with a 600CFM ventilation system?

Your advice will be really appreciated! Thank you.

Featured Answer

Kim G

5 years ago

I went with MIele because you control the % of steam that you add and can easily set up multiple cooking steps with different % steam amounts.. Wolf only has cooking modes to choose from and you don’t know how much steam is being injected into the cavity and exactly what that mode is actually doing. I bake a lot of bread and particularly lean breads. I want to be able to add steam for X minutes early in the baking cycles and Miele allows me to have control over that. The plumbed version did not come out until after we had plumbed our slab and adding a drain for the plumbed version was too expensive for me. I also have a prep sink two steps away so dealing with the containers for me is not an issue. I would do a plumbed version if I was starting from scratch again. I would also go for the XXL model. I would go for a 10 year warranty. The Steam ovens have lots of moving parts so IMHO more likely to need repair and they are $$$ to fix.

I was going with Benchmark induction but did not like the fact that the side elements default to bridge and you have to unbridge them to use them as separate elements. That was not intuitive to me and I wanted my friends and family to be comfortable cooking on my induction cooktop without a learning curve. I also did not like having to select a hob and then the level. If I need a quick turn down it is two steps. The Wolf is direct select one step - burner and level. I can also put one or more very small pans if needed on my large element to keep warm - Bosch’s large element did not recognize my smallest 4.5” pan. Bosch has more heat levels but Wolf calibrated theirs to be exponential so the lower levels are closer together than the higher levels. When would you use a 13 versus 14 or 15 or a 16 versus a 17? The 10 levels are more than sufficient In my 3+ years experience. Wolf’s bridging is great - you can bridge two left to right or front to back or all 4 at once. I have used every configuration. I can’t speak to your wok cooking. I stir fry on my wolf and find it completely adequate but I am not a wok expert by any means. Perhaps others can chime in here.

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Comments (14)

Zalco/bring back Sophie!
5 years ago
Stick with induction. You will not regret it. The Bosch will blend just fine with he Miele. You will not give this question a second thought once it’s all installed and being used. I would go so far as to suggest a Bosch oven instead if Miele. Bosch is a terrific value. I upgraded from bosch to Miele appliances when I moved and while nothing beats the cso, the rest of the Bosch appliances hold up very, very well against Miele.
Kim G
5 years ago
I have the wolf induction and very much like the layout. Pot handles particularly on the large element do not interfere. I have Miele ovens. The cooktop looks black so you would never know who makes it - I think that is true for most vendors so get the cooktop you prefer regardless of who makes it. No scratches after 3 1/2 years. Love induction!!! Had gas the previous 13 years.
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ostrich
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you, Zalco and Kim!

I have looked at the Bosch CSO too but it just seems to be so small inside - does it seem to be a good size for those who have used it? Or is it really too small?

Curiously the Wolf induction cooktop is only a little bit more expensive than the Bosch Benchmark. But Kim, as you alluded to, they are all pretty much made by the same people anyway! :-)

But does the power output that the manufacturers state really matter for the induction cooktop? For instance, Wolf and Miele both have the highest output as 3700W with boost while Dacor Modernist, Gaggenau etc have a boost power of well over 4800W.... I wonder if that makes a difference to my flat bottom wok cooking?

Thanks for the encouragement to go induction!!! :-)
Kim G
5 years ago
I think Zalco is suggesting using a Bosch oven with the Miele CSO. I have Miele CSO and love it!! I meant black induction cooktops looks pretty much the same in a kitchen regardless of the manufacturer. My Wolf induction was less than the Bosch Benchmark - I got the frameless model. If you don’t have quotes from an appliance company get one before comparing prices. Sometimes you pay the listed MSRP and sometimes less.
ostrich
Original Author
5 years ago
Oh I see! Thanks, Kim!

Kim, I am wondering how you decided on your Miele CSO vs Wolf? I like the Wolf CSO too but the Miele plumbed in version just seems to be better for me... also, right now, Miele is offering a 10% off OR 10 year warranty promotion, so that is very attractive!!! Then if I pair a Wolf CSO with a regular Wolf oven, the blue enamel issue does seem to concern me...

Regarding the pairing of a Miele CSO with a Bosch oven, I am wondering how that might look when they are stacked together? I do like the Bosch oven's side opening option though... that makes so much more sense.

Kim, you won't believe how these super premium appliance companies really jack up the prices here in Canada - while other companies like Bosch, etc all offer pretty much the same prices in both countries (taking into account the exchange rate), for Wolf and Miele, they are much higher here in Canada even after the exchange rate!!! Simply outrageous. So I know that the Bosch Benchmark induction cooktop here will be just a little bit lower than the Wolf one here. That said, the small difference is OK... I just love the layout of the Wolf induction cooktop, but then the power and flexibility of the Bosch Benchmark seems to be more attractive.... hmm....
ostrich
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you, Kim! This extremely useful information and I truly appreciate it! I really need to go to the store to check it out and see how I like the differences in the induction cooktop's control.

Kim, did you go with the flush mount or is it the regular mount please? I saw some discussions about this on this website before - I was very tempted to go flushed but after reading the comments, I think that I would not go that route, and I would not want the stainless frame either. What do you think?

Yes, it would be great to hear from someone else regarding their experience with wok cooking/stir-frying with the Wolf induction cooktop.

BTW, Kim, which ventilation system did you pick to go with your Wolf induction cooktop please?

Thank you!
Kim G
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I did not do flush. I am not sure this is my “forever” cooktop as I would look at a zoneless once they can support at least 5 pans and become “affordable”. Sounds like Thermador has the functionality and Miele has a model not yet targeted for the US market. Both are fairly $$$ IMHO. I wanted to minimize the cutout for future products.

I paired with a Zephyr Milano 36” wall mount hood. I am not a big ventilation user but I am happy with the performance - not too loud - seems to do the job and the lights are great! I do not do a lot of high heat output cooking.

I have a very modern kitchen. I went frameless and am very happy with that decision as it is very sleek. I am not one to slide pots from counter to cooktop so no major concerns about chipping. Crumbs underneath the edge are minimal.
ostrich
Original Author
5 years ago
Kim, I must say a big THANK YOU to you, because I had not really thought about the control issue until you brought it up. What you said totally made sense! Now I am looking at the induction cooktops again quite differently, to make sure that its configuration and control switches are really user friendly. Thank you!

Interestingly, the new Jenn Air line of induction cooktops are now on their new website, and it looks like they are doing a new configuration with 3 flexible zones in the 36" version. It also looks like they all have their own individual switches too. Very interesting.

Then as I went through the Jenn Air site, I had a really interesting though - what if I do a combination of induction and gas? Jenn Air has a 15" gas cooktop that has a 20,000 BTU burner, and it can be paired up with their 30" or 24" induction cooktop too. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds? Or will I just be causing more trouble to myself by limiting the cooking area for each of the cooking methods? I would really appreciate people's thoughts on this here.

Thanks!
Kim G
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
With the above title you are likely not going to get many comments on combining gas with induction, Before you start a new thread - you might want to search on “combining gas and induction“ or “gas with induction”. There are many threads out there. In general the comments I have seen is that most that did both use their induction and rarely their gas. You should also see what that will do with your ventilation requirements.
ostrich
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you, Kim! I was not aware of these threads so I will indeed do a search first. Thank you again for the tip :-)
DrB477
5 years ago
I have a thermador steam range. The oven in it is very similar to Bosch and has identical cavity size. It's not bad at all and I'd definitely take it over no steam oven in a heartbeat, but given the choice I'd get the Miele. It's a bit bigger and has a few additional features.

Personally, would just get induction or gas, trying to combine both seems to just create more complexity than is worth it. I've used both, could definitely live with induction but didn't find it to be "all that" and I used gas in my kitchen remodel.
Zalco/bring back Sophie!
5 years ago
Lots of people here have both induction and gas and they prefer induction. Pllllog on cooking forum comes to mind.
ostrich
Original Author
5 years ago
I just found this information on the Miele induction cooktop online - very interesting read:

https://blog.yaleappliance.com/new-miele-induction-cooktop

I will be curious to hear from those with a Miele induction cooktop to see if this twin boost function really works that well!

Would these appliances go well together? Your advice please!

Kim G

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Zalco/bring back Sophie!

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