We are getting a Gaggenau steam oven because the Thermador chef at the builder show told us that if his house was on fire he would take his Gaggeneau steam oven with him. He was telling my husband that is it larger and he can start smoking his meats in his smoker for 4-5 hours and then finish in the steam oven. The Gaggenau is the largest one so my husband was sold. We are getting the Thermador convection oven (I know they don't match but Thermador doesn't give you credit for buying 2 ovens with them. I love that the Thermador convection oven also has a dehydrator with it too! We are doing Thermador induction stove top and then you get the dishwasher for free. I'm so excited for the induction stovetops (but we are plumbing for gas in case when we sell someone wants gas or when I get old and the pans are too heavy, I can switch to gas. I just hate having to take off the grills to clean underneath because I always have things spilling below the grill. It will be so nice to just wipe off and to be able to use the surface to serve on because it cools so quickly when you take away the pans.

We landed at Thermador through a bit of a roundabout route. Our kitchen designer had originally recommended the Gaggenau wall oven because the side swing door provided meaningful utility in our prior layout (the new layout will work OK with either style door). We had decided we wanted an induction cooktop and he recommended the Gaggenau induction cooktop because of its fairly shallow depth. We then went to a BSH showroom and took a look at both the Gaggenau and Thermador induction cooktops. We couldn't find enough functionality difference in the cooktop to support the significant price differential (the magnetic knob was neat but we are confident we can live without it) so decided to drop down to the Thermador cooktop. (We had also looked at Monogram, but shied away from the required 12" deep clearance to combustibles that unit requires). We liked the high power, available boost on all zones and generally low power sharing that the Thermador induction cooktop provides. We had separately decided on the Bosch 800 series dishwasher because of the top Consumer Reports ratings, the now available cutlery rack and reasonable price compared to most of the Miele dishwashers. Having then dropped down to the Thermador cooktop, on one of our final visits to the local appliance store, the sales person with whom we were dealing (who is excellent and knows his stuff cold) mentioned that if we were going to get a Bosch dishwasher and Thermador cooktop, we might consider the Thermador oven and dishwasher since the Thermador dishwasher is basically the same as the Bosch dishwasher. That's about as far as we've gotten. If there's another route we should be considering, nothing is locked in stone except: we would like a very good dishwasher (doesn't have to be the world's best, but very good and quiet is a requirement), we would like a 36" induction cooktop, we would like a good double wall oven and the double wall oven doesn't need any microwave functionality since we're getting the Advantium.

I'm with the same issue right now.. which combi-oven did you get and why? I've heard Thermador has a good combo, although Gaggenau has tempted me with their beauty ovens too.. plz tell me your experience with your decision.

@Sarah, I bought the 36" fridge/freezer combo (bottom freezer), and a 24" wine cooler column. The fridge has been installed about 4 years ago, the wine cooler still standing in my garage - need to make room for it and have been procrastinating. Also my better half developing a bit of a wine habit has not helped to incentivize me to install a full wine rack - unfortunately. Had 0 problems so far. It just freaking works. @JJ Mekai, in my experience you don't get a better longevity from any other brand. Don't know about Miele, but I did have to replace my Miele dishwasher (installed in 2007) about a year ago. The Gaggenau cooktop and vent hood installed at the same time don't even blink. I may replace some parts because they get rubbed off for looks... but functionally they are rock solid. Sorry... the hood had a snafu once couple years back. Circuit board replacement, cost me $350 to fix. The ovens, and they are used daily, as the refrigerator, installed about 4 years ago, knock on wood, are rock solid and seem to just keep on ticking.