Avoid anything with blue enamel. They all seem to eventually fail catastrophically. The enamel will flake off and leave little shards of glass all over your food.

In recent discussions, the only models that seemed mostly OK were Bosch and Bluestar. I think, a few people also had good things to say about Miele, but there weren't very many data points. In fact, even for the other two brands, we didn't get a lot of data points.

One way to avoid this issue is by buying an oven with stainless steel walls. This would usually be the case for multi-function appliances such as convection steam or speed ovens (oven + microwave). But none of that might work for you. These appliances are usually all smaller than 30". They cost more. And if you just need a basic oven, then the extra features simply add cost to you.

Another approach that one person suggested was to buy a known-bad oven, such as Wolf, and to then get the longest-possible warranty. While Wolf has been having this problem for at least 10 years and can't appear to fix it, they also are really good about repairing their ovens as long as they are in warranty. Several other manufacturers won't even do repairs for this problem at all! So, in a way, Wolf is still ahead of the competition in how they handle this situation.

Once warranty runs out though, you are stuck with extremely expensive repairs. So, that's not an enviable position. You'll probably find that you'll want to buy a new oven shortly after the end of the warranty period, as repairs are just too costly by comparison.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. This question comes up quite frequently, and I have yet to hear a good answer -- other than getting an all gas range. Those ovens seem immune from this problem.

Thank you. Very helpful information.

I've heard so many complaints about slow preheat times. Do you have any advice about this issue?

In an ideal world, where budget and space doesn't pose any constraints, you would buy more than one oven. You get a small oven for day to day use. I am particularly fond of my Miele combination steam oven, not only does it preheat exceptionally well, it (optionally) uses steam which transfers heat much more quickly. So, it's ready to bake, roast, reheat, or just generally cook in only a few minutes. Frequently, I don't even bother with pre-heating.

And then, you'd supplement with a full size wall oven or in-range oven for the occasional situation where you need more capacity. Or, as in my case, for the situations where I want a super powerful broiler element. I have a gas oven, and they frequently come with high-powered infrared broilers. But you can also get this in electric ovens; it just takes a little more research. Supposedly, the Bluestar wall oven has an electric broiler that is "the closest thing you can come to a commercial Salamander in a residential oven".

In practice, not everybody can start with such a blank slate. So, you'll frequently have to make compromises. And that might affect pre-heat times. In general, the bigger the cavity, the longer the preheat times. My big in-range gas oven has one of the biggest cavities that you can find in a residential oven. It takes at least 20min to preheat; a little longer, if I want the temperature to be really stable.

My friend got a GE a few years ago (it was a double). I've been impressed at how it does just fine. Even with a hidden lower element, it preheats just fine.

I would look at Bosch. They have several models with various features. I have Electrolux now and love the way it works(preheats to 350°F in 7 min) but it has had issues with the blue enamel chipping twice. Many blue interiors seem to have problems except Gaggenau. My Elux had a few issues with the computer board but last time I reset it the wind was just right and it has been working for a few months. I will most likely replace it with a Bosch 800 series when I can’t get it to work anymore.

All ovens have convection. The air heats at the bottom and rises. It cools and falls. The ovens that have a “convection” feature, have fan assisted convection. This moves the air around more so you have faster heat transfer. Some things may cook faster but it varies. It does dry the surface of what you are cooking and allows it to brown faster.

I bake quite a bit and do use convection some of the time. I would not want to be without it. I might use it at the end to brown something or for roasting. I use it for cookies some of the time and to dehydrate. One problem with convection is that there can be such a difference, brand to brand. Some ovens market “true convection”. This means that there is an element by the fan but I’m not so sure this is a great idea. They do this which provides intense heat blowing at one side of something that you are cooking and then try to breakup the intense heat airflow using two fans, baffles or reversing air flow. Some ovens have an “all convection” mode which usually means all the heat from the back. This can really set up hot spots. My Electrolux has the third element but just incorporates it in the other modes. It can be very difficult to determine what goes on in different modes as far as what elements are on and when and fan speed. I think it is a very good idea to have more than one fan speed and many do but don’t make that information readily available.

GE has a very interesting feature called “direct air”. It brings the air down from the top. You can use it when you are using a single rack, otherwise the fan is in the back.

We have a Bosch 800 and love it. Would highly recommend it. You could also look at the 500 too, which has fewer features and is a little less expensive.

LG LWS3063 30 in. Single Electric Wall Oven with Convection and EasyClean in Stainless Steel ($1300)

• Home Depot
• Best Buy

@wdccruise - Thank you for your comment. Do you have any personal experience with this oven? If so, what do you like about it?

@Chris T - Definitely considering the Bosch 500 and 800. Do you feel that the added features justify the difference in price? I'm also concerned about the knobs on the 500 from a safety perspective. My installation is under-cabinet, and although I don't have young children, the next owner may. Thanks for your comments. Personally, I would prefer the knobs over the digital display.

I got the Bosch side opening oven. I got it for its ergonomic advantage since I can stand directly in front of it and load and unload instead of standing to the side.

French door ovens also have this ergonomic advantage but the Bosch side opening oven was less expensive than any of the French door models so it was good enough for me.

Bosch appliances (except for the refrigerator) are really high quality in my experience so my kitchen is essentially Bosch - Dishwasher (replacing a 2004 Bosch that was still going strong); Bosch Benchmark induction cooktop. I did go with a KA refrigerator :-).

There are only a couple features that I use on the 800 that were not available on the 500 - the temperature probe and telescopic rack. I originally decided to upgrade to the 800 since I saw it had a “delay start” feature, which was about the only thing I liked about my old GE, but discovered that it is not a delay start at all once it was installed. More like a auto-shut off. Oh well. I do love the probe and use it when cooking roasts. I would not worry about the knobs and future owners. Every parent has to teach their kids to not touch some things in the kitchen.

“I got the Bosch side opening oven. I got it for its ergonomic advantage ”

Safety has several components. Ergonomics are very important and you should stand and in front of the oven you want to purchase and see if depth is an issue. I’m 5’2” and have no problem standing in front of my oven and reaching things. Some of that may be having an oven at a proper height. My carpenter measured the oven at the proper height and then built the cabinets. It seems very hard on your back to twist and reach from the side.

If I need to reach the back for some reason, I just pull the rack out, but you would have to do that with a French or side opening door too .

Consider that with a side or French door you lose the safety factor of a barrier between what your are baking/roasting and your legs and toes as well as any little ones or fur babies that might dart underneath. I also like having the door on the bottom to rest a pan on if changing things around in the oven. I use a commercial French door oven occasionally but it has a little shelf under it to rest things on. I was removing a pan of hot water because I needed to bake something else recently and was glad to have that barrier. A pull out shelf may be a good idea under the oven if you go the side or French door route.

@wekick - In terms of safety, I always wear some form of foot covering in the kitchen so dropping something on my foot because I am standing in front of the oven is really not a rational safety argument. I am much more likely to drop or drip something from the stove - or a microwave oven and there are significantly more dangerous elements for free roaming babies and pets than not having an oven door blocking access :-)

I have used wall ovens at various heights and I have always needed to stand to the side to load.

Everyone who has seen my oven has immediately felt it was ergonomically superior to their bottom open ovens but obviously it's a personal choice in terms of functionality.

One should go to a well stocked appliance store and check out any oven or other appliance in person to see how it actually feels to be using it.

The LG LWS3063 ($1300) is the highest-rated oven by Consumer Reports and the brand's wall ovens also have "Excellent" predicted reliability. Home Depot, Best Buy.

You might want to spend $8 for a month's online subscription to check out its wall oven ratings including the lower-rated and more expensive Bosch 800 Series HBL8451UC ($2250 at HD).

wdccruise - FWIW, I have had very poor experience with LG service, so I don't purchase anything LG anymore.

“ In terms of safety, I always wear some form of foot covering in the kitchen so dropping something on my foot because I am standing in front of the oven is really not a rational safety argument.”

“Rational” means based on logic and reason.

Wearing “some kind of foot covering” is not the same as having a steel door between sloshing liquids or pans dropping.

To be comparable to a steel door, your foot covering would need to be covering a big part of your leg, not permeable to hot liquids and heat resistant. You would need a steel toe to protect against a heavy pan dropping. A shoe that allows hot liquids to get in would be worse than no shoe at all because it holds hot liquids next to your skin and the burns are worse.

Now you may decide that that level of safety is not what you want for some other reason but it is a factor some people will want to consider.

“I am much more likely to drop or drip something from the stove - or a microwave oven and there are significantly more dangerous elements for free roaming babies and pets than not having an oven door blocking access :-)”

Continuing to follow a rational thought pattern, these are separate issues and would each need to be addressed separately. I would want as many safety precautions as possible, but I worked many years in critical care and saw all the things that people never thought would happen. Just because there are other dangers doesn’t mean that the the door as a barrier is not significant. It’s not like you are limited and can only pick 3 out of 5 dangers to do something about.

The point here is to bring this up as an additional consideration to what you said about the ergonomics. People can read the posts and decide what is relevant to their family. Not everyone has to do the same thing.

We have a Thermador Professional 30" wall oven. DH wanted it because it has a rotisserie. We also have a BlueStar Platinum range which gets the most use - we use it for everything - roasting, baking bread and pies, cookies, cakes. When we are having a crowd over for dinner then we use both ovens.

Since no one seems to have noted it yet: 30 inch ovens may differ greatly in width ( interior and exterior) , depth, height, etc and electrical requirements and you need to double check all the specs....as we‘re discovering the hard way. Ap

The inner and outer specifications for our desired 30 inch oven arent identical to those of our current 30 inch oven.

We have a contractor and his electrician arriving this week to advise us about whether the new oven we want can fit the available space in our wall ( width and depth) and be hard wired into our electrical system ( hard wiring is required for the oven we want). It’s not simply a plug in model.

Maire_cate, how has the Thermador Professional oven performed for you? Have you used the rotisserie? I need to replace my double electric wall ovens, and am looking at the Thermador Pro since it comes in side swing doors. Also looking at Bosch Benchmark and Blue Star and the GE Cafe. I definitely need an upper oven with something other than a drop-down door.

Mandogirl - this may seem strange but we've never used the rotisserie. Shortly after moving into this home DH bought a new grill for the patio and he'd rather rotisserie on that. We've had the Pro for 2 years and it works perfectly. Since DH retired he's been doing more cooking and bread baking and he is in love with his BlueStar range. I haven't had any trouble with the drop down door but I can certainly see where the side swing door would be an advantage. We've used both ovens for baking and roasting and they're both great.

Thanks for the quick response. We like to use a rotisserie occasionally but are happy to do it outside. I imagine it would make a mess in the oven and I am disinclined to use a self-clean feature. I test drove Bosch Benchmarks yesterday, and plan to trial the Blue Star next. I need side swing or french upper door due to the deep drawer beneath my ovens. I want ovens that bake well and aren't prone to repair issues. An appliance repairman once warned me away from Thermadors, hence my question to you. I like that it has knobs, which I find more user-friendly than completely touchpad controls.

mandogirl -- The Bluestar has both knobs and a touchpad. The touchpad is very simple so I've actually never used the knobs. And the french doors are great, but you have to kind of treat them as if you were working in a restaurant--don't be too gentle when closing.

@Jerry Jorgenson "FWIW, I have had very poor experience with LG service, so I don't purchase anything LG anymore."

One anecdote regarding an unknown type of product of an undisclosed model, purchased on an unknown date, serviced after an unknown number of years on an unknown date at an unknown location is useless for decision-making.