I have a 48" self-clean CC and my large oven is the same as a 36" self-clean CC range. I can tell you that the oven is plenty big enough because it can fit full sheets. I have two thoughts on the oven size. 1) The interior wall of the CC measures 27" across. Let's say another manufacturer's oven measures 28" across. Statistically, that's your 1+ cu ft difference. Now practically speaking, what does extra inch do for you? If you use a full sheet or even half sheets, you're not going to fit anything else. Say you go to 9" pans. You still going to get three across in both. How about 5" loaf pans that measure 6" across the top? Both get four across. Go through your collection of pans and go through your combinations and then decide if there really is any practical difference. 2) The self-clean CC has channels in the side wall for the racks. Most other ranges have metal racks mounted to the side wall to support the racks. They measure from wall to wall for the specs, not rack to rack. So that extra inch really isn't a full inch anymore. It's maybe only half an inch now, practically speaking. What is the real difference? As a CC owner who just went through a grueling cooking week where I hosted 25 for Christmas, 15 for New Years Eve and 16 for New Years Day Brunch. I did everything from baking cookies to baking bread, from roasting pork belly on the rotisserie to roasting a beef tenderloin, from cooking bacon and sausages to frittatas. Not once was the large oven ever an issue. And to top it off, I ran the self-clean cycle between Christmas and New Years. If the CC is in the cards for you, I highly recommend it. HTH

I don't want to bum you out, but Thermador replaced my "board" 4 times, and then they replaced the entire oven, and then they gave me a refund because they sell lemons. Their customer service and technicians (who generally don't work for Thermador and will do nothing but call the Thermador tech help desk for answers) will likely continue to tell you "it's the board" and replace it. You'll eventually be out of warranty with an appliance that is giving you the same problems that it always has, but with a sizeable service bill. Here are some other opinions on the adventure that you're about to embark on: http://www.danabushman.com/here_is_the_house/2007/04/letter_to_consu/comments/

I've been using my 36" BS for over 2 months now and I continue to find reasons why I love it. It is most definitely a range built for those who love to cook. The high BTU is excellent and I finally bought my wok 2 weeks back and it's simply amazing on the 22K. But that simmer burner... I have yet to burn rice and it makes warming up small amounts of baby food a breeze, even if I walk away and completely forget about it (which seems to happen quite often with the kids). From what I've read on the appliance forum, there really isn't another simmer burner that works like this. I also must comment about how easy it's been to clean. The cast iron grates are a dream compared to my old porcelain and enamel tops. A few wipes or a dry scrub and they are done. I've yet to use any cleaners aside from a soapy sponge on it. Lastly, my oven does come with 3 (not 2) racks, one of which is a full-extension roll-out. My one complaint is that the oven door and knobs get quite warm to touch, hot even, when the oven is on full blast. This topic has been discussed to death over on the appliance forum, so I won't go into it. I really wanted to get the Bosch 800 plus series, but we had to compromise somewhere. If you can trim 1K somewhere else, this is the package I'd go for. Good luck!

@r, I thought I would chime in here to just say that I don’t think you are “obsessing“ at all regarding the use of knobs in this case. One of the most crucial variables in any kind of industrial design is the way we interface or interact with whatever the product is. Most of us utilize capacitive touch controls or infrared type touch controls on a constant basis with everything from iPads, smart phones, as well as any number of house appliances. But I would suggest that your instinct regarding cooktop or rangetop controls makes a lot of sense. Consider the difference in using a wall oven versus a cooktop. Most cooks in the kitchen can get the opportunity to wipe their hands in order to use touch capacitive controls on a wall oven. Of course, the case could be made that turning a simple dial, can be more intuitive, then going through a series of menus to get to where you want to go, since in the end, the mission of the wall oven has not really changed very much since our grandparents time which is essentially to bake the cake or roast the chicken. The reason I suspect that cook tops and range tops, as well as ranges are a particularly good candidate for knobs is due to the fact that the controls are often placed on a horizontal plane. Many people, especially those who are new to induction appliances for example, have learned a hard lesson as the very sensitive touch controls do not always take kindly to steam, water, droplets, and oil or gravy splatters. It is not hard to imagine why this is problematic because if you put any of these liquids on top of your smart phone screen, you would discover that the touch controls that works so beautifully such as the ones I’m using right now on my iPhone to create this post do not take kindly to having these substances on top of them. There are lots of examples of folks who have touch capacitive controls on these horizontal locations where the entire appliance is either shut down or thrown off its game. Of course, the majority of modern products that have knobs do not use the analog/mechanical controls of knobs of the past, but are in fact, “knobs“ that interface with micro control boards behind them. Still, there is an entire field of design that studies user interaction, and I do think that, at least, in some instances, such as with cooktops, knobs actually, do make a lot of sense. One can certainly debate where the best location for those knobs would be to avoid getting splatters on them since Cleaning knobs is not exactly, a fun time for most folks. Some people would assume that installing Touch Sensitive controls in all sorts of consumer products that once used knobs, levers, and buttons, is simply a design trend, and I’m sure there is truth to that. But a little voice inside also suggests to me, that one of the reasons they have moved away from knobs and especially the electromechanical kinds used in the past, is due to the cost of manufacturing. I do not have a data set to support this theory, but if you consider the labour and the bewildering amount of copper wiring that went into something such as a 1950 electric stove, some of which had lots of extra features, you can begin to imagine the cost savings of having a micro “motherboard“ taking the place of all that complex analogue electrical structure. I truly enjoy all of the benefits and possibilities that I have with my smart phone, laptop, iPads, etc. But I do think your instincts for knobs are not without merit, because sometimes, appliance designers attempt to answer questions that no one ever asked. My two. Cents 🤔.