I was wondering if this was an April Fool's joke! LOL!! I'm so glad it's resolved. I use my five degree increments (Gaggenau) all the time, and haven't missed the single digits, but could never use 25 degree increments. I've had old ovens that were marked with 25 degree lines, but still heated to in between wherever they were set. :) Which leads me to read between the lines...the Wolf gas ovens have 25 degree increments. I've only ever had one gas oven and it did whatever temperature it felt like on the day, and not the same in all parts of the oven, but maybe part of it's problem was a continuous dial but it only really adjusted by 25 degree jumps (since it wasn't caibratable to match the dial, one wouldn't be able to tell where those were)? That oven ruined more cakes....

First of all, stop trying to second guess the oven and using temperatures different from recipes. It won't help you. Wekick raises a very good question: "How do things bake?" It is ridiculous to expect any oven, no matter how high end, to reach the exact set temperature and stay there without changing. I may be wrong, and please correct me if this is the case, but it sounds like from your initial post you're trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. This reminds me of when people try to raise the water level in their front load washers after buying without first answering the question "Are the clothes clean?" >"I was told that the oven temperature would vary by 10 degrees after reaching the set point of 370" Seems like you misinterpreted their statement. You seem to think the temperature will only go above the set point and then go back down to it. This is not the case. The temperature will vary above and below the set temperature. So a swing of 10 degrees means that it would drop down from 375 to 370, then heat up to 380, then drop down to 370, and so on - so the average temperature, is 375 if you punch in 375! In reality it will probably not operate EXACTLY like this, but that is probably what they were trying to tell you it is supposed to do. They might have also meant it will vary 10 degrees above and below, not just 10 degrees overall. So, it drops from 375 to 365, then goes up to 385, and so on. Either way, the average temp is the same, and swings of either magnitude are quite small compared to most ovens. >"I looked (without opening the door) at my new oven thermometer (set on the middle shelf on the left side of the oven near the light). My oven thermometer read 325 degrees. At 26 minutes my oven thermometer read 370. At 30 minutes my oven thermometer read 375 degrees. At 50 minutes my oven thermometer read 380 degrees. At 60 minutes my oven thermometer read 385 degrees." Again, you're second guessing the oven. When you open the door to put in food, the temperature drops by a ton and then the oven has to work to recover back to your set point. I can't say whether this is the case for this particular oven, or if it is just due to a normal temperature swing, but many ovens will heat to higher than the set temperature during the initial preheat to minimize the amount it drops below the set point when the door is opened. Then, once you put in the food, it will heat back up to your set point. Had you opened the door, I bet the temperature would have stayed closer to your set point after the oven recovered from the door opening. Wekick again makes a very good point about preheating. When the buzzer sounds, that doesn't necessarily mean the oven is ready for food. The Wolf website explains why long preheating is important : "With basic preheating, the air temperature in the oven is raised and the preheat temperature is reached very quickly. However, immediately after the preheat is complete, the oven temperature begins to drop because the racks, walls, as well as the bottom and top of the oven start to absorb the heat due to the fact they are not at the same temperature as the air inside the oven. Full cavity preheating brings the temperature of the oven components, as well as the air in the oven up to the same temperature. Assuring that once the preheat temperature is reached, it remains constant, with no drop off." >"I looked (without opening the door) at my new oven thermometer (set on the middle shelf on the left side of the oven near the light)." Is the oven's temperature sensor on the middle shelf onthe left side of the oven near the light? Again even in high performing ovens like the Wolf, temperatures will vary slightly throughout the cavity and you should never expect your oven thermometer to match exactly what the oven thinks. My suggestion: ditch the oven thermometer and trust the oven electronics. Just punch in the temperature on the recipe and try baking for the amount of time on the recipe. If, after that amount of time, the results aren't as you like, come back here and elaborate on what went wrong? Did they bake too quickly? Too slowly? Too much on the tops/bottoms? Unevenly between different parts of the oven? Etc. THEN you'll get advice more along the lines of what you're looking for. This post was edited by hvtech42 on Wed, Aug 27, 14 at 21:07

Sharp also makes (perhaps uniquely) an over the counter microwave oven. This hangs below a cabinet, so no shelf is needed. If the cabinet height is appropriate, it is possible to get the oven bottom to align with other cabinets. Unlike over the range units, this microwave has lights underneath but makes no attempt at cooktop ventilation. If you choose this approach, let me know and I'll provide some tips for installation. kas

@thekeller4—Thanks! I am in my city apartment for a few days so can’t take a photo now. So next to the stack is actually a cabinet that holds breakfast items, fruit and dried nuts and behind them, some overflow items like giant bags of rice and Costco cereal boxes. It is the depth of the ovens and only 12” or so wide so not the most useful cabinet but it seemed silly to waste the space. I could have done a pullout there but I have a separate walk-in pantry so I didn’t feel like spending yet more money for a pullout. Baking sheets are in a tray cabinet near the cooktop and baking dishes are in a drawer in the perimeters. Above the stack is a vertically-divided platter cabinet. Below the stack is a drawer that holds all the accessories for the CSO. That is an important drawer. The universal tray that comes with the CSO is awesome. I use it in place of baking sheets quite frequently because it cleans up like a dream. By the way, I also put a drawer below the speed oven in the island for the same reason. @wdccruise—that is the model of induction range that I had. I liked it a lot but wanted to go 36” and have a cooktop with wall ovens in the remodel. I did find the fan to be quite noisy and the steam when opening the oven door was irritating. I think the 6281 bakes beautifully. If it were my only oven, I might have opted for a more full-featured unit, but for 3K it is a really great oven. I know that you are a CR devotee, but I am not. I am a Blue Star (have in my city kitchen), Sub Zero and Miele fan. None have ever disappointed me.