You got an excellent bargain on the oven. Do call Gaggenau and see if they'll honor the warranty. Congrats! Mine was FedEx'd from England. I think it was $70 U.S. duty, plus $5 for FedEx to handle the paperwork. Since you'll be carrying yours as luggage, you should be paying (if it hasn't changed) according to the following equation, with the price in U.S. dollars of your cooktop being X: duty=.03(X-800) That should be a lot less than import duty. That is, assuming that there isn't special duty on hand carried electronics or some such. If there's VAT in Germany, ask the store if you can have it waived since you're taking it out of the country. I don't know if you've seen the caveats. For your self-imported cooktop, you should get a letter from your insurance company saying that they know it's European rather than UL approved and that that doesn't affect your policy (mine said so long as it was installed by a licensed electrician). Also, you should make sure your building codes don't specify UL. If they do, you'll need a waiver. The Euro certification is just as good as UL, but you want to make sure that you have all the bases covered so they can't use a technicality to weasel out of the help you'd be given if there's a fire or something (like from a lightning strike). I'm also in California but local codes and inspectors vary. Do check with the airlines about the measurements they allow as well. It should be fine. My cooktop would fit, with its original box, into my old large pullman suitcase. I'm not sure about the newer ones, but it's the three dimensions added together they go by, with a maximum diagonal, so I think that part will be fine. Actually, if you have an old large pullman case, you might consider taking it, with some old towels or rags, and bring home the cooktop in the case, with the cloth for padding, instead of having to get an outer box and peanuts. Worse comes to worst, you can always send it FedEx. :)

I think what happens is that you just won't get the portable out to boil water. We lived for about 6 months without the kitchen. Our el-cheapo portable induction was a life saver and I thought I would use it to boil water and cook stuff in summer. I have yet to get it out of the drawer where it lives (18 months so far). I did get an outdoor stove with two 30k btu burners that I am really liking and using a lot - even in this heat wave. I like cooking outside. Somehow, its ok to tote all the food outside but to get the induction gizmo out of a drawer. I have no experience with the Capital, but the burner designs resemble each other somewhat. I am not claiming equivalence in any way but a lot of heat, straight up from a lot of small jets. I never turn it all the way up, even to boil water - it sounds like a jet engine when I do that. At medium, its more than twice as fast as the POC range in my kitchen at doing anything. If I got to re-choose with money as no object, I think I would get a induction top and a solid plate or Teppanyaki style griddle - those would cover about 90% of my cooktop needs. Small funny story - I didn't realize that it was even possible to get a pan hot enough to spontaneously ignite oil - but guess what, I can! lmao. Also, my cutting board that fits over the prep sink just fits over a burner :)

Ok kitchen designer emailing me tonight for final choices! Where things stand: Miele CSO - plumbed Bosch Benchmark 36 in French door Sharp micro drawer: The contenders - as in OP, I have to have induction over oven of same brand: Wolf 36 induction + Wolf E: Favorite induction controls, prefer large hob on the right, but the chipping issue, and oven is $$ Bosch 36 Flexinduction + Benchmark Oven: center large hob and controls less appealing, but seems to have best balance of good product for induction and wall oven for its price point. Cooktop design works well over oven. Could get side opening door. Miele 36 induction + Miele Pure Line Oven: Like Miele layout of induction cooktop, less a fan of its controls, oven is relatively basic and no probe. But would match CSO. I’m likely going with Bosch but would love any last minute input/votes! Thanks for all the help so far.

Yeah, kind of over the top, I agree. I think the previous owner was a caterer. Like I said, I really don’t need more burners, but I’m interested in the idea of induction- seems that’s the way it’s going since gas may eventually be phased out. Your comment made me think about 30 inch ovens again - one designer told me the space couldn’t handle 2 30” and suggested 27s, but I would kind of like the flexibility of a small oven along with a full-size, so maybe a 24” and a 30”? What do people think about steam ovens these days? Not sure if the feature would be used enough to merit the extra cost, but maybe? I’m starting to think about Miele based on some comments I’ve read about staying cool externally, which is important to me if they’ll be under-counter.