Which cook top and wall oven units do you recommend?

[howard Scott Warren]

Hi all I am new to the forum so please excuse me if I am repeating a thread that already exists. I am buying a house and want to upgrade the appliances. i have been to so many show rooms and gotten so many different opinions from people who do not use the equipment so I was hoping to get help from people who do.

I am not a professional chef, but I do a great deal of baking and I am a very good cook. so I want to put in a high end cook top and an efficient wall oven. I have been looking at a 36 inch 6 burner Wolf, Thermadoor, DCS and Dacor. I have been told Wolf is great and Thermador is unbeatable but they both have cleanup issues that DCS does not. I want to be able to simmer and truly simmer with gas. Can any of you give your opinions on these products your likes and dislikes if any if you have them please? Thanks

Can you also suggest a good quiet range hood for such a unit?

I am also looking at a SS duel oven. I was going to go for one of those ovens as well, but I found that even a 36" Wolf and Dacor can't hold the same amount of bakeware that a GE profile and Jenn-Air can. So I am looking at thouse. But I am interested in the thermador if they have a 30" or even a 36" that is both deep and tall. During the holidays I do a lot of baking and it is just more cost effective to buy a double oven than to buy a small oven that won't work. I don't use convection that much so not sure if I need a professional unit like Wolf or thermador or if just a standard brand like GE or Jenn-Air would do the trick. I need even cooking stable temperatures. Any suggestions?

I am not as picky about my refrigerator and freezer. I want a large unit so I have considered getting a commericial unit for my house and a commercial freezer as well. They just hold their temperatures better and don't ice up like consumer brands do.

And lastly I would like an energy efficient and fast dish washer. during the holidays things can pile up a lot, so I need to clean up fast and get started on the next batch.

Thanks for any and all responses.

 

[Andy M.]

Welcome to DC, Howard.

There are some older threads in this appliance thread that discuss range/oven options as well as other appliances. Try our search feature to find what you want.

 

[kadesma]

Howard,
my husband just put in a new oven and convection microwave for me. We bought a Miele, made in Germany, expensive, but I love it..Have had it a little over a month and for someone who hated baking I now love it...It has many features I've still to use and it is so easy...The microwave is hubby's baby as I hate the things and only reheat coffee in them but I must say this one is great...We are in the process of going from a glass electric cook top to a Wolfe gas cook top and I'm anxious to get going on it..but we still has to get the gas line in and working...
just my take on ovens, I love the Miele..
kadesma

 

[ChefJune]

Over the past couple of years, I have been working for a company that represents Whirlpool products. I have had the opportunity to demonstrate the wall ovens (both convection/conventional and microwave/combo) of both JennAir and KitchenAid, as well as the stove tops.

Lately I've been impressed with the performance of the KitchenAid ovens. They heat quickly, cook evenly and are easy to clean.

Personally, before I bought my stove (would have had to gut my kitchen to put in wall ovens) I felt it important to read the opinions I found on ConsumerReports.com and on other independent sites where folks talked about the equipment they owned. I can't recommend that strongly enough.

The more folks who weigh in on this thread with their opinions of what they've been cooking on, the better armed you are to make an informed decision. Remember, tho, that unless their equipment is fairly recent, what they have is not what you'll be buying. For instance, KitchenAid recently upgraded their Microwave/Combo oven. I wasn't in love with the older model, but this new one is much better.

 

[wysiwyg]

howard Scott Warren,
Consumers Report has a range ranking on their February 2008 issue, perhaps you can find the cooktop rankings in their website.
In in case you are interested, among the brands you are looking for, the Thermador Pro Grand PG366B, GE monogram ZDP36N6H and Frigidaire Professional PLGF659E/Viking Professional Series VGSC367-6B are the top 36" range performers.

I own a Jenn-Air gas cooktop and wall oven and I am very happy with them.
Same as you, I looked for high end cooktops when redoing my kitchen. However, I realize that since I have cooper cookware, it is more important to have a very controllable gas burner rather than a very powerful. The Jenn-Air burners are great at controlling low heat conditions.

Relative to the wall oven, I recommend using an oven thermometer to ensure consistent performance.

My dishwasher is a Bosch and it works great although I rarely use it.

 

[howard Scott Warren]

howard Scott Warren,
Consumers Report has a range ranking on their February 2008 issue, perhaps you can find the cooktop rankings in their website.

Thanks, I did join consumer reports and checked out their ratings. But one thing I have learned about consumer reports is that it is not always as "objective" as I would like. I prefer to read forums and get user feedback to ratings.

I more or less have my cooktop narrowed down to either, Wolf, DCS or Thermador. Anyone have any feedback on the cleanup of these units? For example if you spill liquid onto the burners, does it get down deep into the unit? or will it be contained to the stove top and easy to clean up

 

[ChefJune]

Thanks, I did join consumer reports and checked out their ratings. But one thing I have learned about consumer reports is that it is not always as "objective" as I would like. I prefer to read forums and get user feedback to ratings.

I more or less have my cooktop narrowed down to either, Wolf, DCS or Thermador. Anyone have any feedback on the cleanup of these units? For example if you spill liquid onto the burners, does it get down deep into the unit? or will it be contained to the stove top and easy to clean up

Getting a cooktop with sealed burners will render it easier to clean . Be sure to check for that feature.

 

[Robo410]

less important than brand, (there are many fine appliances out there) is "what do you want in your kitchen?" DO you want glass top electric? Induction?, gas? do you want 4, 5, or 6 burners? Do you want a wok burner? Ovenwise, do you want two ovens? 30 or 36 inch? convection? Infrared broiler?
Finally, do you want American made?
Once you put your list together you can go see what is going to work for your budget and kitchen size.

 

[howard Scott Warren]

Thank you all for your replies. Here is what I decided to go with.

Thermador 36" Stainless Steel Gas Cook top
Thermador 36" stainless Steel vent hood
GE Cafe' 30" Duel Fuel Range
GE Cafe' Dishwasher
GE Cafe' Side by Side refrigerator
Sharp 24" slide in Microwafe
GE Cafe' 30" vent hood

I Chose thermador because it does everything wolf does for less money and has a good reputation with people in my area. I have been able to talk to builders and remodelers who were able to give me feedback on it.

I choose GE brand because I was told that for function non-high-end brands work better. And I want function as well since I will be using these items. In the end I don't believe a buyer will balk at GE vs Thermador/wolf/DCS/Viking/etc.

Howard

 

[jabbur]

I recently bought a GE range myself. I went to various places. The local family owned store here sells all the brands you were looking at. The people there told me that for ovens, GE outperforms the more expensive name brands. I'm happy with my range. I've only had it 2 days but so far, the oven temp has been right on by my thermometer and the chicken I baked tonight came out nice. Hope you will be happy with your choices.

 

[ChefJune]

Thank you all for your replies. Here is what I decided to go with.

Thermador 36" Stainless Steel Gas Cook top
Thermador 36" stainless Steel vent hood
GE Cafe' 30" Duel Fuel Range
GE Cafe' Dishwasher
GE Cafe' Side by Side refrigerator
Sharp 24" slide in Microwafe
GE Cafe' 30" vent hood

I Chose thermador because it does everything wolf does for less money and has a good reputation with people in my area. I have been able to talk to builders and remodelers who were able to give me feedback on it.

I choose GE brand because I was told that for function non-high-end brands work better. And I want function as well since I will be using these items. In the end I don't believe a buyer will balk at GE vs Thermador/wolf/DCS/Viking/etc.

Howard

I hope you end up satidfied with your selections. Builders and remodelers are NOT cooks/cooking teachers. A good friend of mine here in New Jersey has built a successful career as a kitchen designer in part because she IS both cook and cooking teacher, and can give practical advice based on experience in the kitchen...

In the end, right now, buyers want stainless steel appliances, and I think you are right, they don't care who made them. If you sell in the era after stainless steel has gone out of fashion, you may well end up replacing your appliances to cater to the whims of the buyers at that time....

 

[Robo410]

Thermador is a reputable company with a long product history.

 

[NAchef]

I have been wondering how these units work. I have not seen them in person yet but they look really nice.

Anybody have any experience with the Turbochef units?

 

[pugger]

Thermador 36" w/ extralow

We have the 36" Thermador cooktop in SS w/ the extralow feature; also matching 36" ss Thermador venthood; all installed in 2002. The extra-low took some getting used to, as the fuel shuts off for so many seconds, and fires on again - this could take 1 click or a dozen. Only regret, and this is a maybe as it would have meant more $$, was to go w/ professional series cooktop.

We also have a Wolf Double Oven - bought at the time on ebay for less than the professional series Thermador we always wanted. The thinking at the time was we were getting the creme-de-la-creme. Now, we're not sure if we would have been better off waiting & going w/ the Thermador oven, as well, for a little more money ...