Jenn Air Micro/Wall Oven combo reviews

11 years ago

Hi - We are at the place where we need to tell our contractor which appliances we will be using for the design stage of our remodel. We are interested in the Jenn-Air Micro/wall oven combo and having a hard time finding any reviews on them. I have seen a few where people are having difficulty with them but they seem to be older posts. Anyone using the current models? Our other options are the Bosch 800 combo/Capital Maestro wall oven with possibly a thermador MW since it doesn't come branded/or the KA combo. Any suggestions and comments are welcome!

Featured Answer

rschleicher

10 years ago

We have the "V2" version combo wall-oven and microwave (JMW3430), installed a bit over a month ago. We really like it so far, although we haven't begun to use many of the features. The main oven has a dual-fan convection system, and the upper microwave can also be used as a convection oven, as it has a heating element besides the microwave. We thought about getting separate units, instead of a combo, but the slightly lesser total height of the combo unit allowed us to fit a warming drawer underneath. I'm not too worried about the "need to replace the whole thing" issue, as I'm usually more inclined to repair something instead of replace. It seems to me that the Whirlpool units have fewer features, but that the corresponding KitchenAid models are not that different. (Our prior unit was a Whirlpool combo oven/microwave, that lasted roughly 19 years, although it did need a controller board replacement at one point, maybe 7 or 8 years ago.)

My other possible concern for the long term is whether the color LCD display and touch-screen will last. No reason to suspect trouble, though. The "culinary center" and sensor-based cooking capabilities of this unit are very cool, even if not really necessary. And this last is completely frivolous, but the ability to select from a bunch of different color scenes for the main display background is kind of cool....

We also got a free-standing french door (4-door type) Jenn-Air fridge, a "free" Jenn-Air dishwasher as part of the package, plus the above-mentioned warming drawer. The dishwasher is very quiet, although like all new water-saving dishwashers, it takes a long time to run through the complete cycle. My feeling on both the fridge and the dishwasher is that they are basically gussied-up Kitchenaid, and I've always felt that Kitchenaid was pretty good at both fridges and dishwashers. (As an aside, I am loving the extra door/drawer, which in this case is a refrigerator drawer above the main freezer.) We went with Dacor for our cooktop, just because we liked some of its features a bit more than the Jenn-Air cooktops we were looking at.

Comments (8)

wardman
11 years ago
My bulider also offered an upgraded JennAir pro package over the standard Whirlpool Gold. At the end of the day it cost about 6500 more for the 36" cooktop, wall over and microvave, vent, and DW.

I'll be buying the extended warranty from Jennair the second we move in.
sail_away
11 years ago
Sorry, we're just prepping to buy appliances to replace the twenty year-old ones in our current home, so have no experience to go by.

Can you get the Jenn-Air wall oven plus separate microwave (with trim kit) that can be installed above the regular oven? DH suggested the combo, but I didn't want that, as I feared having to replace the entire unit when the microwave (which generally needs to be replaced before the main oven) stopped working. Surprisingly, when I spoke with the salesman at our local appliance store, he volunteered (without my asking) that he would not recommend buying a wall oven/microwave combination for just that reason. Although our current microwave has lasted twenty years, just like the rest of our appliances, I understand that is not typical and that, in general, you will likely have to replace the microwave one or more times before having to replace the oven. Maybe that's not an option for you, but I thought I'd mention it.

I hope someone can offer more information about the micro/wall oven combo you asked about. We, too, have looked at some Jenn-Air products and are having a hard time finding reviews on the products that interest us.
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Mootie181
Original Author
11 years ago
Sail-away - One of the options to get the two separate is the Thermador or Bosch. Both made by the same manufacturer so I've heard - and both have separate controls so you can replace one without the other. It is a good point to think about...Also I think Sharpe makes the Therm and Bosch - so you could get just the Jenn-air oven and then the Sharpe MW/Conv - although I realize that a lot of people don't like the separate branding issue. I just want dependable appliances :).
sail_away
11 years ago
If you want Jenn-Air, they do have a microwave with trim kit that will go with your Jenn-Air main oven. However, the Whirlpool microwave is exactly the same, but costs less money. (According to salesman, both are likely made by Sharp.) Please note that it's a dedicated microwave---no convection or speed oven features. If that turns out to be something you'd be interested in, I can look up the model number for the Whirlpool--it's buried in our file of information from our appliance shopping. Sorry I can't provide any recommendations, since we're still just shopping, but I can share information we've gathered.
andyherman
11 years ago
Be cautious purchasing any Jenn Air appliance. If anything happens, Jenn Air/Whirlpool policy is to repair, not replace.

I just bought a new $2,000 range delivered on Feb 15th. The unit started arcing on the 25th of February when I was using two burners - nine days after having it delivered.

Jenn Air will not replace the range - they will only FIX it (after just 9 days in my house).

I'm still without a working range as of today (March 8th).

BUYER BEWARE!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: PO'ed Consumer
nerdyshopper
11 years ago
If you are in the price range, I looked up the Fischer & Pikel (sp?) ovens a while back and was impressed that ICS had put the electronics below the oven cavity. That looked like it would save a lot of control board headaches. Unfortunately, they only came in 30 inch models and I was looking for a repacement for a 27 inch GE Profile that has control button problems.
sail_away
11 years ago
I need to correct what I said earlier. Although the Whirlpool and Jenn-Air microwaves look exactly alike, another salesman told me that the Jenn-AIr has sensor cooking ability and the Whirlpool does not. Since I only want a basic microwave, it really didn't matter to me, but I want to make sure I'm not passing on inaccurate information.