Hi Everybody!

A friend said I should come here and say how my appliances are doing after four years of use.

Short answer: So far, so good.

Long answer:
Miele Freezer--stopped working, briefly, a year or so ago. Turns out that that handy dandy superfreeze setting superfreezes too much. Using it froze the whole works, including the fan. Defrosting an integrated frostless freezer is kind of awful because there's no provision for the water running out. Luckily, I have another freezer, so cleared out some things, shoved most of the rest in the garage freezer, and used an ice chest for the rest. GOOD NEWS: After the whole thing was thoroughly defrosted so there was no more ice in the evaporator or on the fan, it just started up fine and has worked perfectly ever since. Moral of the story, lay off the -22. ;) When I freeze containers of stock or spaghetti sauce or soup, I put them in the fridge overnight. That way the freezer doesn't warm up too much when they go in. Just like the old days. :) I'm not too fond of the drawer dividers, but I've learned how to make them work for vacuum bagged things and other non-storebought packages.

Miele Refrigerator: Love the temp specific drawers. Love the deli drawer. Love the lighting. Yes, you can lose things in the back of an integrated (i.e., shallower than counter depth) fridge. But that's a testament to how much it holds. Both in terms of space usage and what keeps best where, I've learned that greens are best kept on top of the tall bottles in the middle of the fridge--literally on top of the bottles. Other veg are in one drawer, meat in the other. I have two short shelves at the bottom for jars and containers, then a very tall bottle space, and a short shelf at the top for small packages. I keep the butter box low. The tradition is that the warmest place in a fridge is the top of the door, but that's right where the cooling fans blow, so it isn't in the Miele, and I find the box much more useful at shoulder level. That way, I can also use the top of the box as a shelf.

Marvel drawer fridge. Had to be put on a wood platform to fit right under my high counter. That just makes a somewhat loud appliance louder. It's a loud kitchen, though, not a corner of a great room which sometimes needs to be quiet. It also hates produce bags. The plastic kind from the grocery store. If they touch the top they screw up the sensors or something, and the fridge freaks out. It'll start to warm up then start beeping. The only way to fix it is to pull the plug for a few seconds so it can reboot. Which is why you're supposed to have the outlet accessible. Mine is in the cabinet under my prep sink.

Insinkerator 1 hp disposer. Perhaps too good? It will try to chew through things that shouldn't oughta be in the sink, like plastic film and twigs. When my airgap clogged, those were the culprits, and when the sink was backing up, similar turned out to be caught in the disposer. Most food waste goes in the compost or regular trash, so I think people get blase about the sink and aren't careful about what goes down. I'm the only one who even seems to turn the thing on.

Monogram dishwasher: This was a compromise because the one I loved and first had installed didn't dry. At all. There's a difference between the normal pools of water in the bottom rim of a mug or the edge of a container, and everything being flat out dripping wet. I've learned now that it's possible there was some wear in needed and it might have improved, but the store gave me an even trade to the Monogram. It has never liked removing particles, especially on the setting I prefer for getting the dishes all clean and dry. Little bits of lettuce don't come off. But goo does, as it should. It's easy to load and the racks are flexible enough for all my strange dishes. I keep one set of tines down in the upper rack for large or wide bowls and bakers. There's also some room for these in the bottom, that's usually full of other stuff. Most of the time, I use Method Smarty Dish tablets and no other rinse agent. I have some Finish Powerball Tabs for when it's dire. :)

Gaggenau 3 element induction cooktop (from Europe): Love it. I have, since I was a daily participant here, found settings on which I can hear a thrumming if there's zero noise and no hood fan, and when I've quizzed kids about if they can hear a high pitched tone, they look at me funny, so I'm willing to call it pretty darned quiet. I don't use the memory function, though I should take the time to figure out the settings for rice and make a program. Once I got used to having different power/heat output from different elements, cooking on it has been a dream. I love not needing a double boiler for melting chocolate or making toffee. And I especially love the knob. There's a child lockout button for over-curious small visitors, but it's easiest just to put the knob on a high shelf. :)

I have learned that I can overheat the unit while making stock or spaghetti sauce. It's a small cooktop meant for a small apartment, and I'm making a dozen quarts or more at a time. The trick, I've found, is to pull out the top drawer underneath by a few inches, to allow the air inside, which has been heated up by the fan blowing the heat from the works into the cabinetry, to escape. Also, if I'm bringing the whole pot up to a boil from a simmer, I do it in a couple of steps, rather than starting with 9-boost. It will boil at a lower number, and the electronics won't shut down in self-protection.

Wolf two burner module: I don't use the gas much. Mostly, it gets used for flamy things like toasting tortillas and charring the occasional pepper. Then when feasts roll around it becomes those extra burners I need. It's also a world class trivet. :) And it works without power (can be lit by match if need be).

ModernAire hood. This is my second MA. The first was make-do (and went to the Habitat Store), and was too high and moderately powered. I knew I was getting over powered for my needs because the next lower choice was too little. glad I did. It vents through the wall, so the fans are right there, which makes hearing the door impossible, especially since when company is coming is when it's up higher. I rarely have it on full speed, and for most things I have it on low. And it's pretty. :) The brass has mellowed to a glowy richness.

Gaggenau combi-steam oven: Can't do without it anymore. :) It will hold a surprising amount of stuff. I always use it to blanch vegetables. The roast with steam setting is great for skinless chicken. It'll make hard cooked eggs or perfect rice, but I have more convenient ways to do those and have only tried them in it for fun. I've cooked 1.5 turkeys in it, and brisket, and too many other things to remember.

Recently, I had a whole butterflied chicken, which I had the butcher do because I wasn't feeling it. Turns out I was coming down with something, and didn't have the oomph to make the planned recipe. Tossed some rustic cut mirepoix and a bell pepper in the solid pan, seasoned the chicken and laid it on top, and maybe some herbs. Can't remember herbs or not. Just before it was due to be ready, I was in the other room working and smelled a familiar smell. Couldn't think what it was. Then I got it! The scent was chicken soup! And, turns out there was a lot of condensate as well as water released by the veg and chicken in the pan, so I saved that to use as a base for stone soup. And the chicken was delicious too, without any other flavors. One tends to forget how good things can be plain.

It wants descaling now. I've read everything here and everywhere else I can find and am still unclear on the concept. I will call the service people this week and ask. :)

The "regeneration" (reheating) cycle is flat out amazing.

The whole thing comes apart for cleaning. I have some polymerized stains I can't get off without nasty chemicals, which I choose to call patina. They're clean stains, anyway. :)

Gaggenau 30" oven: Workhorse. Does everything. Never protests. I LOVE the pans. I got extra pans and shelves, and I'm really glad I did. I also got extras for the combi-steam but haven't needed the racks, and only use the extra pans a few times a year. I use the extra racks and pans for the regular oven all the time. I rarely use the broiler pan or the rotisserie though. They're great to have, but a lot of bother if there's another way to get the same result. I don't do a lot of broiled meats, however. For veg, I use the solid pans and parchment paper. And for meats, I tend to use a cast iron grill plate instead of the broiler pan. Less trouble, and great grill marks.

I also love the pizza stone with its special heating element, though it's also a bit of a pain to handle because it's so heavy. For years, I was making one offs, and some boughten doughs, but was inspired by a forum friend who wasn't liking hers to focus in and find a recipe I really liked. I've always gotten a great crust on my pizzas using the stone.

They say that you don't ever need to clean it, that just flipping it will make the food remains char off. That's not so true if you have accidents, like a too soft crust folding under, or cheese falling off. The stone is very porous, so staining is inevitable, but some char needs to be scrubbed. The folded fiasco also needed the baking soda and boiling water trick with a couple of applications. It's fine if you're careful. I always let the stone air dry thoroughly, and if I think it's soon enough that there might possibly be some residual moisture deep in the pores, I heat it very slowly, stage by stage. I don't know if this is scientifically correct, but it has worked so far. Maybe I've just been lucky.

Oven smoking was a bad idea. The fans just pump the smoke into the house. The filters capture a lot, so you don't actually see smoke, but I gave myself a terrible campfire headache doing that. Stovetop, under the overpowered hood, would be better, but I've banished smoke from the indoors.

I try not to run the self clean too often. It works amazingly well, though.

Monogram Advantium. Love it. I don't speed cook much. The need disappeared about the time my kitchen was done, so I haven't learned really well. All the other feature are really excellent, though. Being able to use it as an oven instead of a microwave for feasts is stupendous. I also use the oven setting for small things, mostly because it's the most optimal oven height, and because I can. :) I don't have anywhere to store a portable oven, and building somewhere to do so would cost more than replacing the Advantium when the magnetron, or whatever it is that wears out, goes. Recently, I think I've been seeing a slight downgrade in power, as one would expect. It was worth every penny extra to get the one with the beige-taupe control panel.

Monogram warming drawer. Very simple. No set temperatures, just a dial labelled lo to hi. Works great. Love the wire rack that let's one stack things. I did try a thing I read about, about drying fruit in a warming drawer. Mine has steam vents. It steamed up my cabinetry and raised the grain! Not a good idea. I finished it in the oven. :)

On looks, I'm ever so glad I panelled everything that would stand still for it. I love the warmth that not having a lot of metal in the kitchen brings.

Not much else to say. I've cooked lots, though a lot less than some around here (I only grow herbs and peppers, and have fewer eaters around). Everything works fine, except as noted. There's a saying in the Kitchens forum that after ten years you just have a ten year old kitchen. Mine still feels new, and so do the appliances. I'm looking for twenty-five!