This being an internet forum, I think it would be funny if Antss turned out to be, say, a uniquely articulate nine year old girl from, oh, Sri Lanka with access to lots and lots of product catalogs.

(nothing against Antss, or Sri Lankan children).

Jokes aside, I agree completely with Bishop8; I would love to hear what the forum experts have in their own kitchens. Me? Not an expert, and just lots of boring white GE and KitchenAid. But not for long... thanks to this group.

I have a few kitchens and a couple of office appliances and I also go through a few in a lab experiment sort of way.

I have or very recently had:
Dishwashers by Fisher Paykel, Bosch and Miele.
Cooktops: Dacor, Wolf and Monogram
Fridges by Subzero, Monogram, and plain ol GE, Gaggenau
Ovens by Wolf and Miele and one Monogram
Micros : Wolf, Sharp, Panasonic, and Miele
Coffee: Miele, Gaggenau, had a Kuppersbusch for a brief spell
Faucets: Hansgrohe, Kohler, KWC, Dornbracht, Herbeau, Blanco
Disposals: ISE
Warming Drws: Dacor,Miele, Thermador
Hoods: BEST,Thermador
BBQ: Dacor, Thermador

may have left something out???

Thanks antss. Maybe some other follow-up questions/items:
- What's your favourite (and/or best value) of those listed above, per category?
- When you say cooktop, is it gas or induction? If the latter, what cookware that doesn't generate the 'buzz'?
- of the micros, are any combis?
- steam ovens?
- speed ovens?
- sinks?
- garburators?

only use gas tops, keep threatening to get and induction hob but haven't committed yet.

the miele micro is a speed oven, all but the panasonic are combos.

garburator = disposal ???

don't personally care for steam ovens as they too small for me and I don't really like steamed stuff except for veggies. Those are easily done in a double broiler type set up or in a countertop combi steamer that takes up less room and less $$$. Had one that doubled as a deep fryer a while back and didn't use it much.

I have a lot of sinks too ranging from custom copper, and stainless ones welded into stainless counters to off the shelf stuff. Usually stick with Franke, Blanco or Kohler in that order.

may have left something out???

Ice machines: Manitowoc

Thanks antss.

Notwithstanding the thead title, as segesta suggested I'd be interested in seeing if other local experts, and particularly those actually in the business, would share what they use and why.

don't have an ice machine any more. Haated the look cause they couldn't be integrated and Scotsman has burned me a time or two.

I have gone to an undercounter fridge with a traditional ice maker like the SubZero 700BCi drawers or UC24-ci and what I just put in : a Uline CO1175.

The latter has the icemaker up top instead of down low like the SZ and comes in 24" which the SZ drawers don't.

Still not fully integrated either.

The new ice machine from SZ looks promising and can be fully integrated. My reservation is: it's a new model and it's made in China. We've already installed a few and the fit & finish is nice, the toekick is recessed, and the scoop is door mounted.

I've got no control over the rest of the gang.

antss,

might be repetitive but would love to hear your thoughts ( or anyone else's :) in this forum i started.

Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen appliance decisions

My Thoughts and My Appliances (Budget was NOT a Consideration--we bought what we wanted!)

Electrolux Icon Designer Series 30" Oven.
We love the big bright display and the large touch pad area-Why, just like a cmptr monitor, the bigger the better the older ya get.
The smoothly fully gliding out shelves are a joy to use and makes checking on things, basting etc very easy--especially heavy things like a Turkey--Miele is now offering these shelves as an after market add on.
We like the way it bakes and You will see many other users that concurr.
And We just like the way the thing looks--so Form and Function Both.
Trouble free for 5 years now.

Elux Icon Speed Oven.
Our most used cooking appliance. Baked potatoes in 15 minutes instead of 55 mins using regular Oven.
Has many functions, Bake , Roast, Grill , Speed Cook, Nuke and even popcorn. The grill function is great for toast and heating leftovers that would get limp from Nuking (French Fries) for example.

Miele Optima DW
We bought it cause of the top cutlery tray.
We haven't had a problems loading the DW and we had a KA
before. Cleans well, Quiet, Ocassionally we might retieve some wet plastic items from it, but No Biggie.

Jenn-air 48" Built In Panelled Fridge.
We basically designed our kitchen around this.
After living with an always over crowded Fridge
(and Scientific Experiments going on in the back of it as one poster Mentioned) and things falling out----Well we wanted the biggest Fridge that was offered in 2005.
We had a choice of GE, Jenn-air and Sub Zero.
We chose the JA, we like the way it looked, inside and out, was well lit inside, had 3 different settings for different areas of the Fridge(Main Compartment-One for the Veggie Chrisper and another for the Meat Keeper--All had digital readouts. We like the Adjustability of the shelves some evenh with a crank handle. It was rated #1 for reliability in 2005 by Consumer Reports and it has been trouble free for 5 years now, it is very quiet, it has the Varible Speed Compressor that the new Liebhers are using--so I gotta really lean up to the thing and still concentrate to figure if it is running or not.

Elux Icon Wine Fridge. It matches the rest of our appliances and has been trouble free too, not as quiet as the Jenn-air Fridge, but I still havta "Tune in" to hear it running.

Elux Icon 30" cooktop.
This thing continues to amaze us with its speed at boiling water, the controllability--ya turn it down and boiling ceases immediately. Very good simmer (well less than simmer 119 Degress F) so no double boiler needed for melting butter or chocolate etc. We usually cover it with paper towels when we cook so cleanup is "Just toss the towels" but even if something gets on it, still very easy to clean as the cooktop does not get hot enough to burn anything on. We had this for about a year, and it too has been trouble free.

Anyway, these were the "Picks" for our "last and final" kitchen. We are 100% satisfied with all our choices and I have not seen one appliance that I wished I had bought instead of what We have--But that's just us, and what makes us Happy Happy as Emeril likes to say.

Good luck on your upcoming Decisions::

Gary

So per your request, This is from a user, certainly not an Expert like Antss or Trevor, Weisman or Deeagaux!

Gary

Very much appreciate your thoughts

I know this next ques is somewhat subjective but why do you think those others you listed don't consider your appliances in the "top of the line" category. Like sz,wolf,bs,etc.... No disrespect intended just hard to truly decide

Thanks again

Thanks Dodge. I've read in other threads how much you like the Elux and they're definitely a consideration. I know you've previously mentioned a cooktop you had to junk before the Elux, but you've never noted the brand. Which was it?

Slowly, I'm starting to get my brands narrowed by category - subject, of course, to final wife approval - but there are still variables to consider before selecting. My choices so far are:

Fridge -- Northland 48" SxS, white interior, no ice/water. Seems like the safest choice of the lot, I like the full customization, tank-like all metal construction, repairs seem relatively straight-forward when necessary (i.e. no need to pull the whole unit out) and there's no SZ premium. They apparently do virtually no marketing, which has been aggravating for research, to say the least. Thankfully my wife relented and agreed that, while the Miele was very beautiful and apparently solidly built, it was too expensive and just not practical enough (we will never have just 2 San Pellegrino bottles and a shapely tomato stored, as displayed in the store).

Cooktop -- Definitely induction (probably 36"), between Miele, Fagor, Electrolux, and Kuppersbusch. This latter was being really pushed by the store owner (who seems trustworthy enough) as being as good if not better than Miele, but cheaper. Certainly they don't market as much as Miele (kind of like the Northland-SZ situation). The translations on their website are almost comical, so I'd be counting on their German engineering to be better than their marketing!

Wall Oven -- Single, with a speed oven / convention MW combo unit on top. Likely Miele, Wolf, Electrolux, Kuppersbusch. Recall reading some reliability questions on the Bosch/Thermador here, otherwise they'd be on as well. Not sure about Gaggeneau? Probably keep the two the same brand, for aesthetic uniformity. Anyone know if you can make toast in a convection MW/combo unit? I'll be a bit po'ed if I also have to have a toaster oven on the counter.

Dishwasher -- will use the KA until it dies, then switch to a Miele.

Hood -- either Vent-a-Hood (was told the local fire dep't insists on the brand since it's one of the few that can actually put out a fire in the ducts -- not sure if this is a true statement or not) or one of the asian brands like Pacific.

I'd always welcome comments on the above. Fortunately or unfortunately, ever since I stumbled upon this forum my eyes 'have been opened' and I notice my selections have begun migrating upmarket. :)

As above, I'd love to hear from any of the other forum experts, either on my choices above and/or what they use in their own kitchens (and reasons thereof).

I really like the Northland as well but it is an energy hog. I bought the miele instead.

True, the Northlands aren't Energy Star compliant and use more energy than other brands, but I thought that was supposed to be a strength, i.e. they didn't go with those smaller/cheaper compressors to get ES compliance, but also probably shouldn't break down as much as a result.

To soothe my green conscience, I look at it that I live in an area that generates 93% of its electrical needs through (renewable) hydroelectricity. While consuming more energy, the Northland is theoretically more durable and thus should be overall more efficient than if I went with a lesser brand and had to buy a second or third replacement refrigerator when the cheaper ones with ES certification crap out and end up in a landfill!

Back on topic, again any lists from the local experts would be great to read.

I wonder if that fire department's experience with duct fires was predominately with ventilation systems in which the flow velocity in the ducts was below the suggested level for minimizing precipitation of grease particulates that are too small for collection at the baffles or mesh filters. (Note that dirty mesh filters capture more grease than clean filters, but what escapes them will be subject to a low flow rate due to the pressure loss at the filters degrading the fan performance.)

kas