Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
bentzero

My experience with Wolf, SubZero, and Therm/Bosch DW

BentZero
11 years ago

We've lived with the in-laws for 2 months now while the house is being built. They have a 48" Wolf DF range, Subzero fridge, and Bosch (which is the same as the Therm) dishwasher. I just wanted to give my thoughts on each so far.

First the range. I cook dinners on the weekends to give my wife and MIL a break from cooking. This thing puts out some BTUs and an unfortunately side effect is massive amounts of heat. We've started using the hood more to help out with that. The burners get things plenty hot and the simmer feature works very well. My only complaint about the range is that making fine adjustments to the size of the flame never quite feels precise. I have to keep going high and low until I get it to the level I'm looking for. The oven also takes FOREVER to pre-heat. Both the small and large sides. It makes my 4yr old boys cranky because I'm always late to getting their dinner started. Maybe it wants to wait until the entire oven is pre-heated instead of having pockets of cooler air. My chicken fingers don't notice a difference though. Once up to temp the oven works great.

All in all, I'm glad we're going with Therm for our range and wall ovens. Wolf makes a quality product, but I just don't see the difference in cost. Keep in mind that I'm the "weekend warrior" type of "chef". Perhaps true chefs can justify the cost. My MIL bought it purely for the red knobs. Wish I was joking.

Second, the fridge. It keeps stuff cold and seems to be pretty air tight. I can't attest to its ability to keep food fresh since we go through our food at a decent clip. It's a bit on the small side since it's cabinet depth, but food doesn't tend to get lost in the back as it did in my old "regular" depth fridge. Items in the freezer don't seem to get freezer burnt either.

Last, the DW. This thing gets dishes clean. Like ridiculously clean. They also come out piping hot. Much hotter than my old GE Profile DW. My issue with the bosch/therm dishwasher is the rack. They're built to be flush with the cabinets to allow you to put on a fake door. That unfortunately takes away from internal volume. We have a hard time fitting all of bowls that we use on a daily basis and we use a lot. We use them for apple sauce for the boys, in food prep, salads, and cereal/ice cream desserts. Not to mention the large coffee mugs my in-laws use.

I really wish the racks were designed better because of how well this thing cleans dishes. Only quirk is that we can't figure out how to turn this thing on without having to turn the unit off first. There's no start button and I've not taken the time to read the instructions.

In summary, the following are my recommendations. Take them for what their worth. Hint, probably not much :).

Wolf: Buy it if you must but take a close look at Therm products. Oven is probably still pre-heating as I type.

Subzero: Built like a tank, but it's hard for me to see the price difference. We're going with separate 32" Fridgidaire full fridge and full freezer units for a total of 64" of wall space. Can't wait to see it.

Bosch/Therm DW: If you can live with the racks then this thing is money. At some point Therm was giving this away with the purchase of select appliances. Not sure if that's still going on.

Comment (1)