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not_sure

Three old oven-like appliances, three new ones -- but which?

Not_Sure
9 years ago

So, in part thanks to this forum ;-), what started out as a simple "need to replace two broken ovens" has become a partial kitchen remodel.

I'm hoping you all could offer up some advice.

Right now, we have three oven-like appliances, the configuration is as follows:

* Two 30" traditional ovens, each in an island, below granite countertop, 240v, could be easily plumbed (e.g., for steam) if needed.

* One 24" microwave, with 16" height and 16" cabinet depth. 120v now, could probably be upgraded to 240v, plumbing would be tough. Installed at eye-level, surrounded by other cabinets. Height and depth can be adjusted without too much trouble; width we are probably stuck with.

Replacing one of the 30" ovens with a new 30" oven seems like a no-brainer.

The question is, what to do with the other two slots?

The microwave is frequently used (possibly most frequently used of the three), but of course the food quality is pretty mediocre. So, the thought was to use one of the two slots (current MW or 2nd oven) for a "speed oven" that could double as a microwave, but improve the food quality.

Now, most speed ovens require 240v, and all of them that I've found are taller and deeper than our current microwave opening. So, that cabinet would have to be completely redone, and the wiring redone as well.

Furthermore, the microwave is used pretty frequently, and it's currently a side-opening microwave, which I think is probably the best option for an eye-level installation. All the speed ovens (e.g., Miele) I've found are top-down opening, which seems sub-optimal for eye-level -- having to reach over a hot door repeatedly is going to get old, fast.

We have no experience with steam ovens, but they seem all the rage and sound like they could be a big benefit. But our lack of experience -- and with two little kids, not much time to experiment -- may make this appliance fairly useless.

If we wanted to go the standard 30" + conv/steam + speed oven route, we could conceivably put the steam oven in place of the microwave, and the speed-oven under-counter. But this has a couple of issues: First, it still leaves us with the eye-level, downward opening door, unless we went with the Gaggenau, which (a) as far as I can tell requires plumbing, and (b) is pretty expensive for what's basically an experimental device. And, plumbing to that location may be nearly impossible without some serious tearing out of stuff. Second, this leaves us with a speed-oven-in-lieu-of-microwave that's installed at knee-height below a counter, which kind of sucks -- the whole point of a microwave is convenience.

This is where we're at now. Would certainly appreciate it if you could help me clear up any misconceptions and/or propose alternatives and/or tell me that I'm completely screwing up. :-)

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