PS: The company I purchased most of appliances from, Eurostoves, which I trusted a lot prior to all our problems, actively tried to steer me away from Gaggenau, saying they had terrible customer service and talking about how they were overpriced and made for looks, not function (he also said Bosch used to be good, but wasn't any longer and was just cashing in on the name), citing a fancy demo kitchen he'd seen somewhere all kitted out with Gaggenau, most of which didn't work. I'm not saying that wasn't that person's experience, but it is funny that the only terrible customer service I've received has been from them (Eurostoves and Mr. Trevor Lawson, who told me the above on my visit to his store), while Gaggenau/Bosch has gone above and beyond each and every time I've had even a small issue.

I had lusted after the Gaggenau ovens, but budget just didn't stretch that far and I was also worried about what Mr. Lawson had told me.

-Susan W.

Thanks for the feedback. It is always nice to hear the good with the bad :).

One question though, can you please expand on this?

"I haven't fully appreciated the combi-steam oven as an appliance--it's fine, but not great"

We plan to get a combi oven and was curious about how useful it is.

Lots of people here love and adore it; I'd never heard of it before this forum and was wooed enough by what I read to put it on my wish list. When I found this deal, I went for it. I do use it, pretty frequently, for steaming veggies and defrosting meat (quick, safe, effective with none of the downsides of microwaving), but noting the cost I'm clearly not using it to its fullest potential.

I was very excited about bread baking with steam but, the one time I tried it, wasn't terribly impressed with the outcome. (I also tried brownies and carrot cake, using Gaggenau's suggested settings and cook times, with unusably poor results.) Warming up things (in this case Thanksgiving leftovers), often raved about here, left me with wet food, untouchably hot plates and a long wait (20-30 min per plate--only one fits), so not a big seller there either.

I need to try the bread again with just injection, not full-time steam, and see if that gets the results I'm looking for, but haven't yet.

I made a chicken which was moist on the inside and crisp on the outside, but only on top (bottom was flabby and pale--just a regular-size chicken fills the range pretty completely) and the clean-up took as long as cooking the chicken did, so I won't be trying that again.

For a steamer, it's perfect, does everything with no mess or fuss. As a regular oven, I also think it would great (it's small, though), but, like I said, at this point I haven't found it a can't live without piece. I also do a roast/steam veggie mix quite frequently with very good results.

-Susan W.

Thanks for the quick response and detailed feedback! Your feedback certainly makes sense. We don't plan to heat up things with it (will use a micro for that). And have little use for pure steam. The idea was to use steam to improve cooking as you noted. So this is an area of concern for us performance wise.

We are almost at the point of no return on our purchase so would appreciate others chiming in. Gizmo, you also have one, right?

Great to hear about Gagg's good service. Always good to hear a positive experience.

I'll chime in because it's our favorite appliance--not just in the kitchen--EVER!

We do everything in it...chicken, pork tenderloin, rib roast, roasted or steamed veggies. Fish comes out perfectly. The first night we tried a recipe from the included cookbook...balsamic glazed salmon with onion/fennel/carrot/celery mirepoix and lemon mashed potatoes, and we were smitten. "This is restaurant-quality salmon," I said. It was crispy on the outside, super-moist on the inside. Crab, shrimp, mussels, lobster--all are perfect. Pasta and rice are so easy--just throw together with water and put pan in oven. You can place raw whole eggs on the oven tray and put them in the oven and hardboil with no water. So nice and easy...no boil-overs!

I haven't baked yet, because we just don't, but I can say I've only used my new Wolf oven six times since we got the combi steam oven. Using the steam has made it easy for me to keep it clean and new-looking.

Susan--I wonder if yours has been slightly defective all along..??
P.

Pam, I wonder that too ... I have only tried baked goods and roasting that one chicken and, frankly, haven't experimented much past that. We have a rice cooker (had before the combi) so I always just use that for rice and pasta I just boil; old fashioned of me I guess.

I do want to try fish, as I think it would be ideal for that. We just happen to live in a land-locked locale so fresh fish isn't something I cook at home much. We do, do roasted and steamed veggies all the time (part steam, part convection) and they are very good. I tried baked potatoes and they were fine, but I prefer the crisp skin you get in a regular oven.

-Susan W.

Gaggenau called this morning and said they've got everything they need and the unit should be installed in the next two weeks. That was just 24 hoursafter we first spoke about it. When I had a non-working, damaged fridge --which arrived that way--it took them eight months to even admit there was a problem and then another three to actually exchange it--with a lesser model even and no cost refund to me. Talk about night and day service from Gaggenau.

We reheat plates & pans of food all the time; it usually takes just 12 minutes to get piping hot. No wet plates and the food doesn't dry out the way it usually does in a microwave. We set the steam to 60% & use the default left click (which selects 250 temp if I remember correctly). I'm wondering if your unit was defective this way, since you had so many other problems with it.

Besides steaming veggies, the combi makes perfect rice. I bought the half pans, solid & perforated, & put 1 cup rice with 2 cups water or broth in a half pan & steam. Double for a full pan. 2 half pans are the size of a full pan, and they give us versatility when we steam different foods at the same time.

We use the combi to precook perfect baby-back ribs: season with a dry rub & steam for 90 minutes, then out on the grill at medium temperature to finish.

We also use the combi for baking when we don't want to heat up the larger oven or it's already being used. A 13x9 casserole dish, bread pan, or square pan fits perfectly.

I had my entire kitchen remodeled less that 2 years ago with Gaggenau Appliance. I was warned about the bad customer service but I ignored it because I really liked the look of Gaggenau. What a mistake!! My Gaggenau Coffee Maker has literally been in the shop more that it has been in my home. It has been sent to the shop 6 times and still does not work. My Gaggenau Cooktop has now gone out. I have called customer service more times that I can count. My typical phone call has me on hold for 30 minutes and then the line gets hung up. Phone messages are never returned and emails are never returned. Gaggenau is absolutely the worst company that I have ever dealt with. I completely regret my purchase of this company's product. I live in Phoenix, AZ and have been told that I must send my Gaggenau Cooktop to Florida to have it repaired. I have no idea how to take this apart and then mail it. Beware of buying a Gaggenau appliance, you would be much better off with a much cheaper brand.

Why would you have to send the cooktop from Phoenix to Florida. Phoenix should have a qualified Bosch/Thermador/Gaggenau servicer. Sounds fishy, is this coming from your servicer or from Gaggenau. If its the servicer, find a new one because I am a servicer and although I do not like working on Gaggenau I would not tell a customer anything like that

I also have had an awful experience with customer service on a Gaggenau cooktop. They have been rude, incompetent, and slow. It has been more than a month since I have had a functioning cooktop.

And I was informed today that it will be another three to four weeks before they can install a replacement. The customer service rep said that their repair people are incompetent because the quality of their appliances is so high.