frig Miele

cooktop 30 " Wolf

Miele

Wolf

Miele

Miele

Very happy with my Miele fridge (2 mos old), oven (8 years old) and dishwasher (11 years old). Only 1 service call (oven got zapped in a lightning storm). I do appreciate the quality.

And the lighting in the fridge is awesome.

As far as I know all the microwave drawers are made by sharp so you could save a few $$ by buying a sharp one instead of wolf.

Really nice choices overall, especially the Miele fridges and ovens. Agreed with malba2366 about the microwave drawer. The only appliance out of those I don't really like is the Wolf rangetop. It is pretty lacking in firepower for the price you pay. It could be a fine choice if you are more of an oven cook and looks of the rangetop matter more than function, though.

Agree with above about the MW drawer. Don't agree with the comment about the Wolf rangetop - IMHO, it's plenty of btus, unless you are a true wok cook perhaps.

The Miele hood looks lovely, but the glass will show every spatter. That's personal choice whether that will bother you. The exhaust capability won't be as much as a hood with a more canopy shape and with baffle filters (versus the mesh filters in the pictured hood). Again, that's personal choice whether that will bother you or not. For me, if I am paying the price that Miele charges for that hood, it better be great at exhausting and not be a pain to clean, but if you want the gorgeous look of the glass hood, then get that.

>Don't agree with the comment about the Wolf rangetop - IMHO, it's plenty of btus, unless you are a true wok cook perhaps.

Of course it's plenty of BTU's. A $600 gas range has plenty of BTUs. I don't know about other people but if I were spending this kind of money on appliances I would not want "good enough." I would want the best, and this rangetop is not that. At least when it comes to performance. In terms of build quality, fit/finish, customer service, it's top notch. Which is why it could be a good choice for people who would only use it occasionally and are more into the look.

For most people the Wolf rangetop is powerful enough and has good control. It also is made by a company that will stand behind it pretty much forever as hvtech observes.

The OP is doing a top of the line kitchen appliance-wise and has made choices that should keep her kitchen issue free for years. The Wolf cooktop fits that very well. It's certainly not just for looks. The Miele hoods are known for being very quiet.

I disagree about the occasional usage. My DD has a Wolf dual fuel range and uses it daily. It's a very practical range for a family with 3 kiddos. She doesn't use a wok but does entertain frequently. I've used the range and it's very lively.

While the prevailing opinion about ranges and range tops tilts towards open burners on this forum, none of the brands generally judged "better" than Wolf around here offers the same reliability, service or reputation. And out there, in the real world, those brands are not especially well known.

I have a friend who did a Bulthaup kitchen recently but with a gas rangetop. They recommended Wolf.

This post was edited by rococogurl on Fri, Nov 14, 14 at 9:46

Our kitchen is 1 month new, and I have the same refrigerator freezer combo paneled to match my cabs, miele dishwashers, (1 standard size, the other apt size) and combi steam oven. I can't comment on range and hood combo as I went with a lacanche and modernaire hood. we kept the old micro hidden in a cabinet with a lift up door since built-in micros were expensive and were told that with a steam oven the micro would get little use....
so far - 1 month in, love the combi steam, although it does take a bit longer to heat than a micro but still less time than a standard
oven. We still use the micro somewhat, for reheating drinks, but once kitchen is complete, i am hoping to use it less.

As I said, of course it's powerful enough. And I'm not saying Wolf ranges won't meet the needs of an serious chef. Especially the dual fuel - with the EXCELLENT oven (provided the enamel doesn't chip). When I tried out a demo unit of a Wolf sealed burner range, it did quite a respectable job. However, I was not at all impressed. That's because the burners barely did better than the cheap Frigidaire range in my rental. That cheap Frigidaire range is, to be honest, an excellent cooking tool, just as the Wolf is. But for the prices Wolf charge for their stuff, I would expect much more, not just build quality, customer service, and looks, but also performance.

I liked the Culinarian the best when I tested, but I have to say I also really liked the Thermador sealed star burners. If you're worried about having to deal with a smaller open burner manufacturer, or you want something with better fit/finish than they have, I would definitely take a serious look at Thermador. I would far rather own one than a Wolf.

I can't think of anything I couldn't cook on a Wolf sealed burner range that I could on a Culinarinan. But, cooking on the latter was just much more fun for me. There's just this awesome feeling when you have a ridiculous amount of power, far more than you need. Or maybe I'm just crazy and nobody else has the same feeling, I don't know.

Re: customer service, yes there have been horror stories with the open burner manufacturers here, but I have also heard positive things about their customer service, as well as bad experiences with Wolf. All the open burner products on the market now are relatively new, and in the few years they've been out they have made HUGE strides in improving their products. I expect them to continue to do so.

With respect hvtech, and acknowledging that you are entitled to your opinion, unless you are running an expert side-by-side and controlled performance comparison, a conclusion such as "the Wolf was no better than the cheap Frigidaire performance wise" -- doesn't hold up.

What you would be testing, and how the tests are done, affects the results.

And then there is cooking skill and cookware quality. In short, there is burner configuration, delivery and a host of factors we've been over here time and again.

Whatever merits the Thermador pro rangetop has, and I must say all 18K is a very nice feature, it's hard to compare their service to Wolf's. And service does count, as we've all seen here after the bloom is off the new stuff which we're buying blind in many cases. OTOH, as you saw when I shopped for my fridge, Wolf commands a premium -- right or wrong, it does.

And sure, power is nice. For someone who makes a lot of pasta, there may be an incremental difference in how long it takes for an 8-quart pot of water to come to a boil on a 15K burner vs an 18K burner. But as we all know, there may not be much difference -- or the 15K might even surpass the performance of the higher output burner depending on various factors.

I don't agree that more power is necessarily better in the kitchen. If someone routinely cooks for 8 to 10 people, and they do a lot of sauteeing in 12- or 14-inch skillets then yes, it will make a difference.

Apart from that, most people will notice the lower end of the spectrum before they find deficiencies on the high end, I think.

But on this forum, the cowboys love their power burners.

An induction Thermador, miele or Gagg is a solid choice for a pro kitchen, just ask H Blumenthal(Fat Duck). No gas hob in his home.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heston's Gagg induction at home

You could save a little space and money with the new Miele induction range. It includes a steam function all in a 30" slide-in form. $7k list. Induction greatly reduces waste heat.

Here is a link that might be useful: Miele induction range

LOL, definitely not claiming to have done a scientific test. And yes it is just my opinion, and the OP has probably heard enough of it so I will stop pushing it. The power that some of these ranges have definitely shouldn't be NECESSARY for anyone but I do think most people will appreciate it.

It's good that you pointed out the lower end of the spectrum, I agree with you that is often overlooked and it's around the same level of importance as the high end. That is one of the things I was referring to when I said the open burner manufacturers have made improvements. I don't think the 22k+ open burners are the best for simmering, but I think their low is pretty good considering how high they go. The dedicated simmer burners do great at that though.

Personally, I prefer induction!