Well, the time has come to pick appliances for my much needed kitchen overhaul! I should feel more excited but really I am just nervous as hell.

I dithered back and forth about doing a range vs separate cooktop and wall oven, which is my current set up. After much deliberation, as well as shopping, I decided I don't want to combine them at all.

With decisions looming, I will be traveling to showrooms next week with each of their products live so I can really see them in use and ask the reps questions. I am a long time GW lurker and have been planning this remodel for over a year and am so ready to get on with it already. I have learned so much about things that I didn't even know we're things, but am grateful as I feel better about making informed choices.

I'm really interested in day to day use and care, cleaning, maintenance, and warranty issues from owners and their experiences.

So, I am doing a 36" rangetop, with Wolf and BlueStar being likely options. I know they are entirely different, due to open and closed burners. They each have their pros and cons, and I am looking forward to seeing them live. I dont think I really need all the firepower of a BlueStar, but once you experience the power you can't imagine not having it, right? Keep in mind I grew up on electric coils and have been cooking on a wimpy Whirlpool 4 burner gas drop in for the last 8 years. I think I could be happy with just a tad more btu's if I could have continuous grates and 6 burners.

I'm seriously wondering how much of a pain it will be to clean up a mess on either brand, say a boiled over bechemel sauce, for instance. Not that this has EVER happened to me, of course. What I'm getting at is I am not a clean cook, and I have yunguns so cleaning up sometimes happens hours after dinner. So which one will I be praising(or cursing) when I finally get around to that carmel sauce spill, or was it starchy rice water?

They are priced within $500 of each other, so I guess the Wolf could be my high dollar choice and the BS my (slightly)lower choice. Is there another one with similar features that I should be considering that is an even lower price point?

The next item is the 30" wall oven. I am only interested in electric, and want convection. I looked at the Wolf E series as well as the new steam oven. They are truly so beautiful and I love all the thoughtful things like the grooves on the door for the rack to glide out on. I am really excited to see the steam oven in action, but not for two more weeks. I'm not sure I can justify a second oven as I only need one, but it is so tempting. I don't really care about matching appliances, but if I decided to do the steam oven, I think I would have to go with Wolf for the main oven since they would be stacked. I am worried about the oven interior splintering, as I have read about some real oven tragedies and it scares me. Is the solution to just keep buying warranties?

What other options can anyone tell me about, Thermador, Miele, or is there another one that could be my lower price choice? As distracted as I may get by shiny things, I really don't care what it looks like. I am practical to the bone and need performance.

Thanks so much,
Jul