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homebuyer23

Miele Speed oven or MW drawer with a Breville on counter? Help!

homebuyer23
10 years ago

In my layout, I am having a 36" induction cooktop over a 30" single wall oven. I have no room for a wall mounted second oven/ convection micro/ or advantium type thing anywhere.

I will however be more than doubling my counter space, and I have a 24" under counter space available...

I am having a hard time deciding what to put there...

Option A.
Miele speed oven with old school toaster on counter.

Pros:
I get a second oven for times I need one plus the luxury of faster cooking & more energy efficient. Microwave & Toaster oven gone. As my family grows and extended fam ages...I am the sole entertainer, all holidays, parties, etc are here. My kids are young now, but I suspect in the future a second oven will be even more convenient to have.

Cons:
Expensive... I think I can swing it but will be sacrificing somewhere else.
It doesn't really toast things right? We frequently make toast, bagels, eng muffins & waffles for the kids. Would still need a 4 slice toaster at least, so that still takes up a hunk of counterspace.
Afraid using this little oven under the counter will seem inconvenient for things I do somewhat frequently...make oatmeal, reheat pizza, nuke cold coffee, etc. Maybe not, but it is very foreign to me...whole life lived with single oven range, counter toaster oven & counter microwave. Also seems slightly unsafe as I have a 2 year old & this little oven at eye level...yikes.


Option B.

24" Sharp drawer microwave. With toaster oven (maybe Breville Smart Oven) on counter.

Pro: (Relatively) inexpensive.
Seems like a really nice convenient to use microwave. No microwave on counter!
The Breville sounds great, does it really toast quickly and well? and can you really fit a 9x13 pan in it & bake or broil in it?

Cons:
The Breville just seems huge, the dimensions are almost same as my current counter microwave, which is small for a microwave, but still...I was really looking forward to getting that off my counters!
How functional is it really as a second oven for say, cooking the sweet potatoes while Turkey's in wall oven?
It seems like a wonderful product for a single person or small family, but is it a useful/big enough 2nd oven for a family with 3 growing kids?
I could stick with regular little toaster oven to save counter space, but then feel like I'm not upgrading my cooking capacity much from what I have now.

I think I am leaning towards the Breville & MW drawer, but get worried its out of trying to save a buck and because its closer to my comfort zone.
I feel like if I have space and $$ for the Miele I should go for it, maybe its a luxury item that I'll learn to love, but I'm just not convinced its the right thing for me and I'm scared to invest in it and end up missing doing stuff the old way!

Any opinions to get me out of this current crisis so I can move on to the next critical decision and earn 200 more gray hairs?!
Thanks!! ...

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