Hi,
Although I don't have any GE Cafe appliances or pictures - my very good friend just finished her kitchen a month or so ago and bought the whole GE Cafe line. Unfortunately, she is having nothing but problems. Microwave needed servicing and range is a mess. At this point, it looks like she is fighting to get a new one. Temp was wrong, self cleaning burned the interior and a few other problems that I can't recall at the moment. She also mentioned something she didn't like about the fridge. I hate to be a naysayer, but wanted to pass these things along before you spent your money and ended up as unhappy as my friend.

Parsuzi-

Below is a picture of my Cafe duel fuel range and vent hood. I have never had one minute of problems with either of these appliances. The vent is so quiet, on low I have to check to make sure I have turned it off. Granted, it is 600 CFM, and of course on the higher setting of med hi and hi it will be noisy, but nothing like a jet taking off, and it never fails to exhaust. The range has always operated great. When the burners are turned to low, they never go out and they always ignite. The oven is huge and I have never had a problem with the temps on either the main oven or the lower oven. Also, these appliances were stored in my garage for 16 months before being installed, so you don't think I wasn't freaked out reading negative opinions? But my worries have been put to rest.

I am sure if you do searches for problems with Viking, Wolf, Bluestar or any other high end appliance you will find folks here and on other forums who have had problems with all these appliances, including the GE lines. These are just my personal opinions.

Bottom line, you wanted to see a picture of Cafe appliances in a real life setting, so here is mine. Good luck on whatever you choose. HTH.

Bev

Bev, that looks great! I also like the look of the Cafe range--freestanding that looks like a slide-in with the front knobs, but I am honestly leaning towards induction at this point for probably less money than the Cafe. There is an electric Cafe at my Sears Outlet, but I don't think it's that great of a deal at $1849. I can get a new Samsung induction for $1600.

Joseph, the inside of the range I saw yesterday said it was made in Mexico.

kitchencommander - I noticed that you did not install the backguard with your cafe range - are you happy with it that way? Are you planning on a backsplash on that wall? My range should be installed this week - I have not yet ordered the backguard, not sure if I should. Thanks.

Here is our new GE CAFE FD fridge for our condo. I don't know much about the quality of GE Cafe. We got it bc of the price. We are currently renovating our house and plan on putting the condo on the market once the reno is done. So, when the fridge broke in the condo we wanted a cheap fix. The guy who we bought all the appliances for the house from gave us a great deal on the floor model GE Cafe. It looks great, much better then the old KA SS fridge, and I really enjoy that the sides are SS too.

Sorry for the photo quality. We have a narrow galley kitchen wich makes getting a good photo of the fridge hard.

Hey ds315-We did not purchase the SS backguard because we are planning on tiling the backsplash, just waiting for the tile to come in. I orignally wanted some sort of focal point behind the stove, but decided it would probably look better with an overall design. I can always order the backguard in the future if I think it is necessary.

Here's a pic of my Ge Cafe dual fuel range, Kobe hood above. I've really enjoyed the range, and Sears will price match for you.It's still a work in progress; eventually there will be tile and a covering for the duct!

joseph7505 - Thanks for the link!

gsciencechick - where do you live? That's actually a great price on the range.

Kitchencommander & sfcitydweller - thanks for posting the pics!

sfcitydweller - I thought the FD fridge was counter-depth. Yours seems a little deeper or am I wrong?

I really like the look of the appliances. I personally would love higher end appliances, but we'd price ourselves out of our neighborhood. We are in our 3rd house in 9 years of marriage - tend to fix them up, then sell. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) we don't set out to do this. That said, we cannot justify creating our 'dream kitchen' without considering resale as a possibility.

It is counter depth, it just doesn't look counter depth in our *awesome* builders garde kitchen. The only thing that would not stick out in our kitchen would be a Subzero or something similiar, and since this was a quick cheap fix we went with a standard counter depth.

Here's my GE Cafe Dual Fuel and OTR Microwave in my unfinished diy kitchen. I also have the side by side Cafe fridge, but don't have a pic. I've been really happy with all three appliances -- especially the range!

Those of you with the GE Cafe range which has the SS cooktop-how is that to clean??? Love the love of the stove but would have preferred black cooktop as think cleaning that would be easier than the ss. Worried about the cooktop getting all scratched up during cleaning especially some hard, difficult food spills.

Well, I went from a smooth top to a the Cafe Duel fuel. Okay, I am not going to say the gas range top is easier to clean than the smooth top, for obvious reasons, but it certainly is not terribly difficult. It is definetly more time consuming. I just use paper towels to clean the top. So far, I have had no scratching and I would assume that unless you really have some serious spills that totally burn the top there should not be a problem.

chris45ny - the GE Cafe is easier to clean than my old electric glass top because I don't have the food spills I used to. The gas adjusts so nicely that pots hardly ever boil over anymore. When I do have to clean, I remove the grates, wash the SS with hot soapy water, and dry with a clean dishtowel. It's about a year old, but looks almost new.

furletcity, can you tell me what kind of Kobe hood did you get? I am purchasing the GE Cafe Dual Fuel range today and have decided (finally! after months of research) to buy a Kobe hood. However, I am still undecided on which model. Can you tell me which one is in your picture, and do you like it? Is it quiet?

Thanks!

I recently went through the process of choosing appliances, and I was referred to the Cafe series. For starters, the GE website has a section dedicated to the line, with several pictures, however many of the reviews I read (some on here) were not stellar, and for all intents and purposes, it's still GE (not meant to be a shot). As such, I decided to pursue Viking fridge and range, which I was able to accomplish for about $5,300 (new fridge for $2,500, and the dual fuel range was $2,800, slightly used, but in PERFECT condition (I was able to view it first). Then, a close out Bosch dishwasher for $700, and Viking microwave for $300. I discovered that with all the foreclosures, there is a lot of Viking and Wolf on Ebay for unreal prices. Take a look -- I think you will surprise yourself and you might be able to go higher end if it's of interest.

Hi Christymoose, I have the Kobe CH7930SQ and love it.We needed a vent that was less than 10 inches in height so this was one of our only options. It has 4 settings, and on the lowest it seems very quiet to me. Each setting gets progressively louder. The fourth being quite loud, but I rarely use that level.The one thing I don't like is the way the on/off buttons work. The lights and vent are both controlled through the same master switch. So, when the vent is turned off, the lights are also turned off. This may be typical; I wouldn't know as this is my first modern day vent!HTH!

When I went back, the Cafe range was sold (not to me!). It was a smoothtop electric.

I still like the look, but right now I'm leaning towards induction.

I'm doing the GE Cafe dual-fuel with the to-the-ceiling GE Monogram hood Model #: ZV950SDSS. But otherwise doing Kitchenaid fridge, dishwaster and micro. The handles will not match. Horrors! But I can't post pics because nothing will be installed until December or January.

Thank you, furletcity! That's helpful info. :)

Thank you for the pictures of the GE Cafe which looks so nice and I love the features. I also love the beautiful venting hoods in the pictures and that microwave is beautiful also but is too tall for me so I would need a step ladder to use it.

I am leaning more towards this range but keep waking up at night about the NXR that I love the way it looks a little better and it has that small back-splash in the back but I hate to clean and wonder if I will dislike not having self-cleaning. My current oven I am not able to clean and it is still dirty looking but I know it is 20 years old but every time I think I can live without the self-cleaning feature, I open the oven and see that I was unable to clean it right and I dislike cleaning.

Does anyone use the temperature probe and is it really the nice feature that I think it will be?

I also need a circulating vent so I can't have the pretty overhead hood that I desire and keep searching for one that is exactly 30" to go in between my cabinets that does not require outside venting and it is making me unhappy with my few choices.

Thanks for letting me share since my friends don't understand my need to have everything work well in my kitchen as well as be a look I love.

I haven't read all these posts, but I love the look of the GE Cafe range. BUT, why is it so expensive? As others have said, you can get an induction for less.

I'm the OP. We ordered the GE Cafe appliances about 3 weeks ago. I feel relieved, to tell you the truth. Had to go w/ the electric range and OTR microwave, so it's certainly not a 'cook's kitchen', which I would've preferred. Truthfully, venting outside would've increased our costs quite a bit, as would adding a propane tank (no gas lines here). We're trying to be responsible with our splurges, esp. since this is a very modest home in a modest neighborhood. And yes, I did go w/ all GE Cafe appliances. I know many feel you shouldn't do that, but I wanted my handles to match...AND our DW is last year's model, so we got a decent discount on it. (yeah!)
Thanks to all of you who have posted.

all the pictures are beautiful and I wish I had venting to the outside but I don't.

For those who ordered and are using the OTR Microwave, do you like it since I have been reading a few bad reviews about how hot the handle gets and the controls disappear above if cooking. I was planning to not get it since I am so petite but my friend just showed me how far it will stick out forward and be lower so maybe it will not be too tall for me or I can use a small step stool since I am less than 5 feet tall. I do need a new microwave anyway and I can only have a circulating fan hood but I have a GE small fan hood on order for my approval and I can make changes anytime up to the time it arrives in the store. I am buying the GE Cafe Gas Range so there is a $100 Rebate if I buy both but I am not sure for the reasons given.

Lynn -

I answered your question your other thread, but hadn't read this first, so I'll answer here too. Yes, the handle of the microwave does get hot, but I think that might be common problem on any stainless otr microwave. The words/numbers on the control panel do fade, but don't disappear completely when exposed to steam rising from a pot on the right front burner of the stove. This has only happened a few times as I generally use the left front burner for heavy duty boiling as it's the "powerboil" burner. My microwave is vented to the outside. I don't know how effective it would be without outside venting.

Thank you happytobehome for your reply which I will consider with other answers I get. I am thinking of asking my neighbors if I can open their OTR Microwave to see if I can reach inside. They have a different model range and M/W but then I will know if this is a doable option for me since I am only 4'10.5" tall.

The Ge Cafe OTR Microwave sure is pretty and sounds like it has all the features that I would like and with the $100 Rebate, it is appealing but will not be if I burn myself.

happytobehome, I visited a neighbor who has an OTR MW above her has Range and I can get a cup of water in and out of the MW but I am still not sure and nervous about maybe getting an appliance that I am uncomfortable using. I may visit the store again to try it out with my tape measure to compare the location of the MW above the Range to where it would be in my home. Again thanks for the pictures in your beautiful kitchen and answering my questions.