New Kitchen

[lindag]

My new house is in the early stages; it is barely framed up but I'm already dreaming of my dream kitchen.

Yesterday I went to our one big appliance store (other than HD and Lowe's) and I think I'm going to go wild with the new units.

First up I'm thinking of a Sub-Zero side by side.  A Thermador 30" slide-in dual fuel range, a Bosch d/w as well as a new m/w and a new hood of a type yet to be determined.  All this is really overkill since I'm by no means a big presence in the kitchen, and these expensive appliances do not define the home which is really rather modest.  But I'm figuring this is my last rodeo, if you will.

I have heard of some folk having trouble with Sub-Zero repairs so I plan to add a warranty protection plan..

Anyone have any negative experiences with any of these brands?\

 

ETA: I have been reading reviews online about Sub-Zero fridges and I may have to re-think that choice.  Those reviews are not good.

Much as I'd like to have a custom-size I'm beginning to have grave concerns about repairs.

Edited February 19, 2020 by lindag (log)

[kayb]

I have a friend who has a Bosch dishwasher and loves it. It cleans well, and is very quiet. It does take a LONG time to go through its cycle, if that's an issue. It generally is not for me, as I just start mine before I go to bed.

 

[weinoo]

I've had a Kitchen Aid/Whirlpool/Maytag/Amana bottom freezer for a long time. My first one (branded Amana) I had for 13 or so years before we did our reno, with never a problem.  Our current one (branded Kitchen Aid) is 2+ years now, with nary a problem.  I choose not to plumb them in, so water and ice are not automatic  - I think that leads to less problems with leaks, etc. All are Whirlpool products.

 

I'd probably spend less on the fridge, and more on the range, moving into a Wolf or similar.  People love their Bosch dishwashers - I love my Miele dishwashers - no big diff there.

 

Hood is probably as important as anything else - read up on them!

 

Don't forget sinks and faucets - I'm very happy with our Franke and Hans Grohe stuff.  And then there's your countertops and cabinets to think about!

 

Have fun.

 

[weinoo]

Oh - you'd be surprised how much more room there is in a standard size fridge vs. counter depth. A lot!

[lindag]

4 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Oh - you'd be surprised how much more room there is in a standard size fridge vs. counter depth. A lot!

 

I don't like how the standard size sticks out.  My current model sits out about six inches into the kitchen.

With the S-Z counter-depth I can get one that's 42" wide which adds a good amount of space, plus it's 84" tall.

More space there.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I'm with weinoo.  No plumbed in fridge.  I can't think of any friend who has not had leak or flood problems with ice making refrigerators.   Altho it boggles the grandkids, ice trays work just fine.    FWIW, we love our city and country Fisher Paykel refrigerators, our newish Samsung dishwasher, new Asko dryer.     

[robirdstx]

26 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I'm with weinoo.  No plumbed in fridge.  I can't think of any friend who has not had leak or flood problems with ice making refrigerators.   Altho it boggles the grandkids, ice trays work just fine.    FWIW, we love our city and country Fisher Paykel refrigerators, our newish Samsung dishwasher, new Asko dryer.     

Never had a problem with plumbed in fridge. Going on 18 years now. Hope I didn’t just jinx it! Love the ice maker and filtered water.

[chromedome]

44 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Oh - you'd be surprised how much more room there is in a standard size fridge vs. counter depth. A lot!

Come the day I get to choose, I don't want a counter-depth fridge. I want a fridge-depth counter.

[Darienne]

Bosch dishwasher here.  Wonderful unit.   

[weinoo]

 

In the right place, with good contractors, it doesn't appear to stick out at all. No more than my range, anyway.

[weinoo]

40 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Come the day I get to choose, I don't want a counter-depth fridge. I want a fridge-depth counter.

 

You know, a 27" or 30" depth of a counter would be wonderful.  My kitchen is too narrow to do that; the code is like 40" between sides.

[rotuts]

@weinoo 

 

very nice " work area "

 

esp for NYC.

 

a city I did enjoy visiting a zillion years ago in college , visiting Friends in NJ.

 

BTW  I used to walk from lower GV , lets say  in the 10's   to way past the Metropolitan.

 

and the first " green coffee beans ' Id ever seen were in a small place in GV

 

called  The Perfect Cup.

 

but NYC isn't for me these days 

 

but that's about me , but some about NYC.

 

BTW   Im not envious at all on your WorkArea

 

i might be if that Wolf  were a Combi

 

w an Induction top.

 

but no matter   

 

it looks like it suits you

 

which is all that counts.

[weinoo]

Oh, I wish it were a combi or a dual--fuel Wolf.

 

Don't have the juice for it.

[rotuts]

Id doubt Wolf would ever get into Combi's

 

its not their focus.

[mumkin]

I’m a fan of my Bosch 800 dishwasher. It’s wonderfully quiet and does as fine a job as could be asked. The standard wash cycle is 2 hours, so I typically set it to delay-start around 4am. We’ve got a Fisher & Paykel  fridge and BlueStar range on order—both of which I’m optimistic about—but I’ve no first-hand experience of them yet. Sticking with the same dishwasher. 

[MelissaH]

I'm also a member of the Bosch dishwasher club. If you don't need to sterilize your dishes, the Quick Wash cycle takes only about half an hour, and gets the dishes clean enough for me. We also made a conscious decision not to plumb in the fridge, because if/when it leaked, the leak would be in a really bad place.

 

As far as a stove, think about how you cook. We have been very happy with our 36" six-burner GE Monogram, although we've had a couple of repair issues and I've been glad my husband is handy. We have had all six burners in use, a few times each year. But with any high-powered stove, a high-powered hood is also a necessity. Ours uses a 10" vent pipe up through the roof.

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

Id doubt Wolf would ever get into Combi's

 

its not their focus.

 

@rotuts, check it out...

 

https://www.subzero-wolf.com/videos/the-conversational-chef/convection-steam-oven-amazing

Edited February 19, 2020 by weinoo (log)

[gfweb]

I have a GE profile French Door bottom freezer which is a complete POS. Between leaks and malfunctions, the ice maker was a disaster. I shut it off.  Controls are shot too. I check the temp with a laser thermometer.

 

Blue Star range is a workhorse/beast. I love it. @mumkin you'll be pleased. Minimal electronics so there's little to go wrong. Only weakness is the simmer  is a bit hot. We use a heat diffuser and its fine.

 

Kitchenaid DW is fine.

 

@weinoo I see you  have that CSO door ajar.  Smart move!

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[kayb]

I will say that after having lived with my Samsung appliances for eight months, I'm very pleased with them. Although the solid-top stove cooks much hotter than anything I'm used to.

[Porthos]

Another vote for Bosch dishwashers.

 

MY DW and I are dead-set against ice makers. Too many leaks, too many fails among family and friends.

 

We have a semi-automatic ice maker. When I ready to put together a load of dishes to run, I start by cracking 2 or 3 trays of ice into the ice-keeper we keep in the freezer, start more ice using our Britta pitcher, then re-fill the Britta pitcher with cold water from hot hot water pipe while waiting for the water to get hot.

 

ETA: What's an m/w? Never mind, I figured it out.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Porthos (log)

[lindag]

3 minutes ago, Porthos said:

Another vote for Bosch dishwashers.

 

MY DW and I are dead-set against ice makers. Too many leaks, too many fails among family and friends.

 

We have a semi-automatic ice maker. When I ready to put together a load of dishes to run, I start by cracking 2 or 3 trays of ice into the ice-keeper we keep in the freezer, start more ice using our Britta pitcher, then re-fill the Britta pitcher with cold water from hot hot water pipe while waiting for the water to get hot.

 

ETA: What's an m/w?

 

Sorry, it’s a microwave.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

It's interesting how a POS can actually serve you pretty well.    Our 6 burner Viking was, I think, almost a prototype for the consumer model, back in ???  early 90s?     It was the only semi-pro range that would fit our space, i.e., not stick almost a foot into the room.    It is actually almost something out of a sheet-metal shop.    If you jump in front of it, not that one normally does that, it rattles.    It does have high BTU burners, and husband has been able to keep the broiler working with several igniter replacements.    So we decided a couple of years ago to get a new stove.

 

After considerable shopping at every p;rice point, we decided that we weren't buying ourselves much of an improvement in the way we live and use the stove.    So $5 t0 10 grand still in the bank, and POS still working in the kitchen.   Besides, our kitchen is strictly for us, not a showplace.  

Edited February 19, 2020 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[Katie Meadow]

My Viking stove is also early nineties vintage. It's a little cranky but keeps chugging along and has not had any major problems.  My intention was to get high BTUs for wok cooking, and indeed this Viking delivers. I don't know if Viking still sells a heavy duty wok burner that is easily switched for the regular ones, but if you are into stir-fry it is worth finding out if the range you like has such a thing.

 

Our dishwasher is an Asko, and the main reason we got it was because it was one of the few that would actually fit the space. However, it works well and best of all is designed for maximum dishes. I can't say enough about the idea of taking some bowls and plates with you when you look at various models. Some are simple badly designed, others just coincidentally work well  or poorly for your dishware. Despite being a slightly small dishwasher, this Asko fits way more that the dishwasher in the family beach house, which is a large model American brand with the most limiting and frustrating interior design. And our home dishes are the exact same ones as the ones at the beach house. I can literally get twice as many plates and bowls in the Asko at home.

 

Good luck with your remodel. We've been in our house since 1986 and have replaced and remodeled our kitchen piecemeal, which is a headache of a different kind.

[Barrytm]

For the Thermador,  how does it handle low temperature simmering?  My recollection was that it would turn the burner on and off intermittently to get a low simmer.  Some are fine with that ,  others found the noise of the clicker igniting the flame every few seconds upsetting.    I am sure you have heard that dual fuel is more expensive, whether it is worth it is up to you.  I had one of the first dual fuel Vikings, and it had some pluses and minuses, though thrilled it bit the dust, and I bought a gas Bluestar and love it.  If you are fine with electronic controls  ,  you may want to look at an induction - my understanding it that it is quicker to respond than gas, and would give you the electric oven.  I also have a combi and love it.  While they can be pricey,  I use it as an electric convection oven far more oven than combi or steam mode, because it heats up far quicker than the Bluestar, and normally I am not cooking enough to justify heating the entire Bluestar oven,  so I hardly ever use the oven on the Bluestar. 

[paulraphael]

We just joined the Bosch dishwasher club. It rocks. Only complaint is that the racks on ours seem designed to be efficient for very dainty dishes. The slots are a bit too close together. There's a specially contraption for holding teacups but nothing for wine glasses. Just started looking for a solution to this.