Building dream home. Choosing between Wolf and Viking kitchen appliances. Refrigerator will be 48" SZ. Thoughts? Should I consider Thermador? Dishwashers will be Bosch. Thx!

What specific cooking appliances are you looking at? I went through some of the same considerations earlier this year (Gaggenau was the other top contender) but went mostly with Miele. We have:
Combi-steam oven (Milele)
30" Convection oven (Miele, installed directly below the other oven)
Warming drawer (Miele)
36" gas cooktop (Blue Star)
Microwave drawer (Sharp, they all are made by Sharp so brand differences are cosmetic)
Vent hood (Prestige, integrated into the cabinetry)
Dishwasher (Miele)

I'd recommend looking into Blue Star if you want a range / rangetop / gas cooktop. They come very highly reviewed and we love ours. Regarding dishwashers, I would recommend at least looking into Miele. The layout was the best we could find, and we really like having all of the silverware at the very top. It cleans extremely well and can barely be heard. I've read a lot of complaints about Thermador and only know one person who has them. He seems happy, other than that the knobs on the range keep falling off now that it's about 5 years old. Wolf had problems with chipping blue enamel for a long time and I haven't heard that it's cleared up yet. I don't know much about Viking except that they're the subject of great debate online. Haven't used one personally.

I know of no complaints with SZ fridges and would get one with no hesitation. You'll need to choose your refrigerator early since they can dictate the location of the outlet and icemaker line, along with obvious cabinetry considerations.

Thanks! Doing the same you just described. Really like the 48" Wolf range top with the low simmer feature. Want to keep all appliances uniform but the Wolf oven does concern me with the blue enamel problems. Love the Viking French door oven but Viking has a ton of issues with their products now. Will look at Miele now. Thx!

I'm pretty sure at this end they all have a low simmer burner. Wish we could have gone with a 48" range top but the space was not there. A griddle would have been awesome. Between brands you're basically looking at sealed vs open burners, grade of stainless, BTU and arrangement. Besides the ignitors there isn't much to break.

I'd imagine you'll need a pretty big vent and the ability to move a lot of air. The manual should give you an idea of the specs. You may want to look into a vent with the blower mounted separately to help keep the noise down.

You could join us poors and try kitchen aid dual fuel, complete with slow simmer and griddle. Did go GE monogram for the fridge though.

I would look into a different dish washer other than Bosch. I believe they stopped using a heating element to assist in drying dishes and it i've heard that dishes come out at the end of the cycle still pretty wet. As Fife said you cant go wrong with Miele, they make a quality product.

My parents recently moved into a house in NW Houston and replaced the steam oven (Miele). I can get pictures, specs and model number if anyone is interested in purchasing their now extra steam oven.

Nothing is wrong with the steam oven, just my parents decided a different oven would be better for their needs (replaced with a different Miele model).

PS sorry to hijack your thread. Also all their appliances except the refrigerator are Miele in the kitchen and they really like them.

Blue Star 36" in white. Love it!

I did a TON of research...and I mean a ton. Wolf and Blue Star were way ahead of anyone else. Ultimately, I liked the more industrial look/feel, the open burners and the higher BTU output of the Blue Star.

Viking got bad reviews.

Bertazzoni is a really good looking range that you get a little cheaper than the above....if you're not really a cook.

If you're really into cooking though, I would go Wolf or Blue Star only.

Odd - I don't know anyone with a Miele that leaks. Not that their experiences are wrong, just very different from my own and others I know who either have or had one.

One thing I just remembered is, if you plan on having a steam / combi-steam / convection wall oven, don't forget about the plumbing. Right now the Miele (convection) and Gaggenau ovens are the only ones I know of that need a water line. The Gaggenau also has a drain (flex tube, not hard plumbing) while the Miele steam and combi-steam oven still have a small container to empty. The water line and drain are a whole lot easier to run now than trying to retrofit them in later.

Just replaced all of our kitchen appliances last year. For the cooktop, we went with induction. At first I was dead set on Gas, but after doing some research, decided on induction.

Would never consider having any other type of cooktop now. Induction is amazing.

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I would look into a different dish washer other than Bosch. I believe they stopped using a heating element to assist in drying dishes and it i've heard that dishes come out at the end of the cycle still pretty wet. As Fife said you cant go wrong with Miele, they make a quality product.

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I have a brand new Bosch. The plastics don't dry as well, but everything else is fine. It is indeed the most quiet dishwasher I've ever heard. The only sound you hear from it is the water in the sink drain.

I love it.

Fife,

Could you comment on the BlueStar range top? Is it the platinum series? What size did you go, how are the burners? Can you get a pot to boil quickly? Do any grittle work yet? What kind of range hood did you go with?

We are about to remodel the kitchen here in Houston i am 99.999% sure i want the BlueStar 30" range top (dont have much kitchen space to go bigger).

I have a 36" cooktop, so it's basically the same as rangetops of similar size but with one fewer burner. I thought griddles started at around the 48" ones unless they are available custom? People that I know that have one love it though.

As far as we're concerned I think the thing is great. There is no series for the cooktops - they are a bit more basic. I fully expect it to last as long as we would like it to. There is nothing more than the ignitors to break, and it's made from a pretty serious grade of stainless and cast iron. On ours the front two burners are 22K btu which is about the biggest you can get. It throws out some pretty serous heat. I need new cookware befire I can try, but I'm told it's capable of pan searing. The only downside is that even the back burners also put out a lot of heat and the handle on the teakettle can get too warm to grab if I boil water with the burner on high. It takes maybe 2-3 minutes.

Blue Star's install sheet calls for a big fan. I vent with a 42" Prestige hood insert. It was a bear to install - maybe 70lbs or so. In hindsight I should have gotten one with a remote blower but it doesn't make enough noise to bother me. It's also very simple and very sturdy. I don't have the specs in front of me but I think it moves about 1200cfm.

We have no regrets about any of this. Wouldn't change a thing.

FOLLOW UP... So I met the Viking district manager just by chance at Best Buy. Spent an hour with him. Told him how I really wanted to use Viking but I read too many bad reviews to pull the trigger. He agreed and did not try to change my mind on their "old" line but said they have a new owner who pumped millions into the company and their new 7 Series stuff was back to Vikings' original standards and reputation. Went back online and read and read and read. Pretty soon all of this stuff from Viking, Bluestar, Wolf, etc.. started to blend together. I just took the plunge and went with the Viking Series 7 stuff... 48" rangetop with 6 burners plus griddle, 30" double oven with a French door on top, warming drawer, 48" Sub Zero with internal water and ice maker, and 2 Bosch dishwashers. Fingers crossed!

Did you get a decent deal on the SZ? I'll be in the market for a 48" countertdepth one before long and haven't done that much homework on them aside from hearing what a few people had to say. I'm not sure how they stack up against the competition which seems to be growing. Was it a better deal than what you would get on AJ Madison?

It's hard to say. My builder "threw in" a 48" Jenn Air with the cost of the home (yeah right!) Using that credit, I paid the difference of $5,000 for the SZ.

Skiz, did you go see the Blue Star ranges in person?

No. Just read a ton. BS has a 25,000 BTU burner, and the Viking Series 7 has 23,000. Not quite sure what I'll do with all of that heat, but I'm sure I'll break something. I just really, really wanted to like Viking so after speaking with the DM, I took the plunge.

My Miele dishwasher is absolutely the best - It's been hard to learn not to rinse and almost wash dishes first, but now, we scrape and load. Adore the lighted interior and utensil tray on top. Lots of versatility in basket and tray configuration. My sister got rid of her Bosch and went with a Miele, too.

I'm considering a Miele dishwasher.

The Futura Dimension (G6365SCVI) is the main one I'm looking at. I really like the look and idea of the cutlery rack and the "auto open drying".

Any comments or input?

Vernada said:

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I'm considering a Miele dishwasher.

The Futura Dimension (G6365SCVI) is the main one I'm looking at. I really like the look and idea of the cutlery rack and the "auto open drying".

Any comments or input?

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2.5 years later I have zero regrets. The dishwasher continues to clean all sorts of things that have no business being in there to begin with and no problems at all. It would be nice if it had knock to open but that wasn't out yet. The silverware rack at the top and the layout in general makes it a lot quicker to throw things in there on the go because everything tends to stay organized.

Everything dries well?

Vernada said:

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Everything dries well?

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Yup. It obviously won't be dry right when the door opens itself because it's just starting the process, but when we unload it's dry.

We went with a Thermador appliance package for our new construction last year. Went with whatever dishwasher came as part of the package. It doesn't dry very well with liquid detergent. Have to use the tablets. Wife isnt a fan of tablets, but apparently that is what we need to use to help with the drying (so says the installer) because of these units being more efficient.

Assuming the pricing works out how I think it will we'll be getting the Futura Dimension. Looks like a great unit. In the long term scheme of things is not that much more than the Bosch we were leaning towards.

We did a remodel this summer. Thermal or everywhere it worked. Bosch speed oven microwave/oven below counter. 36" range. Tower modules for the fridge totaling 42".

All in all very happy. DW dries fine. We've used tablets for a while though, so no input on liquid soap. Friend had the same fridge with in door ice and has problems.

Refreshing this....

Top line fridges. What's the consensus?

We're putting 48" wolf in our new build, with the griddle. As of now we chose built-in Kitchenaid fridge. The builder had it for something low (compared to what we found online) for $6700 or something like that. I don't remember the exact pricing, but it was a lot cheaper than any online vendor I found.

We might still switch to SZ since every other home being built has SZ it seems. For the 7k additional cost to upgrade to SZ, there are a lot of things I can do now that cost a hell of a lot more later.

Subzero. I don't know anyone who regrets it

SZero

Getting 2 columns installed soon. Door fridges and drawer freezers

Doing a remodel and I'm going with a 48 in dual fuel range with double oven.

I'm leaning towards the Miele but also considering Wolf. Right now I'm leaning Miele for the steam oven option. As of now, I believe the only dual fuel ranges with steam are Miele and Thermador.

I guess all the major brands have steam in their wall mount ovens but not yet in all of their range ovens.

Any thoughts on this? In the show room I do not like the very basic look and feel of Miele's Oven racks. I see online an upgrade to ball bearing sliding racks. I have to say it is off putting that this is an upgrade considering Miele seems to be the most expensive dual fuel range anyway.

The layout of which ever brand I go with will be 6 burners and a griddle.

Also getting a Miele built in and plumbed coffee maker. This will go in our "beverage center with an under counter Beverage fridge.

Fridge and dishwasher aren't getting upgrades right now (I don't think).

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The layout of which ever brand I go with will be 6 burners and a griddle.

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We wanted the same layout. Went with this, choosing the classique range top (5 burners) with plancha:

https://www.frenchranges.com/product/cluny1400/