Kitchen remodel appliance recommendations

GE Appliances are now misleading because GE sold off the appliance division to Haier, a Chinese corporation. Just for this one fact, I suspect the reliability may not be very good.

They should have been required to modify the name so consumers would easily recognize this.

I have Thermador column fridge/freezer, dishwasher, 36" 6 burner rangetop, oven, and vent hood insert. Installed all of them last October on a new construction.

Pros:

1. The quality is unreal. Everything is incredibly well built. They're the nicest appliances I've ever had and it's not even close.

2. The dishwasher works really well.

3. The push function on the fridge/freezer is surprisingly useful. Basically, you can push on the door and it cracks open on its own, allowing you to judge nudge it open instead of using the force that would otherwise be required to open it. It's really handy when your hands are full.

4. Vent hood insert is very quiet but that's a function of the inline blower more than anything.

5. Not sure if they're still doing this, but when I bought, Thermador gave you a "free" dishwasher and "free" vent hood insert if you bought the range, fridge, and freezer. That made their pricing more competitive with some of the higher end mid-level brands.

6. The fridge keeps fruit and vegetables fresh noticeably longer than my previous fridge.

7. The rangetop BTUs boil water really fast.

Cons (more gripes than anything else):

1. I got the Masterpiece series oven and it is under counter because it's the only place I could put it. If I did it again, I'd get the professional series with the knobs. I don't like only having a touch screen.

2. The ice in the freezer has a cool shape, but it clumps/freezes together pretty badly. This could also be a function of me just never using the ice in the freezer because we've got a standalone ice maker.


All in all, I'd go Thermador again in a heartbeat. I have no material complaints about the appliances and their warranties are all pretty good should the need arise.

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whatever you do, get knobs

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Which probably just interface with the electronics. Which is better than touchscreen, but not as good as old-style mechanical controls. The electronics in ovens just don’t last. You may get 10-12 years, but you won’t get 30-40 years.

I’m looking at commercial stuff. Only electronics are the igniters and you can disconnect those if needed

no more circuit boards or soft buttons/screens for me

The home I bought has the monogram four burner range with griddle top. And a dual oven with selection for convection and other features I dont use.

The range is outstanding, the the griddle is heavy, heavy..it takes a long while to heat up but when it does it cooks even and has been enjoyable.

Love the ovens.

I am just a home cook, but they are all I have ever dreamed of needing.

following. we're doing a remodel on the house we just bought and wife is really set on the black 48" zline range because if you get it from costco you get like 5 years of no-questions asked warranty.

i'm trying to talk her out of anything else black in lieu of stainless and just leave that as a 'stand out' and instead of trying to 'match' brands, just go for the best in each category like a BOSCH dishwasher, etc.

one question - we are going to put the microwave into the pennisula or island (still haven't decided yet) and every microwave i see is 'over the range' style.

what type of microwave are y'all getting in this scenario? Just a plain ol' off-the-shelf or do they make microwaves for nooks that don't have the range fan crap built in?

Get a drawer microwave. It’s more expensive but great for that application. We had a Bosch and it was great.

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Have the same and it's a Sharp who, I think, still owns the patent. Hence the high cost.

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well shite. how do you patent a microwave on a track??? can't be much to patent over say any other appliance that slides out.

guess i need to do some research and that probably explains why costco sells 738 different hood-range microwaves and ZERO cabinet ones.

Sharp may have the patent but they aren’t the only brand that has drawer microwaves. Mine was Bosch and pretty sure Thermador was an option also.

Yep - It's a high-cost PITA for something so simple. Here's some background info indicating that essentially the "engine" is a Sharp unit.

Link

"There are several brands who have a microwave drawer, but they are all made by Sharp. Sharp holds several patents on its design, so there are only slight differences in the appearance of the front panel and features in other brands."