Kitchen Appliance Recommendations

Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. My understanding is that there is an equation of BTUs to CFMs, and with just the wok putting out 150K, we had to go big. The hood itself is a Zephyr. The motor is commercial and I don’t know the brand, sorry! How to vent the Grillworks indoors was a whole other problem. :slight_smile:

Following Chris’ comment about budget… in lower price ranges in case it’s helpful:

'Fridge: Very happy with Samsung Flex zone 4 door counter depth. We have the flex zone set as chill fridge, so only small freezer capacity in the kitchen, but then also a cheap upright freezer in the basement. It is super silent. There was a small installation issue to avoid knocking from the copper water coil in the back but contractor figured out solution. It’s very quiet in operation. Only draw back: it does not do inventory or shopping lists for me!!
[NEVER EVER get a standard depth side by side 'fridge (our previous), impossible to keep organised]

Dishwasher… bosch, very happy. Home Depot in Toronto had great pricing on Bosch last summer I think they had just started selling the range, got almost top of line model for about same price as base level Miele. Only snag (for some) might be that you can’t get a lot of stemware in it, and you have to remove the cutlery tray for longer stems. I don’t usually do wine glasses in dishwasher anyway. When I do, It does wash the glasses very well and no residues or odour.

Stove top and ovens: Miele - 5 burner stove top; large main oven and combo microwave / convection. The latter is really useful. Overall happy, but I’d say 4* out of 5, not 5. A few minor negatives. I won’t clutter this thread with long screed if any one interested PM and I’ll send some notes. I’d say a qualified recommendation.

Vent Fan… the one thing I may have to change. Broan built in. We wanted sleek look along main counter cabinet run. On the good side the low setting is super quiet. (And does draw enough to hold a sheet of paper on the grill, just) but the higher settings are noisy, but do suck a lot of air. And it doesn’t cover the entire cook top. May change to a vent hood, just not thrilled at the extra $$$ (and we’ll lose a cabinet).

Lighting … do get wireless switches. You’ll probably have multiple light zones in the kitchen. We have 5 including the deck, so the “scenes” thing is handy. Lutron is not expensive.

Appliance garage… we have a “tambour” door (stanless steel roller shutters made by Rehau). Installation was a nightmare due poor support from the importer, English instructions were for wrong version (the German instructions were probably correct). It’s fine now. Our experience probably unique to this local supplier etc who had no expert support, but if you are going that route make sure you have good supplier. I think part of the issue was custom sizing versus a standard kit.

Very happy with subzero Fridge.
Thinking of adding a subzero built in wine cabinet.
Anyone have any experience?

Only for a few months. Got a 27 inch that’s been discontinued for a good price. No problems yet. Reviews say that capacity is based on Bdx bottles and larger bottles result in less but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It does get loud a few times per day but it only lasts about 10 minutes and then goes back to relatively quiet.

If it helps, our Sub Zero refer is working beautifully at 26 years of age.
The Thermador home commercial six burner cook top with grill is great.
We went with home commercial Dacor Convection ovens and they can’t be beat. (Takes commercial 36 inch pans)

The problem is most of the stuff we have isn’t available anymore or made with planned obsolescence.

Big fan of our bluestar range

I’ve had my Subzero 424 (24 inch built-in) for several years now and it’s been v solid. It’s been able to maintain air temps within +/- 1F and humidity in the high 60s as measured by my 3rd party tracker so I’m a happy camper

We had GE Monogram Double Wall Ovens, 36" Cooktop with ceramic infrared grill, 620 cfm hoodfan, and fridge/freezer

Wall oven light covers shattered when I misted the oven with water for baking bread.

Ice maker broke on two separate occasions and constantly jammed (uses same mechanism as normal GE models), fridge LED lighting failed after 3 years, and door sensor failed after 4.

Infrared grill on the cooktop was completely useless, 20 minutes at full whack and you couldn’t cook a medium rare steak in under 8 minutes, cooking shrimp through was a challenge eve…grill marks? not a chance

Other than that they were ok :stuck_out_tongue:

On a hoodfan note, I’ve heard that units with 1200cfm’s and higher require a make up air systems to bring in air to the home, thereby reducing back drafting issues.

Wow! You must have some setup… :slight_smile:

Thanks, Chris. :slight_smile: We built a whole house to get the kitchen we wanted. It got a little out of control, but is bringing a lot of pleasure.

We are starting to build a new home and have specified Miele appliances for the kitchen. 36" range top (4 burners with a griddle), convection wall oven and a steam/convection combi oven. Miele refrigerator and a Miele dishwasher round out the package.

I just renovated our kitchen and put much energy and $ into making it the perfect ‘cooks’ kitchen and I have achieved my goal/
I went with a Sub-Zero fridge. I love it.
I went with a Veron 36 inch glass-top electric range and I love it.
I also love the 36 inch Zephyr hood and under counter Sharp microwave, also love.

I am quite thrilled with my choices.
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I don’t know what the cfm threshold is (and it may be local code dependent), but high cfm hoods do require a make-up air vent.
Had to do that in house I built in '01 (had all Viking appliances - got a great deal - free overpriced Viking grill with 4 Viking appliances.).

I think the national / general code threshold is 400cfm

I hate my GE Monogram appliances.

I had a GE wall oven that would constantly shut itself off (safety turnoff) when I tried to do anything higher heat. So frustrating.

Bertazzoni 30" pro gas range with a 600 cmf matching ss chimney, looks great

I’ll put in a vote for avoiding Kitchen Aid appliances. Some high end versions came with my condo and I haven’t been very happy with any of them.

We have a Subzero 24 under cabinet built in wine cabinet. It was installed when our house was built in 2006. It stopped cooling in 2017. Can’t remember cost to fix but it was something like $1,000. We are going to replace with another model from a different manufacturer.

Our Subzero fridge from same year has had some minor issues, one with the ice maker and another with the guides for the pullout deli drawers. Spent about $600 to get these things fixed.

Do any of you with 4-digit CFM hoods have powered make-up air systems (as opposed to a passive “hole” in your house)? If so, what sort of person designed it?