There are just a few manufacturers actually making appliances these days. This is a fairly interesting list of who actually makes what. Not sure of how up to date it is:

Appliance411 The Purchase: Who Makes What?

No silly people we don't. I had just bought it and was making sure the video drop cable was working as it is mounted in the kitchen wall out of sight to the left in that picture. I like the fact that both range AND refrigerator sit off the floor on legs so out Roomba can run underneath to clean every morning.

When we remodel the kitchen I'll take a serious look at these:

Freestanding Ranges - BlueStar™

But we've been really happy with the Wolf.

Invest in culinary education. It's not about the range. I know of an individual who had to show off her $15,000 French stove in one of two kitchens of the home and yet she still burns toast and depends on Starbucks instead of making coffee.

The GE stuff is crap. I bought the high end GE everything. Its crap. If you get 6-8 years out of it your doing good.

Ouch! project much?

I can't think of a single overcooked meal in the last 10 years.

It's not about showing off. It's about not trying to make rolls on Christmas taste like they've been in the same oven at the same time as a HAM.

It's about having a large pot on the oven next to a large skillet and not have them tranfering heat from one to the other.

The main reason for the post was to find reliable appliances that long term will be cheaper to run. Buy once cry once. I do not plan on moving for many years after buying this house. I'm 45 years old and California has some very crazy house prices and taxes. I need to live in my house a LONG time.

Yes, this is what I've heard as well.

I've been bargin hunting on Craigslist. There's some deals to be had. I just don't want to buy someones problem.

I don't know if you got my other post. I know a place out in the valley that sells all type of high end appliances (DCS, Thermador, and such) that have scratches or small dents (usually in the back where it is not noticeable) with full factory warranty. Give me a shout if you are interested. You get what they have on hand. If not, they will hunt for it and call you when it comes in. Is it not cost effective for the factory to change out a panel and re-package it for sale once the appliance has a blemish. So these guys buy them direct at a discounted price. I build a kitchen for a friend, a local rare Porsche parts dealer, with one of their stove and a GE Monogram hood. Their savings was about 1000 bucks on the both items. he's very happy with it so far. No issues. The bastard still hasn't cook me a meal on it yet. Hey, are you listening? Not you Jim.

Jeff

I can highly recommend Wolf gas ranges and Miele dishwashers, both are as good as it gets. Had a few other brands I'm less impressed with. Used a La Cornue for a while at a family members house but while they swear by it, I can't wrap my head around $35K for a stove. Not really a fan of French Tops in any case.

And kitchen tools are still tools. Yes, you can rebuild an engine with Chinese stuff from Harbor Freight, but it ain't Snap-On.

50% of our business is custom kitchens, baths, and Libraries. I have gone back to see some of these clients' kitchens ten year later and they look like they have not been use more them three times. I always tease them that the job is finish and it is OK to use their kitchen. Many who spend 10K+ on a stove rarely cook all that much but boil water (maybe not even that, because we install a instant hot water system for them so boiling water is a thing of the past). They all claim they do. I like to think they they do, but who knows and who cares.

When I go to appliance show rooms for my clients, I will purchase 20k+ worth of stuff. One of the older sales guy always say, "You are back for some more adult toys?" Cheap one expensive one still cook your food the same way.

We have a Miele refrigerator, oven and warming drawer. All flawless thus far. Viking cook top has been excellent. We have a Wolf hood with a remote blower that works great, but we had minor problems with it at first (it was the remote blower, not the hood itself). Bosch dishwashers is just so so. I can't say I would recommend it.

For the record, we use our kitchen a ton. We are foodies, and we cook at least 4 nights a week. We entertain and cook 5 course meals on a regular basis. Our gear gets a work out. The Viking cook top in particular has been a total work horse. The Miele frige keeps vegetables fresh a long time.

The main reason we bought the Jade range was it is listed as a "commercial" and I have seen it in several of the Local San Diego area Mexican restaurants and they loved them. The main reason was the ability to nearly completely disassemble it easily for cleaning which a commercial has to do very frequently and we do after Thanksgiving and Christmas meals! An additional item to look at is the BTU ratings of the burners and ours has one small one, several large ones and one monster that will boil a gallon of water so fast it is scary!

The down side to these is the weight, ours weighs about 400# and the 48 inch built in frig which is an all interior stainless model weighs about 475#!

John, they are residential, but commercial looking stoves. Many of the parts are made for easy cleaning, but they are insulated well, so they can be installed near cabinets and such. I take one of those over a regular range anyday of the week. The fit and finish are far better then their commercial counterparts. Building code will not allow the installation of commercial range in a home. They are far too hot. Wolf, DCS, Imperial, Jade and many of these companies starts out as commercial tools and tries to work its way into the high end residential market. Only a couple have been very successful. One of them is DCS which I happen to like very much. Jade is a damn good stove. You have to finish the tile work to the right of the stove. Will it get into the way of the drawer ?

I have cooked 5 course meals for 30 people with a single oven and 4 burners..
I now have an old kitchen as my house was formerly a rental, it's 3 meter by 2 and a half, i have about 80 x 70cm free working space (microwave, cookers, sink take up the rest). Yet i've hosted for 15 + people in that tiny kitchen.. It's main drawback is poor layout.


When i build my new kitchen, i'll go only marginally bigger then what i have now.
I will add maybe 1 meter of kitchen top, but i will optimize things for usability.

I cannot see me spending more then 6 K for the kitchen top + the oven, built in MW, sink, cookers.. It's crazy how much money women spend on kitchens, even more so if you see how rarely and poorly some of them cook.

Then i know others that can cook , but they have spent 25K on a kitchen when they can afford 10 K... Same for bathrooms.. it's crazy to see the prices on that too. It's snobism , so they can show the girl friends, look at what i got.
And they all compete with eachother for it..

Svandamme,

yup, been there!

I had the range full! + the outdoor grill & the RV oven going!

I will have a small by American standards 2 meter x 3 meter kitchen.

My father use to tell me that thank goodness because women love big shinny diamonds and custom jewelry. This way, he was able to feed me and put cloths on my back. My dad is a retired custom jeweler. Now, I thank goodness there are people like you mention so we can keep the fire burning. I do lots of regular thing for regular good folks too. Don't forget, we drive Porsches. Do we really need a over priced Volkswagon? Another reason is resale value on these large homes. It must have the high end kitchen. I will not go on anymore. There is no right or wrong, just how you see fit.

I grew up in a small starter home with a small kitchen. My mother made it work for all our relatives during the holidays with a regular GE stove.

Jeff, yes, and post some pics of your work! I'm looking at Jade they're local owned.

The first cool car I ever owned was an old '67 Mustang. I rebuilt the motor myself. I used a come-along attached to a tree branch as an engine hoist. All my tools were Stanley or Montgomery Wards, usually from a pawn shop. I used a crescent wrench if I didn't have the right size socket and used a screwdriver as a pry bar and chisel. Engine ran great when I was done. Does that mean that's the only way to do it?

Why do you own a socket set when a crescent wrench "turns the nut the same way"? Why drive a Porsche, a Civic is the same thing, right?

I agree that lots of people don't use their fancy kitchens, but even then it's a good investment as it's expected for resale in certain types of houses. But just because you make a living selling toys to posers doesn't mean everyone who buys that stuff does it for looks.

If you know how to use the tools, the tools do make a difference. Maybe the old sales guy thinks a turkey pot pie and a Schlitz is good eats. More power to him, but just because he can't tell the difference doesn't mean no one else can.