kitchen design report #2: cooking appliances

[david kaplan]

It's been a week full of obsessing and reading lots of information on chowhound, garden web, consumer reports, and manufacturers' websites, capped off by a long afternoon at the BSC Culinary showroom here in downtown San Francisco. I think I have a leading contender for the cooking appliances, but there's still plenty of time to change my mind.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I do lots of high-heat stovetop cooking (esp. Chinese), relatively little baking, and lots of entertaining. My ideal set-up would include a high-power burner, a total of at least 5 burners for entertaining, a second oven for occasional use when entertaining, and a microwave for occasional use. Our house is being fully rebuilt, and it's an odd space that, though large, involves some unusual aesthetics that create some constraints, such as no cooktop in the island and no double wall oven or anything else above counter height.

I've been going back and forth between two options:

1. Two 30" ranges, one gas and one electric (or one dual-fuel and one electric), both Bosch.
Pros: two full ovens and lots of burners for entertaining. Electric range top, when not in use, can be covered with a butcher block for extra counter surface.
Cons: no super high-power burner, and requires separate microwave. Cost: approx $4000 ($2000 each range).

2. A 36" Bluestar range (22000 BTU burner) and a microwave-convection oven (built into cabinet).
Pros: high power burner, total of six burners.
Cons: Not sure that one oven plus a microwave-convection oven yields enough oven space. Cost. Approx $6200 ($5500 for 36" Bluestar, $700 for Dacor microwave-convection oven).

However, today I saw a demonstration of induction. Amazing power. But sometimes I like an open flame. Further, there are not yet induction ranges on the market, so the set up gets costly: $3600 for 5-induction burner set-up, $2000 for conventional wall oven, and $700 for Dacor microwave-convection, total $6300. However, I can't imagine ever needing the power of 4 or 5 induction burners at once. So, here is now the leading option:

3. A 30" dual-fuel Bosch range, a single 3500-watt built-in induction burner, and a built-in microwave-convection oven. Using the conversion rule of 1 kw = 7185 BTU, that induction burner is the equivalent of a 25000 BTU burner. I would install the induction burner in the countertop above the microwave-convection oven in the same 30" cabinet, right next to the dual-fuel range.
Pros: one burner with more power than the Bluestar; 5 burners total; counter space of induction element when not in use (and safer than using electric cooktop that way).
Cons: Not sure that one oven plus a microwave-convection oven yields enough oven space.
Cost: Approx. $3500 ($2000 for Bosch dual-fuel range; $800 for single built-in induction burner from Cooktek; $700 for Dacor microwave-convection oven).

I assume I give up a bit in general performance, especially in the oven, with option #3 relative to option #2. But I bake little, so the real appeal of the Bluestar for me was the high-power burner, and the single induction burner could outperform the Bluestar burner at a fraction of the marginal cost of Bluestar's burner. I am still concerned that I'll be tight on oven space for entertaining. But it seems like a great set-up for only $3500.

So, my questions are these:

Most important: any general feedback on how I'm weighing the options? Is there any way to improve on option #3 without increasing the cost dramatically?

Any experience with Cooktek induction? Only found one brief comment on the boards here.

Any experience with the Dacor microwave-convection oven (model DCM24)?

Any thoughts on other brands & models of microwave-convections that are large capacity and can serve as a second oven occasionally?

Thanks, in advance, for the thoughtful comments and the impassioned debate (see report #1 for some passion in action!).

[johnb]

David

Me again. I must say I've always liked the concept of induction, and I thought about it when specing out my own kitchen about 2 years ago, even going down to the showroom to try out a Diva (it turned out my Sitram pots weren't magnetic). I didn't go that way in the end. If I were you, I'd definitely try one out before committing to the concept. For one thing, given your interest in Asian, you certainly couldn't use a normal wok, but would have to use a flat bottom pan, and a heavy one at that, for stir frying. I'm not so sure about that.

How about a gas-fired single wok burner, and an induction top? Nothing like diversifying to reduce risk! Might break the price barrier tho.

[KaimukiMan]

I tend to agree with johnb about the single gas fired wok burner. In most cases it doesn't make sense to have such an expensive single use element in a residential kitchen, but it seems you do quite a bit of wok style cooking, so plan accordingly.

You also said you do very little baking, but are not sure if two ovens will be enough. Seems that you may need to think through your cooking needs just a little bit more. I do understand how difficult it is with so many choices available.