Saturday 31 March 2018

Oven decisions

Who would have thought that selecting an oven would take so much thinking!  From my research, it appears most of us who build Hamptons inspired homes opt for Ilve ovens that provide that gorgeous industrial edge.

My first thoughts included an Ilve 90cm upright oven for the mantle in the main kitchen followed by a Miele or Bosch 60cm built in oven and integrated microwave for the butler's pantry.  Ideally, I really wanted a 90cm oven cavity to allow enough room for trays of food when entertaining.

So here are some pictures of what I thought I would go for...




I had the Bosch integrated microwave in my last house, and while it was good, it wasn't great.  Then as luck would have it, necessity changed my thought process entirely.

When we sold the house, of course, we left the integrated microwave with the house.  That meant while we were renting, I needed a new microwave.  My best friend of 31 years (who is also a qualified chef!!) pointed me to the Sharp Carousel for all of $300!  Really?  Could a cheap bench microwave be better?  Hell yes!  The Sharp microwave is the best I have ever owned, powerful, intuitive and easy to use, not to mention it defrosts to perfection.  I love it!!

So what does that mean for my kitchen plans?  As luck would have it again, Falcon, for the first time ever had a 20% off sale just before Christmas 2017.  That meant the oven I have swooned over for years was now within reach - yes, still a couple of thousand more than the Ilve, but not $8,500!!  Considering it has a double oven, I no longer need the second oven in the butler's pantry or the expensive integrated microwave.

The Falcon oven I have chosen has two ovens in it, not a 90cm oven, but considering I have two ovens, hopefully I will be happy with the two smaller ovens.  I am going to keep my cheap and cheerful microwave and place it in a cupboard in the butler's pantry along with the kettle and toaster.  Now that I am not having an additional integrated oven and microwave in the pantry, I have room for a cupboard to house the microwave, kettle and toaster which provides the added bonus of more bench space in the butler's pantry now that the toaster and kettle has it's own place in the cupboard.

Here is my gorgeous falcon 110cm oven and sirius integrated rangehood.




Now to decide on the dishwashers.  We are having two dishwashers, both semi-integrated, one in the main kitchen and one in the butler's pantry.  I thought it would be a no brainer, just go Miele, however after doing some research, a few things have caused me to rethink this decision.  Miele do not do half loads and also do not have cutlery baskets...I know that might sound like a strange consideration, however we like being able to pick up a cutlery basket and take it to the cutlery drawer.  A few friends have the cutlery trays in their dishwashers and I am not a fan - it takes longer to load and longer to unload.  You might say, "just get a cutlery basket for the Miele." Yes, I considered that too, however an additional cutlery basket as an accessory is about $300 - crazy isn't it.

So now I am leaning towards the Bosch series 6 dishwashers which have the option of both cutlery trays, baskets and half load cycles.



Believe it or not, I come in under budget with these selections as well!

Our current Fisher and Paykel fridge will go in the butler's pantry and we will be getting a Fisher and Paykel side by side fridge and freezer for the main kitchen.



Thanks for stopping by.
Jo



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