Our Kitchen Remodel Appliances

Hi There!

The demolition is almost complete and while we’re waiting for the next phase, I thought I’d catch you up on my appliance selections.  I did splurge on these, but I also cut back on a few other things to make room in our budget.  =0)

I want to give a huge shout-out to Steve Lyons at Pacific Sales in San Juan Capistrano.  Steve has been generous with his time and also extremely knowledgeable about the products every step of the way.  Thank you Steve! And thank you Pacific Sales!

To give you context, here is a sketch with notes for where I’ve placed the appliances.

Double Wall Ovens

For years, I have been pining over steam ovens so it was finally time for my own. I chose to use Thermador because they are a high quality appliance, the oven cavity is full sized and the steam function is what is considered “full steam”. 

This type of cooking is the best thing since sliced bread if you ask me!  Cooking with steam is a much healthier way to heat food when you compare it to microwave cooking.  With a microwave, you will lose almost all of the nutrients in the food.  With steam, you will preserve most of them.

Steam will also “plump” up leftovers making them seem as fresh as when they were first made.  Even take-out dishes will taste better when reheated with steam.

The ONLY thing you cannot make in a steam oven is popcorn.  (Maybe it’s time for Jiffy Pop!) You can even hard-boil an egg in a steam oven. 

And don’t get me started on chocolate chip cookies! Because this oven is a combination of steam and convection, it is perfect for baking and browning as well. 

I promise to share some recipes with you when our kitchen is completed.

French Door Refrigerator

My favorite configuration for refrigeration is the French Door.  With a full-width refrigerator on top and a bottom freezer drawer, I find it to be the most useful and convenient.  We’ve been using a side-by-side that came with the house for the past 3 years and even with just 2 people living here, I was always rearranging the contents.  

I’m splurging on a Sub-Zero 42” w x 84” h, flush mounted (same depth as the lower cabinets) model and because I’ve been to their factory, I can tell you firsthand how well this company pays attention to detail.  This is a heavy duty appliance that will keep food fresher- longer and serve us for many, many years.

I’ll be adding cabinet doors and appliance handles to this refrigerator for a truly built-in look.

Oh! Did I tell you?  Our current inside fridge conked out 3 weeks early!  Yep, it couldn’t wait any longer and we came home to discover everything mostly thawed in a puddle and needing to be thrown out.  We do have a garage fridge so we’re counting our blessings that we could switch it out to get us to the finish line.

Under Cabinet Refrigerator

The garage fridge will be donated once our remodel is complete and instead, I’m adding an under-cabinet refrigerator in the kitchen, from Monogram. It will be at the far end of the cabinets next to the family room.  This will do nicely for extra drinks and an occasional bottle of wine.  Wink Wink.

It will also save on energy because the bigger refrigerator’s doors won’t be opened so often.

This fridge will also have a paneled door, so it blends into the cabinets.

Range Top

I chose the Thermador 48” range top with 6 burners and a griddle plate.  The difference between a range top and a cook top is the placement of the knobs.  A cooktop has the knobs on the horizontal or top surface.  Some people prefer this because it makes for an easier reach if you are shorter.  It can also prevent accidentally turning up/down the dials when standing there.  And with small children, this keeps the dials farther out of reach.

I went “form over function” in this category so the knobs are on the front as you would see on a full range.  I just like the look better and it feels a bit more substantial. 

But that’s just me… =0)

Exhaust Hood

The new hood over the range top will be made of wood.  The insert (motor and blower) will be provided by the hood maker, Stanisci.

You can use whichever hood insert you like best, but I chose to have the hood manufacturer provide ours because they guarantee the fit.

Be sure to check your range/cook top specifications to ensure you provide a strong enough motor/blower for the amount of heat coming up off its surface.  The burners of the range/cook top are measured in BTUs (or British Thermal Units). This is the amount of heat that is produced.

The blowers are measured in CFM’s (or cubic feet per minute). You’ll want to have enough power to pull the unwanted heat and exhaust from your range/cooktop. 

It’s also a good idea to go slightly wider than the cooking surface below to ensure you capture all of the heat.

Did you know that over the course of one year, the average family will add 5 gallons of grease to their air if they do not use hood ventilation? Yikes!

Dish Washer

It’s typical when you’re purchasing appliances, to receive an offer for a “bundled” promotion. In my case, since I purchased both the wall ovens and range top from Thermador, they offered a 75% discount on their dishwasher.  It’s top of their line and I’m looking forward to using it.

By law, appliances may not be discounted due to the Fair Trade Act so, this is one way you can still make the most of your budget and your hard-earned money.

BTW, the dishwasher will also receive a wood panel and appliance handle to match the cabinetry.

Microwave

Old habits die hard as they say.  While I couldn’t quite convince my husband to forego the microwave, I did find the next best solution. 

We’ll install it into the upper cabinets to the right of the refrigerator.  It’s also the smallest one I could find.  A GE model which is 27” from side to side including the trim! 

We’ll be sacrificing a bit of power but honestly, with the steam oven, the only thing we’ll need it for is reheating our coffee!

Some people opt for under-cabinet microwave drawers which are also nice but in our case, we didn’t have room in our island, and I wanted to preserve as much storage in our cabinetry as possible.

That’s it for today.  Come back soon and we’ll talk plumbing!

P.S. If you’re planning your own model, you might like my Kitchen & Bath Planning Guide over in the DIY Outlet!