It is time to update our kitchen for 5 years down the road sale. We currently have a convection wall oven of which I have never used the convection portion. Hubby wants to get a new oven/convect combo, a steam oven (fad or legit???) and replace current microwave with a microwave drawer. I am happy that he is interested in the kitchen, but…
Does anyone have any thoughts regarding the microwave drawer and the steam oven???
Steam is legit. 
I use mine often. There are apparently 2 types: the actual steam-cooking ovens (Miele and others) and the ovens that cook with infusion of steam to prevent the food from drying (Thermador). Ours is a plumbed Miele oven, which means I never have to fill in the container, and it can be used in convection/regular oven modes. I love it, and plan on installing the same in our new pad.
I don’t know anything about steam -but I would go to gardenweb.com and look for opinions. There is a kitchen board.
I wouldn’t expect the steam or no steam to have much effect on resale so I would get what you want.
I have a microwave drawer that is below the counter. Pro: I am short, and it is easier for me to use because of its height. Con: it’s not real deep. I purchased the egg thingy and I can’t use it because the microwave isn’t tall enough to close the drawer with the egg thingy inside.
If I were to do it again . . … .
We updated our kitchen two years ago. I wanted a steam oven to bake bread but they started at $4k so I just go with the pan of water in the oven. I love the convection feature because I roast vegetables often. My oven has a baking (not warming) drawer which is great for baking at different temperatures.
I would never buy a house with a microwave/hood combo. It is too dangerous for children and short people.
My refrigerator has a hot water feature which I love and use often. It is perfect for tea and the right temperature water for proofing yeast.
Unless my kitchen were very small I would not have microwave as part of the hood. They just don’t work as well as a real hood. I use my convection oven. In retrospect I would have two ovens. I don’t know what I would do with a steam oven.
Steam ovens and microwave drawers appeal to a relatively small audience. Get them if you plan to use them, but don’t get them just because you think they’ll help resale. The first rule of remodeling for resale is to use your dollars to appeal to the widest audience possible. Instead of spending an extra couple grand on a steam oven, personally I’d put the money into a nice backsplash or other very visible feature.
For every one serious cook that says “oooh steam oven!”, there’ll be 100 microwave heroes that say, “ooooh glass and marble tile backsplash!”
I hate the look of microwaves over the stove (I also don’t like cabinets over the range. Mine fits into an open cabinet over a counter. I am short but have no problem using it. My kitchen is very small but we designed it In a way so space for micro doesn’t rob me of any storage space. My cabinets also go all the way to the ceiling. I put rarely used items on the top shelves.
I have a convection oven but never use that feature. My oven also has a warming draw which I’ve only used once. I keep my cookie sheets and my super long BBQ utensils it.
If you want a steam oven because you will use it - then buy it. If it’s just for when you sell down the road, I wouidnt waste the money. JMO.
My next house will not have a microwave over the stove. That being said…if you have this type, get one that vents outdoors. Works far better than the recirculating crap.
Re: little kids. They grow. When they were little, we didn’t want them handling HOT food anyway…so a higher microwave worked fine.
If I were doing my dream kitchen, I would get a gas cooktop, and an electric regular/convection oven. The microwave drawers are great…I would get that. For the two times a year that I might need a second oven…I wouldn’t get one. I would get a single oven.
I’ve been looking at a lot of wall ovens and built-in microwaves in the last week or so. (Some of my mother’s appliances were fried by an unusual kind of power surge.) I also have been suffering with inadequate wall ovens w/o a range oven at home for almost 20 years. So here’s my opinion.
The bottom line is that you have to have two real ovens. At least one of them needs to be big enough to handle a big, turkey-sized roasting pan or a half-sheet pan (18x13). (The larger of my two crappy wall ovens won’t handle either.) If you have a range with a full-sized oven, the wall oven can be somewhat smaller. If you don’t, you need a pair of large wall ovens. Convection in at least one of them is almost de rigeur these days, I think.
If I had my druthers, I would definitely spring for a wall oven with french doors.
If you want a built-in microwave, it should be freestanding, not a combination oven/micro. No one wants to have to replace the whole thing because the microwave dies. Microwave drawers seem to be a hot item right now, but I don’t see the advantage, unless you really need to preserve upper cabinet space. And they cost at least twice as much as a built-in. A ton of money for something I use mostly for reheating leftovers or warming liquids when cooking.
A microwave over the range is simply unacceptable to me. The range or cooktop needs a real hood vented to the outside.
KitchenAid, for example, makes wall ovens with microwaves to match. The microwaves look and feel really nice inside and outside, and the two look handsome installed one above the other.
The wall steam ovens I’ve seen seem to have tiny interior cooking spaces. It is difficult to imagine cook more than a single loaf of bread at one time. And they are VERY expensive. I’d personally like to have one for bread, but I can’t image springing for it unless I had money to throw around.
Cooktop/range should be gas. Dual fuel ranges are nice, but not necessary, especially if you have at least one electric wall oven.
I have a combo convention/regular wall oven–really like the convection oven feature. My wall oven is a second oven, which is great for preparing large meals. It is a Wolf (got it before Wolf and Sub-Zero merged). I also have a warming drawer, which we rarely use. If I were to get a new kitchen (not likely–unless I move) I wouldn’t have a warming drawer. I have a microwave built into a cabinet in my pantry.
Wow - thanks for all the thoughts and opinions. Hmmmm - interesting concept regarding putting microwave in pantry.
Funny that I just got an ad pop up for a Cuisinart countertop steam/convection combo for $299 at Williams Sonoma. I think I might take the three hundred dollar risk to see if we would even use it and if so, then consider the built in.
Just pointing out some things
“The bottom line is that you have to have two real ovens. At least one of them needs to be big enough to handle a big, turkey-sized roasting pan or a half-sheet pan (18x13).”
Not all need a full-sized oven. I make my turkeys on the grill - they taste much better, per my family.
“The wall steam ovens I’ve seen seem to have tiny interior cooking spaces. It is difficult to imagine cook more than a single loaf of bread at one time. And they are VERY expensive. I’d personally like to have one for bread, but I can’t image springing for it unless I had money to throw around.”
Our steam oven was not cheap, but compared to a non-steam one, it cost not a whole lot more than a similar 24 inch oven. It is very roomy inside, fits a small (12 lb or so turkey), and can be used as a regular oven, convection oven, as well as a burst of steam for baking oven. I make steamed dumplings in mine all the time and use it as a regular oven instead of the behemoth that we bought to join it in the wall. In the next house, I am going with a steam oven and another small oven and a warming drawer.
Some major appliance makers have a sale going on. Miele has 10% rebate until the end of March if you buy several pieces. I think GE and Thermador have some incentives, too. I am seriously considering getting a set of Miele appliances for my new pad and deal with the install later - they are made in Germany, and if the stupid tariff thing happens, it will be more expensive.
You need to figure out the type of cooking YOU do. I very strongly believe that kitchen workmneeds to be for YOU…especially since you say you are living there for five more years.
We did some very minor kitchen redoing …new appliances, granite counters, new sink and faucet. Wood floors,refinished. Walls painted.
To be honest, I got what I wanted. If,the next owners don’t like it…they can change it.
We have never had two ovens, and we have never needed two ovens. We have had dinners here for more than 25 people with no difficulty. YMMV depending on the uses for ovens in your house.
We also don’t currently have a gas cooktop…and it’s totally fine for the cooking we do. Totally.
I’ve never had two ovens and ditto what Thumper said.
I also don’t have gas because we don’t have it going into our house at all.
I have moved many times and have learned to please only myself/my family when it comes to installing new appliances. Don’t buy the latest thing for resale value or because it sounds cool. Buy it if you are genuinely enthusiastic about wanting or needing it.
Right now, I have a massive Viking range with 4 gas burners, a gas grill, griddle, and 2 electric convection ovens. I use every single feature. But my microwave is a plug-in on a shelf.
I have two sibs who have 2 ovens in their kitchen. We have one and that’s plenty for us. My SisIL has only one and entertains a ton, including frequent meals for dozens of people. I like the microwave above the oven. It’s always been there since we bought the house and us fine there.
I interpreted OP’s post as if she wanted to hear from current owners of steam and micro-ovens not because she thinks it will bump up the marketability of the home but because her husband wants them.