(And you thought this thread was about KD's and GC's.)

Right now its my speed oven, although I'm adjusting. I burnt everything the first few days (they don't call it a speed oven for nothing!)

I'm just two weeks into an induction cooktop too - it isn't too bad. Just takes one or two attempts to get used to it.

I just need to take the time and read the manuals properly!

It took me six months to even try my combi steam oven. I still haven't done much experimenting with it...I'm totally intimidated by it. I better get over it soon or DH will never let me live it down that I bought such an expensive rice cooker!

LOL Funny thread :) Yes, we have a huge stove (Lacanche) and I was intimidated by it. It still intimidates me somewhat...it just seems funny to make mac and cheese on a range the size of a buick with a more powerful engine :oP

Fortunately DH does not feel the same (he's the cook) so we eat well now LOL

You should have seen my post when I first used my Wolf gas rangetop after a whole life of cooking on electric ranges. I was more than intimidated! Downright fearful, and perturbed at how it flew so wildly in the face of my own wish to have an 'easy to use, easy to clean' kitchen. But with the help of wonderful, understanding friends here, I now have a cautious respect, awe, and love for it. Still have a little contempt remaining for it's cleanability. ;-)

But you have a right to be troubled by an etching dishwasher. It should eat food off the plates, not the surface!

warmfridge, sorry about your DW. You've mentioned it before; any plans for a replacement?

Yes, I do think I will be intimidated by my induction range and convection oven. (At least the MW -- the only correctly-delivered appliance yesterday -- is pretty intuitive, very much like the one we had before, nothing fancy). Right now I am intimidated by my new cabinets. When I cringed when we dinged one last night putting the MW in its cubby, DH was bummed thinking I was going to be the k;tchen police. I told him to let me cringe for the first few, and I'll get over it soon, but not to fuss at me for wanting to keep them neat at least until I have counters and sinks and paint and a finished product, at least for a week. Our mantra has been "We're not looking to have a showplace." Last week when DH was fretting over the budget and I repeated that to him, he looked at me and said "Too late for that." How'd that happen?

So funny about the rice cooker and the mac and cheese!

dirt

Hi Jsweenc,

Yes, after much ado, Miele agreed to take back that DW and I'm replacing it with a KA...just waiting for the snow to disappear so we can move appliances in and out of the house.

I'm very nervous about getting a convection oven. I'm pretty good at baking and I'm hoping not to import new problems into my kit*chen.

I ordered an induction hot plate before the remodel started. It came the day I moved back into the kitchen. It's setting on the counter next to the stove. I haven't plugged it in yet. Maybe tomorrow ;-)

I wouldn't say intimidated per se, because I'm pretty brave around machines and stuff. But the stack of manuals is a bit intimidating! The day that my housekeeper and I cleaned all of the new appliances and turned them on was a hoot. I was tired (what's new?) so I was sitting reading the manuals aloud and she was doing more of the sponge work. What I was reading was how to clean (betcha know! Warm water and mild dishsoap, which is all we ever use anyway, but it got to be funny on the fifth or sixth round). Also how to turn on. You'd be rolling if you saw the two of us tag teaming trying to find the on switch for the fridge.

I've only done basic things, and am constantly referring back to the manuals. I've been saying recently that when I bought my first new car it was really buying a stereo with four wheels, and now it's buying a computer with four wheels. Well all of my appliances are probably more powerful computers than the mainframe I had custody of back when I bought that first car!

In general, I'm just really pleased.

Re induction, it's really easy to use!! Have you ever used an old fashioned coil electric? Residential induction units generally work the same way. The power levels are marked 1-9, often with half steps marked along the way. There are only two differences: One is you can only use iron (steel) pots and pans because it uses magnets rather than radiant heat. The magnets make the iron molecules dance around and get hot. The other is your pots should be flat on the bottom and in full contact with the surface of the stove. Depending on the unit this may be more or less necessary. My Gaggenau is pretty tolerant. My portable isn't tolerant at all.

If you're coming from a slow stove, start with lower power levels and check for heat the old fashioned way (hold your hand over it, or use a droplet of water or oil). Don't turn your back on a boil until you really know how long it will take.

Pretty simple! Mine worked great on the first try, including rendering the chicken fat without scorching it or cooking it away. Go for it!!

My convection oven. Had one in a house a few houses ago and have forgotten how truly fast it can cook. Powerful workhorse. And have already burned a few dinners to boot!

I wouldn't say I'm intimidated by any of the appliances/gadgets in my kitchen, but I deliberately chose simple technology for many uses. I guess I just don't trust (rightly or wrongly) cutting edge sophisticated appliances to last as long as their simpler, cheaper counterparts (eg, an all-gas range vs anything with electonic controls in it). I didn't want any built-ins, like fridges, ovens or micros, as I didn't want to gamble that same-size replacements will be available to fill the holes when they die. But we did buy almost the most expensive DW we saw, because we were sooooo disappointed with our last not-cheap DW that we figured we had to go up the line for satisfaction.

After saying all this, I must admit that I have NEVER used our cappuccino machine, which DH has been using for over 10 yrs. Just too many steps for me, I guess, and I'm not a devoted coffee snob like he is (I like mine well diluted with dairy). I boil the water in my electric kettle, pour it through my Aero-Press, and froth some milk in a Bodum pump thingy.

Well, maybe not intimidated (more like haven't read the manuals)...but the kitchen's been in for 6 months and I still haven't used the convection in the microwave or the oven. It's on my "things to do" list, lol.

At the risk of sounding completely ridiculous - I avoided my new DW, of all things, for 1 month and finally used it because DH was asking/bugging me about it. Contrast that to not being able to wait to get my hands on the induction cooktop and convection oven, although I still need to read up on the timers on the induction.

I love my induction cooktop. I love my fancy oven with the touch screen controls and a hundred features. I love my dishwasher.

You know what scares the heck out of me? My convection microwave. Putting metal objects in a microwave flies in the face of everything my mother ever taught me about the microwave! I want to cover my eyes and stand back every time I press start on the convection feature.

After two years and a few old favorites that didn't turn out as expected (and perhaps a "defective" can of baking powder), I am afraid to bake in my Wolf AG range. When to use convection? When not? If I use it, should I reduce the oven temp, the time, or both? Should I forgo the convection fan altogether and just use the oven without it (I've always baked in a gas oven w/out convection and turned out some yummy baked goods)?

I am so stymied by indecision, I just don't bake. Of course, my waistline is happy about that!

LOL!! Cat_mom, I'd never encourage you to break your diet, but if you really want to bake, here are some options:

1. Use the bake only setting (no convection) until you learn how hot your oven is. Because it's probably more accurate than your old oven, you should set the timer for early and check on the contents, which could be baking faster or slower than usual.

2. Bake simple things to start. Use a cake mix, even, just to see how it comes out. If it's too dry, the oven's probably too hot and it's baking too fast.

3. Get a convection recipe book and follow a couple of the recipes exactly until you're sure what to expect from your oven, so you can change over to your own recipes.

4. If adjusting the temperature down is still drying out your baking, add a little moisture to the inside of the oven, or even a teaspoon or so of water to the recipe.

You can do it!!

Years ago in col lege I dated a guy who was a better dresser than me. I felt that just messed with the natural order of the universe. LOL

I have the same thoughts about kitchen appliances. They should not be smarter than me. I fear they will laugh at me behind my back - or perhaps be bold enough to laugh in my face - when I flub a recipe. And I know I will.

If I could take on one new appliance at a time, I think I'd be okay but that won't be the case. I'm especially wary of the GE speed cook/MW machine that I'm considering. It's supposed to be a wonderful cooking device but I fear a steep lear ning curve is ahead of me.

Years ago, when my folks bought me a sewing machine that was considered cutting edge at the time, it came with a set of lessons on how to use it. I really wish kitchen appliances came with lessons. This would drastically cut the intimidation factor for me. I would be more than willing to pay for the lessons if it meant that I could use my fancy kitchen appliances like a pro (or close enough to make me happy) from the get-go.

Lisa, YES! Lessons with appliances the same they do with sewing machines would be great! It would certainly increase our comfort and contentment with the particular appliance as we learned why that particular manufacturer designed or engineered it as they did and we could see better our possibilities and options in using it. That would improve the feedback we give to others considering spending money on the same ones, and more than pay the manufacturer for providing the help.

Lisa, you can have lessons! Between this forum, Appliances, and Cooking, I'm sure the forum dwellers can get you through.

Oh, dear. I'm cheerleading, aren't I? This is supposed to be about intimidation. I don't mean to say don't express that! Just that I would like to help people get past it and go for their dreams.

I have an Advantium. So far I've zapped frozen silver dollar pancakes, and tried toast according to the book. The zap worked fine, though I had to adjust the time down. The toast didn't work. It might be okay for toasting cheese, but I didn't like the way it toasted bread. I had been warned in the appliance forum that it didn't toast well. I just tried it before buying a new toaster oven because I don't toast much. See!! Failure isn't mine--it's a known thing about this device.

Reading the book really helps. So does having a drawer right under it for the different trays--though it gets covered by the door, and might have been even better one space lower in the stack. I think if you start with something basic it shouldn't take long to learn to use it. I'm making a veggie kugel for my Seder. I'm going to make it the day before and rewarm it in the convection part of the Advantium. Choosing that was easy! My big pyrex pan fits on the wire shelf and not on the turntable, therefore I'm going oven. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

BTW, the distributors of BSH in California do have cooking demonstrations using Bosch, Thermador and Gaggenau equipment. And I think they have demos at the Miele showrooms too. Also, some big appliance stores offer them as a value added to keep you from trying to undercut them with online vendors and the like, so ask around! You might find actual lessons.

plllog you really are one of the best here! Thanks for those tips--I will print them out and refer to them. No diet, but fewer treats definitely help keep the figure in check!

I've baked some things in my oven, but a few of them recently didn't turn out as reliably as they always had. That, plus not remembering when using convection would be best and when I shouldn't use it is what keeps me form experimenting (I was so much more fearless when I was younger--bake a chocolate souffle? Sure, why not! That was the old me!).

I also need to have get Wolf on the phone and possibly arrange a svce call, as I think the door hinge on one side is slipping. The oven could be experiencing heat loss. I keep putting off calling, but I know I should.

I'm in the process of a fruitless search for a SIMPLE LP gas stove. I don't want the NASA dashboard! On. Off. Bake at whatever degrees I need. And after reading how easily the sealed burners are to kill I think open burners would be better here. The problem?? Among many others, no open burners available to speak of. I'm just about ready to order a close out at Sears.....because it has some things I want and it's cheap. If I don't like it, maybe in a few years our electricity will be more stable and induction prices will come down (and they make a white one) and then I'll dump the LP. Until then, I'll settle. Hate to settle. Every time I look at the portable induction burner on the counter with the cord still wrapped in a twist tie, I wonder what makes me think I can cook on an induction stove if I can't even figure out one burner!Yup. I'm intimidated by that little chunk of metal and plastic.

After carefully reading the 47-pg manual that came with our F&P washer (same with the top-loading dryer, LOL), I was happy to discover that it will wash pretty much everything automatically with the press of 2 buttons. Yup, that works for us.

Took a little longer to read the KA DW manual to figure out how the Pro Scrub system worked, but the real issue was learning to load it - our previous 1989 DW had a central tower so loading was quite different than the KA.

But the REALLY intimidating purchase was the 2010 Ford Fusion car. Two manuals, one just for the Microsoft SYNC system, and we still can't figure out how to change the clock! There's no info on it in the manual, I guess because it's supposed to be 'so easy'....Jeez, it makes you feel stupid! We've already had to go back once to the dealer to figure out how the 'easy plug-in' for the iPod worked, now I guess we'll have to go again so we can have the correct DST displayed.

Note to self: Include special drawer in new cabinets to store all manuals and spare reading glasses. Sigh.

I am intimidated by my soapstone. I LOVE it, but I'm scared to death of it getting beat up. It's really soft, and while I don't mind the little scratches - I hate the chips. I've never had to be careful with a countertop before... I've never even been conscious of my countertop before!

lol warmfridge - I've been looking for a nook to store all those manuals at hand as well. An overlooked part of the planning process!

Pinch,

Step 1, undo the twist tie.

Step 2, plug into wall.

Without step one and step two under your belt you're never ever going to get that danged thing to work right.

I'm intimidated by the modern cooktop units,the rock countertops, the stainless steel and black surfaces. Frankly, keeping them clean and scratch-free and locating paying for and using the cleaning products intimidates me. Or does it fatigue me? It's just a mental thing--I am sure. I just can't make myself go near them.

Warmfridge and sochi,

I laughed when I read your comments about needing to plan housing for instruction manuals. I actually have one, by default. Somehow the measurements for my upper cabs were incorrect by 3 inches, which meant there would have been 3 inches of dead space to the left of the small kitchen window. This would have been painfully obvious.

Fortunately the installer noticed it before things got too far along. I then had Wood-Mode creat a 3-inch-wide upper cabinet door, which the installer was able to set between the open upper corner and the regularly scheduled upper cabinet. The picture below makes this clearer. I only wish I had a photo of the 3-inch door in its open position, so you could see two VERY narrow shelves filled up with instruction manuals! It's pretty amusing. Talk about a glich that worked! I love it.

Angelina, that's a great idea! Very cute door.

Plllog, I'm going to plug it in and do the manual step by step... One of these days when I can give it my complete attention;-)
I ordered the simplest white LP gas range I could find last night. Should be at a nearby Sears Friday. IF it is, I will pick it up since I already had signed up for a vacation day for a vet appointment in the same town. My electric convection is headed out the door! If the LP doesn't bake like my old natural gas then I will have no excuse for stuff flopping.