I don't mean totally redoing my kitchen - but my kitchen design is based on a flush mount oven so that we can better access a corner cabinet. My appliance guy tells me that the Bosch is the best oven for the flush mount, he says anything else that's able to be flush mounted is like 2K more. I've shown him a picture of (apparently) the GE cafe ovens, and they look flush installed to me...

Yes you would have to know what she means by baking unevenly. Convection is oversold as the panacea for even baking.

That Bosch oven doesn't only use convection, does it?

Convection is an option but it is marketed as evening the heat in the oven so people buy it with those expectations. It can actually cause a hot spot or uneven baking depending on how it is engineered and what mode you are using. Sometimes just going from the old to the new oven can make a big difference. It might be calibrated differently, there might be a difference in fuels or it is overall engineered differently. One big difference I have noticed is that the bottom element is covered in many ovens now. You lose some of the radiant heat from the exposed element and I have a pie recipe that will not work. You really need specific instances and the mode used.

Maybe she will let you try it. Buy a couple of oven thermometers and try them out in several locations in the oven. Bake a cake mix exactly according to directions on standard bake and see how it does.

Oh, this is all really interesting and useful info! At this point, I'm so over this freaking oven research. I also think our architect is hyping the flush look up too much. I think we'd be fine with whatever we choose.

One big difference I have noticed is that the bottom element is covered in many ovens now. You lose some of the radiant heat from the exposed element and I have a pie recipe that will not work. You really need specific instances and the mode used.

Curious about this, as I have kind of noticed it as well. Have you had better success with other recipes, and is there something particular about that recipe that you think makes it work less well with the hidden elements? Are there any tips/tricks that you have found helped you get better pie results with the hidden element, other than the obvious (using bottom rack and dark/glass pans)?

Are there different cases where having the more buffered, less direct heat from the hidden element might be a benefit instead of a drawback?

hvrech42, I think anything that has a high amount of sugar in it that might burn easily would be better shielded. I think that is why they developed the air bake cookie sheets. We have been working on gluten free desserts that do not have any gluten naturally and is an angel pie which is a meringue and I think it helps that.

Thinking just now maybe a little (1/2-1 teaspoon) sugar in the pie dough might help.

It is my caramel pecan upside down apple pie that doesn't work. You put butter, brown sugar and toasted pecans down in the bottom and make an apple pie on top of it you bake it and when it is done, let it set a few minutes and flip it over. I've made dozens of these that worked and then the new oven, the bottom was raw. I can make it deconstructed though which I think I like just as well if not better.

Architects are far more interested in looks than function. Cooks are far more interested in function. My ovens could have been mounted flush. They were designed for it. I refused, wanted full travel for the doors.

I've settled on the GE cafe oven, after much discussion and boring my friends :)

@wekick Have you figured out how to bake without a raw portion of the cake happening?
My Benchmark wall oven is still under warranty and we are trying to get a replacement, not a repair since we didn’t break it. It came as a lemon.