Another Appliance Thread: AEG vs Kleenmaid vs Miele

Hey people,

I need everyone's collective help here. Questions are below. Hoping to get feedback from diff range of brands but especially AEG and Kleenmaid (and Miele, and whoever else care to give their input). I have until the afternoon of Saturday 27th Sept. 2008 to decide.

Have newly joined the forum as I have found that people actually share their genuine experiences rather than slag off at products. That and hopefully my DW (I assume that that is the acronym for Dear Wife) and I plan to start a family soon.

Anyhoo back onto topic. We are renovating our kitchen. Looking, looking, looking.... And finally we got over our fears of induction and the harm that the high magnetic frequencies may cause in pregnant women and little children (sensitive hearing and all) and decided to go for it. A Pyrolytic Oven too. Love the tech these days with fast controlled heating and self cleaning products :thumbsup:

So after much deliberation we were deiciding between Miele and AEG. Tough choice but we decided on the AEG as they currently have 10% off and an additional 2.5% for every extra applicance. So an AEG 88101K-mn 4 burner ind. cooktop ($3199) and an AEG B9871-4M 60cm Pyro Oven ($2999) comes to $~5400 + $350 for telescopic rails and + $186 for double warranty (total 6yrs). It wasn't just cost, but the AEG just looks better. The Miele just looks dated, and not the cool retro kind either.

However Kleenmaid is curr. having massive sales (Don't they always) at 30% off it is hard to overlook. So a Kleenmaid ICK88X 4 burner ind. cooktop ($4299) and a Kleenmaid TO701X 60cm Pyro Oven ($3999) comes to $~5800 and it incl telescopic rails, a rotisserie attachment and 10yr no lemon warranty.

Cost wise much a muchness. We also considered NEFF (I loved the puck) however the cooktop was too noisy, and the oven too small (and their curr. combo special package does not incl. induction cooktop with pyro oven). What's with the small oven cavitiy these days... At least Miele have now increased theirs with the 5000 series.

So why did I come to the conclusion of Miele and AEG and Kleenmaid. Well there were severeal factors... and this is where I need your opinions.

- In regards to Induction Cooktops 1.
At Boost/Power setting the cooktop emits a high frequency that can only be perceived by those with sensitive hearing and young children. The Miele came out best there, followed by AEG, however the Kleenmaid was annoying to the point of painful (caused headaches). Not allowing one lemon to ruin the brand, we listened to another induction cooktop, and it was barely audible, however we also do factor in that we were in a noisier surrounding. Some salesperson told us that it was the the rapid movement or power, others told us that it was the pot/saucepan. It's not that I do not believe sales people, however as with all things you take with a grain of salt. It's not loud per se, just REALLY ANNOYING.

Question 1:
Do any induction cooktop owners also notice the high pitched scream?


- In regards to Induction Cooktops 2.
When an induction cooktop is at a low simmering level, we notice a pulse in the heating as well as a ticking noise, like you would an analogue wall clock. The NEFF was really obvious. Miele was only slightly audible, and with AEG it's almost non-existant, just the faintest tick. Kleenmaid was dead quiet. As mentioned earlier, there was an obvious pulsation in the applied heating, and you could also notice it just barely in the AEG. Both Kleenmaid and Miele cooktops supplied consistant power.

Question 2:
Do any induction cooktop owners also notice the ticking at simmer levels (between 2 and 5)?


- In regards to the Pyrolytic Ovens
Autocook VS Food Probe.
Miele has both from what I understand.
AEG has Food Probe
Kleenmaid has AutoCook

On a side note my DW and I were initially impressed by AEG of their Set Menus but soon discovered that it was just set time and temp settings with given labels, it'd probably be faster to utilise the cookbook and manually enter it in than find the correct menu setting.

My initial thoughts were that the food probe would be more versatile than the autocook as you can monitor and decide for yourself when something is done (to your liking as opposed to a manufacture configured setting) My thoughts are that the technology with regards to moisture is pretty clever in AutoCook, and can be useful where the meat is too thin for a food probe.

Question 3:
Which is better, Food Probe or AutoCook, and why?


Miscellaneous Questions/Opinions:
Who else thinks that the Miele is not that pretty.
Same goes for the Kleenmaid 60cm Pyro Oven with knobs.
Should I be concerned that the AEG range is over 2yrs old?

Phew! Thanks for your time and opinions guys, spending $10k on kitchen appliances is serious stuff, and you'd want to get it right the first time. Unfortunately for most of us, that is all we can afford to do it once. If we have the opportunity to do it more than that it;s usually biased from previous experience anyway. I'd still rather the 1st be teh best.

- StevieRay

Hi StevieRay

We're currently deciding on all our kitchen appliances for a new house we're building and have also decided on an induction cooktop and pyrolitic oven.

Unfortunately can't comment on the first couple of questions as we haven't yet seen demos of the various options, but for what it's worth, I actually think the new Miele 5000 range looks stunning and far better/sleeker than both AEG and Kleenmaid. Also, given their new 60cm ovens have a 66L capacity, it's a big advantage over the smaller capacity ovens.

I've spoken to a number of people who have previously had Miele ovens/cooktops and they seem like the most reliable choice as well - ovens that last for 30yrs without ever having a problem...

Anyway, just my thoughts...sorry it's not much help!

Have a look through these Choice articles on induction, probably not much help with your questions though:

http://search.choice.com.au/search?p=UK ... ktops&rk=2

Pyrolitic ovens:

http://search.choice.com.au/search?p=UK ... Ovens&rk=4

Thanks mek,

I have checked Choice out.
They do recommend the AEG Oven
Inductions reviews are a bit old.
Nothing on Brandt or Kleenmaid though.

Choice is good as a guide.
But I still take it with a bit of salt.

=S

All comments are appreciated.
That's just the thing. Applicances are big ticket items.
Miele are defn the most well- recommended.
It does not mean that AEG / Brandt / Kleenmaid are not just as good for the everyday consumer (as opposed to chef)
However it does not necessary mean that they are the best / best value for money.
Got to laugh at their Sabbath feature though.

My brother-in-law mentoned calculated how many times we could eat out for the cost that went into our applicances. And that is a scary thought.

Please post once you have decided as to what you went for and why.

=S

I seriously need to ask a lot more questions before I invest in my kitchen toys. So, finding something for 1/2 the retial price on Ebay probably doesn't qualify as 'research' now does it!!??!!

Good work StevieRay - My DH couldn't care about what goes in the kitchen as long as it doesn't burn a hole in the money allocated for his projects!

Thanks JellyLegs, in truth I am your stereotypical DH re: burning hole in budget. I don't mind spending the little extra as investment. Realistically I only take interest due to the fact that it is a combination of money and the fact that they are "toys" ie "gadgets"



LOL it does, just the second half. You have just got to love impulse buying / finding a bargain =) I am one who always try to find a bargain. However I do respect that with Miele and AEG and NEFF, etc you know what you are paying for and that there is no negotiation with pricing.

I don't have any experience with induction cookers, but we have a Smeg pyrolitic oven. The self cleaning function has only been used once, but whilst the main oven cavity is left clean, the glass in the door was left with a sooty layer which has taken a fair bit of scrubbing to get out.

We asked the manufacturer and was told it was normal, so you might want to check this.

We have decided, and are satisfied with our findings.
Thanks to everyone who contributed.
I'll report back in the next few days with regards to my findings and what I went with and why!

Make sure you do StevieRay, I am really looking forward to hearing what you have chosen and why

allison

We put a Brant induction cooktop in our last house , the buzzing and ticking are normal . I think they all do it to some degree ...
Im warning u though once you use one for a while you wont use anything else again . Quicker then gas , use bugger all power and are so easy to clean .
The house we are renting at the moment has a huge gas cooktop and it is a Bas%ard to clean ...

We are definitely going induction again , as to brand we have only just started looking so still undecided ...

Hey hey.

Have some answers I would like to share.

First off... What we bought:
Rangehood: Elica Isolabella
Oven: AEG B9820-5m 60cm Multi Function / Steam (Combination) Single Oven
Cooktop: AEG 88101K-mn 75cm 4 burner induction cooktop

We chose the AEG over Miele for perceived value for money. I say perceived as Miele, although only a 2yr warranty lasts pretty much forever (from what I have read in reviews) and not much information can be found about the AEG. We spent $7k on the Oven and Cooktop which is top of the range for AEG. This includes double warranty at 3% total cost and 12.5% bundle discount that runs out at the end of this month.

We chose the Combination Steam Oven after seeing, and experiencing the kleenmaid demonstration. The Chef Demostrator Lawrence was awesome in how he expressed his enthusiam for the steam oven product. Unfortunately they could not provide a solution where it would also cook like a regular convection oven.

And the self cleaning with steam, although not as good as Pyrolytic, is better than having to clean it manually every <ahem> few years or so.

If only NEFF had the same option, as the puck would have tipped the scales for me in regards to the cooktop. Ahh gotta love the gadgets.

Now, in regards to the main question I posed about the noise coming from the cooktop:
It's in the cookware. The better the cookware the more likely it is that it will make a noise. This is due to the materials used in the base and the actual saucepan itself. Cheaper saucepans are mostly made from a single material. Whereas the more expensive ones have a thicker heavier base added on for more even heat cooking.

That said, we have found Circulon Elite to be relatively quiet. I am hoping the same for the infintie range.

The cookware supplied by Miele (Itallia) is also relatively quiet too

=S

My wife and I argued over Miele and AEG for months. We eventually put our money down on the AEG appliances as we believed the deals we were offered showed the AEG gave us better value for our money!

The biggest issue was I wanted Induction and the wife wanted gas. Negotiations were not going well when we discovered the brand Highland. Straight away we cancelled the AEG order and instead ordered the Highland cooktop that has 4 hugely powerful gas wok burners (but also capable of the lowest simmer on the market) as well as a large induction zone all in 1 very easy clean cooktop... It might have just saved our marriage

We also fell in love with the Highland indoor gas BBQ cooktop (I love this thing to death) so re-designed the kitchen to include a 2nd cooking zone for the BBQ which of course then required a 2nd rangehood. Was pleasantly surprised when the total was just a fraction over the original quote we had for our Miele choices, even with the 2nd cooking zone for the gas BBQ!

Hi Daffy,

Where in Melbourne did you get your Highland appliances?? I might have to check them out.

Al

We found them at E&S Trading over at the Essendon DFO / Homemaker centre.

If you go over there ask for john. We found him very refreshing to talk with. He was a chief for 15 years and so was able to equate all the technical info into actual facts on how that actually relates to how we cook!

Oh...

Is anyone interested in a work progress log?
ie Plans and Photos, before and after?

IS THAT A TRICK QUESTION.......YES!!!!!

Heaven on earth! You honestly, really think you need to ask?????? hmmm where's that emoticon signage thing that was made for paula???

Ummm, nope...
Not a trick question.

I'm new to this board.
Don't know what is appropriate and what is not.
Bandwidth is valuable in Australia =P

Didn't get much response, so I did not want to waste bandwidth if there was no interest.

I'll start taking some photos.
Then I'll post the plans up.

The Reno's are taking place in Mid November.

=S

PS Who is Paula?

Oh dear, you are a newbie !
Give it a couple of days(I was going to say'weeks' ) & you'll get to know the regulars