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