Double Oven vs Microwave and Single Oven

[Happs]

I plan to remodel my standard tract home kitchen and was wondering what you all think of double wall ovens and a countertop microwave vs a built-in microwave and a wall oven underneath? A double wall oven is a lot more expensive, but I’m thinking it would be better for resale.

Since microwaves tend to fail more than ovens, if the built-in microwave broke, how difficult would it be to purchase a new one that would fit in the space properly?

Could a countertop microwave with a generic trim kit work as a built-in?

[Coronita]

Two comments…

1. I have a double oven in my home…For the past 8 years, my second oven on the bottom makes an excellent pots and pan storage bin.

2. I had a built-in microwave that failed and was quoted $600+.. Of if I wanted to have it repaired, it was gonna be $200-300 thanks to good old overpriced american labor…

I ended up pulling out the built-in microwave oven, converting the space into a nice shelf, and put a stainless steel countertop microwave in the new shelf location, with space to spare above…. Price of microwave? $80, before a $20 rebate from sears.
Nice thing above the microwave is that in the same space, it also had a small oven for things like pizza and such….

I’m not sure what the purpose of having two ovens (at least for me…)…

[livinincali]

[quote=flu]
I’m not sure what the purpose of having two ovens (at least for me…)…[/quote]

Thanksgiving, maybe Christmas. Other than that it becomes storage space.

[The-Shoveler]

[quote=flu]Two comments…

1. I have a double oven in my home…For the past 8 years, my second oven on the bottom makes an excellent pots and pan storage bin.

2. I had a built-in microwave that failed and was quoted $600+.. Of if I wanted to have it repaired, it was gonna be $200-300 thanks to good old overpriced american labor…

I ended up pulling out the built-in microwave oven, converting the space into a nice shelf, and put a stainless steel countertop microwave in the new shelf location, with space to spare above…. Price of microwave? $80, before a $20 rebate from sears.
Nice thing above the microwave is that in the same space, it also had a small oven for things like pizza and such….

I’m not sure what the purpose of having two ovens (at least for me…)…[/quote]

Almost the exact same thing at my house, except the top Oven is used as a spill over storage for the bottom oven, except when we need to cook a pizza.
The only thing we have ever cooked in the oven so far. (We go to the Asian Buffet for thanksgiving these days).
Same for the built in micro wave we took the broken one out and put in a sub $100 dollar unit. Been that way two years now and I don’t miss the built in one at all.

[cvmom]

I do miss the double ovens I had at my previous (much larger) home, but I am not the average as I cook all the time. I also would vote you go for the microwave and oven and free up some counter space that would have been wasted with a countertop microwave.

[no_such_reality]

It really depends on the house and kitchen. We have double oven and a counter top small microwave. Love the double oven. Use it when roasting or baking. Things like sweet potato oven fries in oven #2, while oven #1 does a slow braise. It also works well for baking, things like cookie, can be 4 or 6 pans at a time. Although that tends to create another problem of storing multiple cookie pans.

However the really useful part is having one set up with heavy baking stones for home pizza and breads. The other is used as a regular oven and then your not juggling the heavy stones all the time.

[Happs]

Excellent idea on converting the space for a built in microwave into a shelf where one can put a countertop microwave.

[bearishgurl]

Happs, I’ve had two 27″ ovens in a couple of houses and also the micro-oven combination in another house, both in the wall at eye level.

If you ever cook a turkey over 18 lbs, the 27″ ovens are not big enough. I seldom ever used both at once, except during holidays.

When we had to replace the micro-oven combination, we had to make a shelf space below (like flu did) and get a drawer made to match the rest of the cabinets. This was because the *new* micro-oven combo was about a foot shorter than the old one that died. Luckily, there are several good cabinetmakers in my area.

I currently have ONE 30″ wall oven (convection) installed under a gas cooktop with a 30″ microhood installed above. I like this setup MUCH better. The oven is large and requires extra installation space in back, because of its fan, however. Not all kitchens will accommodate a 30″ convection wall oven.

If any part of your microhood fails, it only costs about $200 to $500 to replace it and you will be getting a new range hood and lights to go with it.

I much prefer the built-ins to a drop-in or standalone range.

I would recommend closing your double-oven hole with cabinets/drawers and installing a 30″ wall oven under your cooktop (this cannot be done if you have a downdraft cooktop). I find this to be the most practical setup. And underneath a center island cooktop will better accommodate the convection fan than a wall cabinet but take measurements, just to be sure.

Rarely have I seen kitchens with two 30″ wall ovens but they do exist.

[sdduuuude]

[quote=Happs]Excellent idea on converting the space for a built in microwave into a shelf where one can put a countertop microwave.[/quote]

Ya. Do that. Just don’t forget to put an electric outlet there for the microwave.

Instead of 2 ovens, my mom had an electric roaster that she would use for the holidays. Like, this, only bigger, made in the 70’s and it had its own stand so she could just put it outside.

[an]

I would personally go with a double oven, but that’s because my wife loves to cook/bake. We currently don’t have a double oven and there were plenty of time where my wife said she wish she has another oven so she can bake 2 things at once. WRT the microwave, I’d go with flu and not go w/ the built in. I have a special cabinet/shelf combo that I can put the microwave in (it shelf part was specifically made for counter top microwave), that way, the microwave doesn’t take up counter space but it’s cheap to replace if it breaks.

[Coronita]

I think I ended up getting something like this, except back then it was $80 or something like that (and I had a $20 rewards credit)

http://www.sears.com/kenmore-20inch-1.1-cu-ft-pizza-maker-and/p-02066993000P

The pizza oven on the bottom is pretty useful because I don’t need to fire up an entire big oven to do simple oven snacks for the kid.

[CA renter]

The look of the built-in cook top and double ovens is probably nicer, but we decided on another configuration for maximizing space while getting two ovens, stove w/ high-BTU burners, plus microwave in the smallest footprint.

Something similar to this…

A freestanding double oven (w/convection on bottom):

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&R=202986245&catEntryId=202986245&superSkuId=203271092#.UPpjUPJFoSY

With a matching over-the-range microwave (convection also available with this):

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/ge-profile-17-cu-ft-over-the-range-convection-microwave-in-stainless-steel-pvm1790srss.html#.UPphUPJFoSY

The only downside is that if you use the larger oven on the bottom, you have to bend down to get things in and out of it. Of course, if you don’t often make big meals, you probably won’t use it that often, but it is nice to have two ovens for cooking different things at one time.

Just throwing different options out there. 🙂

[UCGal]

When we finally remodeled our kitchen this year we replaced our cooktop with a free standing gas range/oven. This gave us our second oven. We did not remove our electric wall oven.
It’s the best combo – for us… we cook a lot, we bake a lot. Electric is better for baking, gas is better for roasts.

We use both ovens at the same time several times a month.

We also created a “cubby” for the microwave, above the wall oven. (Lowered the wall oven about 6 inches so both were at a comfortable height). This allowed us to move our large convection/micro oven off the counter. Since it’s not built in – just placed in the open cubby, it is not a problem if we need to replace it.

I guess in theory we have 3 ovens – since the micro has convection… but we don’t use it in that mode. (It was inherited.)

[Anonymous]

Well, you can build your own microwave cart keeping space in mind and purchase a microwave that fits your need.

[La Jolla Renter]

We did the kitchenaid combo. We don’t bake much and we did not want a microwave on top of or below the counter.

[Author]

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