Gosh what a funny turn around - this discussion started right after I had finished my last kitchen and now it is revived just as I'm going through all this madness again trying to replace a kitchen in my new home .............. when I can find someone interested in doing some work. Jennifer, I'm leaning to Bosch appliances if they meet my requirements. One of my joeys lives in Germany where Bosch and Siemens (made by the same company apparently) are made and are very highly esteemed. Because I have so much renovation work to do on this house, I'm watching my pennies a bit so I will probably stick with a Dishlex Dishwasher that has always served me well and these days they are extremely quiet too, but I am looking at Bosch for the oven and cooktops. In earlier posts I praised the Fisher and Paykel oven and cooktops, but then discovered a BIG flaw in the design of the oven - it had a double glass door with a gap between the two sheets of glass and guess where every crumb and spill went, so they will not be on my radar again. I'm also hearing good reports about Electrolux but very bad ones about Miele and their service which is really letting the brand down. For those getting on in years too - beware of push button settings and slide controls, arthritic fingers just cannot manage these. As well, I'm told the slide controls on cook tops are not as accurate as knobs.

Friends have a similar cooker (not sure of brand) where the stove is gas but oven can be either gas or electricity run. It too is terrible and seems to cut out during the cooking period or if used with the stove top running. We have recently put in a 900mm westinghouse cooker WFE916SA and it seems fine so far (roast, cakes, muffins etc.) It has gas stove top and electrical only oven.

That must be so frustrating! Mine is not 90cm, it's Smeg and inbuilt and it drives me insane! Turns off/resets halfway through cooking, the settings don't do what they are supposed to - I can feel your pain!

You should also take into account your own height. If you are shorter than average consider having it lower. The most used oven should be the easiest to access. Think about the height you can comfortably and safely lift a heavy roast, which should be the height of the mid-shelf of your higher oven. Never have it too high so that you can't lift out heavy oven trays in a safe and controlled manner. Best of luck with your kitchen Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls