DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
We pretty much agreed on each appliance; it wasn't difficult. Because we have a high iron content in our water (at least when I run out of salt in the water softener & don't notice for a couple days) it would stain any colored interior on a dishwasher. So, we went with stainless inside - that really narrowed that choice down quick. Then, it became a matter of what was on sale & cleaned well. Our decision was based in part on it having two water thingies - one for the top & one for the bottom to help get the upper dishes cleaner, so we chose the Jenn-Air.
Stove was very simple to pick out, because so far we've found this stove (Jenn-Air) to be the most useful that we've owned. We never used the broiler on the old stove. I'm very pleased with it so far - far better insulated than previous stoves I've owned. Turn the oven off & it's still warm an hour later; barely lets off any heat into the kitchen while it's cooking; the outside is still cool. Side by side fridge started us off with the stainless steel - great sale at Home Depot; several hundred dollars cheaper than Sears, so I got it at Sears, got 110% price matching (an extra $40 or 50 off), it had a rebate, and I got free delivery. Couldn't pass up that bargain.
Microwave - well, simply needed a 30" above the range microwave. Prices ranged from about $250 to $900. The model we got was $300 & does everything we want it to. I don't need the extra convection cooking crap - there's a stove right below it that does that. GE Spacesaver (which, btw, if you idiots at GE should happen to run into this thread while searching for what people are saying about your appliances - the back of the microwave is SIXTEEN AND THREE-EIGHTHS!!! NOT 16 3/16. Idiots.
Consumer reports is nice, but in my opinion, their opinions are getting pretty stupid. i.e. I was looking at a comparison of DLSR cameras. The difference between the heaviest and lightest was only about 10% of their weights. But that was enough for them to consider the heaviest to get a poor rating in weight, and the lightest to get an excellent rating. Logically, doesn't lighter mean more cheap plastic rather than solid metal? So one company got a lesser rating for something that was actually a positive. What's the difference between stoves? Oooooh, look! Fire! After that: ease of cleaning? Sealed burners that don't let food get below them? etc.
