# Wolf Kitchen Appliances



## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Have any of our members experienced The Wolf Stainless Steel kitchen appliances...Coffee Makers, Toasters, Toaster Ovens? I am specifically interested in the Wolf drip coffee maker, but alas, they are priced considerably higher that the other coffee preparation gadgets I have included in our caffeine corral. In short, can a drip grind coffee maker be worth $500, even if it does come with a five year full warranty? :icon_scratch:


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

eagle2250 said:


> Have any of our members experienced The Wolf Stainless Steel kitchen appliances...Coffee Makers, Toasters, Toaster Ovens? I am specifically interested in the Wolf drip coffee maker, but alas, they are priced considerably higher that the other coffee preparation gadgets I have included in our caffeine corral. In short, can a drip grind coffee maker be worth $500, even if it does come with a five year full warranty? :icon_scratch:


O caffeinated one, this is not strictly speaking responsive as I have no experience with anything Wolf other than the restaurant versions of their stoves, which are wonderful, but in the coffee realm I did a fair amount of research a few years ago and picked a Bonavita. The Techivorm was cooler and pricier, but the reviewers gave the nod to Bonavita for producing, at the time, the best cup of coffee. It does make excellent drip coffee, is quick, and has a carafe with good heat retention.

If you are ever looking for a toaster, Dualit. No microchips. Mechanical timer. Replaceable elements. Fast real toast.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Wolf is known for its ranges but I’m afraid most of everything else they make trades off the name. I’m fact, though the ranges are domestically made, I believe those other small appliances are made overseas. I’m not sure of a qualitative or quantitative difference between similarly priced peers. 

We have a capresso coffee maker we purchased about ~15 years ago from Williams-Sonoma. It’s still going strong. The internal plumbing is marine grade brass so it’s pretty corrosion resistant. I’m fact, I cannot remember the last time I descaled it. 

The best part, it’s still available and for well <$200.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

My apologies for all of the type-o’s. It’s one of the drawbacks of using a iPhone. It autocorrects after I’ve already moved on to the next word.


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## Dhaller (Jan 20, 2008)

Wolf (and SubZero) products are great. So, it may be worth it?

Here's my opinion: if *every* step of your coffee-making process is excellent, then the Wolf coffee maker could be a good value.

Put another way, the Wolf *won't be the bottleneck* in making good coffee.

If you're getting amazing beans, and grinding them to the exact specification needed for use in the Wolf, and so on, then sure, it's a worthwhile investment.

Same with any kind of high-end appliance, from a Wolf coffee maker to a Shun classic chef's knife to a Porsche 911 Turbo S: it can make the most of whatever skill and material you can feed into it. Me? I'm probably not meticulous enough in the kitchen to really *use* a high-end coffee machine. If you are, by all means, indulge!

DH


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^
The last time I applied that logic I ended up buying a Rolex...before that it was a pair of Alligator hide custom boots. This could get expensive. LOL.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

The above mentioned Bonavita still gets regular use as certain occasions demand black coffee, but as long as you are contemplating coffee making equipment at higher price points, you might consider an espresso maker. I say this as my SWMBO and I are nursing pre-breakfast cafe latte made by the ancient Elektra. I know that you like a splash of milk in your coffee. I’m guessing you like cafe latte and cappuccino as well. I met someone at a well regarded local coffee place the other day and had a cappuccino for the sake of comparison. My home made are honestly immensely better. If you are inclined to go out for such beverages the home solution can almost be rationalized in terms of payback. If you want to research such things, the espresso thread here is good, and better still is the website Coffeegeek. I warn you that most of the posters on that site, however, are probably sporting beards and wearing pork pies, plaid shirts, tired jeans, and shoes like Doc Martins. They do, nonetheless, know their coffee. You may also find information there on the Wolf. That was a site I used to arrive at the Bonavita. Ok, my latte bowl is empty. Time to make boiled eggs and home made English muffins.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Going on coffee geek for something as simple is like coming here for advice on socks; you’ll soon be sucked into things you never bargained for. 

They talk about their “dream” espresso makers and brag about hotrodding their existing machines. 

I fell into that trap years ago and now have a Nespresso machine. I can’t tell the difference and it’s nowhere near the pain in the **s as my Rancilio was. 

You can find a perfectly excellent coffee maker for well under $200. 

By the way, I get my whole beans from intelligentsia coffee. The bearded and plaid shirt, suspender and tight jeans coffee hipsters there rave about the Bonavita coffee maker.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

SG_67 said:


> Going on coffee geek for something as simple is like coming here for advice on socks; you'll soon be sucked into things you never bargained for.
> 
> They talk about their "dream" espresso makers and brag about hotrodding their existing machines.
> 
> ...


Agreed on Coffeegeek. Their talk of very sophisticated and pricey stuff was a turn off, but I did like it that you could usually find pretty honest comments based on actual usage, even for less pricey items. The insights and experiences of users helped me identify and snap up a very old machine at a bargain price. Cheers!


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

I will take at the coffee geek site. Though while I do covet a good cup of Joe in the morning (and most afternoons), I'm not at all sure that I qualify as a true believer/coffee geek. However, I am a sucker for gadgetry and gimmicks and will check the site out for future incentives to buy. 

In response to your post #7, we do have a low end Delonghi Espresso machine and a Bialatti cast aluminum espresso maker, both of which see occasional use. I do like cafe latte and cappuccino, but, during this most recent weight loss campaign, I've been sticking with pretty much with coffee, with just a splash of 2% milk in it, or in my most desperate moments, just black coffee...Bleah! :crazy:


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

eagle2250 said:


> I will take at the coffee geek site. Though while I do covet a good cup of Joe in the morning (and most afternoons), I'm not at all sure that I qualify as a true believer/coffee geek. However, I am a sucker for gadgetry and gimmicks and will check the site out for future incentives to buy.
> 
> In response to your post #7, we do have a low end Delonghi Espresso machine and a Bialatti cast aluminum espresso maker, both of which see occasional use. I do like cafe latte and cappuccino, but, during this most recent weight loss campaign, I've been sticking with pretty much with coffee, with just a splash of 2% milk in it, or in my most desperate moments, just black coffee...Bleah! :crazy:


O winged one, so sorry you are, along with me and legions of others, grappling with weight loss and sorry you are not an aficionado of black coffee. I also note that you and dark roasts are not harmonious. That's rough. Dark roasts tend to have lower acidity and, not necessarily a plus, lower caffeine. Thursday is the day my son comes over for a weekly visit and check in, and when he comes through the door he always makes a beeline for the coffee pot. We are having drip French roast. Good luck and words of encouragement as we battle the calories demon. My approach, making slow but steady progress, has been simple portion control of things I like coupled with regular time with my Water Rower. It's hard to go from cooking for four to cooking for three to cooking for two to cooking for somewhere around 1.75. Fortunately, being retired now, when I make to much there is time to figure out ways to redeploy any leftovers. Of course there's always the fall back that virtually everything can be tossed into a frittata or a salad!


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## challer (Sep 4, 2008)

eagle2250 said:


> Have any of our members experienced The Wolf Stainless Steel kitchen appliances...Coffee Makers, Toasters, Toaster Ovens? I am specifically interested in the Wolf drip coffee maker, but alas, they are priced considerably higher that the other coffee preparation gadgets I have included in our caffeine corral. In short, can a drip grind coffee maker be worth $500, even if it does come with a five year full warranty? :icon_scratch:


In my opinion, Breville is by far the best performance of countertop appliances these days. My wife - who really uses the kitchen hard, swears by them and we simply never have a problem. Wolf I am told outsources their desktop appliances to other makers, so the quality of Wolf/Subzero/Cove is not likely reflected in them. For ovens/stop tops/dishwasher/fridge we are WSC all the way. Other than a kitchenaid mixer and panasonic microwave, we've replaced all the desktop stuff with Breville - ice cream maker, food processor, blender, nespresso, tea maker, toaster oven (rivals the wolf full size in many ways), juicer, frother, bread machine, deep fryer and more I cannot remember.


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

I, too, am a fan of Breville. One of their espresso machines is in my future though how soon is murky.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

SG_67 said:


> My apologies for all of the type-o's. It's one of the drawbacks of using a iPhone. It autocorrects after I've already moved on to the next word.


LOL. No worries. As I age and continue to attempt typing these posts on a desktop keyboard, my fingers appear to be becoming increasingly dyslexic. I hope this does not prove to be a preview of my future!


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

It's an odd sensation watching your fingers put words up that weren't even close to what you wanted to say. Creepy, too.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Egad, I am somewhat shamed to have to admit to caving in to my weakness for high end, glitzy gadgetry and, perhaps, unjustly fabled quality and durability. In spite of all the wise counsel regarding more reasonably priced quality alternatives, I purchased a Wolf Drip Coffee Maker for $200 off list price and found it sitting on our front porch, late yesterday afternoon. The goal is to get it unboxed, the manual read and have it put into regular use by this weekend. As that old saw tells us, "a fool and his money are soon parted" and it appears that it may be true! LOL.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

eagle2250 said:


> Egad, I am somewhat shamed to have to admit to caving in to my weakness for high end, glitzy gadgetry and, perhaps, unjustly fabled quality and durability. In spite of all the wise counsel regarding more reasonably priced quality alternatives, I purchased a Wolf Drip Coffee Maker for $200 off list price and found it sitting on our front porch, late yesterday afternoon. The goal is to get it unboxed, the manual read and have it put into regular use by this weekend. As that old saw tells us, "a fool and his money are soon parted" and it appears that it may be true! LOL.


If you got it for $200 off then it might have been a relatively fair price. Hey, we all deserve to indulge our vices now and then.

About 2 years ago we remodeled our kitchen and I _sooo_ wanted a Miele built in coffee/espresso maker, but just couldn't justify the price.


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

I have a similar problem. Of course, such an espresso maker would get used daily while a shotgun for the same price will sit in the safe for weeks at a time but you can guess which one I'll buy first . . .


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Performance report: It is a sizeable coffee maker and takes up a good bit of counter space.

The auto brew setting on the Wolf coffee maker yields a darned good cup of Joe, using Folger's Lantern Glow blend and Black Silk, but the yield with the Peruvian Cajamarca blend still tastes like watered down swamp sh*t. When the manual setting is used, it all depends on the skill of the user. It appears we will be using that auto brew setting pretty much all the time!


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## derum (Dec 29, 2008)

eagle2250 said:


> Performance report: It is a sizeable coffee maker and takes up a good bit of counter space.
> 
> The auto brew setting on the Wolf coffee maker yields a darned good cup of Joe, using Folger's Lantern Glow blend and Black Silk, but the yield with the Peruvian Cajamarca blend still tastes like watered down swamp sh*t. When the manual setting is used, it all depends on the skill of the user. It appears we will be using that auto brew setting pretty much all the time!


Which proves the old adage "if you buy coffee that tastes like watered down swamp sh*t, brewing it in a fancy coffee machine just means you have slightly more expensive watered down swamp sh*t"


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Folgers???

Eagle! You’re retired. Surely you have the time in the morning to grind some beans.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

I, too, have been tinkering with manual production but on a fifty year old lever espresso machine. Ironically, I got the grind dialed in pretty quickly. The biggest learning curve was the management of the lever, closely followed by the steam wand. Eventually I figured that the trick with steaming was to bleed off that first push of hot air and get it expelling straight steam before putting the wand in the milk.

Eagle, I’m with SG_67 on this one. Even average freshly roasted and ground beans beat the very best canned offerings in my experience.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

In my defense (LOL) we do grind the beans for a number of our regular use choices for caffeination each morning (the Folgers Lantern's Glow, some Dunkin Donuts Breakfast Blend, Costco's Cuban Blend and the dreaded Peruvian Cajamarca). The Folgers Breakfast Blend and the Black Silk blend come already ground and sold in those gawd awful red plastic tubs.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

eagle2250 said:


> In my defense (LOL) we do grind the beans for a number of our regular use choices for caffeination each morning (the Folgers Lantern's Glow, some Dunkin Donuts Breakfast Blend, Costco's Cuban Blend and the dreaded Peruvian Cajamarca). The Folgers Breakfast Blend and the Black Silk blend come already ground and sold in those gawd awful red plastic tubs.


You should try the Kona blend at Costco. It's remarkably good.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^Thanks much for the suggestion. It will be added to our monthly Costco shopping list. :beer:


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## derum (Dec 29, 2008)

I use Illy Cafe Normale medium roast. Perfect for me as lots of flavour but not too strong.
- I bought a home coffee roaster which works really well but I can't beat the illy, so it sits in the cupboard.....


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^
Grinding the beans at home is as far as I've ever taken my efforts for a better cup of Joe at home. I'm not sure I am ready to also roast the beans, But I respect your initiative. :beer:


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

eagle2250 said:


> ^^
> Grinding the beans at home is as far as I've ever taken my efforts for a better cup of Joe at home. I'm not sure I am ready to also roast the beans, But I respect your initiative. :beer:


Baby steps. Start by grinding.

Then proceed to roasting. Pretty soon, you'll be growing and harvesting. You'll be the new Juan Valdez.


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## derum (Dec 29, 2008)

eagle2250 said:


> ^^
> Grinding the beans at home is as far as I've ever taken my efforts for a better cup of Joe at home. I'm not sure I am ready to also roast the beans, But I respect your initiative. :beer:


Much as i'd like to claim some expertise in the roasting trade  In reality I just put the raw beans in this and turned it on:


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

SG_67 said:


> Baby steps. Start by grinding.
> 
> Then proceed to roasting. Pretty soon, you'll be growing and harvesting. You'll be the new Juan Valdez.


I can appreciate the logic in your suggestion. Hell, SWMBO already has an ongoing affair with Juan Valdez, as she daily enjoys her 'O-Dark Thirty' cup of Joe. If I roasted my own beans, it just might spice up things beyond the culinary aspects of our lives? LOL. 



derum said:


> Much as i'd like to claim some expertise in the roasting trade  In reality I just put the raw beans in this and turned it on:
> View attachment 30869


I've added the Fresh Roast SR500 to my wish list! Thanks for the suggestion. :beer:


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

Stumbling out into the kitchen in the early dark, I consider it quite a feat to just get the beans ground and the espresso brewed. Roast my own? Uh, no. Should I win a serious lottery, I'll have a girl for that.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

....and here's the first pic of the newest member of our caffeine corral family:


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

That is a thing of beauty. I understand how you were caught in its web!


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^I almost hate to admit that the accu-brew setting consistently yields better results than I produce using the manual setting. Egad, one more example of a machine proving itself smarter than the human operating it! :crazy:  LOL.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

eagle2250 said:


> ^^I almost hate to admit that the accu-brew setting consistently yields better results than I produce using the manual setting. Egad, one more example of a machine proving itself smarter than the human operating it! :crazy:  LOL.


I know that feeling. My car is eleven years old, and I am STILL learning things it can do!


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

The last two cars I've owned, I've had to spend 4-5 weeks with the owners' manual just to find out what all the stuff on the dashboard means/does!


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

Oldsarge said:


> The last two cars I've owned, I've had to spend 4-5 weeks with the owners' manual just to find out what all the stuff on the dashboard means/does!


There remain two buttons. The manual says one activates something that affects how it handles. I discern no difference; so to me it is the switch that turns on a light on the dash. The other one relates, according to the manual, to some external lighting. Again. No difference. So to me it is simply a toggle switch you may toggle at will.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

eagle2250 said:


> ....and here's the first pic of the newest member of our caffeine corral family:
> 
> View attachment 30926


That's either the world's largest coffee maker or the smallest subway tile.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^LOL...
....or both! I'm not sure those tiles are considered to be subway tile, as they measure one inch by two inches and come in (I think) square foot sheets of tiles affixed to mesh netting. The Home Depot guy just called them glass tiles, as I recall? :icon_scratch:


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

eagle2250 said:


> ^^LOL...
> ....or both! I'm not sure those tiles are considered to be subway tile, as they measure one inch by two inches and come in (I think) square foot sheets of tiles affixed to mesh netting. The Home Depot guy just called them glass tiles, as I recall? :icon_scratch:


No doubt an import from Lilliput.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

SG_67 said:


> You should try the Kona blend at Costco. It's remarkably good.





eagle2250 said:


> ^^Thanks much for the suggestion. It will be added to our monthly Costco shopping list. :beer:


On our last two monthly trips to the local Costco store, I've looked for the Costco Kona Blend and have yet to find it. Perhaps the Orlando Costco does not carry it, but I will keep looking.


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## challer (Sep 4, 2008)

Do note that Kona blend is often 5-10% kona. Used to travel to HI for business and would bring back 100% Kona (you can mail order). Huge difference in taste and price.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

eagle2250 said:


> On our last two monthly trips to the local Costco store, I've looked for the Costco Kona Blend and have yet to find it. Perhaps the Orlando Costco does not carry it, but I will keep looking.


However on our trip earlier this week to the Orlando Costco store, we did buy a coffee blend sold as a "Gourmet Coffee" by Manatee Gourmet Coffees and called Caribbean Delight. Touted as presenting undertones of Coconut, Hazelnut, and cocoa and claiming it to be a low acid coffee and that a portion of every purchase would go into a fund to save the Manatees; how could we not buy a sack of those magic beans. Not a fan of hazelnut, but the flavor of this mug of not is pretty darned good...and it is not acidic. Get your caffeine hit and help save a manatee....a pretty good deal, methinks!


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## David J. Cooper (Apr 26, 2010)

I own a Wolf Counter top oven. It is fantastic. Great for pastry, roasting meats and vegetables and even a Pate en Croute.


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## karenburton1305 (Nov 27, 2020)

It's price tags like these that make me happy I don't drink coffee (too much!)


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