The World’s Most Beautiful Stove (+ All About the Portland Kitchen Appliances With Build.com)

Yesterday’s much-awaited Portland kitchen reveal excluded talk about what some might call very important elements of a kitchen—the whole “cooking and cleaning” machines. Up until recently, I didn’t understand the point of these inventions, but now that I’m the world’s most terrific soup chef, I can vouch for and expound on the benefits of electronics that heat up broth, like a range (which might sound like a fancy name for a stove, but it’s when the cooktop and oven are together in one unit…I know these things now). I’ve always been pro-dishwasher but caring about a stove? That’s the new, brothier me. So today, we are walking you through what we chose for appliances in the Portland kitchen and why. We worked with Build.com and Bertazonni on all of the panel-ready appliances (and that stunning range) because well, first off, I wanted that range so badly so I reached out and then when they told me they had new panel-ready (integrated) appliances, I about lost my soup, in a good way. (In case you aren’t following me on Insta-stories, I only eat soups now…it started with “Soup-tember” and then “Crock-tober” and we are super excited about the impending “Stove-ember.” It’s not a diet. It’s a lifestyle and one that makes me and my body happier…and clothes fit better.) Okay, enough about soup (for now)…the fridge, dishwasher, microwave and range are all by Bertazonni and while they aren’t that obvious in the kitchen, that’s one of the reasons I chose them.

Let’s get into it.

Range: Bertazzoni Freestanding Double Gas Range HER486GGASNE

This beaut is from Bertazzoni’s Heritage Series, which is inspired by the original Bertazzoni ranges created by Napoleone Bertazzoni at the beginning of the 20th century. Not Napoleon. That little man hated a big range. For you “stove history” nuts, you’ll be psyched about this tidbit: Those chrome handrails are actually a replica of the ones used on the original Bertazzoni stoves. 

This gentleman comes in three colors: nero (which is the one we went with here), vino—a deep wine hue—and crema, a warm almost nostalgic buttery beige.

The range is super wide at 48 inches (a standard four-burner residential range is 30 inches for reference), with six gas burners and an electric griddle. This same series also comes in a smaller 36-inch range, but if you are an avid cook or renovating a larger (more expensive) home like this one, you might want the big guy.

The gold ring in that detail above is a “high-efficiency” burner, which has two knobs to control each flame separately. For anyone cooking something super precise (a delicate, brothy masterpiece, for instance), this means you have great control over the exact temperature you need. And the brass burners don’t just look pretty; they actually distribute heat more evenly and can handle higher temps better than other materials so your burner has a much longer lifespan.

Each front and back burner pair has a continuous grate, which makes moving heavy pots and pans from burner to burner so much easier and safer. If you’ve ever had a gas stove with individual grates, you’ll know that you can’t really slide a big heavy pot back and forth without it getting precariously wobbly/feeling like it’s going to tip over or catch on the other grate.

As you can see there are two oven compartments, which I’m assuming is so you can cook a large Thanksgiving turkey and a humble pumpkin pie at the same time—a joy that my husband’s family has been denied the last 18 Thanksgivings I’ve celebrated with them.

The larger oven on the left has both a convection and broil feature (each with separate knob controls), and the smaller oven on the right is awesome for baking smaller things (pies, vegetables, etc.) at a separate temp. A “double oven” should be something they talk about on House Hunters instead of granite—I mean of all things to covet, if you are a cook you might want two different ovens for your meats and desserts (or soups and stews).

Here I am modeling, to show you how to “open” and “close” the oven portion of it. It’s just as easy as it looks.

For added effect, I donned a hipster denim apron (this is Portland, of course) that of course I actually do wear all the time. Also, that might be limes and oranges in there in lieu of actual food because we didn’t want to mess this place up by actually cooking and didn’t run out for proper food props. But let’s just say it’s my favorite citrus casserole, this is a sponsored post after all and I AM A PROFESSIONAL.

That beautiful range is fitted with a lovely matching cap—a hood, hidden inside our cabinetry.

Range Hood: Bertazzoni Insert Range Hood

The vent liner is easily removable and can be thrown right into the dishwasher for cleaning, which is great because if you’ve ever fumbled around with a range hood that was splattered with sauce/fry grease/whatever food particles, it usually takes some soaking and scrubbing to get it looking fresh and clean again. Dishwasher-safe for the win. The three power settings and the LED lights can be adjusted right on the unit or through the included remote control in case you want to switch from “high” to “low” sitting at the kitchen island.

Next up, the invention to wash soup bowls and spoons, which can also tackle plates, cups and pots and pans: the Bertazzoni dishwasher.

Dishwasher: Bertazzoni DW24PR 24-Inch Energy Star Built-In Dishwasher

There is an element of Where’s Waldo here but I’ll give you a hint…it’s inside the cabinet on the left of the sink, covered in the same cabinetry as the cabinets. Sneaky, sneaky.

TA DA. It’s so amazing you guys. I know that integrated appliances are a controversial subject (America just gets more and more divided!) but I don’t know why you would want to call out your dishwasher. I get the fridge thing, but not the dishwasher. Hide that lady.

Besides the fact that it lets your kitchen’s design elements get all the attention, it’s also great because it has six wash cycles (normal, heavy, glass—which is awesome for wine glasses and whatnot after a party—quick, rinse and eco), four wash options (sanitize—bottles and sippy cups anyone?—hi-temp, heating dry and energy save) and runs at 49 dB, which is quiet enough that no one should have to yell over each other or crank up the volume of a nearby TV. Dishwashers normally range between 44 and 60 dB, and while a few decibels probably doesn’t seem like much, take this into consideration: a one-decibel difference is 30% louder. Four decibels is twice as loud, so the difference between something that’s 49 dB like Bertazzoni’s dishwasher and 60 (which is the decibel rating for a standard conversation) can be barely noticing a gentle hum and having an unwanted addition to your conversation in the form of water swooshing.

It’s functional, it’s beautiful, it’s a lovely dishwasher to have and to hold.

Next up is the refrigerator, which I’ll cheat and show you where it is by modeling its function while looking for some artisanal yogurts.

Refrigerator: Bertazzoni Panel Ready Refrigerator REF36PRR

Their FlexMode technology is pretty neat; it lets you turn the freezer into a refrigerator with just a simple switch. So say you have a ton of party prep and need more space for platters or fresh food (or went HAM at the farmer’s market and could use another shelf or drawer for all those greens you’re going to wilt down in Sunday’s soup), you have the option to switch the mode easily to use the appliance however works best for you. The interior shelves are also really easy to adjust without having to take them out (on lower end brands, you usually have to take the shelf out, switch up the back brackets and then reposition), so should you have a tall pitcher or a high stack of items, you can quickly adjust as needed.

But let’s say you actually want to use the freezer. It has a super freeze mode option for 20% faster freezing cycle of fresh food along with an automatic ice maker with filter and custom ice-cube size selection (you know, for the true ice connoisseur like myself). With Bertazzoni’s ice maker, you’ll never run out of ice as it produces 2.8 pounds in just 24 hours!

On the design front, the interior hinge system means it can be truly flush to your other cabinetry for a super seamless look. When you close the door, you’d have to know it was there to, well, know there was a refrigerator there. That’s why panel-ready appliances can be SUCH a great addition to a kitchen that you want to feel seamless. Not that we had any issues with space here, but if you had a smaller kitchen,  panel-ready makes for less visually breaks which = a visually larger kitchen.

Microwave: Bertazzoni Built-In Microwave SO24PROX

Lastly, the microwave. Now the placement of this appliance was kinda tricky it can go on a wall or under counter. We polled as many people possible and everyone felt differently. Some didn’t like that their kids could play with the buttons but others wanted their medium aged kids to be able to. Some didn’t like having to bend down, where others wanted it less prominent.

Our microwave is on our island, in our lower cabinets and I am only 2% annoyed that I have to bend down but that was only after reading that other people were annoyed. It’s not a big deal and unless you are microwaving all day every day then I’d rather not see another machine and let the seamlessness of the cabinets stay intact.

You know how a microwave works, but just in case sometimes, you don’t want to spend the time and energy to heat up a large oven if you’re just prepping one sheet of vegetables or a smaller roast, which is why having a smaller dual-function unit like this one is SO SMART. It’s a convection oven AND a microwave, people. What a time to be alive. But here’s one of the best parts about this combo: you can pair the two functions to prep your meals in half the time. So, first, you microwave to either thaw out or do the heavy lifting on the cooking, and switch modes to convection to finish off the job (so instead of getting soggy microwaved food, you get the ability to crisp and roast but without as much of a time commitment).

There you are, the wrap up of the “whats” and “whys” (and “HOW GREAT??s”) of the Portland kitchen appliances. As you can see, I am very happy with all of them. Thanks to Build.com for working with us on this kitchen (and the mountain house!) and thanks to Bertazzoni for making wonderful, beautiful, functional appliance that worked seamlessly in our design and let us focus more on our soups and stews.

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Range with Double Oven | Hood Insert | Dishwasher | Refrigerator | Microwave

***Photography by Sara Tramp for EHD

***Design and styling by Emily Henderson and Brady Tolbert (and team). JP Macy of Sierra Custom Homes (who I seriously can’t say enough good things about) was the General Contractor, and Annie Usher was the architect.