Are Six Ovens Enough?

Katy McLaughlin

 Too many cooks spoil the broth, but in a kitchen with six ovens—can you have too many cooks?

Chris Dahowski, an architect and builder, recently completed a Beverly Hills, Calif., kitchen with six ovens, plus a warming drawer—roughly $30,000 worth of gear. Most estate jobs he works on these days entail at least four ovens, he said.

Buyers of these homes focus on entertaining and expect professional-grade appliances for chefs and catering teams, designers say. But there’s also a “cool toys” factor that is adding to the count: New-fangled ovens cook with steam, convection and microwave technology. “Some of the clients are big cooks,” said Steven Cooper, owner of Cooper-Pacific Kitchens in Los Angeles.

Here’s a look at three kitchens with an abundance of ovens. Approximate prices do not include tax and installation.

BlueStar Salamander Broiler featured in The Wall Street Journal

RAGING INFERNO

For a client in L.A.’s Bel-Air neighborhood, Steven Cooper, owner of Cooper-Pacific Kitchens, installed a 60-inch Wolf range, a La Cornue rotisserie, a Miele Speed oven, a Miele Combi-Steam oven and a Wolf warming drawer. But that wasn’t enough: The client also wanted a BlueStar Salamander, a potent broiler typically found in restaurants.

Oven costs: $42,000