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5 Essential Keys™5 Kitchen Appliance Trends the live up to the hype. These innovations are here to stay. If you are thinking about remodeling your kitchen or maybe replacing some appliances, let me tell you, we have come a long way baby!
The same leaps and bounds you are noticing with technology (think smart phone and personal tablet) are now showing up in your appliances – big time. Cooking and working in the kitchen has never been easier, more fun, and more satisfying with better results. Let’s take a look at 5 appliance trends that are here to stay.
Steam Ovens & Steam-Assist Ovens
Every seminar I attend gets me more and more excited about the benefits and joys of steam in the oven. It is the way restaurants have been preparing and serving luscious dishes for years, and now you can too! They deliver what they promise: speed, versatility and healthier foods. Steam oven cooking allows you to cook family size portions with ease and relatively little washing up. Warming up left-overs will be a total surprise, as they will look and taste just like the first time served.
Steam cooking methods have very even heat distribution (eliminating the hot spots associated with microwaves), that produce lower-fat dishes without destroying nutrients. This new type of cooking does not replace your regular/convection oven – but it just may replace your microwave! How would you like a nicely browned, succulent 4-pound chicken in 40 minutes? Consider cooking salmon, broccoli and rice in one oven with everything done at the same time, while also retaining all natural flavors and textures. It is a fabulous way to cook for your family.
Steam ovens and steam-assist ovens are definitely a cook’s best friend!
Four-Door Refrigerators
Refrigerators are evolving. We no longer need to open one big door into a small walk-way or one little door not wide enough to accept a large turkey. We now have the French-door refrigerator, sparing us from the many drawbacks of the side-by-side fridge. French-door refrigerators have liberated cold storage. They give us flexibility, convenience, ease of space planning, energy conservation and stylish design.
Now by adding the freezer to the bottom of the unit and divided it into two drawers, the four-door refrigerator has been received with high praise and great demand. Why this wonderful design wasn’t launched sooner is a mystery, but it has been met with smiles all around. The additional easy-access storage compartments, often with separate temperature controls take the mystery out of what goes where while providing a logical home for food items.
Easy access with compartmentalized storage is a winner all around.
Double Ovens
Double wall ovens (with or without a microwave component) have been around since the 1980’s and many cooks declare that no kitchen is complete without double wall ovens. Today, the wall is not the only way to install double ovens in your kitchen. Some manufacturers make a standard range with two ovens stacked one below the other, while others make an extended range with two ovens side-by-side. Both of these options are well-suited for the kitchen with minimal wall space.
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With double ovens, you can find unique combinations for both size and functionality, such as traditional ovens with convection, microwave, steam-assisted or steam ovens.
Multi-function Cooking Modules
How many times have you thought ‘I wish I could cook on gas sometimes, induction now and then, and maybe a griddle or wok or steamer once in a while…’ Well now you can! Several manufacturers have recognized this need and developed component or multi-function range cooking. And a few more are about ready to launch their own take on multi-function cooking. I’ve seen the test products, so I know they are coming and they will not disappoint.
Induction cooking is popular, until the day a storm hits and the power fails, then a gas range is very handy. With multi-function cooking you can select the type of cooking you desire, placed in the order you want. It is the best of all worlds.
Design your own cooktop functionality!
Third-rack Dishwashers
‘I want a quiet dishwasher’ has long been the cry from homeowners around the globe. They finally heard you! Today’s dishwashers are much quieter and there are many to choose from. The new feature in today’s dishwashers is the third rack. Traditionally a dishwasher has a bottom rack for large items and a utensil basket while the top rack is reserved for smaller and more delicate items.
With the advent of both the third rack along with the elimination of the bottom heating element, today’s cooks can get as much as 30% more capacity. With the bottom heating element gone any item, even the delicate and plastic ones, can be safely placed on the bottom rack. With the bottom rack utensil tray banished all together, even more room is available for large scale items. The new top third rack is designed to hold all the utensils (and more) that used to hang out on the bottom.