Does someone in your home open the fridge and stare into it for ages? Would you like an air fryer but you don’t have space for it? Do you have a propensity to burn everything you bake? New kitchen appliances can solve all these dilemmas – and many others that you didn’t even know you had.
But back to the open fridge door that will be familiar to anyone with a hungry teenager permanently on the hunt for snacks. LG tackles the problem with its InstaView Door-in-Door refrigerator. When you knock on the black glass door twice, it illuminates the inside, so you can see what’s in your fridge without opening the door. It could also come in useful when you are doing your shopping list and find yourself opening and closing the door several times to see what you need.
But more importantly, it reduces your energy consumption and prolongs the life of the appliance because the fridge compressor does not have to work as hard to maintain the cold temperature. The door-in-door feature is also energy-saving as it allows you to reach for often-used items such as milk without opening the entire door.
Gaggenau has also come up with an innovation to prolong the life of its wider fridges – a stainless steel interior. David Rafter, of Arena Kitchens in Dublin, says steel is superior to plastic interiors for several reasons. “It’s more hygienic than plastic inside,” he says. “Steel is also much cooler. If the fridge is knocked off accidentally, steel would keep the fridge cool for a couple of days. And it also means that the machine lasts much longer. They are so cold on the inside, the hot air doesn’t go in when you open the door, so the motor doesn’t need to work as hard. They tend to last 25 or 30 years so it’s better for the environment.”
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But suppose you want your fridge to entertain the family, as well as keep your food cold? Samsung’s AI Family Hub fridge has a giant LCD screen on the front right panel of the four-door appliance. Similar to a large tablet, it can play videos, display photographs, recommend recipes based on what’s in your fridge, and act as a whiteboard for leaving messages. Its AI-powered cameras help you keep track of what’s in the fridge, and what has left the fridge. If you wish to add best-before dates to each item, it will alert you when food is approaching the expiry date and offer recipes to encourage you to use the food.
People who do a lot of entertaining and like to splurge on their appliances will be drawn to under-the-counter beverage drawers from the US company Sub-Zero. It’s one of the premium brands stocked by Arena Kitchens and Rafter says the beverage drawers have become popular in the past year. “Most people look for wine storage in the kitchen, but at the high end, people look for beverage drawers as well, for beer, soft drinks and bottles of water. Putting beers in the wine fridge isn’t great, because every time you open the fridge, you’re exposing your wine to warm air,” he says. Having a separate beverage drawer also avoids the problem of trying to make space for drinks in a packed fridge, when you are trying to chill desserts or other foods before hosting a gathering.
When it comes to cookers, he says one of the most innovative designs he has seen is the new Essential Induction hob from Gaggenau. Like the beverage drawer, this is a luxury purchase, aimed at the high end of the market. It is integrated in a Dekton stone worktop and is practically invisible. LED dots, which show the user where to place the pot, vanish when not in use. Gaggenau’s removable magnetic surface protectors for your pots and pans safeguard the worktop and ensure there is no noise from saucepans moving across the stone surface. And because it’s an induction hob, it will not generate heat until it’s covered by a pot so there is no danger of accidentally placing your hand on a hot surface.
Cameras are the focus of most new innovations in ovens. He points to Miele’s offer of the option of an internal camera which takes a photo of the food every 30 seconds. “So if you’re out in the back garden on a nice sunny day relaxing, and you have food cooking inside, you can just look on your phone to make sure it’s not burning,” he says.
Producing undercooked, or overcooked, food could soon be a thing of the past with advances in oven technology. Samsung’s Series 7 Bespoke AI Oven can detect the dish being cooked then automatically set the right timer and programme. If all safeguards fail and something is about to burn, it will send you an alert so you can bolt from your sun lounger and save that apple tart from cremation.
Meanwhile, instead of seeing the air fryer as the enemy of ovens, Bosch has decided to embrace it and incorporate it into its Series 8 oven. The oven comes with an air fry and grill tray for a healthier frying option. It also allows for steam cooking up to 120°C, ensuring that more nutrients and vitamins are retained.
In another effort at space-saving, Bosch has introduced its first 2-in-1 cordless vacuum and mop. The Unlimited 7 Aqua is a vacuum cleaner with spinning pads to remove stubborn stains. The automatic water supply ensures that the floor dries in no time.
If you want to splash the cash on some non-essential items that make life easier, Rafter has a few suggestions. Arena Kitchens stocks the QVac vacuum pump from Bora. It pops up from the worktop at the press of a button to vacuum-seal food bags. “That’s great if you have a lot of leftovers to freeze, or you’re storing coffee beans, fresh meat, anything. And after it’s thawed, you can wash out the bag and reuse it, so it’s good for the environment too,” he says.
And if you like music or podcasts while you’re cooking, Blaupunkt has introduced a new sound system which is built into the bottom of the Häcker kitchen units stocked by Arena Kitchens. “It’s four or eight 5-watt speakers that connect to the Bluetooth or wireless on your phone, so you can play your music, your radio, podcasts or whatever,” Rafter says. “There’s four ohms of power in each speaker so they are powerful, and placing them down low means the sound bounces up off the floor.”
Many more innovations are coming down the track. It’s not available in Europe yet, but LG is rolling out a ventless washer/dryer that promises to wash and dry your clothes in under two hours. And this year’s CES, the world’s largest technology fair, singled out an extractor fan produced by Korean company Intosee for its innovative design. Instead of the large cooker hood fans of the past, this is a small tube that can be installed into your kitchen counter and retracts when not in use. It pops up to draw in smoke, runs it through a carbon filter and releases the clean air through a tube under the worktop.
The fair also showcased the Barsys 360 robot cocktail maker. It has six receptacles to pour alcohol, mixers and other ingredients, and even stirs the drink for you.
Just what you need after a long day in the kitchen.
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