The kitchen is one of the most important features of a home. You spend a large portion of time in the kitchen, so you want a functional workspace that is also a pleasing place to gather, relax, and enjoy the latest culinary inspiration. Kitchen appliance manufacturers are helping to reshape the way your kitchen works and look. With the latest shifts in kitchen design happening, we thought we should serve up some ideas on what’s cooking in kitchen appliance trends for 2015.
Color. You’ve probably noticed that small appliances are now available in a spectrum of colors. Toasters, stand mixers, blenders, food processors, coffee makers, and just about anything you need to plug in to a kitchen outlet can be found in shades from subtle to bold. But we’re also seeing major appliances, like ranges, in more than black, white, or stainless steel. Viking offers buyers a choice of 24 colors in ranges and hoods, and Aga gives 15 color choices in their ranges. GE’s Artistry Series of refrigerators now includes Cupcake Blue and Bell Pepper Red. You can have your appliances professionally painted in the color of your choice, but it you’re hesitant to commit to a hue, you might consider magnetic graphics to recover the surface at your whim.
The GE Café Series refrigerator actually brews Keurig coffee, with the in-door coffeemaker. The operation can control the operation from your smartphone so your coffee can be ready when you walk in the room. Other refrigerators dispense your choice of fresh water and sparkling water—a refreshing feature!
Professional-grade range. If you love to cook and have the desire (and the room) for a beefed-up range, you can install a professional-grade range, like the ones found in commercial kitchens. The luxury ranges offer a long menu of features, like a hibachi griddle and high-powered burners. While those units can vary from 36 to 48 inches and use three to four times the energy of a standard model, manufacturers are offering a home-sized version of a luxury range that fits into the 30-inch standard.
Double ovens. Separate from your cooktop and take advantage of twice the oven space. The double wall oven gives a full-sized oven for your main cooking needs, and a slightly smaller oven below, perfect for side dishes and warming.
Hooded cooktop. The perfect complement to the double oven, the hooded cooktop offers a sleek design with full functionality of a cooktop. Some homeowners prefer their cooktop on an island, which provides a convenient workspace.
Convection oven. This type of oven circulates the heat more evenly than a conventional oven. As a result, food cooks faster. Today’s ovens often offer the choice of turning the convection feature on or off, so you don’t need to use it for everything.
Steam oven. Cooking with steam is the best choice for preserving flavor, nutrition, and moisture. These units are about the size of a microwave and use a reservoir to hold water, so you don’t have to hook it up to a water source, like your refrigerator’s water dispenser. A steam oven is also ideal for sterilizing baby bottles. If you want more functionality, look for a combination convention-steam oven.
Warming drawer. Whether you’re feeding a big crowd or just need to keep your warm dishes at the right temperature while the rest is cooking, the warming drawer is one of those features that you don’t truly appreciate until you have it. Then, you’ll be telling all your friends they have to get one!
Drawer dishwasher. And speaking of drawers, did you know your dishwasher can fit in one? Choose from a single- or double-drawer style, depending on the amount of dirty dishes you expect to generate. When you fill a drawer, run the dishwasher. They can blend into your existing cabinetry, too Best of all, you don’t have to sacrifice capacity to enjoy the style and convenience.
What’s cooking in your kitchen? Have you incorporated any of these kitchen appliances into your home? Let us know what you love, and what you haven’t warmed up to yet.
