The ‘Smart’ Kitchen Is Here as Appliances Go High-Tech

By Doreen Schofield

My family considers me technically stifled for I choose not to hold my phone as if it were my lifeline and prefer the feel of a book to a tablet.  But little do they know that my tech obsession is in my favorite room in the house — the kitchen.  Appliances, plumbing, and even cabinets have become innovative, automated, and technically powerful.  Julia Child meets George Jetson!

Before I continue, please know that I don’t work for the companies I’m going to tell you about or claim one product to be better than the other.  I just want to share some of the tech savvy “smart” kitchen options that are on the market, for they are awesome.

Let’s begin with some innovative organization from our cabinet company, Starmark.  They offer hundreds of organization accessories like expandable racks, pull-out filler storage, and blind corner revolving shelves, all technically designed to maximize space within your standard cabinets.  Hands full of drippy egg shells?  The super convenient Motion Drive Waste Cabinet will open and close to access trash and recycle bins with a simple touch.

Plumbing has gone “smart” too.  It doesn’t matter if you have two full hands or 10 messy fingers, Delta Smart Solutions Touch2O® offers you the ability to tap the faucet anywhere on the spout or handle with your hand, wrist, or forearm to start and stop the flow of water.  Kohler takes touch-less to a whole new level as well.  The Sensate™ Touchless Faucet is in tune with your every move.  A simple wave of your hand or an object like a spoon or pan will turn the faucet on or off.

The real space age fun is in the appliances.  We’ve all seen Kelly Ripa boil water in 90 seconds with the Electrolux Induction Range.  Induction ranges use electric current to produce a magnetic field that interacts with the pot and quickly heats the food.  Subsequently the area around the pot stays cool.

Thermador has created the first high-performance range with a built-in Steam + Convection Oven.  Steaming is a moist heat cooking method that cooks food quickly and maximizes taste, color, and nutrient retention.  The range also offers seven cooking options for a full culinary experience.

GE’s Advantium® microwave oven bakes, broils, browns, roasts, microwaves, and grills!  It’s also eight times faster than a conventional oven.  Using light above and below, the food is cooked like a conventional oven.  Then the food receives a boost of microwave energy to speed up the cooking process.  Voila! Hot and crispy.

Dacor® Company unveiled Discovery™ IQ controller for Android.  Integrated into Dacor’s Discovery™ Series wall ovens, this amazing feature connects the kitchen to the home via Wi-Fi, allowing the home chef to operate the oven from any room in the house using a smartphone or tablet.

Dacor has also introduced the Discovery™ WineStation®.   An argon-gas preservation system allows you to open, dispense, and enjoy a variety of wines for up to 60 days without the need to discard unused portions.

Sub-Zero refrigerator’s peak performance results from its microprocessor that continually monitors each section of the refrigerator’s compartments to enhance the food’s preservation, keeping food fresh up to 20 percent longer.  Subzero engineers were inspired by NASA when patenting their built in air purification system.  Every 20 minutes, the fridge scrubs the air of ethylene gas that is naturally emitted by food and causes spoilage.

GE’s newest refrigerators have hands-free filtered water dispensers.  Using multiple sensors to automatically measure bottles, pitchers, and cooking pots the laser-detecting hands-free auto-fill automatically turns itself off when the container reaches 90 percent full.  GE refrigerators also have LED screens that can display family photos and school art projects.  No more tape left on your fridge’s door.

And last but certainly not least, the Samsung RSG309 claims to keep your food cold and is the first refrigerator that allows you to go on the Internet using its eight-inch touch screen display that acts like a computer screen.  The fridge itself connects to your home wireless network.  You can play the radio, stream the news, send an email, organize your calendar, and leave a post-it note.  With the Internet and food so close together, your teen may never leave the kitchen.

There are hundreds of products and gadgets available for you to create your tech savvy kitchen.  Let me help integrate a few in your next remodeling project.  Your neighbor may think their phone is “smart” but wait until they see what your kitchen can do!