Jennifer Sheahan: Kitchen appliances that could change your life
Left, TBP Tech hob, top right, Fisher &Paykel DoubleDish Drawer, below right, Zanussi Airfry double oven.
There has been an endless stream of new kitchen countertop appliances over the last few years — slow cookers, soup makers, a gazillion different blenders, and of cours,e air fryers. There seems to have been less of a revolution in our integrated kitchen appliances. Most appliance manufacturers have made attempts at smart fridges and whatnot, but many of us — me included — have not found these smart features to be life-changingly beneficial. OK, so I can turn my washing machine on with an app — but honestly, it’s just as easy to put on the delayed start timer.
Not quite new, but gaining traction in the home appliances market, is the commercial dishwasher. I don’t know why this has taken so long — I worked in a kitchen as a summer job in my teens and the dirtiest dishes were spotlessly clean in under 15 minutes. It never occurred to me that this would be possible in the home.
Commercial dishwashers can have your grimy dishes spotless in as little as five minutes. Five! What am I doing waiting hours for my dishwasher?! The downside is that those five minutes are highly energy-intensive, though I can’t find specific numbers on just how much more intensive they are. Newer models, such as the Miele MasterLine, claim sustainability and efficiency. While I can’t confirm this, my hunch is that a five-minute highly intensive cycle can’t be too far off the energy required by my current dishwasher’s eco-cycle, which takes nearly two hours.
If you have a high throughput of dirty dishes in your kitchen, a commercial dishwasher could be a lifesaver for you.
I’m really stuck on dishwashers today — especially for a woman who actually only runs hers a couple of times a week — but I feel compelled to make you aware of another potentially life-changing evolution that could work well for your home. I had a fabulous holiday in New Zealand last year visiting family and friends, and one of the many wonders I experienced there was the double-drawer dishwasher. Every house and apartment I was in had one of these.
The double-drawer dishwasher takes up the same amount of space as a regular dishwasher, but instead of one large door, it has two drawers that operate separately. Each drawer runs on a separate cycle, so you can run your dishwasher when it is half full and continue to stack dirty dishes in the other drawer. Or if you have a large load of dishes to wash, you can use it as a regular dishwasher and run it all at the same time. The smaller size of each drawer makes frequent washing faster and more economical.
Check out the Fisher & Paykel integrated double-drawer dishwashers starting at €1780, available from a range of electrical retailers in Ireland.
Ah, the air fryer. The greatest thing to happen to quick dinners since the George Foreman Grill. My dad has one back home that makes rotisserie chickens, and I’m considering giving up my independence to move back in — so delicious are the outputs of this wondrous device. Such a drastic move may not be necessary however, as I could instead swap my current oven for an integrated air fryer.
Based on reviews I’m not sold on this concept yet, but am watching this space with interest. Air fryers work well partly because of their size — they are just small convection ovens. So a full oven-sized air-fryer that works just as well is a tall order, and reviews point to better results from smaller countertop air-fryers. Technology marches relentlessly on, however, and I do not doubt that highly efficient and effective integrated air fryers will be available in the near future. In the meantime, the Zanussi Airfry Double Oven is getting good reviews.
I adore my Bora Pure downdraught extractor and would recommend it to anyone. The elimination of overhead extractors is one of my favourite outcomes of the 21st century so far. Not satisfied with this; however, some innovative companies have sought to remove the hob from view altogether, and you can now buy induction hobs that are integrated invisibly with your kitchen countertop.
If you are someone who loves kitchens that don’t look like kitchens, and countertops clear of clutter, then this is the innovation for you. Invisible induction countertops come in a huge range of finishes, becoming additional countertop space when not in use. It’s the minimalist’s dream. Check out TBP Tech, Infinity, and Invisacook for their range of invisible hobs.
