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G. Bruce Boyer probably had it right when he offered that “Real style is never right or wrong. It’s a matter of being yourself on purpose.” Then again, it’s fun to know what’s trending, especially in an area you’re passionate about, like kitchen design and technology. Appliance trends always change—sometime radically so—and 2018 promises to be one of the wildest years in recent memory. Here are three of the year’s most interesting developments…
1. Menu-Driven Controls
Like something out of science fiction, new menu-driven controls on appliances guide you, step by step, as you cook your meals. For instance, let’s say you want to whip up a juicy crown roast for your daughter’s engagement party. Rather than fumbling through online instructions and risk burning the roast or undercooking it (or both), just outsource the job to your oven. It will indicate where to place the roast in the oven; show you pictures of “rare,” “medium,” and “well done”; and cook the roast exactly the way you select. Inexperienced cooks get confidence. And veterans can stretch out of their comfort zones and experiment with new techniques and recipes.
2. Sous vide
What’s the safest and tastiest way to prepare food? Obviously, debate abounds. However, researchers are increasingly concerned about the dangers of overcooking. Char on meat, for instance, contains mutagenic compounds like heterocyclic amines (HCAs). Cooking with vegetable oil on high heat, meanwhile, releases nasty aldehydes. Enter sous vide, a cooking technique that delivers delectable results and sidesteps the dangers of overcooking. Instead of traditional thermal heat, you use steam. You place meats and vegetables in vacuum-sealed bags, which are then cooked in water set at a specific temperature. This process eliminates the guesswork—there’s no under or overcooking. Timing doesn’t matter as much. Leave your food in the water for hours, and it will still be at the set temperature. Sous vide takes a bit longer than other methods. But aficionados swear by it. Best selling author, Dr. Mike Eades, argues that the process “is the perfect method for cooking tougher cuts of meat. Grass fed beef, though tasty, isn’t always the most tender of selections. If, however, you put a couple of grass-fed beef steaks in a sous vide bath before you go to work, by the time you get home, they are as tender as a mother’s heart while still retaining all their taste.”
3. Companies Now Offering Astonishingly Diverse Colors
Back in the day, if you wanted stainless steel appliances, you had a grand choice to make: black or white. Well, times have changed. All sorts of custom colors are now available for your kitchen. GE, for instance, now markets a finish called slate—a lustrous painted grey finish. Even Kitchen Aid now serves up deep blue, deep red and black stainless steel appliances to help keep your kitchen looking dazzling. BlueStar appliances are available in over 750 colors and finishes. If you want a look that’s exclusively yours, they’ll even create a custom color for you.
Insight for Your Kitchen Tech Needs
The experienced team at Michael’s can help you achieve the look and functionality you want from your kitchen. Whether you’re remodeling the room to let the amateur chef inside you have a go at your passion, or you’re looking to upgrade appliances, we’ve got what you need. We have a veritable army of factory-trained professionals, a wide array of brands, and a passion for customer service. And if you purchase an appliance from us that breaks or malfunctions, our in-house service technicians are on hand to fix things ASAP. Learn more online, or call our team today at 845-342-0369 to discover how to create your dream kitchen!
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