Kitchen Appliance Trends
Kitchen Appliance Trends
The latest kitchen appliance trends are all about making your life easier while revitalizing your space.
You’ll find the same inspiration behind the general kitchen design trends of 2022 – it just makes sense to be intentional about making your kitchen comfortable and convenient. The latest kitchen appliance trends take this one step further, improving in functionality and versatility to help you live more life artfully.
Un upgrade in appliance functionality is the logical next step for many of us who recently dove deep into culinary pursuits during the lockdown. If you’ve been working on your bread baking skills, for example, and got pretty good at it, perhaps it’s time to upgrade to the latest appliances and take things to the next level.
Hot Trends
Convection + Steam + Speed
If you were blown away by the all-over consistency of convection ovens when they came out, buckle up – speed and steam are zooming their way into new kitchens, helping home cooks save time while maximizing flavor.
Steam
Cooking with steam is healthier. Steam locks in moisture (and thus, flavor), which means minimizing or the eliminating oils and/or fat once needed for keeping food juicy and flavorful. It’s as simple as it sounds – fill up a water reservoir and let the controlled vapor keep everything steamy and delicious while it cooks. Why didn’t they think of this sooner, right?
You might be aware of this – most of the commercially baked bread you eat is baked with steam. The method helps expand dough fully while locking moisture inside a crisp outer crust.
Speed
Speed ovens combine elements of convection cooking with a microwave oven and often a grill element. Imagine using the best elements of microwave and convection cooking along with a broiler – all in one appliance, even at the same time. That’s basically what a speed oven is and does. The name comes from the amount of time you’ll save.
Cooking with steam and speed ovens is actually easier, according to many of our customers who upgraded to the latest models offered by Wolf. Other manufacturers with steam ovens and speed ovens on the market include Viking, Dacor, Miele and Kitchenaid.
Multi-Speed Convection
Viking convection ovens with newer features continue to trend. Models with French doors can be fully opened with one hand. When opening one door, the companion door opens simultaneously. Viking also offers convection ovens with a two-speed convection system, a concealed bake element and an infrared broiler.
Sous Vide
In case you didn’t know it, many of the best restaurants are preparing your food with the precision, evenness and moisture control offered by sous vide cooking methods. In a nutshell, sous vide cooking involves using (non-BPA) plastic bags to cook food to perfection. Wolf and other manufacturers of convection steam ovens have specific features or recommended settings for sous vide cooking. Signature Kitchen Series even offers a range with a sous vide bath and a flex induction rack for locking in flavor with the perfect sear.
Combos
Cooking appliances come with more options and are available in more fuel and configuration types than ever before.
Thermador offers a Masterpiece double wall oven that pairs a convection steam oven with a normal convection oven. They also offer a triple wall oven that combines a convection oven with a speed oven and a warming drawer.
Dual fuel ranges continue to be a popular way to combine preferences for gas stovetops with several electric oven options.
Induction
Induction cooktops continue to trend in 2022. They bring efficient cooking and easy cleaning to a kitchen, along with neat lines that our designers can incorporate into modern styles and transitional styles.
Induction cooktops maximize energy use by only heating the pot, pan, griddle or other cookware. Because of their energy-efficient technology, induction cooktops boil water far faster than any other kind of cooktop.
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Cool Trends
Fridge and freezer columns continue to lead the way in cold storage trends. As opposed to the traditional stacked refrigerator and freezer in the same unit, columns are different units with their own doors, typically placed next to each other. Panel-ready models are especially popular.
“You can completely disguise an appliance now,” says Gail Drury, designer and founder of Drury Design. “Advances in design and technology have eliminated the need for a grille to be an outward facing element on your paneled column fridge.”
A polar-opposite trend involves theme-ready appliance exteriors that are meant to be seen. Some manufacturers are now making their cooking, refrigeration and ventilation products available in colors aimed at blending in or artfully contrasting with a kitchen’s dominant color or theme.
Viking appliances, for example, are now available in a palette of 14 colors that include contemporary colors and several hues inspired by the Mississippi Delta region where the company is headquartered.
Flawlessly Placed Appliances
Successful appliance placement can improve your kitchen’s flow and functionality. Newer appliance types give more your options for how to use your available space.
Appliances in Other Rooms
Why complicate kitchen design with expectations of fridge access flow from nearby rooms when you can simply incorporate nonobtrusive cold storage into those other rooms? The latest drawer-style undercounter refrigerators, freezers and fridge/freezer combos are panel-ready and can therefore blend seamlessly into a study, a family room or even a master suite.
One appliance-inspired trend is to create a beverage space that’s more about family hydration than the traditional cocktail-minded theme of a home bar space. These beverage stations are powered by beverage refrigerators, stand-alone icemakers, and built-in coffee and espresso machines. The same space can facilitate adult beverages with the addition of a wine storage unit, refrigeration for mixing ingredients and glasses, and a wide variety of ice making appliances (crushed ice, pebble ice, cocktail cubes, clear ice and cocktail spheres)
Technology-Enabled Features
As alluded to earlier, technology enhancements play a crucial role in this year’s hottest kitchen trends. Smart appliances that are part of the “internet of things” are still on the rise, and why not? Wi-Fi enabled appliances and energy-efficient tools are popular in modern kitchens, and practical charging stations enhance convenience and accommodate the needs of today’s homeowners. When it comes to elegance, look no further than the technological evolution of kitchen appliances.
The ability to remotely adjust the temperature of your refrigerator or freezer ensures the proper temperature will preserve all those ingredients you bought for tonight’s meal or party! New leak detection technology means coming home to a house flooded by a malfunctioning appliance is a thing of the past. Maybe you would benefit from an adjustable countertop that can accommodate the perfect height for every kitchen task. Add to that the ability to preheat your oven from anywhere, and the future of your kitchen looks bright!
Convenient Second Dishwashers
When it comes to winning back time with innovative appliances, don’t forget about the dishwasher. Yes, they’re getting faster and more efficient but consider that maybe it’s time to simply add a second dishwasher.
Dishwasher innovations are on everyone’s 2022 appliance trends lists. First of all, panel-ready dishwashers continue to grow in popularity. Your options go beyond the traditional drop door model, too. Single- and double-drawer dishwashers are great for expanding the dishwashing capabilities of your main kitchen or simply adding easy glass-cleaning functionality near your home bar or beverage station.
Outdoor Kitchens
The elegance and functionality of a well-designed kitchen shouldn’t be limited to a single place in your home. Considering the joy of dining alfresco and the feasibility of entertaining outside, it makes sense to design and equip the right outdoor space for dining and entertaining.
A wide range of appliances specifically designed for outdoor spaces are available to extend your kitchen routines beyond your indoor kitchen. In addition to grills, smoker cabinets and cooktops, you can incorporate pizza and bread ovens, warming drawers, refrigerators and ice machines into your designated dining and entertainment areas.
For show-stopper marine-grade stainless steel grills meant for small gatherings or large events, Kalamazoo offers a variety of sizes and styles that are handmade in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Their Gaucho model features an Argentinian-style grille with a spit large enough for a large animal. The large wheel makes it easy to raise and lower both. A gas-powered starter makes it easy to ignite wood or charcoal in minutes.
Ready to Change Your Kitchen?
The possibilities are endless and almost overwhelming when it comes to kitchen appliances. “It makes sense to think about appliance selection very early in the process,” says Zach Gasiorowski, regional marketing manager for Sub-Zero Group Midwest. “With long lead times that will continue into the future, it is advised to determine appliance details first.” Gasiorowski recommends a Sub-Zero/Wolf/Cove showroom visit for a personalized consultation, which an experienced designer from Drury Designs can help you arrange.
Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio is here to help you incorporate the latest in kitchen appliance technology in a design that is tailored to your style and space.
A woman-owned company in the Chicago area, Drury Design provides the professional insight that you need while maintaining the vision you have for the elegant, time-saving, space-saving kitchen of your dreams. So schedule an appointment now, or view the Drury Design gallery to get a better idea of how Drury Design can help you enhance your kitchen, your house and your life.