Appliances and Kitchen Gadgets- Page 209

Saving the planet, one countertop at a time

Like it or not, our lives depend on energy. Lots of it. In fact, the United States alone consumes more than 3.35 terawatts per year, enough energy to run that computer you're reading this from for about 35 billion years, give or take a few million.

In an effort to decrease our environmental imprint and be smarter about how efficiently we're using our energy, several companies have introduced "green" models of their products. Though the Green movement started as a few political conservationist groups in the early 1980s, it is now responsible for one of … Read more

Vacuum pack your beans

Fresh air can be pretty bad for your coffee beans. Good beans come vacuum-packed to keep them from oxidizing and becoming bitter. But once you've opened that bag, you've pretty much doomed whatever beans you don't use immediately. If only you had some device in your kitchen that could store your remaining coffee beans in a vacuum. If only...

Sharper Image will sell you one. Called the Bean Vac, this canister can hold more than a pound of coffee beans and has a vacuum pump that sucks air out once you've closed the lid. The whole … Read more

Toast n Egg makes toast with eggs

Now this combination makes sense. Toast with an egg is undoubtedly a great pairing to start any day. The problem for me is that if I'm gonna make an egg, most likely I'm gonna fry it. Not necessarily because it will taste better, but more so for the absolute lack of effort it requires. Butter, pan, fry, done. Easy.

Anything that uses less pots and pans is a good thing in my book. The ability to crack an egg into the Toast n Egg from Tefal is a great idea. The unit comes not only with an egg-poaching … Read more

A drawer you'll never have to slam shut

These drawers immediately reminded me of my parents.

Not because they are great admirers of modern classic design. No, it's because they have the most annoying kitchen drawer on the planet. It never closes completely, no matter how hard you slam it.

Since it's unlikely they will ever fix that drawer, I've decided they need to replace it with a Poggenpohl drawer.

These drawers, from the Germany-based luxury kitchen designer, use the company's +Motion and +Motion Drive technology to open and close automatically.

With +Motion, all you do is touch the center of the drawer and … Read more

Mobile coffee, the wave of the future?

With summer in full swing, now is the perfect time to go camping. When I was younger, it was a tradition in my family to go find a spot in the middle of nowhere, try desperately to set up a tent before it rains, and eat charred food that even squirrels wouldn't touch. Then in the morning we would rise from our piles of nylon and sit around the campfire sipping coffee that had the consistency of tar. Now that I've reached the age where I'm ready to take my family into the woods against their wishes, … Read more

We all scream for ice cream

It's starting to warm up around here, and I'm getting a real craving for ice cream. I've been looking at ice-cream recipes, and it looks as if I have just about everything I need to make up a quick cone of my own. Milk, sugar, vanilla--I've got it all. But I think I need some help getting from the ingredients to the stuff that tastes good in a cone.

That's where Cuisinart's ice-cream maker comes in. Named the "Pure Indulgence," this dream of a machine is automatic. You pour in the ingredients, … Read more

Food on a stick is on a roll.

This device is billed as a Waffle Dogger/Crepe On A Stick Maker, but I think that might be a little shortsighted. All food tastes better when it's served on a stick; it's a well-known fact.

How an appliance like this doesn't have a name such as the "Stick-o-Later," or even the "Tastee-Stick" is beyond me. Instead, the manufacturer, Cecilware, includes this model in its waffle-maker line as the rather vague sounding WD-120. One thing for certain, though, is that whatever the name, this high-class iron would be put through the paces in … Read more

Take to the seas, it's BBQ time

When summer rolls around, it's time to gas up the boat, blow up the inner tubes, and head for the lake. In the old days if you wanted to combine your nautical adventures with your culinary ones, you were forced to lug your hibachi onto your boat and hope that you didn't hit a rough wake sending burning coals everywhere. Weekend warriors around the world longed for someone to step up to the plate and combine their two loves: boats and cooking raw meat.

Someone has finally come through for all of us and invented the BBQ Donut, … Read more

Dacor's outdoor fridge serves a big BBQ

If you are like me, your patio has more in common with a dirty playground than the "indoor living room with complete kitchen amenities," that appliance maker Dacor envisions.

That's a nice vision. If it's your vision...and a big ol' cooler on the patio or porch doesn't cut it during backyard parties, and a full-size fridge is totally out of the question (next to the garden is rather excessive), this refrigerator from Dacor might be the thing for you.

The Epicure outdoor refrigerator is designed to match nicely with Dacor's outdoor grills, which … Read more

A Kenmore washer that uses steam heat to clean

This front-loading Kenmore HE5t steam washer promises to clean better with blasts of hot steam. And with a roomy 4 cubic feet of washing space, this king-size plus washer easily tackles a king-size quilt.

At about $1,699, the energy-efficient steam model is pricier than the Kenmore HE5t king-size model without the steam, which retails at about $1,299.

The steam washer combines cleaning with SteamCare technology that "virtually eliminates the need for pretreating," clothes stained with everything from blood to oil, according to the company.

The washer works by slowly heating the water and releasing hot steam … Read more