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Good looks and it cooks, too.
(Credit: Dacor)Certain appliances are used so frequently they just blend into the background. This is a good thing. When heavy-use appliances integrate seamlessly into our lives, that means they are working as they should. It's best not to notice them, because that usually means something is wrong. But just because they blend into our surroundings, that doesn't mean we don't want them to be attractive when we do look at them. Considering how central the oven is to daily life, efficiency and design go hand in hand.
The new Dacor Distinctive 30-inch Single Wall Oven is an eye-catching centerpiece in the kitchen. Featuring contemporary styling that includes a handle design that sits flush with the wall oven door and a stainless steel finish, the oven offers the good looks that makes any kitchen feel complete. The inside features hidden bake and recessed broil elements, creating not only a smooth appearance, but also more workable area in the interior. The 3.8-cubic-foot capacity oven also features an innovative baffling system that channels consistent heat throughout the oven.
With six cooking modes (Convection Bake, Convection Broil, Convection Roast, Pure Convection, Bake, and Broil), the features make it easy to achieve desired results when cooking. The electronic touch-control panel offers cooking functions (Start Time, Cooking Time, Stop Time, and Temperature Hold) that facilitate meal planning. There's even an integrated meat probe thermometer, assuring that you get the most out of your oven.
No ice needed.
(Credit: Bed Bath & Beyond)While nothing beats enjoying a cooler full of ice-cold beverages at the park, beach, or backyard barbecue, there is a bit of a downside risk: wet cans. As drinks are plucked from the murky depths of the ice chest, ice that is no longer ice clings to the can. It's something even cold-activated cans cannot fix.
Since the dawn of mankind (or at least the invention of the tailgate party), people have looked for a way to enjoy the crisp, clean taste of their favorite drinks without the inconvenience of wet fingers. Now, finally, there is a way.
The Wine Enthusiast Koolatron Rechargeable Bar On Wheels provides a way to cool your drinks anywhere, without the use of ice. The rechargeable cooler cools contents to a "near refrigerator" temperature of 40 degrees F.
Plugging into a standard home outlet, the 41-pound portable cooler also includes an AC/DC adapter for vehicle charging. One charge is good for up to four hours of active, quiet cooling, and for easy portability, two wheels are attached at the base.
With three removable shelves and space for in-door bottle cooling, the portable party-maker has a versatile interior capable of cooling all types of beverages. Complete with a flat work area on top and a hanging basket for accessories on the side, this cooling solution is sure to be a hit at your next outdoor event.
But it will cost you--$449.99 in at least one listing we saw. What do you think? Is saving the ice for putting in your drinks instead of on them worth that tag?
Keep the good times rolling.
(Credit: Bed Bath & Beyond)The World Series may have come and gone (for some reason earlier this month), but that doesn't mean the real national pastime has to roll over. In fact, "rolling over" is exactly what this particular pastime excels at. While baseball may not be the same without hot dogs, you can take them away from the game and enjoy them throughout the long cold winter. Of course, if you want that authentic flavor that can only be had from uncountable revolutions on the heat source, you are going to need something special.
The Nostalgia Electrics Retro Series 50s Style Hot Dog Roller keeps the good times rolling all year 'round. Featuring classic styling reminiscent of a bygone era, the candy-red 15-inch-by-9.5-inch (it measures 15 inches tall) roller is sure to elicit interesting conversations (and demands for demonstrations). The two large dials on the front of the machine are for power and an adjustable heat control. For easy cleaning, the rollers are removable, as is an included drip tray.
With five nonstick stainless-steel rollers, perpetually cooking eight hot dogs (or 12 breakfast sausages) at a time, the hot dog cooker is sure to keep the party going. Hot dogs may be the flavor of baseball, but they taste just as good during football season--as long as you don't use the same ones, that is.
What's the first thing you do with a new kitchen appliance? In our house, I go for the instruction manual, but my husband tends to plunge right in. This has resulted in more than a few mishaps over the many years of our marriage.
The Primula Speak n' Brew, the world's first talking coffee maker, aims to simplify the coffee brewing process and eliminate the need to push a dozen buttons to program the machine. Instead, you can just tell this 10-cup stainless steel coffee maker when you want your coffee made.
It's pretty straightforward: press Talk, then tell the machine you want to set the coffee brewing time, and tell it when to brew. The machine repeats the time back to you as confirmation, and then, at the proper time, it goes to work.
Too tired to talk? The machine also uses old-school button-type programming.
It's available now for about $80.
Set it, but don't forget it.
(Credit: Rüegg)Backyard parties are always a lot of fun. Friends and family get together to eat and drink and share talltales and gossip. But, mostly eat. Plans have to be made for the grill, what to put on it, how to marinate it, and finally how to cook it. Which means, somebody has to be in charge of the grill. While it may be rewarding to oversee a landscape of cooking meats and vegetables, the reality is with responsibility, sacrifices must be made. While all your friends are over there laughing and having fun, you're stuck making sure their food doesn't burn.
What could end up being a bitter tasting barbecue can be avoided if the meats and vegetables would just cook themselves. At least when it comes to shish kabobs, the Valigrill by Ruegg lets that happen. The electrically operated grill features a set of automatically rotating skewers to keep meat slowly spinning over the fire without burning. A combustion bar feeds oxygen to the charcoal grill, ensuring even and continual burning. The grill is mounted on wheels for easy portability. For good old-fashioned grilling, a standard grill grate is included, that is if you want to stand over a hot fire while all your friends are having fun.
(Via Appliancist)
Don't look now, but your coffee is ready.
(Credit: Hammacher Schlemmer)They say a watched pot never boils, and in the morning it is especially true. Waiting for the water to get hot enough to pour over coffee grounds can feel like an eternity. If you are using a French press for your morning brew, you know exactly what I mean. But it is not just the coffee addicts who must wait to get into hot water; tea drinkers suffer the same fate. Either way, in the end it comes down to needing hot water for your beverage. But what about the people who prefer coffee and tea?
More water means more waiting, but at least with the Complete Coffee And Tea Station, it's all in one place. While the press pot steeps the coffee, the integrated electric kettle could be brewing tea. (Or heating up water for the next round of coffee with no waiting.) The kettle may not make water boil faster, but unlike a pot on the stove, it knows when to stop. With the capability to provide water at temperatures specific to distinct drinks, the kettle heats perfect water for brewing coffee (198 degrees F), steeping tea (190 degrees F) or making hot chocolate (165 degrees F). A warming plate under the press pot keeps your beverage warm until the next round.
I'm not sure of the math, but I would like to believe that if a watched pot doesn't boil, two somehow makes it quicker. While that may not be true, at least the integrated timer will beep when it is ready.
Tame the taskmaster.
(Credit: Kalorik)It's a good feeling when at the end of the workday all that is left to do is to go home. While a pile of completed tasks and jobs may appeal to our inner need to check things off of a list, our productivity needs fuel to sustain its drive. Hunger can be a powerful distraction, as well it should be. But sometimes, its too powerful. A 2-hour lunch break is nice, but sometimes you've just got to bear down and plow through the day. Next time, don't settle for a candy bar to power your way through those long afternoon hours; instead, make a meal.
The Kitchen Outpost (aka Kalorik Breakfast Set) is a small desk or countertop appliance that provides throughout the day. Featuring a coffeemaker, a toaster oven, and a griddle all in one, the multiuse appliance measures 20.25 inches across and 9.3 inches in depth, with a height of 9.25 inches. With such a degree of usefulness, you'll be sure to revisit the device many times a day. Use it to heat up a prepared sandwich, or create your own. The integrated coffee maker supplies the ever-important caffeine fix throughout the day. With such conveniences right in front of you, your productivity is sure to shoot right through the roof--just be sure to come up for air every now and then.
More than just waffles.
(Credit: Amazon)Buying a waffle iron is a commitment. The relationship-ready have to be prepared to do what it takes to make a lasting relationship work. This of course means compromise. When it comes to waffle irons, this means choosing a device that is usually capable of only one thing: making waffles. It's hard to make room on our cluttered kitchen counters for devices that only do one thing. Luckily, it doesn't have to be this way.
The Wolfgang Puck Rotating Grill-and-Bake Waffle Iron extends its usefulness beyond simply making waffles. Featuring removable plates, the appliance doubles as an indoor grill. When used as a grill, fat drips down through the vertical system, and collects into a drip tray positioned at the bottom. All the grill plates have a nonstick coating, and additional plates are available for making omelettes or Danish aebleskivers.
It's nice to find a kitchen appliance that is there for you all day long. You can have deep-pocketed Belgian waffles for breakfast and use the same appliance to make grilled chicken for dinner. The versatility offered by this one machine makes it easy to clear that kitchen counter clutter. Perfect for those who like to play around (in the kitchen).
All-night delivery.
(Credit: Euroflues)It doesn't get much more comfortable than sitting around a warm fire on a cool evening. However bad the elements are outside, the inside is heated with the warming glow emanating from the fireplace. Usually, the fireplace is in the living room, which makes sense; the living room is the central location of the house.
But there's another room that serves as a gathering spot, one that usually features a different type of heated comfort in the form of a stove. Make that stove a wood-burning stove and add a pizza oven in the mix, and suddenly the kitchen is the new living room.
While it's quite possible that pizza is the most comforting food on the planet, coupled with a wood burning stove the combination is pure comfort overload. The Huemfire Pallas Back achieves just that. In addition to the baking compartment, the top of the unit features three cooking plates, which could be used for other great comfort foods such as soup.
Combustion is controlled via an outside hookup, with air control being handled via a lever on the front. An optional built-in drawer on the bottom of the unit is designed for storing wood. The stove heats up to 1,625 square feet, and uses a patented heat retention system capable of storing heat for up to nine hours after the last fire has been lit. It doesn't get much more comfortable than that.
The best of both worlds.
(Credit: Chef's Catalog)Choosing between a toaster and a toaster oven can be difficult. Toaster ovens are incredibly versatile, convenient for warming up leftovers or even cooking entire meals. On the other hand, regular toasters are usually very good at what they are designed to do: the toasting of bread. However, that's pretty much all they do, so our kitchen counters are usually furnished with toaster ovens. However, some people may miss that good old-fashioned toast popping action, so for them, it's not an easy decision.
There can be only one true answer to this conundrum when seeking out a new toasting appliance: get both. The Waring Toaster Oven/Toaster solves this toaster dilemma by combining the two into one. It is perfect for those that have a hard time making a decision, the toaster combines the best of both worlds: the flexibility of a toaster oven with the tradition of a pop-up toaster. But this combo is not only handy for the undecided among us, but also it can help to ease morning toaster congestion. Suddenly, there is room for a slice of bread and a frozen pastry treat. While other combination appliances are generally mash-ups between two totally different devices, the fusing of a toaster and a toaster oven is one that actually makes sense.
The Waring Toaster Oven/Toaster costs about $100 online.
