Induction Cooking Within Reach

One of today's most exciting technologies for the kitchen can be found in electro magnetics.  I feel like the dad in The Graduate when he sagely whispers into Benjamin's ear "plastics"! Ok I'm dating myself but truthfully it was an old movie when I saw it for the first time.  Back to the kitchen, the electro magnetics I'm talking about is induction cooking.  Whenever I bring this up to my clients they invariably say, "isn't that the thing where you need special pots"?

You certainly do not need new pots IF they pass the test.  Simply grab a magnet and if it sticks to the bottom of your pot you're good to go.  That's it. Some work and some don't. Now if you're splurging on a new kitchen or stove perhaps a new set of pots is in order anyway, yes?  

History of Induction Cooking

Induction cooking technology was actually first introduced  at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago.  It became available to homeowners in the seventies but you probably never heard about it because, well frankly, it was a fail.  Kinks were resolved as the technology continued to advance in Europe and Asia. Then several years ago induction cooktops were back and they've been gaining popularity in the luxury market every since.  In fact, Ryan DeGraffenreid, Territory Sales Manager for Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean for Subzero-Wolf, ventures to say that when considering electric vs induction their clients are choosing induction most of the time!

Why Induction?

The big reasons to go with the big "I" are safety, ease of maintenance and cooking efficiency.  Since your pot only heats up where it makes contact with the burner you're a lot less likely to get burned, plus all your energy goes into cooking your food instead of it being expelled into the air.  In fact, with induction, 84-90% of energy goes into your cooking as opposed to 44- 55% for gas, the least efficient. Electric falls somewhere in between.  Induction cooking is also a bit quicker.  It takes about 4 minutes to boil water with induction.  It's about 7 minutes for electric and 8 for gas. If your pot does boil over, clean up is a lot easier since the area surrounding the pot will not be as hot. It's no fun chiseling baked on goo off your cooking surface!

The New Choices Make Induction Available for Everyone

I am looking forward to downsizing and moving back into my little condo by the water.  My kitchen will definitely be getting a makeover (stay tuned) and since induction technology is now available in the 30" range format, I'm in.  I've been doing a bit of research and have found that you can switch to an induction range starting at $1,700 for a free standing (as opposed to slide-in which has controls on the front)  model by Kenmore.  Right now with the current sale you can get that down to $1,099.00  It's the same size as your old 30" range too so no worries there.  Then at the other end of the spectrum you can find this Subzero-Wolf which retails for over $9,000.  Currently it's the only 36" induction range on the market.  Needless to say it's the Rolls Royce of ranges!

Is All Induction Created Equal?

One thing I have notice with just about every single model is that the ratings are consistently 4.5 stars.  There also typically seems to be a lemon in the mix as well. If you come upon a bad review you should read it and decide if the issues are something you should research further.   Bad reviews can be great tools.  All these ranges feature convection ovens. (another blog post)  The main differences are styling and bells and whistles including myriad settings on the higher end models.  Find an appliance retailer in your area and check it out.  If you're in my area I'd love to go with you. :-) As far as my search goes, I'm still exploring.  Price is definitely important but this model by Bosch is a clear favorite.  It retails at $3,199 and also includes a warming drawer at the bottom.   I'm still looking though.  As I always say, when it comes to doing your kitchen you must pick your battles.  Spend the money where it means the most to you and save in areas where you really don't mind compromising a little. The trick is deciphering both which is one of the things I explore with my clients.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments or questions about induction cooking, pro or consumer, do share!

Tear Sheet Tuesday: Summer recipes, NYC X Design & Furniture Porn

Welcome to another edition of the occasional series I call Tear Sheet Tuesday.  We launched last Tuesday.   If you want to catch up you can do that right here.  In a nutshell, I tear what strikes my fancy throughout the week and I share that with you here.  It could really be anything. It's all inspiration!

Perhaps today's tears will inspire you to cook, lounge by the pool or get busy creating an office you really want to work in!  Let's get started.  First off, my Cooking Light hit this week.  I wanted to be good and feature this...

However, THIS is what really looks yummy to me.  Both are super summer meal inspirations and can be found in the current May 2017 issue of Cooking Light.

In addition to recipe fantasies you can indulge in a little design dreaming this week if you happen to be in the Big Apple.  NYC X Design is going on right now and it's open and free to the public through May 24th.  This is the fifth year of this international event where you can attend talks, product launches, exhibitions and more all over NYC.  For more info click here. 

Needless to say I have plucked some coolness from the pages of The Official Guide to NYC X Design, from the Editors of Metropolis.

I guess I'm into the walnut wood  finishes with a little lounging mixed in these days.  Mark my words, beautiful stained wood grains will be the next big cabinet look, as soon as white Shaker runs its course (which could be never). 

Last but not least, I know you didn't forget the furniture porn I promised you ;).  I have been eyeing this incredibly beautiful burled wood console for a really long time.  This week's sale catalog from Williams Sonoma came in the mail and BAM!! There it is on sale.  Should I? I really love it.

So that's what I have for you this week.  Please send me YOUR tears so that I can see what's inspiring you and feature it right here. Also, don't forget to leave a comment.  I'm getting lots of emails and I'd love for you to share your kind words right here.

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Bake to the Future with A Smart Oven

Appliances of yesteryear barely resemble those that we take for granted today.  We have ovens that can remember how to cook our favorite recipes and even refrigerators that send messages to an of state location to report a malfunction!Here's how it works. Say you're away and your fridge goes kaput.  Said fridge sends a report to headquarters who in turn follow up with a phone call to let you know and to schedule a service call.  I was amazed when I heard that a year or so ago at a Miele appliance demo. Miele calls it "Remote Vision".   Sounds a bit creepy but smart creepy, no? The "smart" function is beginning to infiltrate most appliances but today I want to talk about ovens.Yesterday Tech Crunch announced the unveiling of  a new counter top “smart oven” by June, a teeny tiny company based in San Fransisco.  The new June oven features precision, intuitive function and modern convenience all in something that resembles a toaster oven.  It has a built-in ability to identify and even weigh food to suggest cooking methods and utilizes convection technology and  carbon fiber heating elements .  It also allows you to monitor your steaks with your smart phone. There's more, you can check it out here, but it still looks like a toaster oven.   It fits a dish as big as 11" by 16", so maybe a little bigger than toaster oven capacity.To be fair, there are already built-in "smart ovens" on the market.  Justin Landman of House of Appliances in Delray Beach, Florida says,  "Jenn-Air announced their wifi connected oven earlier this year. Dacor also offers a smart oven feature called Discovery IQ". The price tag on these starts at $3,600 for Jenn-Air and $4,400 for Dacor.The new June oven will be available starting next spring for $1,495 but you can reserve one for $95 now. You'll just have to get over the loss of counter space.         

The Best of Jenn-Air: My Top 3 Picks

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks in my little “kitchen designer world”.  Earlier this month I made a quick trip to the World of Whirlpool in Chicago to learn, in depth,  about  their premium Jenn-Air line of appliances.  Jenn-Air has been around a long time but has recently been reinvented to compete with the luxury brands.  Overall the line is very impressive and I could go on and on but today I thought I'd share with you my top 3 favorites. Jenn-Air appliances are all made in the USA, other than that I was interested to learn what sets them apart from the competition.  What I found out is, for cooking, many of their appliances lead the pack when it comes to power and variety of power.  For example, a high BTU like 20,000 will give you hot quick high heat and a low one like 650 gives you excellent simmering capability.  The Jenn-Air cooktops whether gas, electric or induction have you covered.Jenn-Air is also a pioneer in downdraft technology (since the 1960s).  It used to be that you couldn't use down draft ventilation unless your house was built with ductwork in the slab under the floor.  No more!  The JX3 downdraft cooktops can be purchased with a duct-free accessory kit.  When you consider that the average family expels 1 gallon of cooking grease into the home every year, ventilation becomes an important consideration.The buzz around induction and steam cooking continues and these appliances impressed me enough to make the top 3. If you know me you know I predict induction cooking will rule the world (almost) in the next decade or so.  Induction means cooking with electro  magnetic energy so the pot, not the cooking surface, is your heat source.  It is 90% efficient and you won't get burned!   Surprisingly electric cooking is only about 65% and gas is last with 45% efficiency.  Your pots are probably not going to be a problem.  If a magnet sticks to the bottom you're good to go.  This cooktop is also modestly priced compared to the competition and retails for $2,199.ooThe Jenn-Air appliance I would want the most for my kitchen would be the steam and convection oven.  It's a lot of cooking capability packed into a 24" oven! Steam cooking is not just for veggies but also great for cooking eggs, bread, meat, desserts and heating leftovers.  The best thing is that you can combine steam and convection cooking so that things like meat and bread brown on the outside.  If you just want to bake you can use convection bake mode without the steam.  Convection gives you uniform cooking, a must for baking.No plumbing hook up is needed.  The reservoir on the right holds the tap water you'll need to get steamy.  You also won't need a 220 outlet, 120 is all it takes. Another impressive  fact is you can cook several different foods together such as salmon, green beans and creme brulee' with no flavor transference! See more photos and commentary from my trip at Kitchens for Living On the Road and thank you Jenn-Air for the royal designer treatment :)

Men in the Kitchen: Compact Cooking

Today KFL looks at the first in our series "Men in the Kitchen".  A small city kitchen requires lots of planning and organization but that doesn't hold this guy back.  Meet Tim,  an enthusiastic  resident of Manhattan for over 25 years.   When I asked him why he left his native Mid-west for the Big Apple, he said,  "I moved here because I was fascinated with NYC from the first time I visited, as a teenager, and knew I had to be in the middle of such an energetic, dynamic city.Since then he has never looked back.  Tim, his wife of ten years and their two kitties have learned how to live "compact" in their  cozy Manhattan apartment.  Every Saturday night Face Book friends  eagerly await "THE MENU" when Tim posts the results of his vegetarian kitchen creations.  A typical post goes like this:Tonight's menu: peppery pitted Greek olives; blanched green beans tossed in garlic, butter & smoked salt; rigatoni alla norma; an Italian pinot; dark chocolate & coconut flake squares. Come on over.  I don't know if anyone has ever taken him up on the "come on over" but I have a feeling it going to happen very soon.Here's what he had to say:KFL:  How often do you cook and what is your specialty?Tim: I cook, on average, 5 days a week.  My specialty--difficult to answer because there's not just one.  I like to think I'm pretty good at several dishes, rather than just one.  So I will always go back to one of those several when I need a crowd pleaser.

 K FL: What are the top 3 tools you can't live without in the kitchen?

Tim: Utility scissors.  There isn't a day that goes by when I don't need them in the kitchen, and anyone who says they don't need them is crazy.  Whether it's for opening difficult food packages, cutting through thick bunches of greens, cutting a pizza into slices or snipping fresh herbs, I need them.  Secondly, I love my razor-sharp, forged steel chef's knife- duh! My Henckels Pro S-Class Chef's Knife is my best friend, except for my wife!

Thirdly, I cannot live without my Zojirushi Rice Cooker.  Add the rice, add the water, add the herbs/spices, push the buttom and forget about it (as we say in NY).  Perfect rice every single time--not too dry, not too soggy, just right.  Plus it keeps it that way for hours after it's cooked.  This thing has changed my life, I am so not joking!

KFL: If you could change one thing about your kitchen, what would it be?

Tim:Much, much, much, much more counter space.

KFL:  How did you learn to cook?

Tim:  On weekends, I would sometimes get bored.  I would tell my mom that and ask her what I could do for fun.  She would tell me to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies or some other baked sweet.  She'd tell me to read the directions, figure it out and if I had any questions she would answer them.  Sometimes she'd ask me to help her with making dinner that night, so I often did.

KFL:  Is cooking a pleasure or just a necessity?

Tim: Nothing but pleasure.

City cooking aficionados like Tim deal with limited storage by shopping for fresh ingredients each day instead of stocking up.  Last year with the cooperation of their landlord they were able to add an 18" dishwasher by eliminating a cabinet.  Even though they lost the storage it was worth it.  At the same time they added some accessories to an existing pantry so they were able to make up some of  that lost space with more functionality.  More counter space remains elusive.

BETTER LIVING BY MIELE

This past week I was given the opportunity, by the nice folks at Miele (rhymes with tequila), to mix business with pleasure.  I attended a Miele Table Artist Salon for an evening of culinary creativity.  I was not disappointed.Not only were we treated to an exceptional gourmet experience, courtesy of Chef David Whyko, but I also got to learn more about the two most promising and up and coming appliances in the industry. (Trivia:  Chef David was chef for Lenny Kravitz for ten years!)

Greeted at the door with a glass of bubbly set the tone.  This was followed by a sit down dinner for around 20 people. All food prepared by Chef David was cooked using a combination of induction, steam and speed cooking.Miele, based in Germany, is a family owned business started over 100 years ago.  Their guiding principle is to provide “Better Living” with products designed to make one’s life easier.  All appliances are tested to last a minimum of 20 years.We’ve been hearing the buzz about induction cooking and, as I have written before, it is a safer, faster and more efficient way to cook.  You will certainly be seeing the induction cooktop become a major player very soon.  The second star of the show was Miele’s steam oven.  Steam cooking is gaining in popularity as more people become aware of the capabilities it offers.  For example, you can do anything in a steam oven that you can do in a microwave.  Not gonna lie, there are two exceptions to that rule which are popcorn and reheating your morning cup of joe.  Here’s how it works.  Fill the reservoir with water, set your temperature and in about ten minutes average you should be done.  Steam cooking retains flavor and nutrients to a greater degree than with other modes..  A big thanks to the Miele Gallery in Boca Raton for an informative and delish event.  The Gallery offers prospective customers a hands on experience so you can see how their products add a little "better living" to your life.