If you love cooking but can never find enough time for it, or you’re completely terrified of cooking but you need to start, and don’t know where to start – then you’ve reached the right place. The first step towards having a streamlined and efficient cooking experience is to have an arsenal of functional kitchen appliances by your side. With the right kitchen tools and appliances, cooking can be a fun and effortless process. The right products can reduce your prep time in half, make the little cooking tasks much easier, and help you with tedious and complicated techniques. From the Electrolux GRO kitchen that offers a fresh take on sustainable eating to a tiny cooking appliance that helps you cook for one – these innovative kitchen accessories are all you need to undertake cooking and become a MasterChef in the comfort of your own home. Happy cooking!
1. The Slush Machine
This iconic-looking device is called the Slush Machine, and mimics an inverted ice cone! It shaves ice on demand and dispenses fine slush into the vessel positioned below to make delicious frozen desserts and slushies.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Slush Machine is an incredibly intuitive-looking appliance with a single-button interface on the top. The appliance stands upright on any countertop surface, with a hollow space underneath for collecting the shaved ice. Just plug it in and press the PUSH button on top for as long as you want and the Slush Machine will keep dispensing shaved ice.
2. GRO
The one thing that COVID-19 brought to the forefront – is that health is DEFINITELY wealth. Whether that means maintaining a healthy diet, drinking enough water, working out daily, having your vitamins and minerals, or a mix of all these great habits. Eating healthy has gained almost a cult-like status now. New diet trends are always on the rise, and people are constantly trying to figure out which diets work the best for them – often forgetting that a certain amount of attention must be paid to the ingredients from which their meals are prepared. They often turn a blind eye to the long-term effects of our food supply systems on the Earth’s ecosystem. Our food shouldn’t be healthy for us only, but for the planet as well. And one great solution to tackle this issue would be plant-based diets!
Why is it noteworthy?
GRO includes a modular compartment system that you can combine like LEGO bricks, depending on your dietary needs and kitchen space. Each compartment is designed not only to preserve ingredients but also to showcase its diversity and beauty. A Plant Gallery, for example, provides optimal conditions for storing fruits and vegetables while also letting you enjoy their fresh appearance behind textured glass.
What we like
- The GRO Coach digital food companion will help you make the right sustainable choices based on your habits and needs
- The system also defies stereotypes of plant-forward diets as bland or unexciting, especially to taste buds. In fact, GRO encourages exploration and experimentation, like the Grain and Pulse Library, which lets you try out alternative sources of protein from grains and pulses
3. The Range Pop
Called the Range Pop, this innovative microwave is super unique! It features a door and a microwave tray, but they open upwards, instead of being located at the front! It allows your food to descend into the microwave for heating, and ascend upwards when heated.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Range Pop’s new format presents a different experience that has its own set of pros and cons. For starters, the chances of electromagnetic waves leaking out through the chamber is reduced, and it’s easier to access your food without bending over or spilling something. On the flip side, the Range Pop requires vertical space – something that most homes and a few office canteens may not be able to provide… and unlike conventional ovens, you don’t get to see your food rotating on the turntable as it heats.
4. The Panasonic HomeCHEF 7-in-1 Compact Oven
The Panasonic HomeCHEF 7-in-1 Compact Oven has functions such as Steam and Steam Convection. These two promise healthier dishes since they’re able to preserve more nutrients compared to other cooking methods. That brings the number of functions to seven (hence the name), including Air Fry, Convection Bake, Slow Cook, Sanitize, and Ferment.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Panasonic HomeCHEF 7-in-1 Compact Oven is expanding its size and its features in order to also expand the number of healthy dishes one can prepare at home. Although it doesn’t completely remove the work that needs to be done to prepare these meals (not to mention the cleanup afterward), it tries to reduce the number of cooking appliances you have to juggle. It’s easy enough to downplay these conveniences, but ease of use and reducing the friction to get started go a long way in setting people on the right track to healthier living.
5. MEALZTIME
If Steve Jobs were less of a tech enthusiast and more of a culinary specialist, maybe we’d be staring at a state-of-the-art culinary heating device instead of the M2 MacBook Air. Although that reality didn’t quite pan out, we still have the MEALZTIME, an incredibly slim, self-heating bento box that’s leak-proof, easy to clean, and works on a single-button interface.
Why is it noteworthy?
MEALZTIME hopes to make the office microwave obsolete. Given the sheer number of people who use the microwave on a daily basis (and that occasional dimwit who heats up their tuna casserole in it, ruining it for everyone), MEALZTIME was designed as a personalized alternative that heats your food up to the right temperature for you, without you having to wait in line. All you do is press the power button on your bento box and MEALZTIME gets to work, automatically shutting down after your food’s been heated. It does so without needing to be plugged in too, so you could potentially grab a hot meal on the subway, in your car, in the outdoors, or even at work during a power cut.
6. The Utensil Disinfection Cabinet
The Utensil Disinfection Cabinet is a handy countertop appliance that not only organizes, but protects your cutlery. It features an innovative anti-bacterial chamber.
Why is it noteworthy?
Designed to be used once your utensils come out of the dishwasher or after washing them in the kitchen sink, the appliance organizes your plates and bowls while also giving you the option to dry and disinfect them. A pop-down hood conceals your tableware, and a simple interface on the bottom gives you the ability to access the Utensil Disinfection Cabinet’s multiple features.
7. Minepot
Millennials, today, usually live alone. As great as living alone can be at times, it can also be quite a hassle in some ways. For example – cooking for one is almost always an issue. You need to cook the perfect amount so that you don’t end up wasting food or eating the same damn dish for three days in a row, which is no better a fate (according to me). However, we are seeing products in the market that are being made for this specific niche of people!
Why is it noteworthy?
One such example is this latest product concept from Yifeeling which is all about making cooking for yourself a part of your daily “ritual” and not just a chore you have to get through. Minepot looks like a food processor at first glance but it actually seems to be an air fryer or food fryer type of appliance. It is noticeably smaller than other similar kitchen tools and it is designed that way so that you not only cook for one but you are also able to have food intake that’s just right for you.
8. Reusable Seal Tray
One of my favorite parts of the cooking process is chopping up fruits and veggies. There is almost a therapeutic quality to this activity, I believe. But as much as I love chopping up a couple of carrots and cucumbers, I almost always have a portion of chopped veggies that are untouched by the time I’m done with my cooking. Storing these leftover vegetables and fruits usually involves single-use plastic, which is a downright catastrophe for the environment. However, thinking of kitchen accessories to reduce the use of these kinds of plastics is something that product designers have been conscious about the past few years.
Why is it noteworthy?
This Reusable Seal Tray is a food preservation tray that is simple yet highly functional. It is able to preserve your pre-cut food ingredients in your ref, reduce oxidation, and also prevent odor contamination by other stuff inside your ref. It has a sealing system with a 100% Platinum Silicone flexible sheet that will still keep various shapes and sizes of vegetables and even cheese and sausages. There is a disclaimer though that what you can store here are those that have just a little liquid.
9. The BA/CA Board
Portability is a quality that’s often mutually exclusive to kitchen appliances. Or so was the case earlier. Recently, we have been seeing a lot of travel-friendly kitchen appliances being introduced into the market, however, a travel-friendly ‘cutting board’ isn’t something that’s been truly experimented with. But, AK Studios Design decided to change that with the BA/CA Board.
Why is it noteworthy?
The BA/CA Board is a compact, travel-friendly cutting board that’s perfect indoors and outdoors… because it also happens to have a chef’s knife docked right into it! The cutting board doubles as a sheath for your knife, making it safer and easier to carry outdoors, and if you’re not a travel bug, The BA/CA Board works just as well in your indoor kitchen, conveniently organizing your knife and board together so you can easily begin meal prep in just seconds
10. The Froli All-Purpose Holder
Something that’s been gaining immense popularity since the pandemic is mobile home living. It’s economical, flexible, and more energy-efficient. However, storing items in a mobile home that’s always on the go can be a pain in the butt. The constant clinking and clanking of plates, bowls, glasses, and cutlery can make you want to shove in your earplugs! A solution that can keep stuff stowed away safely and quietly is called the Froli All-Purpose Holder.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Froli All-Purpose Holder (Froli Alleshalter) is a modular system that holds small kitchen objects from rattling or slipping while stored inside a cabinet or a drawer. One packaged set features 16 individual plastic concave square parts that can be easily plugged in and connected to create compact storage for your moving home or vehicle. The extra side connecting pieces can be removed to fit most cupboards.
