Wondering what kitchen appliances will be popular in 2022? If you’re planning any appliance upgrades, here are some of the latest trends for the coming year.
Refrigerators
Many manufacturers are updating their refrigerators and adding new features to incorporate with smart technology. These smart refrigerators can connect to the internet through your home Wi-Fi, and are usually
accessed through a smartphone or digital home assistant such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. Following are some of the newer features available for different brands and models:
- Tinted glass panels that illuminate with two quick knocks, allowing you to view fridge contents without having to open the door.
- A full digital display on the front door that allows you to watch tv shows while you cook, display photos and videos of family and friends, browse the internet, listen to audio books, and answer the front door.
- Interactive displays for leaving notes, creating to-do-lists, and coordinating schedules.
- Internal cameras for viewing fridge contents.
- Built-in Keurig single-cup coffee maker.
Smart refrigerators also have the ability to:
- Provide both hot and cold water.
- Read recipes out loud.
- Set expiration dates for food items and provide notifications to use them while still fresh.
- Compile recipes for meals based on the food items in the fridge.
- Create automated grocery lists when running low or close to expiry date.
- Provide troubleshooting diagnoses.
- Record messages and play them back for family members.
- Make voice-activated phone calls.
- Connect to and allow you to manage other smart appliances, such as dishwashers and microwaves.
Using special apps on your smartphone to connect to the fridge, you can perform such actions as:
- Adjust fridge or freezer temperature.
- Change ice maker settings (e.g. increase amount of ice) or turn it off.
- Access shopping lists from the refrigerator’s touch screen display.
- View refrigerator items through the panoramic camera when shopping or in other areas of the house.
- Receive alerts when the fridge door is open, the filter needs replacement, or something is blocking the circulation in the fridge or freezer.
- Receive alerts for food expiration dates.
Steam Ovens
Steam ovens continue to be one of the fastest-growing trends in kitchen appliances. Health-conscious cooks love the benefits of cooking with steam, which include:
- Helps food retain valuable vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C and folate.
- Preheats and cooks faster. Salmon only takes 5-8 minutes using steam, compared to 20 minutes at 400°F in a conventional oven.
- Requires little to no oil, since steam is naturally moist.
- Reheats food evenly, without drying it out or ruining the texture.
- Flavors don’t cross over when cooking different foods at the same time.
Steam ovens are available in full steam models, or in combination with convection ovens. The combination oven not only saves kitchen space if you want both oven types, but offers the best of both worlds in cooking flexibility — moist vegetables and chicken with crispy skin.
Although regular steam ovens reach a temperature of 212°F, some models can produce superheated steam of 485°F. This allows you to grill, brown meats, and caramelize sugar without smoke.
Multi-Use Kitchen Appliances
Multi-use kitchen appliances are becoming more and more popular. Many provide healthier, faster ways to prepare meals, while all cut down on clutter and help keep kitchens organized. Here are some of the trending multi-use appliances:
1. Stand mixer. This is the appliance to own if you do a lot of baking. It’s more powerful than a hand mixer, and mixes dough faster and more thoroughly.
In addition to a bowl, there are three standard attachments that come with the mixer: a dough hook, a beater, and a whisk. Various optional attachments are available (e.g. food processors, meat grinders, and pasta makers) that can replace the need for other appliances in your kitchen.
2. Instant Pot. This appliance is also known as a multi-cooker or one-pot cooker. It provides the cooking functions of many other appliances: pressure cooker, rice cooker, slow cooker, conventional oven, stovetop, steamer, air fryer, yogurt maker, and breadmaker.
Instant pots are easy to use. Different functions and settings are already programmed in, so all you need to do is choose a recipe, throw in the prepared ingredients, and select the correct program. The cooker will beep a few times when the meal is ready, then switch to the keep warm setting. Once you’re familiar with the pre-programmed recipes you can start programming your own favorite meals into the instant pot.
3. Air Fryer. An air fryer is a small convection oven that circulates hot air around the food while cooking at high temperatures. It uses little to no oil to produce healthier food that is comparable to food cooked in a deep fryer — crispy on the outside and juicy inside.
The versatility of air fryers allows you to cook pasta, fish, meat, and vegetables, as well as bake cookies and desserts. Foods with a wet batter should be avoided, as they’ll turn out chewy and create a burned-on mess.
For most recipes pre-heating isn’t necessary, and cooking is faster than in conventional ovens. A fillet of salmon one inch thick, for example, takes 10 minutes to cook at 400°F.
Commercial-Style Appliances
More people are choosing commercial-style appliances for their kitchens after watching television cooking programs and wanting to try new techniques using the same professional appliances.
Appliance manufacturers have been responding to this trend by making professional-grade equipment to fit traditional kitchens. These appliances are referred to as “prosumer”, a combination of the words “professional” and “consumer”. The term “prosumer” applies to any appliances from higher-end consumer to full-scale professional.
Commercial-style oven ranges provide some of the following features:
- Built-in griddle for browning, searing and crisping.
- High and low heat burners.
- Large front-control knobs, heavy-duty grates, and minimal or no backguard.
- Dual fuel options.
- Convertible grates with removable inserts to adjust the heat to your cooking technique.
For those passionate about cooking, there are also increased capacity refrigerators that offer up to 34 cubic feet of volume. Such pro-style fridges store large amounts of ingredients to accommodate consistent cooking. They have better door seals, compartments at different temperatures to preserve various food types, and special gaskets to prevent odors spreading among compartments.
Some of the most important items in your kitchen are your major appliances. For the very best in appliance repair and maintenance, you can count on C&W Appliance Service. Get in touch with us at (855) 358-1496 or submit our online service request form.
