HAUTE TECH
Heating things up, high-tech advances are making life easier – and more inviting – for kitchen amateurs.
Also taking style to new heights is the new cooker hood from Miele, Aura 3.0, which is designed to be used above a cooking island. For the first time a Miele cooker hood has a completely round shape, which makes a visual impact that’s just as elegant as it is surprising, the 70-cm diameter canopy in brilliant white conveying the impression of a shallow dome.
The all-round dimmable LED ambient lighting provides an atmospheric glow – complementing the LED hob lighting, that places hob activities in exactly the right level of light.
As a recirculation cooker hood, the Aura 3.0 is also best-suited to highly insulated buildings, in which clean air is recirculated back into the room. First, grease particles are removed by a ten-layer metal filter, after which the odour molecules are absorbed by the Longlife AirClean filter. The metal filters can be easily cleaned in the dishwasher as their stainless steel outer layers are permanently protected from discolouration. The hood can even be controlled by the Miele@mobile app via smartphone or tablet.
To make cooking a breeze, Bosch’s new induction hobs with integrated hoods feature a hob and cooker hood perfectly combined in a single appliance. In these new models, the hood is perfectly integrated into the hob, making it invisible. This arrangement also creates further space beneath the hob for pots and pans, so they are always within reach, and makes it possible to extract steam and food smells immediately. The integrated ventilation module requires only minimal manual cleaning, and all parts of the cooker hood can be removed from the hob and washed in a dishwasher. The hobs can be installed anywhere in a kitchen: on a kitchen island or underneath a window.
Gaggenau also brought a variety of top-tier professional grade innovations to Salone.
Awarded the coveted gold award in the 2018 iF Design Awards, the newly launched Vario cooling 400 series includes a fully integrated, built-in modular range of refrigerators, freezers, fridge-freezers and wine climate cabinets which can be partnered to meet an array of interior needs.
An expanse of handle-less doors with individual furniture fronts, and stainless steel or glass doors for wine climate cabinets, presents a statement in any private kitchen. The door opens to reveal a complete stainless steel interior and dark anthracite anodised aluminium elements. Imperceptible clear glass shelving and solid aluminium door racks are further complemented by a stunning atmospheric glow from the warm white, glare-free LED lights.
Push to open the handle-less door and the mechanism will open the portal for you! Even the door’s ice and water dispenser anticipates your needs and automatically activates the light and touch keys as you approach, thanks to its ingenious proximity sensor.
Perhaps literally, the highlight of Salone’s tech innovations was Gaggenau’s world-first backlighting concept for the Vario 400 series dishwasher – a world-first. The interior of the dishwasher is illuminated instantly, greatly enhancing both its overall aesthetic and the user experience. The new design uses six LED panels placed on the back wall that light up at the same time as the two existing LED lights at the top front of the appliance, perfectly illuminating the entire interior from every angle.
The Vario 400 series cooktops will allow you to prepare even complicated gastronomic dishes with confidence. Thanks to the precise finishing of stainless steel that’s just 3 mm thick, it is possible to achieve perfect alignment with the combination of modular cooktops and ventilation systems: induction, gas, electric hot plates, steamers, Teppanyaki and fryers can all be easily combined with a telescopic top or table ventilation unit to create even the most extensive configurations.