The kitchen has well and truly traversed both the inside and outside space of a house and is no longer ‘just’ a place to cook and eat...
TECHNOLOGY COOKS UP A STORM
A spokesperson for appliance maker Fisher & Paykel says its Touchscreen Oven helps cooks of all skill levels intuitively produce perfect results in the kitchen with guided cooking technologies.”
This technology has been designed to remove the guesswork for the home chef so they can focus on “creating exceptional cuisine.”
“You can now cook by key ingredient, method or recipe – either following prompts to the letter or branching out to create a dish with your own signature twist,” the spokesperson notes.
Supported by technology, heat is circulated evenly and precisely throughout the generously sized cavity, ensuring a consistent temperature at every stage of cooking.
It has 17 oven functions and pyrolytic selfcleaning technologies that break down food residue for an easy clean, the company says.
For a heritage feel with contemporary performance, Fisher & Paykel point to its Freestanding Cooker, with its spacious gas cooktop and generously sized convection oven it offers the availability to cook several dishes at the same time.
Built with Fisher & Paykel’s Aerotech system, it circulates air evenly throughout the entire oven so dishes on the top shelf turn out just as perfect as food cooking on the bottom shelf. Safety features include quadruple-glazed Cooltouch door and fully extending sliding shelves, the company says.
SCRATCHING JUST BELOW THE STONE SURFACES
Caesarstone’s Outdoor Collection engineered stone surface technology works for a broad range of applications, from internal kitchens and bathrooms to external poolside bars and alfresco kitchens, in other words, opening up a well of inspiration for seamless design inside and out.
According to general manager of marketing, Grant Vandenberg, “Until now, there hasn’t been an outdoor surface material as durable as Caesarstone. With our new outdoor range, people can have complete peace of mind for a long-lasting application in their alfresco designs.”
“Caesarstone Outdoor Collection surfaces maintain exceptional mechanical and physical properties after long-term exposure to the sun and seasonal weather changes; outperforming other common outdoor surfaces, including granite, ceramic, concrete and stainless steel in standardised testing,” he says.
But it’s not just about the aesthetics or longevity of use, there is the issue of user safety as well.
As Michell Bridger-darling from CASF, the manufacturer of the Corian range of surface technology notes, “Corian solid surfaces have low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) content and have proven to be extremely safe as surfacing materials for over 50 years, with minimal impact on indoor air quality.”
“In addition” she says, “these non-porous surfaces do not promote the growth of mould and mildew when properly cleaned, making them ideal choices for healthcare and food preparation facilities, schools, offices and homes for use in countertops, wall cladding, sinks and a wide variety of other applications.”
ACHIEVING MORE FROM YOUR KITCHEN FURNITURE
Rachael Davis from kitchen furniture maker Blum, says that “Modern technology and
quality hardware from Blum gives designers the capability of creating beautiful aesthetics and functionality within their designs.”
“Because of this,” she says, “…Space Step gives designers the opportunity to stand out from the rest. The Space Step can be paired with Blum’s Legrabox, Tandembox, and Movento box systems.”
“Space Step can be easily implemented with Blum’s motion technologies such as Tip-on Blumotion. For designers who want their clients to experience supreme user convenience,” says Davis, adding that, “Space Step can also be combined with the Servo-drive electrical opening support system. With a light touch of the front, the pull-out glides open and then closes silently and effortlessly with soft-close Blumotion.”
LET’S GO OUTSIDE FOR A BBQ
Christie Barbecues is the manufacturer the original Australian gas and electric public barbecue.
Joe Moore from Christie says that their outdoor cooking products are “…engineered for ease of use, energy efficiency, and to withstand harsh outdoor environments and heavy use that can defeat domestic and commercial alternatives.”
“Since 1965,” says Moore, “they have evolved into self-contained commercial cooking appliances that can be ordered with our pre-fabricated cabinets or built into any outdoor kitchen project. The heavy-duty stainless-steel grill plate offers a versatile and durable cooking surface that meets diverse cultural and dietary needs.”
“We focus exclusively on providing the safest, most reliable, most energy-efficient products on the market while providing the ultimate cooking experience. Pre-set temperature and cooking times allow users to simply push a button, wait for the sterilisation cycle, cook and leave,” he says.
Moore also notes that sustainability is a core value at Christie Barbecues and entails more than just recycling and lower their power consumption.
“We consider our products carbon footprint throughout their design life. We are a third-generation family-owned business, and manufacture our products in Australia, with local partners and locally sourced materials. Our factory is 100 percent powered by solar electricity; we use only recyclable packaging, and we manufacture our barbecues from recyclable stainless steel and aluminium,” he says.
REMOVING ALL THE BAD AIR WHEREVER IT MAY BE
Condor Rangehoods are designed and manufactured in Australia to compliment all alfresco and outdoor areas. The latest design in outdoor entertaining can now become truly viable with the addition of a Condor Rangehood. The Condor Rangehood will remove all by-products of outdoor cooking – smoke, grease and odours.
“Many barbecues installed in alfresco areas can be quite elaborate and exotic. They can include different cooking appliances, such as side burners, wok burners and rotisserie spikes, and are available in natural and LP gas. Significantly, they can generate an enormous amount of smoke and odours,” says John Keating from Condor distributor Condari.
“Alfresco areas are becoming more popular and barbecues are becoming more elaborate and complex putting out more heat.
The problem with ventilation is when the heat output of the barbecue is over 65 megajoules (MJ) or each burner is 15 MJ or greater. Correct ventilation allows full use of all the facilities in the Alfresco areas,” he points out.
Keating says that “The barbecues available in today’s market place can produce an output of up to 130 MJ. The air movement of the exhaust system must be greater than the updraft caused by the burners of the barbecue.”
“The Condor Rangehood achieves this via three forward curved centrifugal fan motors with a maximum air movement of 2700 cubic metres of air per hour. This is matched by an incomparable degree of quietness, which is achieved by fully insulating the rangehood with sound-deadening material,” he says.
Over at Australian-owned Schweigen, the challenge in rangehood design has been to generate as much consistent extraction power, as quietly and efficiently as possible. This is especially relevant in modern homes that are increasingly being designed for energy efficiency.
To achieve this, Schweigen’s Jerry Yap says the company started by sourcing the quietest and most powerful domestic extraction fan available, and integrated the German-made, centrifugal fan technology into a Schweigen-designed and patented motor system called the Isodrive.
“The Isodrive is installed outside of the home, on the roof, wall or eave and connected to the rangehood with acoustically-matched, rightsized flexible ducting. Air extraction is done in one seamless energy-efficient pull from outside the home - unlike traditional internally-motored rangehoods that need to work twice as hard to first pull air into the canopy and then push it through ducting to the outdoors, introducing air turbulence and noise as it does so,” he says.
According to Yap, it is “available in a range of motor options to suit your needs, Isodrive motor systems require just 57W of power to run and can offer energy savings of more than 300 percent.”