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What's New:
The new 42-inch French Door fully flush refrigerator from Jenn-Air belongs to the recently introduced collection of high performance built-in refrigerators that marries seamless design with thoughtful functionality. Other flush refrigerator models include 36-inch bottom-freezer and popular 42- and 48-inch side-by-side door refrigerators. The new JF42NXFXDW is the industry-first 42-inch French door bottom-freezer refrigerator offering the widest interior space available in any fully flush refrigerator currently on the market and bringing the clean, seamless and refined look to your kitchen. One of the important design features is the hidden articulated hinges that allow for minimal gaps, no larger than that of surrounding cabinetry, making the refrigerator virtually disappear in its environment. The completely integrated look of the Jenn-Air refrigerator is all about aesthetics, yet functionality and performance are not sacrificed but further enhanced. Thus, the thinner exterior door provides a flush fit with custom cabinetry for a seamless exterior, while the interior offers even greater usable cubic space than similar flush refrigerators and a faster temperature recovery time after the doors are opened. High performance vacuum insulation panels help maintain energy and keep food fresher, longer. The articulated hinge is equipped with [...]
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Initially introduced in the United States in 2003 by Cook-N-Dine, the premium stainless steel, teppan cooking surfaces by CDS have been re-examined recently by the scrutinizing eyes of their inventor and patent-holder, Mr. Paul Schacht. To suit the demanding American customer even better, all built-in teppanyaki grill models have received a major technical makeover, resulting in improved heating element size, which led to almost double the actual hot cooking surface. These new models are already rolling out for the Holiday Season 2009.
The intriguing teppanyaki cooking style makes for effortless delicious, healthy eats. The secret is the intense heat of the solid 304 stainless steel surface that seals in all the juices on contact. Paired with its patented sink-down-in-the-center feature when on, a CDS teppanyaki grill can replace bulky pans and woks, and perfectly complements any traditional barbeque grill, while freeing up storage space and doubling as additional work top when not in use for cooking. Main features include:
- Worldwide patented feature: center bows down slightly when on to keep the fine juices in place; reverts back to flat when switched off
- Accurate temperature control from gentle 120°F up to 430°F, even contact heat, plenty [...]
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Maytag offers two dual fuel ranges, the 90cm wide single SOV90GRC and 100cm wide SOV100GRC double oven range, both featuring ergonomically designed and easy to use control knobs, timer with delay start function and stainless steel single sheet hob surface for easy cleaning. The versatile six-burner dual fuel ranges have two 3.5 kW triple ring wok burners, two 1.7 kW burners, a 3.0 kW and a 1.0 kW burner. The 90cm range has 75 litre oven with 8 functions including defrost, grill, fan grill, fan assisted, conventional, top heat, bottom heat and turnspit. Interior light, grill pan and trivet, two five-position shelves and bottom storage drawer. The 100cm dual fuel range has the main, 61 litre oven with 8 functions that include defrost, grill, fan grill, fan assisted, conventional, top heat, bottom heat and turnspit as well as the secondary 35 litre oven with 4 functions including top heat, bottom heat, grill and conventional oven. Both ovens come with light, grill pan and trivet. The main oven offers two five-position shelves while the secondary has one. A bottom drawer offers convenient storage place. Both Maytag dual fuel ranges come with [...]
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The large Liebherr WTes4677 Vinidor is the capable wine refrigerator that stores wines at three different temperatures from +5°C to +20°C or +41°F to +68°F. This state-of-the-art wine refrigerator holds up to 143 bottles in three separately controlled temperature zones and enables both long term and serving temperature storage. This allows you to store champagne, red wine and white wine each at its optimum temperature without undermining the quality of wines produced by different grapes, prolonging the flavour and aroma and longevity. Liebherr equips this refrigerator with a dimmable LED display for accurate temperature monitoring. A carbon filter fitted to each zone purifies the incoming fresh air for purity. Even the hand made, untreated wooden shelves contribute to optimum wine storage. Refrigerator humidity is maintained between 50% and 80%, guaranteeing ideal conditions to ensure the corks do not dry out. The WTes4677 also allows wines to be stored long term, with the UV light repellent door keeping harmful light at bay while the motor, housed in an isolated environment, ensures a vibration free environment. This triple temperature wine refrigerator from Liebherr retails at approximately £2,850. Also, wine storage [...]
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The fully integrated Miele wine refrigerator has three unique cooling zones with independent controls permitting you to store or temper champagne, white and red wines at their ideal conditions within 40°F to 64°F range. The environment is maintained by Miele MasterCool controls that protect wine bottles from any temperature changes, controlling it precisely for long-term wine storage. To protect your collection further, Miele equipped this wine refrigerator with the proprietary RemoteVision system that uses wireless local area network technology and unique application software developed by Miele for its Independence Series, enabling the cabinet to connect to Miele monitoring center. If there is a significant change in temperature or other conditions, the center notifies you for further action.
The humidity levels are controlled with the help of dynamic cooling system ensuring that corks are kept moist to effectively seal the bottles. The fully integrated wine storage refrigerator guarantees an even circulation of air and constant humidity so your wines always give a perfect bouquet for the enjoyment of family and friends.
Specially designed LED illumination system of this Miele wine refrigerator doesn’t affect the [...]
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MicroFridge, the industry leader in compact specialty appliances, today introduced the next generation in small space convenience. The new product line includes patent-pending Safe Plug® technology and also features a Dual Outlet Charge Station that enables people to safely and conveniently charge a range of popular electronic devices such as laptop computers, MP3 players, cell phones, digital cameras and more.
Combining a spacious refrigerator, freezer and microwave in a single unit, a MicroFridge appliance is perfect wherever space is limited and there’s a need for food and refreshments – including hotels, college residence halls, assisted living residences, military housing, offices and at home too. The compact MicroFridge refrigerator features over two cubic feet of storage space, while the separate freezer boasts a 0.75 cubic foot capacity. For food preparation, there is a fully programmable 700-watt microwave oven. The refrigerator’s Smart Store Door allows the upright storage of two-liter bottles or half-gallon containers to eliminate leaks and spills that can result when storing tall containers on their side. And the roomy zero-degree freezer ensures that items like ice cream stay perfectly frozen.
The microwave features three, distinct “Express Cook” settings, along with pre-programmed recipes for soup, beverages, pizza and popcorn; the beeper volume [...]
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Someone sent me an email and asked if I thought there was a design flaw in a section of her cabinet design. I had to write back that, yes, I agreed with her that part of the design was flawed. Unfortunately, it was a finished picture of the kitchen that they had sent me, which made it even more uncomfortable for me to give my opinion. The kitchen was installed, and it looked like it cost a pretty penny. Here are words of wisdom:
“Lesson Learned
I learned a big lesson the hard way and wish I had gone with my instinct to hire a kitchen designer during my kitchen design process.
My contractor convinced me that it would make more sense for him to design the kitchen layout because he was also working on the electrical, plumbing etc. so there would be a cost savings to me if he designed it and worked with his preferred cabinet company.
We decided to go ahead and in the end I thought the kitchen looked great until I noticed some design elements that look flawed to me.
I believe that a good kitchen designer would have done a much [...]
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Ever wonder how that new Whirlpool, Kitchen Aid or Maytag appliance with all the newest technology came to the marketplace? Well, Whirlpool, the parent company has formalized a process to sort through the thousands of ideas that, at any one time, are percolating up from product groups, new business development teams, and i-mentors — employees trained in innovation who have been deployed throughout the organization to identify promising ideas. From that first grab-bag of concepts, managers green-light several hundred for study, giving each a slice of an innovation budget that ballparks at several million dollars for North America this year.
Ultimately, almost half of those flow into its innovation pipeline, which currently numbers close to 1,000 products. On average, 100 are introduced to the marketplace. “Every month we report pipeline size measured by estimated sales, and our goal this year is billion,” says Norena. With Whirlpool’s 2008 revenue totalling .9 billion, that would mean roughly 20% of sales would be from new products.
Beginning Affresh
The process has helped Whirlpool find such innovations as Affresh, a hockey puck-shaped tablet that consumers can toss into front-loading washers for a cleaning cycle. In less than two years, Affresh, which works with any [...]
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 For apartment and condo dwellers or those who live in communities where gas or charcoal grills are banned, electric grills offer sizzle without a lot of fuss. No big bags of charcoal or heavy propane tanks to lug home, no gas leaks to repair. Just plug in the grill, let it heat up for about 15 minutes, and cook away.
To see how well the Weber Q-140 (left in photo) and the Dimplex PowerChef (right in photo) electric grills can cook, we grilled chicken breasts, salmon steaks, burgers and rib-eye steaks on them.
The Weber Q-140 (5; a rolling stand is sold separately) is a basic portable grill—it lacks shelves and a warming rack—that fits nine to 12 hamburgers. The single control knob has no settings, so you won’t be able to load the grill and cook foods at different temperatures.
This no-frills grill delivered very good cooking performance and was easy to use and clean. It served up chicken and salmon that was juicy and lightly browned and burgers that were evenly cooked. Flare-ups weren’t a [...]
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Here is what’s catching my attention…new and/or interesting products you need to know about.
 Blue Star is sort of a lone wolf (no pun intended) in the pro range category. A somewhat silent player, it’s a product that deserves more attention. Blue Star says that they are the only genuine restaurant range for the home due to their open burner system, producing 22,000 btus of power, resulting in shorter cooking times and an even simmer. BUILD YOUR OWN Blue Star range (that’s what I built in the image) to reflect your personal style and preferences.
Miele hasjust redesigned their CombiSets, or modular cooking pieces. I LOVE modular pieces. It’s a super flexible, super functional way to precision-design your cooking needs. The new line includes an induction cooktop and Japanese Tepan Yaki. The design of these pieces are gorgeous, with controls that are slanted in an ergonomic way. A slightly larger 15″ size is available for some models and that really makes sense to me.
 I’m crazy about sink accessories! In my new home, I have this one small built-in cutting board, and it’s so incredibly useful to have it right nearby. We [...]
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 I love how these things happen. Yesterday, the tv was on in the background in the kitchen, and, while I’m not a frequent Food Network viewer by any means, my son and his girlfriend are big fans. They had been here for the weekend and we were just hanging out in the kitchen. I switched the channel to the Food Network and my son’s favorite chef, Bobby Flay, was on.
 Yesterday was the recap of the previous episodes of The Next Food Network Star, with the winner to be announced last night.
Eventually, my son and his girlfriend left to return to their home (ok, mine, where they’re living in NYC, lucky kids) and I found myself, now in my office, keeping the Food Network channel on for the rest of the day, up to the final show, and getting more and more into the series in the process! Throughout the day, the series took me from kitchen to office to bedroom (I know, it’s a sad state of affairs when I have to admit the Food Network channel was yesterday’s entertainment ALL DAY, but it’s virtually unheard of for me, [...]
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Hard times don’t mean college students have to give up healthful, tasty food.
These appliances will come in handy whether your son or daughter lives in a dorm or an off-campus apartment.
And while this gear won’t turn your college-age cooks into an Iron Chef, they can save them some money and add variety and spice to their diet.
Be sure to check your school’s guidelines about appliances, and see the rest of our back-to-school coverage.
Compact Refrigerators
The “dorm-room refrigerator” moniker shows how closely compact refrigerators have become identified with college life, but only some of the models we tested made the grade. Many models have a single temperature-control dial, so you can’t find an ideal temperature between the refrigerator and freezer sections. And all that we tested for this report are comparative energy hogs.
Only two refrigerators we tested had freezer sections that were able to keep frozen confections from turning to mush, and the 3.7-cubic-foot Avanti 308YWT, 0, flunked basic refrigeration. Choose the 4.6-cubic-foot Frigidaire FRC05L5D, 0, if your student will be a frequent frozen-food diner. Tell your kid to discard frozen foods that have been stored above 40°F for more than two [...]
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 The average U.S. home sees peak water consumption during the summer, as Americans turn on the taps and spigots more frequently to do things like water their lawns and flower beds and fill their swimming pools.
Since summer is also the time when droughts peak and municipalities nationwide impose water restrictions, you’ll want to watch your water use. Our latest reports on toilets and showerheads (available to subscribers) can help you find products that not only are water misers but also work well and look sharp. The map shows the latest U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook from the National Weather Service.
A Environmental Protection Agency-commissioned study by Aquacraft, a water-engineering-and- management firm, showed that toilet flushing accounted for almost 30 percent of water use in a typical home. Toilets installed before 1995 are water hogs, using 3.5 gallons or more per flush. But installing a 1.28-gpf toilet that meets the EPA’s WaterSense program’s limit would save you more than 4,000 gallons of water per year.
 The savings were even greater when [...]
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August was another amazing month of Kitchen Contraptions – filled with kitchen gadgets, grilling, and other kitchen wonders. Thanks again to all of our loyal readers, and we hope to do some giveaways soon. You can also follow us now on 
I just saw this new fixture from 
We love a free standing kitchen, because you don’t have to commit to the kitchen. Want a different kitchen island? Storage? You name it, and you can change it or move it around. We just found this amazing round up over at Design Heaven featuring a ton of free standing kitchen concepts.
