We Love… Luxury Appliances

If you’re refurbishing your kitchen, it's not just decor that can make a difference - appliances can too.

From big ticket items such as fridges and ovens, to smaller kitchen accessories like a mixer or hot water tap, appliances are an integral part of any kitchen. Everyone loves gadgets, and a refurbishment is the perfect time to invest in the appliances you covet – after all, if you’ve taken the time to carefully select colours and materials for decor, it’s worth ensuring that the all-important appliances hit the mark, too, by looking beautiful and making your cooking and entertaining experiences enjoyable. But how do you know where to start? Here’s our quick guide for choosing the best appliances for your kitchen.

Ovens and Hobs

The oven and hob are arguably the most important of all the kitchen appliances. When it comes to choosing the right ones for your kitchen, there’s so much choice it can be hard to know where to start. Whilst functionality does vary between oven models, for many people the initial choice is based on aesthetics. When it comes to luxury models, if you have a country style kitchen, for example, a range cooker or an AGA is mostly likely to fit with your decor. On the other hand, if your kitchen is contemporary or industrial in style, then a sleek built-in model will be more up your street.

When it comes to hobs, there are just as many options. With a range cooker, the hob is more often than not built in. However, if your oven is built into cabinetry or an island, then you’ll need to have a separate hob. Gas hobs are functional and familiar – cooking temperature is easy to control and arguably these hobs are more affordable options compared to some of the alternatives. However, they can be irritating to clean and require pans to be lifted on and off – not ideal if you want to boil a big saucepan full of water!

Luxury brands for range and built in ovens that you might want to investigate include Aga, Viking, Wolf, Miele and Gaggenau.

Refrigerators and Freezers

Another integral kitchen appliance, the fridge freezer, presents less of a challenge. The majority of people these days will not have a separate refrigerator and freezer, even in large or open plan kitchens which can handle more appliances. Instead, a popular choice for these spaces is a larger than life American fridge freezer. These are luxury appliances thanks to their huge size which provide tonnes of room for food and drink storage. As you would expect from a high end product, American fridge freezers often have fantastic functionality too, with features such as different temperature zones, self cleaning shelving and humidity control (among many more) to make sure that your food stays fresh and your fridge is hygienic. Available in freestanding or built in models, luxury brands include Amana, Sub Zero, Miele and Thermador.

Cooker Hoods / Extractor Fans

Featured in most kitchens, extractor fans keep the room clean and fresh by removing airborne grease, smoke and humidity. There are several things to consider when deciding which model to buy, including extraction buy hydrocodone in philippines rate, noise level, and extraction method. If you cook a lot then you might want a powerful extractor to make sure that odours are removed efficiently, especially if you stir fry, griddle, saute or fry a lot. If you love to entertain, then a quiet model is probably best as it will be less intrusive and enable guests to hear each other in conversation.

In terms of design, there are several different options; built in hoods, ceiling hoods, chimney or wall-mounted hoods, island cooker hoods, downdraft hoods, and pendant cooker hoods. Which of these you opt for will depend not only on the type of circulation you’re after, but also on whether you want to make a feature of this appliance, or keep it discreet. Luxury brands to keep an eye out for include Elica, Faber and Best.

Miscellaneous

After the major appliances, there are some others which you might want to consider, such as warming drawers, hot taps and wine fridges. Despite having been available for years, warming drawers have only recently become popular amongst home cooks. Highly versatile, they can be used to help prepare and time meals, to warm crockery, or prove dough. They can even be used to defrost delicate foods or melt chocolate. Most have humidity controls so that food does not dry out if it’s plated and uncovered – unlike a conventional oven.. A shallower drawer is perfect for warming plates or can be used to warm cappuccino or espresso cups for example, while a deeper drawer (sometimes referred to as a Sous Chef warming drawer) can be used i to heat larger pieces of crockery such as casserole dishes and can even be used to slow cook food such as joints or casseroles.

Hot taps are incredibly handy, eliminating the need for a separate kettle, Whilst the initial outlay is fairly expensive, these high end appliances save users a significant amount of time, money and water in the long run. Brands to investigate are Quooker, Zip and AquaTap.

Lastly, wine fridges can be a real boon, particularly for those that love to entertain, as they’ll save a ton of space in the fridge and can be placed close to seating or dining areas. A wine fridge such as those from Sub-Zero and Miele, for example, will have multiple sections, each with its own temperature setting, allowing you to keep, red, white, rose and sparkling at their optimum temperatures, all in the same unit. These appliances are also designed to protect wines from light, humidity and vibration as well as heat, ensuring that your favourite tipple is kept at it’s best at all times.

Ensuring that you put aside enough budget for appliances will mean that you can opt for the best possible models and put the cherry on top of your new kitchen. As the room where families – and friends – spend most of their time, making sure that you have a space that wows in both looks and functionality is priceless in the long term.