Free With Purchase.

You remember Cracker Jacks. Back in the day, I would buy boxes of that stuff just for the free prize (still love caramel popcorn).

Anyway, in a recession manufacturers have two solutions to declining sales. They could build more compelling products, which is a long range fix.

In the short term, however,they could package current products and bonus an item at no charge. Have a look...

Dacor..Buy a wall oven and a cooktop, and the $1300 warming drawer is yours for no extra charge.



Thermador...This company seems to have a whole bunch of promotions. For simplicity sake, buy any 36 or 48 inch professional stove, and receive a integrated $1300 dishwasher with their compliments.



Starts in February....

Shallow Depth Refrigerators Part 1

First of a three part series on shallow depth refrigerators. Shallow depth refrigerators have become the standard in upscale kitchens, because the chassis of the refrigerator does not protrude in the room. This leaves a more linear look in the kitchen.


Lets simplify the category and segment as well. Shallow depth refrigerators are available in three styles: Regular shallow depth, which is a basic refrigerator only shallow, professional or refrigerator with compressors on the top and integrated which is totally hidden. Lets review what I call regular shallow depth products in todays post.


The regular shallow is the least expensive and most popular of the three and is available in a side by side and French door. Brands available are Bosch, GE, LG, JennAir, KitchenAid, Viking, Dacor, Frigidaire and Electrolux

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Cool Microwaves....

Its Renaissance time for microwaves....Stop here for a moment. You can buy a microwave, which will suit your needs for under $100. Microwaves, however, can be so much more than say...a microwave. Remember for planning purposes start with cooking first, and then other appliances are easy to accommodate


Lets look at a few

The Dacor/Sharp microwave drawer...Great for islands, the microwave slides out hydraulically...




The GE Advantium: It is a microwave, which can also speed cook 8 times faster than a conventional oven. Fantastic product, but then again at around $2000, it should be




Sharp Micro Convection: An old standby....Can cook as microwave, oven or both at once. Reasonable at $550(depending on color)




KitchenAid micro convection: Love the look and is easy to operate, but kind of expensive.

Choose This or That..Pro Ranges

Back by popular analytics demand, The "Choose this" column effectively details different choices and prices within the same category. In earlier posts, we reviewed refrigerators, gas stoves, electric stoves and dishwashers


Now its time for the professional range..Strangely, this category did not exist until 1991...Professional ranges are similar to commercial ranges, but are insulated for zero clearance to cabinets. Pro range also do not need sprinkler systems and are warm, not hot to the touch unlike commercial products. In the last few years, self cleaning, dual fuel and sealed burners have been added, but style has always sold these product...


Lets look at 30 inch pro ranges:


Dacor is actually the most expensive 30 inch range. Very decent features with a 18,000 BTU burner, 2 16,000 BTU burners and a simmer burner as well. It is also dual fuel with an excellent broiler, but at about $6,000, there are other choices like....





The Viking...Its hard to believe, but Viking is actually inexpensive at just over $4,000 for the base unit. Although the range is basic with 15,000 BTU burners, Viking still sells more pro ranges than anyone...But $4,000 may be out of the budget,
so how about a





Bertazzoni: As I have stated in lighting posts, most style and fashion emanates from Italy. This range is no exception. At just over $2300, Bertazzoni is a good alternative in this niche





Ciao!(couldn't resist)

The $6,000 Range

The Dacor range is the most expensive range on the market.


Lets have a look:







It certainly has the features: An 18,000 and a 16,000 BTU burner(you are cooking on 10-12), decent simmer control and a unique broiling system. It also has the easiest interface(great word for clock and timer).


At one time, I used to question the validity of very upscale appliances. However, unlike other luxury items like cars and boats, branded appliances actually add value. A good/great kitchen is also very important for resales, which at the present time is no longer a lock.


So is it expensive or a shrewd purchase?


Next week, we will walk through a Green Building in the South End. I have some GREAT cooking demos from Andy Husbands of Tremont647, Jody Adams of Rialto fame and Jay Murray of Grill 23. They are about 10 minutes long each, so have popcorn at the ready.

Have nice weekend,


Steve

Small Appliances....Dishwashers

As I have said on occasion, appliances fit cabinets. Dishwashers fit a base 24 inch cabinet, so consequently dishwashers are all 23.75 inches wide. Somebody should tell Dacor as their dishwashers are 24 and 30 inches wide and are for new construction only.

There are three options for 18 cabinets. All of which are surprisingly good.


Frigidaire is a basic dishwasher with decent cycles.





Miele is an exceptionally good dishwasher with a stainless tank, quiet operation and unsurpassed product quality(quality means great repair record). Then again at roughly $1200, it should be





The sleeper pick is GE monogram. Stainless tank and decent features, but is half the price of the Miele





An interesting alternative is the Danby countertop dishwasher...A product without cabinet requirements

How To....Choose a Wall oven

Wall ovens have become more popular over the last few years. The chief benefit seems to ergometrics(a fancy term for not bending over) and choice of brands.

There lies the problem. We show 15 wall ovens from Dacor, KitchenAid, Electrolux,
Fisher Paykel, Wolf, Miele, Viking, JennAir, Thermador and Bosch to name a few. Most have at least one convection oven(fan forced heat for evenness of cooking).






They are all decent products, so how do you choose?

From a price perspective, the first step is to look at rebates as well as other matching products. Seems like heresy, but there seems to be similarities, so why pay 1,000 or more for similar features.


There are 3 really to consider at the present time:



Thermador Sec302ts...They have a newer "edgier" style, which is the reason we purchased the remainder of this series. At $2799 plus a $300 rebate, Thermador is the best value of the bunch.






Miele H4890Bp. This product is extremely likeable. The Miele is beautifully designed(recently copied) with 2 convection ovens and rotiserie. The best part of this oven is the Masterchef controls. It allows the consumer to perfectly almost anything with detail and easy prompts. Cook a piece of meat, the controls will prompt for type and weight automatically. Miele has a great repair recod as well. Likeability does cost money at roughly $5200






Wolf D030. You have to love SubZero. They buy an unknown company completely retool the product add two convection fans(in the same oven) for more even cooking as well as a cool retractable control panel. The product becomes state of the art and the hottest selling product in one months time.

Cool New Stuff....Appliances

So now Tax Day is over. I will have plenty of time to actually blog. BTW, I met a few Yale blogees this weekend, and it was good to place a face with the analytics.



But anyway for those who are planning a few new considerations:





Miele has two new dishwashers with only 10 minute wash cycles. 10 minutes to complete a cycle versus 98 in a regular dishwasher. Before you buy this revolutionary product, it requires 250v as opposed to regular 120 and it is around $5,000 to buy.






A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching my girlfriends niece to say the word blue..It looks like Dacor has taken blue a little more seriously. Still, you have to respect any manufacturer for thinking out of the (stainless steel) box.







AGA range is new....to us. This is a very interesting stove with a very unique cooking technology. Likeable yet expensive, it is another distinct product that you need Kurt to explain






Fisher Paykel has a brand new refrigerator with ice and water through the door. Ice and water is hardly novel, but this refrigerator is shallow depth and only 33 inches wide. All other shallow depth refrigerators fit a 36 inch opening

The Newest, Latest and Greatest...Stoves

The following are pictures of the next generation of stoves as displayed at Kitchen and Bath. Please consider that most of these products will be available in 6-12 months.




This is a company called Fagor. The above are induction cooktops




Gas cooktop again from Fagor




This is an interesting induction mirrored top from Thermador



La Cornu range...small oven



This a new color from Bertazoni. Their products are pretty interesting in general. They do not have self cleaning, but are significantly less than a professional stove



Light blue from Dacor. It actually looked pretty good(no, I was not drinking at the show)

Pro Ranges

The Pro Range. Perhaps one of the many dreams of the remodeler/renovator. Following is a general guide to general features when considering one of these products.

Sizes of a professional range are 24,30,36,48 and 60 inch. The term professional or "pro" range is derived from their commercial style and high output burners that can vary between 15-17,500 BTUs. Interestingly enough, regular gas stoves have one burner that is 15-16,000 BTU
Most pro ranges are available in all gas or dual fuel with an electric convection oven. Electric convection is a little more even on the bake and requires a seperate 220 line.

In a 30 inch product, the range will have 4 burners or 5 in a DCS with gas or electric convection oven


In a 36 inch oven, The options are 6 burners, 4 burners with a grill in the middle or 4 burners with a griddle. Please note: When a grill or griddle is installed, you must consider proper ventilation(we will blog vents in the next couple of posts)


From a 36 inch to a 48 inch range, a second oven and another set of burners is added.


To distinguish between the brands consider the following:

BTU output will vary from 15-17,500 BTU
The simmers will vary from an intermittent 200 to a consistent 500 BTU
Clocks and timers are available on only a few brands
On the larger units, 48 and 60 inch, the secondary oven is self cleaning and convection on only two brands, Wolf and Dacor(48 inch only)

Just some basic information for now, we will delve into this in greater detail in later posts

If you have any questions or would like us to cover specific questions and/or design issues, please email us at steve.sheinkopf@yaleappliance.com