The Ultimate Guide to Modern Kitchen Tech 2023

Kitchen tech has continued to advance quickly in recent years. Smart kitchens are now a popular choice in kitchen renovations, and there’s a good reason for it. It can be argued that in the past, smart appliances were just a gimmick that didn’t actually offer helpful features. But with recent advancements, it’s difficult to deny the benefits. Smart appliances can now save you time, make daily life easier, and give you better results in the kitchen.

Such advancements include Wi-Fi enabled appliances. These allow you to control and monitor your kitchen appliances wherever you are. There have also been great advancements in cooking technology. This includes steam cooking, sous vide cooking, and induction cooking. And speaking of cooking, it’s now possible to get self-cleaning ovens! This fantastic technology saves you hours of time, and is really easy to use.

Furthermore, modern kitchen technology sees advancements in extraction, taps, frost free freezers and wine cooling.

Wi-fi Enabled Appliances

One of the most noticeable advancements in modern kitchen tech are smart kitchen appliances. So what is a smart kitchen appliance? These are appliances that can connect to your home Wi-Fi.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of smart kitchen appliances though. For years now, brands have introduced “smart” appliances. Yet, all they seemed to offer was an appliance that came with remote controls. However, today’s smart appliances are much more advanced than this. And they can actually improve your experience with them, rather than just existing as a marketing ploy.

Advanced smart appliances, also known as Wi-Fi enabled devices, have reached new levels of sophistication. You can connect them to your phone so you can interact with them wherever you are. This gives you the ability to preheat your oven before you get home, or check what’s in your fridge whilst food shopping.

Smart Fridges

One appliance that has embraced smart technology are fridge freezers. Samsung and LG in particular are ahead of the game with smart fridges.

Samsung Family Hub™

Truly embracing smart technology, Samsung has a selection of refrigerators connected to Samsung’s Family Hub™. The Family Hub™ has Alexa built-in, so you’re able to control your smart home through voice commands. It also comes with many features that help you to plan and order food, organise your family, entertain, and control other smart devices in your home.

LG ThinQ™ Fridge Freezers

LG has adopted smart technology with their ThinQ™ Fridge Freezers. These fridge freezers connect to LG’s ThinQ™ app, allowing you to manage your smart refrigerator. For example, you can activate the IcePlus® right from your phone to create extra ice. The ThinQ™ app also helps you to monitor the energy usage of your fridge, and check what’s in your fridge at any time.

Smart Ovens

Smart technology has made its way into ovens. You can now connect your oven to Wi-Fi and automatically set your oven settings for particular recipes, preheat your oven on your way home, control it with your voice, or receive remote diagnostics.

One fantastic benefit to a smart oven is how you can remotely turn it on or off, or adjust the temperature. This is helpful for when you’ve accidentally left your oven on. Simply check your oven’s connected app wherever you are, and turn it off. This is also a great feature for recipes that require different settings throughout the cooking process. Need to turn the temperature up or down? Do it within the app without needing to get up off the sofa!

Samsung SmartThings Ovens

Samsung smart ovens connect to Samsung’s own app SmartThings. This connection allows Samsung to understand your needs, recommend personalised recipes, and create a weekly meal plan for you. The SmartThings app can also guide you through your cooking experience, and provides effortless grocery shopping.

You can find ovens that can connect to the SmartThings app in Samsung’s Series 4 and Series 5 oven ranges.

Neff Connected Ovens

Neff connected ovens have the ability to connect to the Home Connect app. Within this app you can remotely control your oven, or control it with your voice. This means you can turn your oven off without needing to stop what you’re doing. Neff connected ovens will also give you access to an impressive range of recipes and cooking tips, along with the oven settings you need.

Some examples of smart Neff ovens that can connect the the Home Connect app include models B6ACH7HH0B, U2ACM7HH0B and U2ACM7HG0B.

Bosch Home Connect Ovens

Bosch also provides Wi-Fi enabled ovens that connect to Home Connect. This popular app allows you to control many of your smart home appliances across many brands. Control and monitor your Bosch oven from anywhere, and stay up to date with the latest cooking trends.

Many ovens found within the Bosch Series 8 oven collection feature Wi-Fi connection.

Siemens Home Connect Ovens

Joining the party, Siemens also supplies Home Connect compatible smart ovens. This means you can remotely control and monitor them in much the same way as Neff and Bosch ovens . You can find many smart models within their IQ-500 oven range, and across all of their IQ-700 range. Some smart Siemens ovens are also equipped with a user-friendly touch display and a feature called cookControl Plus. This feature automatically monitors your food, and adjusts the settings for you to keep an ideal cooking environment.

Siemens ovens that are able to connect to Home Connect can be found within Siemens IQ-500 and IQ-700 oven ranges.

Smart Dishwashers

Many dishwasher brands are also dipping their toes into smart technology. Although it’s currently limited on what exactly a Wi-Fi enabled dishwasher can do, there are some particular benefits. Of course the main benefit of Wi-Fi connectivity is the ability to control and monitor your dishwasher from the relevant app. Here you can check which cycle you’ve selected, receive notifications when it’s complete, start a cycle from another room, or adjust the settings. Some also come with the ability to track how many dishwasher tabs you have left, and notifies you when it’s time to buy more.

Many smart dishwashers don’t just offer Wi-Fi connectivity though. Advancements in dishwasher technology also means the introduction of many incredible features. One such feature is auto programming. This is when your dishwasher can sense how dirty the water is getting, therefore determining how dirty the dishes are. It will then automatically adjust how much clean water is added, and the temperature. Some will even store your dishwasher detergent and only release the optimal amount, saving you money in the long run. Other features many smart dishwashers now have are quiet settings, speed settings, and optimised spray coverage.

Smart dishwashers can be found across many quality brands. These brands, and the app that their smart dishwashers can connect to, can be seen below:

Home Connect App Compatible: Bosch, Neff and Siemens

Miele@home App Compatible: Miele

LG ThinQ App Compatible: LG

hOn App Compatible: Hoover

AEG App Compatible: AEG

Wi-Fi connectivity is only available on selected models across all brands.

Smart Washing Machines

There’s a lot that goes on inside a washing machine, and it’s important to get it right so you don’t ruin your clothes. Smart washing machines can help with this! Many smart washing machines offer valuable features that make laundry easier. These range from remote control, automatic program selection, auto-dosing, to tracking how much detergent you have left. Smart washing machines, in our opinion, are definitely worth the extra money.

Home Connect App Compatible: Bosch and Siemens

Miele@home App Compatible: Miele

LG ThinQ App Compatible: LG

hOn App Compatible: Hoover, Haier

My AEG Care App Compatible: AEG

SmartThings App Compatible: Samsung

Wi-Fi connectivity is only available on selected models across all brands.

Other Smart Laundry Appliances

Smart technology is also available in selected tumble dryers and washer dryers.

Steam Cooking

What is steam cooking? Steam cooking isn’t new, it’s a method of cooking that has been used for millennia. So why are we talking about it in a blog dedicated to modern kitchen technology?

In recent years we have seen great advancements in steam cooking technology. You can now buy ovens that specialise in steam cooking, perfect for baking, roasting, grilling and defrosting. And with continuous advancements, steam ovens are becoming more and more accurate and efficient.

But, why use a steam oven? You can still cook incredible meals in a regular oven, and you could always buy a separate steamer. Right?

Of course both of these statements are true. However, steam cooking has many advantages over regular ovens. You’re able to retain nutrients that would be lost in convection ovens, you don’t need to add oil, flavour is locked in, and they’re incredibly energy efficient.

Learn more about the pros and cons of steam ovens here.

The good news is, you can buy a combi steam oven. These combine the health benefits of steam cooking with the crisping benefits of a regular oven. So, although you could replace a regular oven with a steam oven, you can also opt for the middle ground. Just get yourself a combination steam oven!

But what about just buying a separate steamer? This would still give you all of the benefits of steam cooking. The main disadvantage of this though is the extra space needed. Steamers can be bulky, and difficult to store away. You also can’t bake in a steamer, which is a shame because baking with steam produces amazing results.

Manufacturers are recognising the multitude of benefits that steam cooking has. That’s why so many brands now have their own versions of steam ovens. Explore our full range of steam ovens, including those from popular brands such as Miele, Smeg, Neff and Siemens.

Sous Vide Cooking

If you enjoy cooking healthy meals that retain nutrients, texture and taste, you’ll probably be interested in sous vide cooking.

What is Sous Vide Cooking?

Sous vide is a cooking method that involves cooking vacuum-sealed food in a low-temperature water bath. This style of cooking has been used by high-end professional chefs for a long time, and has only recently been introduced into the kitchens of home cooks.

Sous vide cooking results in perfectly even cooked foods, juicy and tender meats, improved flavour, and a much higher retention of nutrients.

Why is Sous Vide Cooking Becoming so Popular?

So why is it only now that Sous Vide is becoming popular amongst us home cooks? First of all, because it’s actually pretty easy to do, and it gives you restaurant quality food at home. Sous Vide is particularly great for cooking meats. Because this method of cooking is so slow, the window of time that your meat is perfectly cooked is much bigger.

However, without a Sous Vide machine, doing it at home can be a bit finicky. The water bath needs to stay at a consistent temperature for the method to work effectively. But not everyone has the space to invest in a Sous Vide Machine.

What if we told you that you don’t need a Sous Vide machine? Some steam ovens now come with a specialised Sous Vide function! The steam created acts as the water bath, keeping your vacuum-sealed food at the perfect temperature. This makes this method of cooking even easier, and saves you plenty of kitchen space!

AEG SteamPro Sous Vide

AEG SteamPro ovens now feature a Sous Vide function! This function makes sous vide cooking really simple. To begin, fill up your water drawer. Then, place the food that you’ve vacuum sealed onto the third shelf of the oven. All you have to do then is select the Sous Vide function, set your cooking time and temperature, and wait!

Miele Steam Ovens

Many Miele steam ovens now also feature a Sous Vide function. Cook your meat, vegetables or fruit in a vacuum for the ultimate taste sensation with Miele.

Smeg Vacuum Drawer

Sous Vide cooking isn’t possible without first being able to vacuum seal. Luckily, Smeg has a drawer dedicated to vacuum sealing. They provide with it 50 bags for sous-vide cooking, which is more than enough to get you started!

Induction Cooking

Induction cooking is another amazing advancement in cooking appliances. If you’re not sure what induction cooking is, we urge you to continue reading. It’s a game changer in terms of cooking speed, efficiency and safety.

So, what is induction cooking? Induction cooking refers to using an induction hob to cook your food. These hobs use electromagnetic fields that directly heats your cookware. This results in using less power and food that cooks a lot faster. Induction hobs also work by only heating your pan; it doesn’t heat the hob itself! This makes induction hobs so much safer to use!

If you’d like to learn more about how exactly induction hobs work, you can read our detailed guide here: Induction Hobs: What, Why, and Should I Buy?

Explore our range of induction hobs, including those from top selling brands AEG, Neff, Bosch and Smeg.

Self-Cleaning Ovens

Yes, an oven that cleans itself! Mostly, anyway. There are two types of self-cleaning ovens: catalytic and pyrolytic.

What is the Difference Between Catalytic and Pyrolytic Self-Cleaning Ovens?

Catalytic Ovens

Catalytic ovens are a type of self cleaning oven that uses catalytic technology. The inside of the oven is fitted with catalytic liners that have been treated with special chemicals. This is to allow them to absorb grease. Then, about once a month, you run the self-cleaning programme. This involves the oven heating up to ~220°C to burn off and soften any excess grease. This can then be wiped away with soapy water. In general, a catalytic self-cleaning programme takes about 30 minutes.

Many catalytic ovens are not entirely covered with catalytic liners. Sometimes only a few of the sides are. This means that the sides that are not covered will need to be cleaned the same way as a regular oven.

Explore our full range of catalytic ovens here.

Pyrolytic Ovens

Pyrolytic ovens work much more effectively than catalytic ovens. This self-cleaning programme heats the oven to 400-500°C. This turns all food deposits to ash, which you can then simply sweep away. Because it gets so hot, the oven door will automatically lock whilst the oven is at unsafe temperatures. This will stop you, or little hands, from opening it and getting hurt. The self-cleaning function on pyrolytic ovens often takes a few hours to complete.

Explore our full range of pyrolytic ovens here.

Are Self Cleaning Ovens Safe to Use?

There are many concerns that people have about self-cleaning ovens, especially pyrolytic ovens. Afterall, the temperatures reached are extremely high which can be pretty scary. The biggest concern is that the high temperatures can damage the interiors of your oven. For example, the oven’s racks often cannot withstand the heat, and should be removed before running the self-cleaning function.

Lower quality ovens are more likely to run into issues with their pyrolytic functions. This is simply because they have not been built to handle the high temperatures. It is therefore crucial to ensure the quality of the pyrolytic oven you’re buying is good. It’s also important to consider the overall condition of your oven. If you suspect that your oven has any problems, it is not recommended to run the self-cleaning function as this could worsen pre-existing issues.

Overall, if the quality of your oven is good, and you’re following the manufacturers guidelines, the chances of your self-cleaning function causing issues is low.

If you’re unsure if a self-cleaning oven is right for you, you can call our appliance experts on 0115 965 1937.

Steam Assist Cleaning Ovens

Steam assist cleaning ovens aren’t self-cleaning, but they do make cleaning your oven a lot easier! These ovens use a combination of water and heat to help loosen up grease and food residue. This then makes wiping them away a lot easier, without the need for harsh chemicals.

Some catalytic and pyrolytic ovens will also come with steam cleaning assistance. This is to allow for general cleaning maintenance between tougher self-cleaning functions.

Explore our full range of steam assist cleaning ovens here.

Downdraft Extractor Hobs

It seems that extraction fans are continuously becoming more advanced. Downdraft extractor hoods are very sleek and modern, usually built into an island or peninsula. When switched on, they will rise from your work surface. How stylish! But, notice the heading said hob, not hood.

A downdraft extractor hob, otherwise known as an air venting induction hob, is the latest trend in kitchen appliances. These combine a hob and extractor into just one appliance! Because the extractor is so close to your cooking food (about as close as it can possibly get), steam and odour is whisked away as soon as they arise.

Air venting induction hobs are also really easy to control, as you can control both functions from the same spot. They’re also easy to clean, and often cheaper than buying two separate appliances.

Visit Our Showroom

Our showroom showcases multiple air venting induction hobs, so you can come see in person how impressive they are.

Explore our full range of air venting induction hobs here.

Instant Boiling Water Taps

Technology advancements are often measured by how much it speeds up the completion of tasks. This is where instant boiling water taps shine. Be warned though, once you get one, you’ll never go back.

So what is an instant boiling water tap? Very simply put, it’s a tap that dispenses instant boiling water. Boiling water taps work by storing water into a small, high-vacuum insulated tank. The air inside the insulated wall of the tank is extremely thin, so heat isn’t able to escape. It therefore doesn’t take a lot of energy to keep this water at an ideal boiling temperature. The water is  preheated to about 98°C, depending on the brand and model. This takes roughly 10 minutes, but then the water stays at this temperature and is instantly accessible. As water leaves the tank, new water immediately takes its place and is quickly brought to the correct temperature.

Learn more about instant boiling water taps here.

Explore our full range of boiling water taps here.

Frost Free Freezers

Defrosting a freezer is a horrible task, but it has to be done. That is unless you have a frost free freezer! Frost builds up in your freezer when humid air gets inside and condenses. This can be near impossible to avoid, unless you never ever open your freezer. And if you did that… You may as well just not have a freezer.

Frost free freezers work by removing warm air using an automatic fan system. By removing warm air, the fan is able to keep the internal freezer temperature consistent and prevents moisture from accumulating. The fan also keeps cold air circulating, which prevents frost from building up.

People often mistake frost free freezers with auto defrost freezers. These work by periodically heating the walls to about 0°C to defrost any ice build up, and catching the melted ice in a tray. A thermometer will then signal the freezer to cool back down so that everything in your freezer remains frozen. However, this fluctuation in temperature can cause freezer burn and allows moisture to escape from your food. Frost free freezers, on the other hand, keeps the temperature inside your freezer consistent. In fact, the internal temperature of a frost free freezer is actually more consistent than a regular freezer.

Explore our full range of frost free refrigeration, including freezers, fridge freezers, and American Style Fridge Freezers.

Wine Coolers

Wine coolers themselves aren’t really new. But the technology behind them is!

Many modern kitchens now feature a wine cooler. This may partly be because they look sleek and stylish, and it gives wine connoisseurs more opportunity to show off. But we’d argue that they’re essential if you want to enjoy your wine as it was intended. There’s nothing worse than being gifted an expensive bottle of wine, only for it to then be ruined by ageing poorly in a warm cupboard.

Why not put your wine in your fridge? Although your fridge does keep cool, and is probably the second best place to store your wine, it’s still not ideal. If your wine gets too cold, it can lose its flavour. Furthermore, fridges can have fluctuating temperatures due to warm air being let in with the door being opened and closed.

Wine coolers can be set to the exact perfect temperature that your wine calls for. You’ll also be opening your wine cooler less often than you would your fridge, so the temperature inside won’t fluctuate too much.

Different wines require different temperatures. White wines are best served at ~7°C, red wines at ~15°C, and champagne between 6-8°C. With a wine cooler, not only can you ensure that your wine is in its optimal environment, but many now come with multi-temperature zones. This means you could have one zone set for 7°C and one set to 15°C, the perfect zones for both your reds and whites.

Explore our full range of wine coolers here.

Wine Servers

If you’re feeling sophisticated, modern kitchens can now feature a built-in wine server. These work using cutting edge dry air technology. This keeps your wine at the perfect temperature without condensation building on the bottle.

Enjoy your wine in style with a wine server by Kaelo.

Explore Kaelo here.

Conclusion

The landscape of modern kitchen technology in 2023 is nothing short of revolutionary. From smart appliances that connect seamlessly to your Wi-Fi, allowing for remote control and monitoring, to the advent of advanced cooking technologies such as steam and induction cooking, the kitchen has truly become a hub of innovation. The integration of self-cleaning ovens, whether through catalytic or pyrolytic methods, has alleviated the age-old chore of scrubbing away stubborn residues.

Furthermore, the evolution of kitchen extraction systems, with downdraft extractor hobs rising to prominence, showcases not only functionality but also a sleek, modern aesthetic. Instant boiling water taps and frost-free freezers bring unparalleled convenience to daily tasks, while wine coolers and servers add a touch of sophistication.

As we navigate the world of smart dishwashers and washing machines, it’s evident that technology is not only simplifying but also enhancing efficiency. The incorporation of guided cooking experiences, as seen in Samsung’s SmartThingsCooking and the Home Connect app, shows how technology is becoming an indispensable kitchen companion.

As we embrace these advancements, it’s clear that the modern kitchen is not just a place for tech wizards, but a showcase of cutting-edge technology, making daily life more convenient, efficient, and enjoyable.

If you have any questions about all of this modern kitchen tech, or you’re looking to buy multiple appliances, give our friendly appliance experts a call on 0115 965 1937. We’re always happy to help!