Posted on: August 1, 2006
Food in a Fraction of the Time
Cook your goose in under 10 minutes – literally; plus, the new wave of laundry rooms make life 'suite'.
By Timothy R. Schulte
CTW Features
Turkey in minutes: Turbochef’s Speedcook
When food needs to be done in a hurry – and in most households, it seems, that’s most of the time – a new generation of quick-cooking ovens can put family favorites on the table in a matter of minutes.
Combining microwave heat with other heat technologies, these powerful speedcook ovens prepare food in a fraction of the time required by traditional gas or electric models.
High-power halogen lights, used in GE Advantium and Whirlpool Velos ovens, can turn out a batch of cookies in minutes. In the Turbochef Speedcook oven, jet plates at the top and bottom of the oven cavity circulate columns of heat that can roast a turkey in less than 45 minutes.
For the first time, you can have a commercial-grade, restaurant-quality oven right in your kitchen.
Programmed settings for individual recipes and degrees of doneness further simplify food preparation.
“It’s as simple to use as an ATM,” says Steve Beshara, chief branding officer for Turbochef.
From No Room to Showroom
Laundry rooms no longer are banished to the basement. More and more, they’re making themselves at home on the first floor, in the middle of the action.
Some 55 percent of homes have first-floor laundry rooms, and 12 percent have them on the second floor, says Audrey Reed-Granger, spokeswoman for Whirlpool, citing the company’s consumer research findings.
“Because they’re on main living floors, [homeowners] want the room integrated into the home’s décor,” Reed-Granger says.
This just doesn’t mean matching white, black or stainless machines. It means choosing woodwork and paint colors to make a design statement. No longer tucked away in a basement, the laundry room has become, like the kitchen, a room to show off to guests.
Constrained space makes for a design challenge. The average laundry room is just 7 feet by 8 feet, says Reed-Granger. Built-in counters can provide the space needed to sort and fold clothes. Drawers or closet space can house detergent, cleaning supplies and ironing equipment, and prevent the room from looking cluttered.
The result many homeowners aim for is a one-stop laundry suite, a place to handle a routine household chore efficiently and one that, while not in use, projects the homeowner’s taste and style as much as any other room in the house.