Have you seen the commercial with Kelly Ripa dashing aroundthe kitchen entertaining family and friends with her cookingabilities? It was a charming concept for Electrolux to end the commercialwith the ease of boiling water in less than 90 seconds. Weall know how busy life can be amidst the demands of family andfriends, work, school, hobbies and healthy lifestyles. Why add tothe pressure when it comes to creating a meal?
Technology in the kitchen is vastly improving the methodsand efficiencies of cooking and entertaining. There is a plethoraof choices when looking to invest in kitchen appliances. Mostconsumers deliberate on features, performance, aesthetics, energyefficiency and price. At Tim Smoot Design Center, we had BobGrassie of GE Appliances reveal the latest technological innovationsfrom their premier line GE Monogram®.
A cooking demonstration was performed on the 240 volt GEMonogram® Built–in Oven with Advantium® Speedcook Technology.Bob Grassie revealed the induction,convection, and Advantiumspeed–cook technologies all whileproducing lunch in a most timelymanner. Inquiries stemmed fromthe Electrolux commercial and wewere also introduced to the GEMonogram® 36" Induction Cooktop.Now we have a clearer understandingof how water can boil inless than 90 seconds.
The features and ergonomics ofthe GE Monogram® Advantium willallow the busy business professionalto come home from work and preparea meal for them self or the familyefficiently. It has a control dialeasily turning in both directions tonavigate through the menu options.All one has to do is decide what food will be cooked and dial it atthe panel from a preprogrammed list of over 175 recipes. The Advantiumgenerously allows you to customize up to 30 more of yourvery own recipes. A great feature of the Advantium recommendswhat type of tray you should use (4 cooking trays are included).Did I mention it works as a full–function microwave oven?
The beauty of the Speedcook technology is to convert actualcook time into a speed cooking time. "The 4400–watt speedcooking system uses heat generated from light to rapidly cook theoutside of foods, sealing in natural juices. At the same time, microwavespenetrate the surface, evenly and quickly cooking thefood." At Tim Smoot Design Center, our 5 pound whole chickenhad a cook time of 2 hours but when cooked in Advantium, cooktime was converted to 33 minutes. The Advantium produceda delicious meal with plenty of time to spare on the lunch hour."Oven–quality foods cook up to 8 times faster than a conventionaloven, with no preheating required." What a revelation! Attention:ALWAYS use potholders to take food out of the Advantium®, itlooks and works like a microwave but it is in fact an oven.
The aesthetic design of the GE Monogram® Advantium willenhance the kitchen with sophisticated styling. "The overall look issleek; the oven’s bold, horizontal lines are set off by simple graphicsand a tubular handle on the pull–down door." The color variationsare black on black, white on white and stainless steel. The timelesslook of stainless steel has made it a popular choice in most kitchens.
Technological innovations have revolutionized energy efficiencyin products for the 21st century. Many companies havejoined the Energy Star campaign in their efforts to conserve naturalresources. The government does not regulate the Departmentof Energy to measure gas or electric cooking appliances. However,if anyone paid any attention in science class, it is a novel idea thatfaster cooking is more efficient cooking. Expensive cooking (i.e.preheating and longer cook time in the oven) wastes energy, notto mention wasting human energy along with our valuable time.
The initial introduction that sparked my interest in GE Monogram®appliances was Kelly Ripa exclaiming water could be boiledin less than 90 seconds. "Induction elements use electricity to producea magnetic field that reacts withthe iron in metal cookware–includingcast iron and ferous steel pans– andtransfers the heat to the cookware. Itprovides instantaneous heat across19 different settings." Yes, dependingon the amount of water to boil, GEMonogram® Induction Cooktop canspeed up the process of boiling waterfor the pasta I want to cook.
These induction cooktops havegreat features, sleek appearance andclean ability to suffice for any cooktop.Another advantage of magneticinduction is that the smooth and rapidtransition from cooking temperatureto cool down is much faster than theaverage cooktop, thus making it moreheat efficient and less hazardous to operate.Cooking on an induction cooktop is as accurate and fasterthan gas cooktops…but if interested you must look into the GEMonogram® Gas Cooktop on display at Tim Smoot Design Center.
It should come as no surprise that GE Consumer & Industrialhas sustained excellence in the 2008 Energy Star Awards forcontributing many energy efficient products in the industry. For 5consecutive years, GE Appliances has been named Partner of theYear by the Department of Energy. With other European designsthat are newer and more expensive to the market, we can looktoward GE for a 100 years worth of product reliance and performancecapability. They have transitioned with the times and afterrelentless research they have improved upon their designs timeand time again.
The features, performance, beauty, efficiency and value of theGE Monogram® series is more than enough to get me cooking.From novice cooks to the most accomplished chefs, we can allappreciate the efforts of GE Monogram® appliances. Look to thefuture for more upcoming higher efficiency products from GE.
