The Top Five Most Life Changing Appliances – Guest post

Hey everyone. I have a guest post for you all today collaboration with Kinetico all about appliances. I love the idea of a two drawer dishwasher- we have a slim one so it tends to get full pretty quickly, but I had not even heard of them- a great idea to be able to run half of it, or run sections at different temperatures. We are still yet to get on the slow cooker band wagon, but I suppose if we saw a good bargain in the January sales we might be tempted. Anyway, here it is:

With ever-hectic lives, we’re always keen to discover ways to make things easier. Here we take a look at some household appliances that are set to revolutionise the way we do things, and leave us wondering how we ever coped without them.

Cooking up a storm:

Most of us spend less time in our houses than families did a few decades ago; the simple fact is that our busy lives often prevent us from having the time, let alone the motivation, to cook a healthy meal from scratch. Imagine how lovely it would be to arrive home after a long day at work, to find your dinner waiting for you, piping hot and inviting? Well, that’s exactly how a crock-pot works. The evening meal (or any meal, for that matter) is prepared, popped into the pot, and left to do its magic. An evolutionary stage from the slow cooker, the crock-pot offers an unusual twist to the stationary counter-top models, in that the pot is removable. This means that you can use it to first brown food on the hob, and then put back in place for the remainder of the cooking. The timer can be set for anywhere between 30 minutes and 20 hours; when the time is up, the crock-pot will switch off, but will keep the food warm until it is ready to be served. Crock-pots can be used to cook a wide variety of meals and can even be used to dish up desserts, including bread pudding, sponges and crumbles. Already a huge hit over with our transatlantic friends, crock-pots are beginning to make a well-deserved name for themselves here, too.

Block salt to the rescue:

If you live in a home with hard water, you will know what a pesky, expensive nuisance it really is. Hard water is prevalent in many areas of the UK, and the term “hard” relates to its high mineral content, with the culprits usually being calcium and magnesium. In contrast, “soft” water has fewer minerals dissolved in it. When hard water is pumped around our homes, it leaves mineral deposits; when heated, these deposits (referred to as limescale) coat everything with a scaly substance, which clogs pipes and interferes with the efficiency of household appliances. Water softener units work by removing the offending minerals. Using block salt, hard tap water passes through the unit, and the meddlesome mineral ions are replaced with less disruptive sodium (salt) ions; transforming it into much easier to manage soft water. We recommend that you use the brand titan, Kinetico for maximum effect. Their products are available for purchase on their website.

The positive effect upon your life can be far-reaching: no more scrubbing your bathroom for hours to rid it of unsightly watermarks and limescale build up, with an unbelievable £400 a year saved on cleaning products alone. That’s not all; the removal of hard water eradicates limescale, allowing electrical appliances, such as washing machines, to work effectively and last longer. Water heaters also run more efficiently; in total, saving an estimated 25% on energy bills. Given the dramatic savings, and its convenience factor, a water softener will undoubtedly revolutionise the way you live.

Get yourself a garbage disposal unit:

Another useful tool used by Americans for decades, but as yet relatively undiscovered in this country, the garbage disposal (or as we know it, waste disposal) unit will make a convenient addition to your kitchen. The idea is catching on fast in the UK, with many new build homes having integrated systems in their sinks. Having a waste disposal unit means that you can literally chuck any food waste down the sink: items such as vegetable peels and uneaten food. You name it – it can be disposed. The food is ground up and then flushed down into our sewerage systems, which means fewer trips to your rubbish bin, and a more environmentally friendly alternative than another addition to our over-flowing landfills.

Try a two-drawer dishwasher:

Technology is moving away from a traditionally designed dishwasher, with newer models incorporating two separate drawers instead of one large space. The two drawers work independently of each other, both with their own controls, which is perfect if you don’t want your delicate glasses and heavy pans jostled around together. It is possible to have both drawers operating at the same time, but with different temperatures, as you may have some items that require a hot wash and others where a cooler, more economical, temperature would work just as well. Alternatively, you could run just one drawer, for the times when you don’t have as many dishes to wash.

Get steamy in the oven:

Steam ovens are changing the way we cook. Traditionally, ovens are heated using circulating air, whereas, as the name suggests, this oven cooks food using steam. The ovens come with a removal water tank, from which water is fed in to the oven cavity and heated by powerful elements. Steaming is considered the healthiest way to cook, as it retains the food’s nutrients and vitamins, and doesn’t usually require any additional fat to cook food, unlike traditional ovens, which tend to dry some food out. Healthy eating aside, the steam oven cooks food much quicker, with a chicken taking approximately 20 minutes to cook, in contrast to a somewhat lengthy two hours in a convection oven. Steam ovens work on the premise that all food cooks differently, ensuring that regardless of whether it is bread or meat in the oven, the result will be perfectly cooked food. You can also use the oven to cook food usually found on the hob, such as pasta and soup. Some newer steam ovens on the market offer a combination of steam and convection, which gets around the problem of steam ovens being unable to brown, or crisp up, food. Our favourite steamy wonder is Miele, the leading brand. Check out their DG6200 model here– it’ll blow you away.

 Are you after any new home appliances in the sales?