Kitchen Appliances - Beginners Guide

Introduction

When people think of appliances, it's usually the home appliance, which are used by householders to perform all those boring routine tasks. An appliance also uses electricity or some other kind of inputted energy. Home appliances can be classified into two main categories,

1. Small appliances
   
2. Large appliances
   

Whilst you can find appliances in any walk of life, such as In medicine and dentistry. This page is dedicated to discussing the merits and functions of home appliances.

Related Pages: How green is your kitchen

Small appliance

Refers to machines which are portable, and which can be picked up and operated by one person. Whilst a large appliance is fixed to a permanent position, small appliances are often moved from place to place, and are most commonly found upon a kitchen work top. The power supply is most commonly by electricity, either in the form of a power cable to a wall plug, or by use of rechargeable or disposable batteries. Handheld appliance such as blenders, or juicers, are more likely to use batteries.

There are also some smaller appliances which try to replicate the performance of their larger cousins. The most obvious is the toaster, which is a compact version of an cookers grill. Or a George Foreman grill, which tries to replicate a girdled pan on a cooker's hob. Likewise, there are even smaller devices which tries to replicate the performance of small appliances. These are classified as tools, or even perhaps gadgets.

The quality of small appliances varies, the superior being commercial versions. A commercial appliance will usually be built to a higher standard, using components which last longer, featuring a design which is more reliable, and can perform under continual use and abuse. Home users have tagged onto this, and some commercial brands like Dualit have become popular as home appliances. (Dualit make toasters found in many commercial catering outlets throughout the UK).

The payoff is that commercial appliances cost a great deal more. They usually only come in stainless steel as well. Therefore their popularity will always be limited. On the other hand, appliances designed for home use can be very inexpensive. The run of the mill toaster or coffee maker can cost below £15. The risk is their reliability, some low rent models can even be defective, and pose a serious fire hazard.

Categories

Ironing

Currently there are five variations on the Iron to pick from, dry, steam, steam/spray, steam/spray/shot, and finally the steam generator. The material irons are constructed out of also varies, some popular metals are aluminum and stainless steel. But irons with ceramic plates are very popular, because of it's durable nature and nonstick attribute.

Kettles & Water Filters

When it comes to kettles, you may ask yourself, what exactly is the difference?, all they do is boil water. This is true, what you pay for the durability of the components, and the quality of the stainless steel and insulated body it provides. A superior kettle will boil water quicker, keep the water hotter for longer, conceal the element, provide cord storage capacity, provide a water level indicator, and exude a quality appearance.

Toasters & Grills

Reliability surveys tend to indicate that toasters are one of the more unreliable of kitchen appliances. They appear to malfunction regularly, and appear to become easily damaged by the fragile nature of their heating elements. Therefore you primarily pay for reliability and durability, with brands such as Dualit and Magimix producing sturdy stainless steel outer shells. Features are restricted to a high lift facility and variable slot widths, mid-toasting cancel and crumb tray. Likewise, sandwich and panini makers vary in their build quality, rather than their spec list. The most you can expect is a quick heat up element and a non stick surface. Grills, are likewise Spartan of features. The George Foreman grills must be the most widely known, and provide a portable option for cooking meats such as Steak and Chicken. Apart from a timer and a drip tray, you will not find any other fancy gadgets thrown in.

Coffee Makers

One of the most diverse appliances, with home use models varying from £15 to £1500. Your bog standard coffee maker will be found in most work places and offices. The basic construction is the same for all coffee makers, containing a permanent filter, drip tray, timer, warming tray and a glass Jug. What you pay more for is as follows, bar pressure, which decides the quality of the coffee brewed. A superior maker will also contain a more advanced milk whirl system, and will be able to automatically descale after each use.

Cooking Appliances

When it comes to cooking meals, there are quite a few small appliances which can help aid the process, or fulfill the whole task. The first of which is slow cookers, a device perfect for a kitchen with cramp conditions, or cooking for many mouths. Inexpensive, they are shaped like a large cooking pot, and can perform most of the tasks a larger conventional oven can. Of course, the capacity is limited, temperature settings are minimal, but storage and portability are it's strength. Steamers work in just the same way, but are used for cooking vegetables, rather than meats and vegetable. But, a combination of a steamer and a slow cooker can accomplish a full meal. Breadmakers are another popular home cooking appliance. It's usually cheaper just to buy a loaf from the shops, but for those who like to experiment a breadmaker is a must. They do suffer from a lack of heat production, which makes it hard to replicate the results of a professional baker. But, they are useful for producing dough for pizza's. Finally we have deep fat fryers, which are real work horse of any kitchen place. The standard task of it will be to fry chips. It's quite important to buy a fryer with plenty of safety features. Like with a chip pan they are a major fire risk, and every precaution should be used in setting up and operating one.

Food Preparation

Food processors, that's the first appliance most people will think of in the food preparation category. The chopping and chipping attachments are virtually limitless, with blades and discs available in countless designs. Blenders are also popular, with pulse controls to break down food, or produce exotic and elaborate cocktail drinks. A similar, portable based tool is the hand mixer, which comes with a variety of steel whisks to mix up dough, or beat eggs, and is a real wrist saving device.

Juicers

Juicers have become extremely popular since the advent of juice cafe's, and a widespread increase in healthy living. A good juicer will include a large feed chute, and be about to produce juice from whole fruit and vegetables. This is for convenience, and means no work is needed to chop or peel. Some advanced juicers have also included mechanics which produce a centrifugal force, which aims to spin out every last drop of juice out of the fruit and vegetables, and leave no pulp and residue behind. Ice cream makers work in a similar way to juicers, except the ingredients differ of course. However, it is rare to find juicers which can produce ice cream, you will need to buy two separate machines for each process.

Heating and Cooling

Heaters appliances are ideal for cool work places during the winter months. The mini fan option can come with or without a pedestal fan, and should come with at least a height and tilt adjustments. The top end heating options are portable air conditioning units, and can provide a analogue or digital thermostat to adjust the temperature, and with a full electronic operation. Advanced air conditioning units should include a dehumidifier, but you can also find stand alone dehumidifier units. The purchase of a dehumidifier is to adjust humidity levels to a balanced level. They can benefit people with respiratory problems, or for health in general, especially if a home has mold or mildew issues. Cooling fans on the other hand, can help keep you cool through the hotter periods of a UK summer. A good heating fans can produce both hot and cool heat, but a basic fan with adjustable tilt and variable speed is usually just producing a cool wind. Electric blankets are another popular heating appliance, they only provide warmth during cool nights. For those people who getting into a cold bed, it gives instant heat. They usually come with three to five heat settings, and need around thirty to sixty minutes to warm a bed. They also need to turned off once you get into bed.

Personal Care

Out of all the small appliance sector, personal care and grooming products provide the greatest sales volume. Virtually no home is without one of the products. The first of which is hairdryers, which typically only ever came with a selection of speed and heat settings. They have advanced somewhat in recent years, attachments are popular such as a concentrated nozzle. There is also more advanced heating and speed settings, like a cool shot function, or the ionic technology developed by Vidal Sasson for improved shine and lower frizz. Straightening dryer are also popular, and aim to smooth, straighten, and shine hair. Male and female electric shavers are also an extremely popular grooming device. They help cut down on time, manufacturers are forever trying to develop the technology to provide a shave which will equal a razor shave. Therefore companies have created all kinds of fancy mechanics for their shavers, such as Brauns '360 complete' foil shave, or Philips 'Arcitec' rotary flex and pivot shave. Electric toothbrushes are the last of the personal care products to be reviewed. To begin with they seemed somewhat of a gimmick, but recent research has shown they provide a superior cleaning ability over a manual toothbrush. They come with a wide selection of oscillating heads and whitening abilities. Power is supplied by either a rechargeable base unit, or by batteries placed into the unit.

Large Appliances

Refers to a fixed machine, which is placed into a static position, and takes great effort to move from location to location. They can perform the majority of large domestic tasks, like cooking, preserving food, and cleaning cooking utensils, carpets, clothing and bedding. Their static position not only denotes their bulk, but the requirement of a fixed energy and sometimes plumbing supply. Large appliances can also be referred as "white goods", because most fridges, washing machines and dishwashers come painted white. This, however, is not the case present day, many major appliances come in colour such as green, grey or black.

Unlike with small appliances, a large appliance is demanding, not only do they use more electricity, but the setup process can be elaborate and complicated. Whilst fridges, for example, may only need to be plugged into a socket, cookers and dishwashers usually require an installation by a professional. The operation of larger appliances can likewise be more complex, with more controls and settings. Due to the extensive usage of electricity and water by large appliances, many now come with 'Energy Labels' to denote how economic and environmentally friendly they are.

Related Pages: Energy Saving Trust, go green appliances

Dishwashers

A handy appliance, which cuts down on the manual washing and drying of dirty plates, utensils, pots and pans. Dishwashers are shaped to fit a variety of work spaces, for small kitchen spaces there are tabletop and slimline dishwashers. Then for homes with more room there are full size dishwashers, which are over sixty cm in width. Some dishwashers can also be integrated into the units of a fitted kitchen, so when it closed it looks just like another cabinet. When rating a dishwasher the most important points are as follows, the size, how much it can hold, the energy and cleaning performance, amount of settings and programme options, how much water it uses, and the noise it produces when operated.

Laundry

When it comes to washing and drying dirty linen and clothes, the three most popular appliances are washing machines, washer dryers and tumble dryers. Washing machines aim to just wash linens, and come with a AAA grade rating for wash, spin and energy efficiency performance. The best machines are graded 'AAA', with inferior machines get grades such as 'CCC'. The essentials to look for are a good performance, capacity, wash period, spin rate and programme options. Tumble dryers take the task of drying the cleaned items from a washing machine. The two main types of tumble dryers are condenser and vented dyers. When looking for a dryer you should consider it's load capacity, drying settings and options, and lastly it's energy efficiency. The 'Washer Dryer' is a combination of both machines, therefore it can wash and dry. They are ideal for households with limited space, but are more expensive.

Fridges & Freezers

There are three main options in the refrigeration sector, a standalone fridge, a standalone freezer, and a combined fridge and freezer. The dimensions of a fridge or a freezer are one of the first purchase considerations. The height is usually not taken into account, for the obvious reason that no fridge will be as tall as a ceiling. A slimline fridges measures around 40-45 cm in width, the next general widths are 55-65 cm, 65-75 cm and 75-85 cm. The standard features you should expect are some form of antibacterial protection, shelves, bottle racks egg tray, ice tray, storage compartments, self closing doors and good door storage. Advanced features you will pay more for includes a water dispenser, digital LCD controls, child lock, safety alarm for when the door is left open and the inside temperature is too high. For bedrooms and small apartments you can also purchase mini chillers, which are exactly the same as a hotel's mini-bar facility.

Cooking & Microwaves

There are many options when it comes to cookers, the first of which is the fuel type. Some homes will have only one option, either gas or electric. Both fuel types have their own pros and cons. They are even dual fuel cookers, for people who want the best of both worlds. The next option is a built in cooker, or a stand alone cooker. An average stand alone cooker will feature four cooking hobs, and two ovens. One oven may also function as a cooking grill, otherwise the grill will be placed above the cooking hobs. A built-in cooker will usually differ somewhat. The two ovens will be placed somewhere separate to the cooking hobs. This means the ovens can be placed at a higher level, which means no bending down, ideal for people with bad backs. There are three standard width sizes for cookers, which are 50 cm, 55 cm or 60 cm. The microwave has also started to appear in nearly every home, ideal for people who are always in a rush, they can heat up precooked meals in a matter of minutes.