Considerations when choosing your kitchen appliances

Your choice of kitchen appliances says a lot about what you prioritise in your life.

If you have babies and young children, an efficient washing machine and tumble dryer are going to be important to you. A microwave is vital for those in a hurry while a decent oven and hob are essential if you love to cook.

Where to position your kitchen appliances

Your appliances should be located to align with your working methods. Dishwashers near sinks, ovens with plenty of worktop surrounds for resting hot dishes.

Washing machines and tumble dryers should be away from the main body of the kitchen. They can be noisy, and it helps to put them out of earshot.

Ensure all your appliances are also chosen for your height and working methods. Your kitchen layout should reflect your lifestyle and the way you deal with household chores.

How do you cook?

If you cook a lot, you’ll want to be comfortable with the height of your oven. The position of your hob should enable you to look down and see the contents of saucepans and pots.

Your cooker should be at a height that makes it easy for you to lift roasting and baking trays out of the oven. When you’re dealing with trays of hot oil, you don’t want to run the risk of dropping them. There should be a suitable resting place nearby so they can be transferred from oven to worktop with ease.

There’s now a wide variety of cookers available with the choice of built-in, built-under, double or single ovens. If you’re always cooking for a large family or frequently entertain guests, a double oven will come in very handy.

Which type of hob is right for you?

Ceramic hobs use electric heating elements underneath a glass surface. The heat transfers from the glass surface to your pots and pans.

Ceramic hobs are stylish to look at and popular in contemporary kitchens as they sit flush with the worktop or can be built into it.

A traditional gas hob enables fast, precise, and controlled cooking. Gas hobs are practical and highly functional, quickly producing an even temperature across your cooking surface.

Induction hobs deliver an electric current through a coil located underneath the hob’s surface. The current is fed through the coil, and a fluctuating magnetic field is created. This heats the bottom of your pots and pans when they’re placed on the hob.

However, the surface of the hob doesn’t generate any heat until a metal object is placed on it. This makes induction hobs a safe choice if you have a young family.

What combination of fridge and freezer should you choose?

There are now so many different options of fridges and freezers, it’s easy to find a combination that will suit your family.

If you need plenty of refrigeration, then choose a big free-standing American style refrigerator. If you don’t require too much fridge space and have a compact kitchen, then a combined upright fridge-freezer is an ideal solution.

If you need a lot of freezer space, a large chest freezer is a practical solution. This can be stored in a utility room or outside in the garage if it’s too big for the kitchen.

There are also some great new refrigeration features to look out for. These include humidity-controlled salad crisper draws to keep your produce fresh, inbuilt water dispensers for cold water on tap, and frost-free freezers to prevent ice build-up.

Will technology make your laundry easier?

Fridges and freezers aren’t the only appliances to have benefited from technology. There are now some great features available in integrated and free-standing washing machines.

These include:

• Super silent cycles so you can wash at night.
• Wash cycles with a gentle steam, so clothes need little or no ironing.
• Or short, gentle steam programmes that remove odours and reduce creases in dry fabric, eliminating the need for ironing and dry cleaning.

Is a big dishwasher necessary?

The size of your dishwasher often depends on the size of your household. There are now plenty of slimline dishwashers available that are perfect for single people or couples. You can even have a compact, table-top dishwasher.

If you do need a large, family-size dishwasher, it is less obtrusive if you have it built-in to blend in with your cabinets.

Would you like a brand new, affordable German kitchen?

Check out our range of kitchen plans. If you have any questions or queries, our customer service team is on hand to help.

Alternatively, if you’re local to our kitchen showroom in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, you can pop in and take a look at the kitchen ranges we have on display.

Call us on 01525 851 642 or email hello@germankitchenstore.co.uk