Is you dream refrigerator a giant Subzero or a colorful, retro Big Chill? Designers are already thinking outside of the box when it comes to restyling refrigerators and, if they get their way, we might be looking at a totally different appliance in the future. This is the Tree House Fridge, a design concept from the team of Chuan Shi, Wenying Lu, Chuan Shi & Yu Li at Yanko Design. Its unique layout presents an interesting possibility of what fridges could be like in the not-too-distant future. Each of the branches will be specifically designed to store a certain type of food - cheese, produce, etc - and will have a slide-out compartment in the trunk for larger things and drinks. To take advantage of the tree shape, the branches will have holders on the doors where fruit can be stored and "picked" at will.

A tree, of course, seems a bit extreme, but it is not so far-fetched to imagine separated, specialized compartments that will keep food fresher than the salad drawers that many refrigerators are equipped with now.

It may not be available just yet, but you can put our names on the list for the ROLLERtoaster when it hits the market. It is definitely the toaster of the future. Sleek and compact, the toaster was designed by Jaren Goh of Singapore and won a 2006 Red Dot Design Award for innovation. Goh was inspired by the change of televisions from large and bulky boxes to streamlined flat-panels which retained all the functionality of the larger unit in a much more compact product. He applied that to a common appliance,the toaster, and the ROLLERtoaster was born. Slices of bread are "fed" into one side of the machine and are rolled through, fully toasted, to the other side where your plate awaits. The only potential problem is that it doesn't look like it will be able to handle bagels easily. Then again, neither do a lot of other toasters, so perhaps it's not as big a problem as one might think.

There are many people who use their rice cookers for making plain rice and nothing more. This is fine when you like a lot of plain rice, but if you want to get more use out of the machine, or at least expand your repertoire, The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook might be the best resource you can add to your library. The book has over 250 "no-fail" recipes for just about every rice dish you can think of, including risottos, puddings and pilafs, not to mention that it also has a wide variety of non-rice recipes that take advantage of the machine's cooking capabilities. And there is nothing that we like more than an appliance that multi-tasks.

Since it is a book about a type of appliance, the first thing that it covers is some basic information on the different kinds of rice cookers and how they are used. After that, it dives into the recipes, which include Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto, Salmon Stuffed Japanese Rice Balls, Corn and Black Bean Tamales, Hummus and Maple Cinnamon Rice Pudding. Even if you don't like all the recipes, there are sure to be at least a few that you enjoy and trying some new techniques could help you get more mileage out of the cooker in the long run.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you're going to make ice cream at home, it is worth it to get an ice cream maker. In fact, it is necessary to get an ice cream maker because it ensures that you will always get the optimal results from your frozen desserts. There are a wide range of ice cream makers to choose from, but there will definitely be at least one that fits your kitchen and your budget. After a batch or three of homemade ice cream, every single one will pay for itself in taste alone.

Ice Cream Ball - play with it and make ice cream. It's a great way to give your kids something to keep them occupied while they wait for the ice cream to be ready. $29

Cuisinart 1.5-qt. Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker - a great, easy-to-use all-purpose machine that can handle most family-sized jobs. Keep the extra freezer bowl in the freezer at all times so you're ready to go. Recommended by me (I own this model, pictured, and love it) and America's Test Kitchen. $49.95

A bagel lover can spend days, even weeks, trying to find a toaster that will comfortably fit extra-wide bagel slices. With most toasters, you end up having to stuff a bagel half in a too-small slot, which inevitably results in a bagel that is burned on one side. And that's all after you contend with those plastic "bagel slicers" that squish the bagel more effectively than they cleave it. The Westinghouse ToasterSlicer both toast and slices - and it is designed specifically for bagels.

The bagel is loaded whole into the slot at the back and, after pushing the machine's "slice" button and closing the slot, the bagel pops out fully toasted (and sliced!) from the other end after a few minutes. It can also toast regular bread, but it is more of a single-purpose gadget. But if you eat a lot of bagels, it is a gadget that would certainly come in handy! It's $43 at Overstock.com.

Gorenje is already one of the leading European appliance manufacturers, but they are aiming to become the most innovative, as well. The company is releasing two lines of Swarovski crystal-encrusted refrigerator/freezers. The first is known as "the Eye-Catcher" and features 7,000 hand-embedded crystals in a high-gloss, black background. Only 10 of this model will be produced. For the slightly less outrageously inclined, the alternative to the Eye-Catcher is Gorenje's commercial line crystal fridge, which only has 3,500 crystals in a black and silver refrigerator/freezer.

Getting past their very unique look, the 2-meter high fridges are controlled with a touch screen mounted on the door, allowing the user to control settings and the appliance temperature very easily. From the same screen, users can access a built-in radio, recipe book and a voice memo recorder/player. Both models will be available exclusively at Harrod's, in England, later this month.

Speaking of the cost effectiveness of kitchen gadgets, what do you think that your most and least used appliances/tools are? I know that I use my ice cream maker quite often, though it was voted as the least cost-effective appliance. On a near-daily basis, I use my espresso machine and my oven, and I use my toaster and blender less frequently. My stand mixer gets a good amount of use, too. I'm not going to work out the exact cost per use, but I think that these have all paid for themselves.

In terms of least used items, my waffle iron only makes occasional appearances in my kitchen, but I got such a good deal on it that it could be considered "cost effective" even if I only used it twice. My slow cooker is an appliance that I want to use more often than I actually do, as well. Fortunately, I don't think I have anything that I have never used. I'm sure that that is more indicative of the fact that I cook a lot than the potential usefulness of the gadget.

I'm willing to bet that sometimes the least used things in the kitchen are some of the least expensive, like my waffle iron. Things that were expensive tend to motivate people, myself included, to use them in an attempt to justify the cost. If it seemed like too good a deal to pass up at the time, you probably didn't buy it because you actually needed it, like that 6th unusually shaped whisk or yet another cheese grater that is now collecting dust at the back of the pantry.

How many times have you come across a neat looking gadget or seemingly useful appliance at the store and bought it, thinking that it would be useful? Maybe you rationalized your purchase by thinking , I always wanted to make my own ice cream, or perhaps even something like, the toaster on the TV show I watched last night looked just like this one and it made perfect toast! Not all kitchen gadgets are as costly, or as cost effective, as they sound. Pricegrabber.co.uk did a study of the cost-effectiveness of 30 household items, based on a survey of 1,500 UK shoppers that asked about how often they had used the items in the past year.

The least cost effective item was an ice cream maker, costing £19.48 ($35) per use! Clearly, nothing that is used only once or twice is a very cost effective item. Kitchen gadgets that were cost effective were tea kettles, averaging 5p (10¢) per use, and toasters, which ran about 18p (32¢).

 

 

I recently set up my home espresso machine. I am not an espresso novice, but this is the first machine I’ve had in my own kitchen. Based upon careful research, I selected the best machine I could find. And by “careful research”, I mean to say that I got a good deal on a good-looking machine. Fortunately for me, it is also an excellent machine that offers great performance, especially for a countertop model. It has a 15-BAR pressure pump and high quality brass hadware inside. The sleek, retro styling and small size are nice bonuses, in my opinon.  I have a Francis!Francis! X3.

Hey, we here at Slashfood know you can cook if all you have is fire and knives, but we still like to drool over cool new futuristic kitchen toys. MSN has listed a few fairly new things to equip your kitchen of the future, from cabinet finishes to major appliances.

• Refrigerators - go modular with columnar pieces that can be placed anywhere, they have French-style doors, and they now have luxurious water features like filling up water and rotating faucets in the door.
• Water - filtered water on tap, and a water faucet installed over the range to fill your pot on the stove-top instead of at the sink.
• Microwave ovens - in an under-the-counter drawer to save valuable counter-top space.
• Decor - countertops go retro with classic Boomerang laminate diner-style tops. Protect walls with a decorative tile backsplash
• Cabinetry - make maximum use of cabinet space with swing out doors that really swing out. Instead of wood or glass, it's steel-tone cabinetry, or maybe recessed panel cabinetry to create more space
• Sinks - have better designs to accommodate large pots and pans with either a low profile if the sink is divided, or heck, just take the divider out completely and make it own big bowl.
• For cooking - you need a restaurant-style griddle, an induction cooking top, and a convection oven.
• Other stuff - since the kitchen is the hub of all activity, you can answer the door while you're cooking with a door entry system.