[GALLERY] Kitchen Appliance Education and Demonstration at Middleby Residential

If you want to elevate your kitchen and everything you do there, you look to appliances designed to enhance your cooking experience.

The thing is, what “elevates the cooking experience” differs person-to-person.

When clients look to me to elevate their homes, they need me to know what appliances are right for their designs…in look? Yes…but more in function. The question quickly takes on layers. Kitchen appliances are NOT on a simple, “more-to-less” spectrum. It’s not a question of which are the high-end selections, and all the rest are below that. Actually, different brands (and lines within those brands) are better for different things.

I know a lot about design, but I don’t know it all inherently. That’s why I go to trade shows like High Point Market and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show. It’s ALSO why I go to specific training like the one I just went to (and LOVED) at Middleby.

Who’s Middleby?

Middleby Residential is a manufacturer and distributor of global epicurean brands. With a portfolio including Evo, Viking, Uline, and many more, they have a cultivated taste for legendary brands that each offer a unique point of view of how you can cook…

Middleby has twenty-one international consumer brands of kitchen appliances and interior furnishings in their portfolio. They also have three national showrooms — one in Chicago, one in California, and one in Dallas — where they give product demonstrations with the 50+ master chefs that work there.

That’s what I went to last wee, because seeing, learning about, using, and enjoying meals made in these appliances is part of how I shape my recommendations for clients. It’s not just about quality, like “which stove heats more evenly,” or “which broiler can do toast without burning it.” It’s about which selections are better for what style of cooking…or which is outdoor graded for an indoor-outdoor kitchen…or which has the features that make the difference for someone caring for kids…etc.

Here are some highlights of what I learned!!

Have you considered multiple refrigerators?

For a long time, the trend in home refrigeration was “the more fridge space, the better,” but it was ONLY imagined as enormous fridges up to around 36 inches (in width) with 70 inches of depth. That’s a capacity of between 22 – 28 cubic feet.

But have you considered multiple refrigerators? There are two reasons why you could…

1. The first benefit is keeping certain foods closer to where you use them (as in, one fridge in your kitchen’s main flow), or out of the way if they’re things you don’t use as often (in the Butler pantry, for instance, or in the kitchen island) This helps your cooking flow, and helps you pull things out and put them back without so much rummaging around other items.
2. The more important benefit, though, is that different foods should be stored at different temperatures, which you can manage with two refrigerators. We never do anything about this in a world of homes with just one fridge. Did you know what temps these foods should be stored at??

• Deli meats, cheese, and condiments should be kept at 36°F
• Market greens, berries, and beverages should be at 38°F
• Pantry flours, breads, and spices should be at 42°F
• And root cellar veggies should be at 50°F

Noteworthy innovations

The brands at Middleby also boast commercial-grade appliances, many of which have become an industry standard in restaurants you know! Others are coming up with innovations that I found particularly cool…for example:

• There was this conveyor belt…a pizza cooker…and it was one of Middleby’s first products that’s still not only used today, but it’s used in Dominos restaurants all over the country. It cooks more than pizza, by the way!!
• The fantastic chrome griddle we saw in action is also sold to Five Guys burgers. You can get the griddle incorporated at home in the Viking series 7 range as an accessory. It’s titanium chrome infused (which means faster, FAR more even heat).
• One of the certified master chefs with us also shared the PUC (imagine a food “Amazon box”) designed for food stored at pick-up locations…this “pickup cabinet” made of slimline lockers are customizable contactless systems for food delivery and take-out businesses. Can you imagine how easy this makes any order pickup?!
• Perhaps my favorite innovation was the L2F pizza bot…this robot can pick and prep the most finicky pizza ingredients for chefs to minimize errors and maximize output. It’s truly impressive!!
• Finally…do you see this sink turned into a sous vie sink? It’s for braising…a machine that is, forgive me for saying it this way, “idiot proof.” You put a recipe in, and it tells you exactly what to add, when, and how much. You get the exact same Bolognese (for example) every single time!! You won’t be surprised to know that this is a BIG boon in commercial kitchens…

The Evo experience

The way we cook today has become increasingly more specialized.

Just think about it…in the 1950s, we had the same pot roast every Sunday, or same pancakes every morning…and when pre-made meals became all the rage, and the frozen food section of the grocery store grew to be even bigger than the fresh produce section, all we needed were microwaves!!

The biggest difference today between an elevated, lifestyle-focused luxury home and a standard middle-line or new build is in how well the kitchen is designed for today’s cooking. We have steam ovens, braisers, indoor-outdoor kitchen experiences, and so much more…but it’s not about having them all, it’s about having the appliances that enrich the way you cook and eat.

One of my personal favorite kitchen innovations for specialized cooking is the Evo griddle.

We spent a LOT of time around the Evo at Middleby with the certified master chef…and other than observing how chefs use it, I felt that his insights on what he hears from people about the benefits of an Evo were most revealing. He said: the social aspect is what people always talk about.

Here are two design options for an Evo that each depict the social aspect in a different way:

1. Install your Evo in the center of the island of your indoor-outdoor kitchen. That way, people from every side have access to it. Then, everyone can cook together! The chef at Middleby joked, “you won’t get complaints ever again from guests about how something is cooked.” Everyone can cook exactly how they like.
2. You can also install an Evo off to one side of the island, indoors or out, to entertain your guests as a sort of Mongolian style cook. This is a VERY different experience than what we know at the classic backyard cookouts (where whoever is at the grill is usually alone). Instead, the Evo is set up right in front of where everyone congregates. It elevates having people over for dinner to a new form of entertaining and spending time together.

The Viking story

The Viking line of ranges and ovens had…let’s say, “manufacturing issues” years ago. In fact, there was a bumpy period in the brand’s recent history when many showrooms pulled Viking products from their floors.

Middleby acquired Viking in 2013. Since then, they dug deep into the manufacturing, reworked design, launched new products, and spent over $1M in a training facility to train technicians.

Other than making VERY striking ovens, Viking has also become known as the first manufacturer to come out with a professional cooking range in the residential space. Viking was the first to introduce French door ovens to the residential market, too, because they already had hinges in their commercial line.

Here are some things I loved to see in action in these new Viking ovens and stoves at Middleby…

• See that chocolate? That was melted on a PAPER PLATE on a Viking range!! Just set the plate on the low simmer, sprinkle chocolate chips on it, and the chocolate will melt perfectly.
• The gas infrared and electric broiler was also exceptional. Typically, electric can’t broil like gas infrared can…but with the Viking Series 7 Ovens, you have the technology that mirrors the electric with the gas. The broilers in this series are encased with GLASS to allow heat to disperse evenly (and hotter)…giving you that perfect broil. How impressive is that??

Final “did you know” kitchen appliance findings…

Other things I learned at Middleby over several DAYS of learning, eating, helping, and sharing, include:

• Brass is the strongest metal.
• Chefs love open burners (gas) because it burns hotter, faster.
• At the Middleby showroom kitchen, they have 23,000 BTU burners…the average range for daily cooking is 2,000 to 10,000, and most high ranges only go to 18,000!!
• In case you EVER wondered: burners for gas ranges can NOT go into the dishwasher!!!

What are you thinking for your kitchen appliances?

If you’re thinking of investing in high-end kitchen appliances like Viking and Evo, especially for indoor-outdoor kitchens, it’s worth going with your professional interior designer to the Middleby showroom in Dallas. Your designer can set an appointment for you to go and learn about the products and see them set up!!

When you look at how we cook today, it’s not only more specialized, but also more personalized. Not everyone uses an Evo griddle, for example, or a pressure cooker, or a double oven in their day-to-day…but those who do swear by any one of those things. And they need them configured properly into the kitchen!!

Your kitchen can regularly remind you of the joy of loving your home…talk to us about elevating your kitchen experience, and find out for yourself!!