From ovens to coffee machines. Contemporary appliances for a minimalist kitchen

At its heart, extreme-minimalism is a rebellion against consumerism, it’s a cathartic process of learning to live without. But it’s also a decorative style in its own right – a clean world for a clean mind.

In the kitchen, however, good-quality cooking is impossible to achieve while retaining the desired aesthetic of the super-minimal, with modern appliances clogging up counter space like it's rush hour on the worktop. Technology, however, will find a way, with appliance brands like V-Zug’s latest innovations simplifying even the most complex culinary activities, while retaining an unobscured kitchen landscape.

Ovens

Contemporary ovens play their part in flattening surfaces with auto-open doors and touchscreen navigation that controls an intuitive system of automatic cooking modes with one finger. For traditional cooks who still want to see their food to know it's ready, there’s recessed lighting inside, while for more scientific gastronomists there are plug-in thermometers that connect to the automated systems, leaving the chef free to manage other tasks, without having to be concerned about overcooking.

Steamers

Steamers can seem like an overindulgence in a compact minimalist kitchen. Many modern appliance brands, however, offer combination oven/steamers that utilise both functions. By combining the two, more professional results can be achieved in complex operations such as baking, roasting, and sous-vide cooking, as well as re-heating food. Using the right combination of hot air and steam creates an atmosphere that doesn’t dry out pre-cooked food, while retaining its moisture, colour, nutrients and, most importantly, its taste.

Drawers

Previously functioning as homes to barely-used bakeware, modern oven drawers are now the most useful kitchen appliance you never knew you needed. With a range of 80-200F, warming drawers are perfect for long-form recipe stages like defrosting, proofing dough or incubating yoghurt, as well as quicker tasks like warming food or crockery – saving oven space when you need it most.

Vacuum drawers, meanwhile, block the oxidation process so the foods stay fresh for three times longer, marinate quicker thanks to relaxed meat fibres, and prep for sous-vide cooking. Sleek and smooth, with a handleless micro-finish, drawers are subtle additions to the kitchen aesthetic underneath ovens and steamers, but make a big impact on culinary repertoires.

Coffee centres

Weird and wonderful steam-punk coffee machines replicate any barista skill for the home novice to learn, but can make an otherwise-minimalist kitchen look like part of a Heath Robinson machine. The latest bean-to-cup coffee centres are wall-integrated service hatches that do things with beans I’d need a masters degree from Starbucks University to even pronounce. From the familiar espresso, cappuccino, and macchiato etc., to the more exotic-sounding ristretto, doppio or lungo. With a touchscreen interface controlling coffee type, milk froth, strength and size, and combinations saved as favourites, it takes less time to make the perfect coffee than it would to order.

Hobs

Advanced engineering in modern induction hobs means that they can be fitted completely flush to the worktop. But even with this smooth, flat surface for the cookware to sit on, its positioning is still dictated by rigid heat rings. The very latest in hob design, however, corrects this left-over design flaw with smaller sub-surface rings combining to detect pan size and bring the heat to wherever the pan is. The innovation allows cooks to re-allocate the hob space more efficiently in a game of pan-tetris. Moreover, the additional space allows further specialist functionalities to be applied, such as a wok-holding concave edge or a flat teppan grill.

Extractors

An imperative part of any kitchen, high-powered extractors ensure cooking smells and gases don’t linger in the dining space. Traditional extractors on walls or ceilings capture fumes as they rise towards them, but the invasion of a large metal box in a minimal kitchen landscape can ruin the aesthetic.

Modern extractors can magically rise from their homes inside the worktop, then lower themselves back down out of sight when out of use. If even this occasional protrusion is too much, however, powerful hob-integrated extractors drag the rising vapour back down instead.

Refrigeration

The latest smart fridges combine internal cameras with external screens. But the x-ray-door-effect created is more than just a lazy gimmick. When combined with smart connectivity, the technology allows users to view and itemise fridge contents while already at the supermarket, ensuring there’s always enough cheese.

When it comes to the fridge’s main function of preserving food, even that’s being improved. With different temperature and humidity levels throughout the shelves, users can store all foods – even different wines in wine fridges – in their respective perfect conditions. Meanwhile, one-touch opening means the kitchen’s sleek surface remains unobstructed.

Cleaning

With such a smooth, clean-shaven surface, the modern kitchen is easier to clean than ever before, too. With pyrolytic self-cleaning, some ovens can use extremely high temperatures to turn dirt into ash, before it's gently wiped away. Coffee centres have automatic cleaning and descaling operations – including the milk tubes, while sections such as the milk container and filters and collection trays from extractors are removable and dishwasher-safe.

While known for their indulgent energy use, modern dishwashers themselves are far more eco-friendly than often assumed. With no pre-rinsing required thanks to advanced filters, integrated heat-pumps, contact-free cutlery trays and steam-finishing glassware settings, the latest dishwashers are both cleaner and greener, not to mention simpler, than washing by hand.

With everything on this list, it’s no wonder the kitchen of the future is such a sleek and minimal place. And with kitchen tasks taking less time, using less energy and needing less cleaning afterwards, the joy derived from cooking and time able to be spent with loved ones is, conversely, increased.

© Architonic