April 07, 2021

What's in your Drawers?

35 minutes

Nancy welcomed back Jan Rutgers, kitchen designer and founder of Vestabul School of Design, to chat about the ergonomic use of drawers in the kitchen which has become a very important element in kitchen design. You will find this podcast enlightening and very interesting. Find the show notes below:

Refrigeration

The first appliance to really embrace drawers was refrigerators.

Dual Drawers

The upper end of the appliance market took the lower freezer drawer to the next level by developing refrigerators with two freezer drawers.

Convertible Drawers – Ref/Freezer

Another configuration to hit the market was a bottom mount refrigerator with a “convertible” drawer.

For a functional design, refrigerators with bottom freezer drawers was a win!

Undercounter Refrigerator dDawers

Manufacturers produced all freezer drawers, all refrigerator drawers and combination refrigerator/freezer drawers.

This development also opened up opportunities for the Kitchen Designer to place refrigeration in multiple locations within the kitchen.

Refrigeration could now be easily placed on an island or a peninsula.

Warming Drawers

These appliances evolved from the lower drawer that was standard on free-standing ranges.

Specifying one under the cooktop or near the dining table are great spots for this handy appliance.

Cup Warming Drawers

These cup warming drawers are ideally placed under the coffee maker to keep your expresso or latte cup warm, producing a coffee house experience every time.

Dishwashers

Dishwasher Drawers offer an ergonomic alternative to swing down doors – first introduced to the North American market by the New Zealand manufacturer Fisher & Paykel.

A single dishwasher drawer in the beverage bar for easy glass washing is a good example.

Microwaves

one of the best drawer appliance introductions has been the microwave drawer.

The microwave has always been a difficult appliance to place functionally and aesthetically in the Kitchen.

The microwave company Sharpe was the first to introduce the microwave drawer. Held a design contest showing the microwave in a drawer.

Vacuum Seal Drawers

The newest appliance drawer introduction for the Kitchen is the Vacuum Seal Drawer..

A vacuum seal drawer is a chamber-style drawer that can do a variety of things.

It can be used to better preserve frozen foods, it removes air to prepare for sous vide cooking and infuses flavors into proteins, vegetables, and oils.

Appliance drawers are a trend that will continue for Kitchen Appliances. Consumers will not want to give up the convenience of sliding out a drawer to access appliances under the counter.

This podcast sponsored by Thermador Appliances & Monogram Appliances

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By Nancy Hugo

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