Category Archives: Appliance Design

Why do front-load washers take so long?

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Many customers seem confused when we explain that front-load washing machines need an hour minimum for a normal wash cycle.

Luckily, for times when I can't wait an hour and a half for a clean outfit (sports uniforms, anyone?), I have the 18-minute wash, 18-minute dry feature from Electrolux (though my laundry room looks nothing like this). In a word: lifesaver.

But front-load laundry machines profess great water and energy savings. How does a longer cycle reconcile with such efficiency?

First, front-load washers don’t fill deeply with water, only to dump it all out a short while later. Rather, they pump in a minimal amount of water (some models use sensors to determine the size of the load).

Water continuously filters in and out throughout the cycle, meaning the water stays clean the entire time. Top-load washers fill with water until the clothes float, and then the clothes just sit in that water for the entire cycle.

Also, heating the water often takes longer in a front-loader. A sanitation wash cycle takes about two hours. But you can be assured the hotter temperature eliminates all the cold and flu germs and dust mites congregating in your clothing and linens.

The good news is laundry still takes the same amount of time because dry times have been cut in half. We used to wait for the hour-long drying cycle to finish long after the washer was done. But now, because front-load washers extract so much water during the spin cycle, the average dryer cycle lasts only about 30 minutes.

Or for me, the skinny jeans (which I refuse to put in the dryer because they may get a bit too skinny) I hang on a drying rack easily dry by morning.

What is convection?

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con⋅vec⋅tion in⋅de⋅tect⋅ion [kuhn-vek-shuhn in-di-tek-shuhn]

–noun

1. Ignorance of a smart cooking method; leads to sluggish cook times, uneven results, under-utilization of oven capacity, culinary malaise.

Still today, many suffer from convection indetection. It’s a tragedy. People own convection ovens without even realizing it. Or worse, they simply don’t understand how to use convection.

But now that it’s holiday cookie baking season, you need to know you can bake three trays of cookies without rotating them.

Convection cures hard-on-the-outside, raw-on-the-inside syndrome.

Convection, used for years in commercial bakeries and kitchens, allows faster and more even baking by incorporating airflow into the oven.

Sometimes convection is just a fan. True convection, sometimes called European convection, includes an electric element behind the fan, which allows for more even heat distribution to each rack. The even heat distribution means no shuffling or turning trays when baking multiple items at once.

As the air passes over it, the element also burns off odor and flavor before it flows back through the oven cavity. Not so important when baking three trays of gingersnaps, but so crucial when cooking distinct multiple dishes simultaneously.

A rule of thumb: ALWAYS reduce cooking temperature by 25 degrees when using convection.

And practice. Don’t debut your convection baking for dinner with the in-laws or worse, the holiday. We’ve gotten plenty disappointed calls following burnt turkeys resulting from Thanksgiving convection experiments.

Convection can reduce cooking time for foods usually baking for longer than 20 minutes. For food that’s usually done in less than 20 minutes, it won’t be done faster, but it will cook more evenly.

To be safe, check for doneness a bit before the minimum cooking time, but try to use the oven light instead of opening the oven door to minimize temperature fluctuations.

NEVER use convection on delicate items like souffles and cheesecakes. ALWAYS invite me over for a taste.

Learn recipes specifically designed for convection ovens. MyRecipes.com, which features recipes from personal favorites Cooking Light, Southern Living and Real Simple — among others — has a slew of convection oven recipes online for free.

10 Kitchen Tips for Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving cooking can be confusing, especially for those who don’t use the kitchen much otherwise. Check out these tips to make your Thanksgiving cooking a breeze (or just a little bit easier).

1. Calibrate the Oven

Your oven’s temperature could be off, causing you to over- or undercook. If you still have it, check your manual for specific instructions on making sure that your oven’s 350 degrees is really 350 degrees.

2. Use Convection Oven

Many people buy a convection oven with holiday cooking in mind, and then forget to use it! If you have true convection or settings that allow multi-rack cooking (the bake and broil element shut off after the preheat), you can put a dish on each rack without having to rotate them.

Just remember to set the temperature 25 degrees below what’s recommended for normal baking.

3. Use Convection Microwave

If you have a convection microwave, you have a second oven. The 25-degrees-below-normal-bake-temp rule applies here, too.

4. Use Sensor Cooking

Many microwaves come with a sensor you can use to automatically adjust cooking power and temperature based on the amount of moisture in the food. Try it on meat, potatoes and vegetables to save time and ensure a perfect dish. Again, check your manual for instructions of how to use your model’s specific features.

5. Make Extra Ice

Empty out your icemaker bin into a large, plastic bag and keep it in the freezer 24 hours before your guests arrive. By the time they do, you’ll have a bin full of ice and a cheap refill once that’s gone.

6. Use Oven Light

The temptation to open the oven and check on your goodies is high, but the temperature won’t be if you do. The oven temperature can drop 25 degrees in just seconds, increasing cooking times and wasting energy. So keep that door shut, already!

7. Use Meat Probe and Warming Drawer

Hopefully just reading this jogs the memory of that stuff you have but never remember to use. Many ranges now come with metal probes to stick into a turkey or ham to monitor the temperature, which should hit 180 degrees.

(Note: The probes usually come packaged next to the manual, so they’re probably waiting for you in that same junk drawer filing system where you left them.)

And, are you sure that drawer under the oven you use to store pots is only for storage? Some range models include warming drawers, which work great to keep early bird guests’ dishes ready while you finish up the bird.

8. Match Cookware to Burners

Having a tiny pot on a large burner wastes energy and a big post on a tiny burner slows cooking time. Cook smart on the stovetop to shorten cooking times and save energy/money.

9. Fire Up the Grill

Grilled turkey tastes great and frees up your oven for everything else. Get creative and use your grill for potatoes, biscuits and pie.

(Bonus tip: We all know those who don’t cook, but only grill. Now there’s no excuse to not help!)

10. Adjust Refrigerator Shelves

Remember that shelves can be moved up and down to fit tall items like 2-liter bottles and frozen turkeys. And consider making a short shelf for platters that can’t be stacked. That way you won’t be wasting all that space above the trays.

Do you have any other tips to make the most of your kitchen? We’d love to read them in the comments.

What Is a HEPA Vacuum?

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OK, before I talk about HEPA, I have to confess that us Warners LOVE our Miele vacuums. Most of us, and a number of our sales associates, are believers – actively seeking converts, so please excuse the enthusiasm.

I never understood the whole $700-for-a-vacuum thing until I used my cousin’s Miele to vacuum her entire first floor without waking her twin babies. That thing is so quiet, you would think it’s broken if it wasn’t so darn powerful. Pennies, paperclips, short animal hair – just once over and it disappeared.

When I told my sister about this, she agreed but said it was really the HEPA filter that made the Miele great. And I nodded along, but admittedly, I didn’t haven’t a clue what HEPA meant.

So I asked our Miele rep on the phone the other day, “What is HEPA and why does my sister care about it so much?”

Miele Vacuums + HEPA

His response was pretty helpful (and humorous).

“First understand that I could put a HEPA filter on your shoulder and call you a HEPA person and it doesn’t mean anything,” he said. I had to laugh, but as I listened on, it made more sense.  Miele vacuums are the only truly HEPA-certified vacuums on the market.

HEPA, or high efficiency particulate arrest, was invented by the Army Corps of Engineers to combat chemical toxins. The U.S. HEPA standard requires 99.75% of all particles 0.3 microns in diameter be filtered. That’s teeny tiny — about 1/200th of a strand of hair.

“Well, how many of these things are actually in my house?” I asked.

The average home contains about 250,000 particles per square foot (1 million in an industrial warehouse setting like mine). And when we breathe, “gross stuff” (i.e. pet dander, pollen and even dust mite fecal matter) enters our blood stream through our lungs.

Does this matter to you? Maybe. If you have allergies or respiratory health problems, it definitely should. There’s no question using a HEPA filter to trap particles improves your breathing. And if you live in a newer construction home, HEPA becomes important because the quality of the insulation and windows mean that “fresh air” doesn’t really get in and current air simply recycles itself.

And if you’re already using a “HEPA” vacuum, you might want to double-check it.

“Some vacuum cleaners spit out particles through their exhaust system instead of trapping them inside the vacuum,” he said. “Just about every brand has a HEPA vacuum. But those units aren’t necessarily making use of the HEPA. It has to be able to filter all those particles to 99.7%.”

HEPA filters are tested to 10 cubic feet of airflow per minute, he said. Even low-quality vacuums can move about 60 cubic feet per minute. So what happens when you put a HEPA designed for 10 cubic feet per minute on a vacuum that moves 60 cubic feet of air per minute? The air is going to go around the filter and basically recirculate the debris.

“There are many vacuums created with leaks to help the air escape,” he said. “It’s like putting your thumb on a hose.” And that was it. The thought of dust mites and their “gross stuff” shooting out of a vacuum was enough to make me really, REALLY care about HEPA.

Miele vacuum cleaners generate over 100 cubic feet of airflow per minute and the HEPA filter is tested on the vacuum to ensure it’s truly sealed and can contain the debris. For more info, read our vacuum cleaner buying guide.

These vacuums are certainly an investment – they last upwards of 20 years – or a really, really generous gift (we ship for free!).  An all-surface vacuum with True HEPA filtration,  such as the S7 series uprights,  start at $649. Vacuum cleaners for smooth surfaces and low-pile carpeting start at about $300, after adding a HEPA filter.

Green Kitchens from Warners Stellian and Minnesota GreenStar

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For an industry whose products are primarily sold in white, black, and stainless steel, the color everybody’s talking about is green. Green means different things to different people. For many, green is the color of the money we’re looking to save in turbulent times. For others, green represents the luck we need to hope our old refrigerator makes it one more week until we can get out and shop for a new one.

But perhaps most importantly, the color green represents a social movement towards the conservation of our natural resources and preservation of our environment. Living green involves a commitment, both big and small, towards responsible living which lessens our impact on our ecosystem by reducing pollution, recycling reusable materials, and minimizing waste of non-renewable resources.

Warners’ Stellian is proud to be an official supporter of Minnesota Greenstar. Minnesota Greenstar is a Green building and standard and certification program for both new and existing homes. Seeking to promote the five core values of Green building – energy efficiency, resource efficiency, indoor environmental quality, water conservation, and community – Minnesota Greenstar ensures both environmental quality and integrity of Minnesota building projects.

MN Greenstar can help consumers, homebuilders, and remodelers identify and implement measures that reduce material usage and increase the efficiency of their construction project. Minnesota Public Radio chronicled one homeowner’s partnership with MN Greenstar during remodeling, while the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote a feature highlighting their certification standard for builders and remodelers.

How has Warners’ Stellian taken steps to become a Green retailer? Through a partnership with Waste Management, Warners’ Stellian has pledged to recycle 75% of generated waste, including 10 tons of Styrofoam and 20 tons of cardboard per month! In addition, Warners’ Stellian is the Midwest’s exclusive distributor of Liebherr refrigerators, Europe’s most well known premium refrigerator and one of the world’s most environmentally conscious manufacturers.

As you visit home shows, devour kitchen design articles, and plan the colors and architecture of your dream kitchen to be, consider the benefits of seeing the world through Green tinted glasses. Warners’ Stellian and MN Greenstar can help ensure that not only will your new home and kitchen be an expression of your personal lifestyle, but will make sure that our earth’s precious resources are available for our children, their children, and generations to come.