Appliance Holiday Cooking Tips

       Don’t think of a holiday meal as a one-day cooking project that will only take a few hours to cook. Be prepared and start in advance. Our advise to you is to Prep, Prep, Prep!

       Start a couple of days ahead of time. Plan what you are going to make way in advance, make your grocery list a week before the event, and start getting some of your items ready just a few days before the big holiday feast. Here are some helpful tips of things that you can do with your appliances to make it easier for you on those big important holiday meals.

Refrigerator

       About a week in advance, clean out your refrigerator. The best time to do this is right before you go grocery shopping. This will make it easier for you because all of the things that you do have will be fresh in your mind.

       Make sure to start unthawing your turkey about 4-5 days before the feast. That big turkey will take a lot of room in your refrigerator, so utilize your refrigerator's special features like the extra shelves, airtight crisper drawers, herb storage, or the adjustable fridge freezer compartment. If you still find yourself not having enough storage space, utilize a second refrigerator stored in the garage or basement.

       A few days in advance, you can start cutting your produce and store them in air tight containers in your refrigerator.

       You can organize your refrigerator by putting the ingredients that take the longest to cook in the front of your refrigerator. The things that take the least amount of time to cook can be stored in the back of your fridge.

Range

       Preheating your oven can sometimes be a struggle. A great tip for preheating your turkey is to have the temperature at about 500 degrees Fahrenheit while it's preheating and then lower it back to the cooking temperature at around 350 degrees Fahrenheit when you put your turkey in. Because the turkey is so big and cold, it sometimes can shock your oven and make the temperature decrease even as low as 90 degrees Fahrenheit making cooking times even longer. So to avoid longer cooking times, make sure your oven is at the right temperature at the beginning.

       On the day of cooking, more burners can be a blessing on a busy day in the kitchen.  If you can, consider adding an induction cook top to your Kitchen. What I like about induction cooking is there’s no flame, so you’re keeping the surface area cool making it safer making sure none of the kids or guests get hurt. It’s going to be more efficient than gas, and it can be as precise. If you want to melt chocolate, it can set it at 78-79 degrees. It’s more about the precision temperature than anything else. Of course, if you use induction cooking, you’ll need cookware made from cast iron or another magnetic material.

       Some ranges have a fifth burner in the middle and/ or a griddle on gas burners. The griddle is nice because you can just place some of your food directly on the surface without using pans. As an extra bonus your meat and veggies can have those nice grill marks on them to make them look like you grilled them outside.

       At the bottom of most ranges is a warming drawer. Utilize this space for big meals by placing bread in there to rise the dough before you cook it and keep it warm after they are done.

Microwave

       A week before your event, make sure to clean inside and outside of your microwave. This appliance is sometimes the thing that we forget about during the holidays. None of your guests want to open up a dirty microwave.

       A microwave oven is made for a Thanksgiving feast! Microwave ovens use the precision of convection cooking with an element and fan the distribute the heat better. This speeds up cooking times three times faster than conventional microwave cooking.

Dishwasher

       About a week before your holiday feast, clean your dishwasher. Use an Affresh dishwasher cleaner tablet and have your dishwasher run a cycle with no dishes in it. This cleaning product will take out any mineral build-up and will clean inside of the machine making it work more effectively.

       Make sure that your dishwasher is completely empty at the beginning of the day of your feast. That way it is ready for new dishes.

       On the day of, pre-wash your dishes while you are cooking by filling half of your sink with hot soapy water. Once they have soaked for a little bit, place them in your dishwasher.

       If you have a quiet dishwasher (a sound rating of about 46 dba or lower) will make your life so much easier on event day. Once everyone is done eating and you load up your dishwasher, you can run it while mingling with your guests. It is so quiet, no one will even know that it's running.

       With these tips, you will be ready to tackle the challenge of cooking for 10 plus people. You can always have helpers in the kitchen and remember to have fun!

Enjoy Barista-style Coffee from Home

We love our coffee but don’t love the idea of always driving out to get it. So why not invest in a built-in coffee system and enjoy barista-style coffee from home?

These coffee systems “do it all” with fresh, filtered water, and most without the requirement of a waterline or any additional plumbing (they have water reservoirs that are easily refilled). And neither do you need a large kitchen layout to fit a built-in coffee maker because they only take up 24 inches of cabinet space.

“Do it all” is truly do-it-all. Some models offer up to 12 different cup sizes, various strength settings, and espresso, cappuccino, and latte options are also at your fingertips. They froth using built-in milk reservoirs with a hot water feature for tea. Whole bean or ground coffee doesn’t make any difference and may be housed along with utensils in concealed storage. Some models also have two reservoirs for different flavors or decaf at the push of a button.

And the best part? No more time spent cleaning out counter-top coffee makers’ clogged needles.  The built-in coffeemaker units are largely self-cleaning. Simply add your descaler and press “OK”.  A simple rinse cycle finishes the job!

Several top rated brand refrigerator offer built-in coffeemakers for around $2,400 with these features and more. Check out GE Cafe's refrigerator that has the built-in hot water dispenser. A single-family household with two coffee-drinking adults should recoup that in savings within just a year or two. 

Investing in a New Appliance

Look.  I don’t care what profession you’re in, how much money you make or how much disposable income your family has, purchasing a new appliance can be a major decision and on its surface; can be a huge financial investment.  First, if you take money out of the equation for a second, your household appliances are probably one of the most touched items in your home.  From opening the refrigerator to make your breakfast in the morning to cleaning your dirty laundry, most people are putting their hands on an appliance more than any other piece of equipment in their home.  Yes, including the TV remote.  Then, factor in some of the emotional aspects of your appliances………. your stove was used to cook the food for your son or daughter’s graduation party or your refrigerator was used to keep cool that perfect dessert you spent hours preparing for that special occasion that left a lasting memory for you and your family……your appliances could be considered priceless.

But enough of that.  How does the math really boil down when you buy an appliance?  Let’s take a refrigerator.  Depending on what you are considering buying, the average cost of a brand new refrigerator can range anywhere from $1,000 to upwards of $10,000.  Fancy taste….fancy price.  But for this, let’s look at what your average person puts in their house and use $2,000.  Granted, things aren’t built like they were 30 years ago but you can pretty much rest assured your refrigerator is going to serve you quite well for atleast 5 years.  Do the math and that translates to 43,800 hours of useful life.  Some simple division puts the cost per hour of your new refrigerator at 4.57 cents per hour.  How much did you spend on that name brand coffee indulgence this morning?  Or how much did that absolute must have football jersey you needed to wear on game day set you back?  When you distill it down, the cost of your refrigerator seems much more palatable and then factor in all the stuff mentioned earlier about the emotional and usefulness aspects of your appliance……this seems to be a very wise and worthwhile investment.  So, what’s the morale of all this?  Don’t sweat the pennies.

Keep Food Fresher Longer with Dual Compressors

Bob is here to teach you about dual compressors in refrigerators. There are some great reasons why dual compressors are a great investment when picking out your new fridge. He also shares a fun trick to tell if your refrigerator at home or models in stores have dual compressors.






Contact Contract Appliance to help you find the perfect refrigerator for your customized kitchen.

Cleaning Stainless Steel Appliances

Most people love the sleek look of stainless steel appliances. Most people struggle with keeping that look. All the finger prints, smudges, swirls, streaks, water marks, etc……..

There are lots of products on the market that promise to return that stainless steel appliance to their showroom origins. Some of these contain harsh chemicals while others offer a more eco-friendly solution to this problem. There are also some home remedies out there, such as vinegar and oil. Which may seem weird, but some people swear by it.

Whichever way you choose to go there are 3 things you need to know:

1. Find the direction of the grain. Yes stainless steel has a grain just like wood. It will be either horizontal or vertical. If you look close, you will see the very faint striations. Cleaning in the direction of the grain, will greatly improve the effectiveness of any cleaner.
2. Use a very soft cloth or paper towel.
3. Rub very gently. Let the cleaner do the work.

If you have “smudge proof” stainless, never use harsh chemicals or anything abrasive. Smudge proof stainless has a top coat, kind of like a clear coat finish on a car. Using these types of cleaners can ruin this top coat, thus ruining the finish.