Amazing Kitchen Appliances To Make Your Life Easier
How Kitchen Appliances Make Your Life Easier
The modern kitchen has come as a savior for the modern person to save on time, unnecessary effort, avoid fatigue problems and generally make your life easier. But in the recent times, the modern kitchen has been so sophisticated, to the extent that some people under use it, or do not get the maximum benefits from the modern kitchen. So, how does the modern kitchen make your life easier?
What is a Modern Kitchen?
A modern kitchen can be described as a kitchen that encompasses modern appliances, with open spaces, and minimalist features. The cabinets are sleek, flat, frameless, and the countertops have a touch of flamboyance. The surfaces of a modern kitchen are also smooth, polished, and uncluttered. Appliances tend to blend directly into the cabinetry, leaving a sense of admiration from any eye that lands on the whole kitchen set up. The modern Kichen will make your life easier and definitely more convenient.
What is a rice cooker?
Invented in 1955 by Yoshitada Minami from Japan, a rice cooker is an electric kitchen appliance that is made to specifically cook rice by setting the timer and leaving the rice cooker to cook by itself. The outer layer of the rice cooker contains a heating element and a thermal sensor. The thermal sensor contains a thermometer, and is fitted at the bottom of the apparatus, right where the inner pot sits on. The material of the outer layer is made of aluminum or steel in most rice cookers, to help regulate temperature required to cook rice.
The inner pot of the rice cooker is used to hold the rice and water while cooking. It is made of ceramic, non-stick and stainless steel.
The science of cooking the rice
Rice expands approximately 3 times its original volume or capacity when it is finished cooking. This can help you gauge the amount of rice to cook versus the size of the rice cooker. It is converted from small hard grains to big fluffy particles. The rice expands through absorbing the water. For the rice to be cooked effectively, you should mix 1 measure of rice with 2 measures of water for white rice. Brown rice is higher in fibre than the white rice, and it may necessitate an additional measure of water to make it 1:3 ratio for effective cooking.
The weight of the rice inside makes the inner pot to rest heavily on the heating element, and the thermal sensor, hence heat is conducted to the inner pot. The water inside a rice cooker boils at a temperature of 212°F (100°C), and as long as the rice cooker is connected to the electricity, this temperature is maintained throughout the cooking process.
The lid is fixed tightly on top of the cooking rice so that the enclosed steam assists in cooking the rice. Once there is no more water to boil in the pot, the temperature starts to rise drastically, and the thermal sensor senses the temperature has risen above 212°F (100°C), and hence the rice cooker automatically switches to warming mode. This avoids monitoring while cooking, hence meant to make your life easier. If you used the correct measures of water and rice, your rice should be very well cooked with great accuracy. Many rice cookers will come with indicator lights that shows both when the rice cooker is cooking and when it is in warming mode.
Places of very high altitudes can alter the normal ratio required for universal cooking, as water boils at temperatures below 100°C.
Rice cookers make your life easier. Being automatic means you do have to supervise your food as it cooks, and can do something else.
The Electric Pressure Cooker
What is a pressure cooker
A pressure cooker is a kitchen appliance made up of a sealed chamber, that accommodates steam generated from food contents in the cooker being heated, to increase temperatures above 100°C (water boiling point) hence reduce cooking time.
Who invented the pressure cooker
With the name Steam Digester or Papin’s digester, the pressure cooker first appeared in the year 1679. It was the work of a French Physicist called Dennis Papin. He definitely came to make your life easier.
It was not Until 1930’s, that the pressure cooker was introduced in the home kitchens. Before that, the pressure was actually dangerous, as the steam pressure could build up so high that the covering lid would literally explode off. With the advancement of technology though, the pressure cooker exploding has been reduced to zero. It has become one of the favorite cooking appliances for most people, especially those wishing to cook very hard foods at the shortest time possible. And now it falls in the category of appliances that can make your life easier.
How Does The Pressure Cooker Work
The electric heater fitted at the bottom of the cooker’s chamber heats the food contents in the cooker. The steam generated from the act of heating does not evaporate off, but it is contained in the sealed chamber. When the steam builds up to greater levels, the temperatures in the chamber rise up above the normal temperatures of boiling water, 212°F(100°C) going up to 266°F(130°C).
This high temperatures quickens the penetration of cooking water into the food particles, without denaturing minerals and any vitamins available. Due to lack of evaporation, the extraction of flavor from the food becomes more efficient.
High altitude affects the boiling point of water. The high the altitude above the sea level, the lower the boiling point of water. This means at very high altitude places, food takes longer to cook, because the cooking water or liquid is not hot enough. Pressure cookers can be used to counter this.
In general, the cooking of a pressure cooker can be said to follow the ideal gas law. When a gas is exposed to heat, their potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, and the particles collision with each other and against the container wall increases. This leads to kinetic energy being converted to heat energy. If the particles cannot find an escape, more kinetic energy will be converted to heat energy, and that is how the high temperatures build up.
The pressure cooker comes with a valve at the top that acts as an escape to some gas particles, when the pressure they create goes beyond manageable levels. This is what prevents the explosion of the pressure cookers. The valves will lift automatically regularly to keep the pressure at manageable levels, and this cycle will continue.
Pressure cookers make your life easier. They save on time, and also the enhance the safety of cooking.
The Air Fryer
What is an Air Fryer.
An Air fryer is a kitchen electrical device that uses convention to circulate hot air around food in order to cook it
Who Invented The Air fyer
An inventor from Netherlands called Fred Van Der Weij started working on the idea of using hot air convention to cook in 2005, but only officially announced its completion in 2010. The air fryer hence was birthed in 2010, after numerous attempts.
How Does an Air fryer Work?
The Air fryer is a countertop appliance placeable on a table. It comes fitted with a compartment that is used to hold the food being cooked. To some air fryers, the compartment is accessed from the side of the air fryer, to others it is accessed from the top. Now, this air fryer machine depends on the air convention principle of physics. Once the desired food is placed in the compartment, and the device is fitted with electric power, the air fryer lid starts heating the air that is within the compartment.
Hot air is lighter and will always want to go to the top. The air fryer lid is hence also fitted with a fan that blows the air to ensure the circulation of the air around the compartment. With continued supply of electric energy, the temperatures get hotter and hotter, and the hot air is able to penetrate the food contents and actually cook them.
To make your life easier and healthier, this mode of cooking replaces the use of deep fryers as a mode of cooking, as the same way the hot oil penetrates the food contents, it is the same way the hot air penetrates the food contents and cooks them. The only difference is the nature of output food, as the air fryer focuses on bringing out crispy effect on foods.
The concept of air circulation also reduces the cooking time compared to when using oil to cook.
The air fryer can be used to fry food, reheat, bake, dehydrate, and even roast. This is especially made possible because the temperatures can be adjusted according to what one is cooking to avoid overcooking or burning food.
Air fryers make your life easier and better, with their ability to replace the deep frying with air penetration, and hence improving the health of people in general. They save on time , money and are convenient as their versatility make them useful around the kitchen, to the extent of replacing other appliances, like the oven.
Microwave
What is a microwave
Just like the name, microwaves are electrical kitchen devices used to reheat food by use of microwaves, which are electromagnetic radiations.
Who invented the Microwave
Percy spencer, a raytheon engineer is said to be the one who invented the microwave in 1946, after being exposed to the use of radar technology in the world war 2. It is interesting to note that the invention of the microwave was purely by accident. Percy was testing his magnetron and he noted his snack getting affected by the radiation and melting, and that is when he got curious. Let us now observe how this device aims to make your life easier.
How the Microwave Works
Microwave ovens produce electromagnetic waves through use of magnetrons, which are electric tubes. These electromagnetic radiations are called microwaves, and they are 2.4GHZ Frequency. These microwaves cause the water molecules in food to vibrate, causing heat energy to be produced, and the food cooked from the inside out. Microwaves are energy efficient because they do not heat the whole cavity of the microwave, only the food. When the microwave energy is absorbed by the food, it is converted to heat energy, but does not make the food to be radioactive itself.
Microwaves work the best in cooking and heating food because they are able to pass through glass, paper, ceramic or plastic material, which food can be placed in. Aluminum foils are not suitable to be used in this case as they reflect the microwaves, which can cause destruction of the microwave oven.
Though the microwaves are overly not dangerous, over exposure to the eyes and the testes can be dangerous.
Microwaves make your life easier and more fun. They save on electricity since they only heat the food elements. They also save on time since they have proven to be the fastest and most economical appliances when it comes to reheating food.
Blender
What is a blender?
A blender is an electric kitchen appliance that is aimed to mix, crush, puree and emulsify food, especially fruits among other substances. It was invented by a scientist called Stephen Poplawski in 1922. Poplawski introduced a very vital way of increasing the consumption of super nutrition boosters and increasing nutrient absorption in people’s daily food consumption.
With a blender, you can make pastes, smoothies or juice, and can be used to crush ice, and make pastes or liquids from solid foods. The blender will make your life easier, healthier and more joyful.
How Does a Blender Work ?
The blenders come with a base that is made up of a motor, and enclosed with a body that has control buttons, aimed to control the speed of blending, the powering of the blender among other functions. Depending on number of functions that a blender can do, it comes with several external jars and containers. For instance, the Sayonapps 4 in 1 blender, SB 3555 comes with 4 extra containers, all fitted with different rotating blades at the bottom, depending on the function. Some containers are for crushing cereals, others for mincing meat, others for blending fruits etc.
For a blender to be effective, and give good results, the particles must be small enough so that the mixture will flow. The first step of a blender is therefore to cut, chop and smash the food particles into small particles. After this, the food substance is turned into a thick fluid. The next step now involves mixing the fluid, especially if one was blending different varieties of fruits. The spinning blades are able to create a spiral effect known as vortex. It is this spiral effect that includes the food and the air creates a vacuum at the center of the spiral movement. This pulls all the food towards the centre, and in the process mixes them.
Also, through a rising of the food temperature during spinning due to friction, cavitation occurs. Cavitation is what makes it possible to have a final result of a very smooth puree, or a rich emulsion with a homogenized blend of ingredients and a consistent texture.
Blenders make your life easier. Being automatic means , the blenders come with preset conditions that make the user just watch them do all the work. They make accessing a healthy lifestyle easy and affordable.
What is an electric Kettle?
An electric kettle is an electric kitchen device fitted with a heating unit within itself, used to boil or heat water through use of electricity.
Who invented The Electric Kettle?
The first Kettle was invented by Arthur Leslie large, an employee of a company called Bullpit &Sons’ Swan brand in the year 1922.
William (Bill) Russell improved it in the year 1955 by making it automatic.
How Does an Electric Kettle Work?
Inside every electric kettle, it is fitted with an electric coil. The kettle operates under the principle of physics that, when electric current passes through a high resistant conductor, then energy is lost in terms of heat energy. The coil is made up of Nichrome, an alloy made up of 80% Nickel and 20% Chromium.
Nichrome is used as the heating element because it has very high resistance, and high melting point. How fast an electric kettle boils water is dependent on the amount of voltage used to heat up the heating element.
Once the Heating element conducts the heat to the water, the water continues to gain the heat upto the boiling point. Because the electric kettle is enclosed, the vapor is enclosed and helps raise the water temperature faster. The kettle also comes fitted with a thermostat, mostly at the upper part. The thermostat is connected to the on and off switch of the kettle. This reduces the necessity of monitoring your water, aimed to make your life easier. Once the thermostat detects heat from the built up vapor has reached the boiling point of water, then the switch automatically goes off.
The kettles also come with a strix control technology that id able to detect when the kettle has no water, and the heating element stops conducting heat.
The electric kettles make your life easier, and also work. Being automatic means you do not have to keep monitoring your water. The electric kettles have also proven to boil water faster than any other form of heating, hence saving your time. The electric kettles are convenient and portable, so one can travel with them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can i make life easier in the kitchen?
To make your life easier in the kitchen, make sure you use appliances that cook faster, are less bulky and also have versatility.
What are kitchen appliances?
Kitchen appliances are cooking and cooking aid appliances generally found in a consumer kitchen such cooking stoves, blenders, refrigerator, microwaves, ovens among others. They are meant to make your life easier.
How do i choose the best appliances
In your quest to make your life easier in the kitchen,always check your space,check your budget, and check on the convenience based on number of use. Do not buy an appliance that you use once per year at the expense of one you use daily.
Why do we need to know the functions of the tools, utensils and equipment?
So that you can use them to their maximun best ability, simplify the process of cooking, reduce unnecessary fatigue and generally make your life easier around the kitchen.
