Realty Times: The Kitchen of The Future

July 5, 2000

The Kitchen of The Future
by Courtney Ronan

These days, it seems as if manufacturers and retailers are on an endless quest to modernize the kitchen, modifying its decor to become more sleek and high-tech, and its function to become lower-maintenance.

Among the most sought-after amenities and design features available to homeowners right now are stainless-steel appliances, concrete floors, granite countertops and flat cooktops. Contractors are commanding -- and receiving -- high prices to install such features in existing homes. And homebuyers with deep pockets are closing on single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums priced well into the $200s and above, due in part to these modern features. The kitchen is a decision-maker for any prospective homebuyer. After all, it's where we spend a significant portion of our time, whether it's cooking, flipping through the newspaper, chatting on the telephone or congregating around the kitchen table with family or friends. With that fact in mind, builders are pulling out all the stops to make their kitchens attention-grabbers.

Head to any home show or high-tech show around the United States, and you'll be treated to a dizzying array of choices currently available for your kitchen, as well as a preview of what's to come this century. Realizing that people are more time-pressed than ever, the kitchen and bath industries have responded -- sometimes to amusing extremes. Consider some of the innovations we can look forward to in the 21st century (no word yet on exactly when these products will be rolled out in major department stores, or how much they'll cost):

If you're the type who always remembers you need milk when you open the refrigerator and discover an empty carton, you'll soon have a solution to your problem (provided you have a few dollars to spend, of course). A refrigerator containing a built-in computer in its door which reminds you when you've run out of staples. The computer actually reads the bar code on your favorite products -- milk, butter, eggs and other necessities -- and automatically adds the missing items to your shopping list. As if this weren't space age enough, the computer can forward your shopping list to your favorite grocery store, according to your individual preferences and specifications.

Think you can't live without your microwave? Think again. General Electric already has introduced what could become the wave of the future: a halogen light-powered oven which cooks food approximately four times faster than a conventional oven. The need for speed has taken over the kitchen, but what exactly are we going to do with all of this extra time?

"A watched pot never boils," they say -- and they're right. The induction oven is another invention that will shave considerable time off the cooking process. Within about 25 seconds, you can bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, courtesy of a magnetic field hovering above each burner. The heat generated by this field will be so focused that only the pot and the water will become hot, reducing the risk of burns and preventing your kitchen from becoming uncomfortably hot while you cook.

We all fantasize about having a kitchen like the Jetsons -- one in which you merely decide what you'd like to eat, and it magically appears, perfectly cooked and seasoned. A recent ABC News report indicated that while the industry isn't quite at the Jetsons level, we're certainly moving in that direction with the approaching advent of the "Smart Kitchen," which directly addresses that age-old dilemma of finding yourself in the middle of a recipe and lacking a primary ingredient for which there is no substitute. The Smart Kitchen is comprised of a computer and acommpanying sensors installed underneath your kitchen counters. These sensors, much like those on your refrigerator door, read the tags on your food products to keep track of the inventory in your kitchen. Let's say that it's a Friday evening, you've arrived home from a long day at work, and the last thing you want to do is head to the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner. What do you have in the house, and what can you make with those ingredients? The Smart Kitchen will tell you what you have in the cupboard, offer suggestions for dinner that use these ingredients, and once you've selected a recipe, guide you through the process of cooking the dish(es).

Whether or intentional or not, these time-saving trends could prove to be very beneficial for those 55 years of age and older, a segment which represents a significant portion of our population. Such amenities make cooking and even shopping easy to manage. Empty-nesters adjusting to smaller households -- and in particular, widowed spouses -- often allow nutrition to fall by the wayside because cooking seems like too much trouble. Technology is making the process easier than ever, and while the cost of obtaining these revolutionary appliances will probably be steep initially, the cost savings that comes from cooking at home versus eating out on a constant basis will more than offset the up-front expense.

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