Not many people, myself included, realised that Electrolux have been supplying equipment to restaurants and laundries for 90 years so pretty much dominating the commercial/professional side of things when in comes to appliances, a huge percentage of professional kitchens across Europe use Electrolux Appliances to produce amazing quality food with ease, wash crockery and cutlery efficiently and there a big player on the laundry side of things too. So what they are really pushing with the relaunch is that professional quality and knowledge of commercial equipment and bringing it into our homes.

The Event was held next door to Scandic Hotel were we were staying which was incredible as you can see from the picture, this amazing glass-clad tower was created by architect Gert Wingårdh and stands at 118 meters high, really is a thing of beauty and strangely enough our taxi driver struggled to find it!! There was around 400-500 people from various different countries in the conference centre we were greeted with Champagne and canapes before being lead into the presentation centre which had all been laid out with tables ready for the speeches and dinner, around the sides of the room were large white curtains which were stylishly covering the new range.

Once seated we had an Introduction by the moderator shortly followed by an opening speech by the CEO giving us an overview of what they had install for us, after a few inspirational speeches we were at the point of the big unveiling.

They had an aerial acrobat who was raised above everyone as they tactically raised the curtains to show the very well designed and laid out Electrolux Range. They have completely renovated the look of the ovens and compacts range with a very sleek designed front fascia and another thing which i thought was particularly good across the higher end, the front of the oven has a 14cm panel at the bottom of the door so when installing side by side with compacts and a warming drawer they line up perfectly. A full size 74 litre capacity steam oven has been introduced into the range along with all the ovens now being 74 litre and many having soft close doors. All hobs have been changed to match the style and they have a new induction hob coming out with some very unique features, firstly the hob has no markings on so when switched off it is just a plain sheet of black glass, when turned on all the controls and hob markings light up in red which i must say looked outstanding and is the first to use this concept, they have a chef option on the 90cm where the 6 zones are bridged to create 3 zones high, med and low so instead of changing the controls you simply slide the pan to the desired temperature.

On the laundry they are having a 7kg washer dryer which is a true 7kg wash load and 7kd dry load, other models included heat pumps and even steam settings for refreshing and decreasing clothing. I didn’t get to see a lot of the refrigeration however there was talk of them launching a new cooling system which keeps food fresher for longer keeping food for up to a week longer. Along with the range preview, live entertainment and a never ending supply of beer and wine, which unfortunately i took full advantage of making the journey home the following day very interesting to say the least, there was also a live cooking demo with a professional chef showing all the new products in action.

Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed the launch and all i can say is watch this space as we will be selling the new range very soon.

Have you ordered from us and would you like the chance to win a prize? If the answer is yes to both of these then leave a review (good, bad or indifferent) and you will automatically be entered into a draw to win a fabulous prize.

You can always rely on CDA to create a product to catch the eye at these shows, with such past favourites as the Tiger Print oven and Wooden Belfast sink. This year again they did not disappoint, with a number of concept products including: an accessory drawer; grill drawer; handleless ovens; themed oven, hob, splash back & hood combinations; back lit splash backs and finally the wine oven!

The accessory and grill drawers are both in keeping with the CDA warming drawer size and style perfect for continuing the theme. The handleless ovens looked superb with a very minimal look and a simple push action to gain access. The themed items looked superb and if someone was wanting to make a real feature of their oven, hob, extractor set then these are perfect. The back light splash back is in my opinion superb, no deeper than a normal metal splash back the back light option creates a unique look, and leaves plenty of scope for further design options. And who can forget the wine oven! no more than an advertising gimmick CDA  took the chassis of an oven imprinted a picture of a wine rack system and then added two corks for the the controls. My only guess is that there can be some kind of connection between the idea and the two corks used for controls! It was simply a talking point and boy did it work!

The next stop, and in no way connected to the fact Michelin starred Josh Eggleton was beginning his cookery demonstration was Caple. With a chance to see a few of their new products like the illuminated ceiling extractor, full height stainless steel fridge & freezer and awesome ‘pop up’ oven. If I’m honest I was sceptical about the pop up oven and how much of a gimmick it would be, however having seen it and ‘test driven’ it, i can say it has won me over. Not only does it look fabulous on the worktop (especially with the down draft extractor) the controls are smooth and the capacity is adequate, I can this product being splashed everywhere in the design magazaines and shows. Once our bellies were full from Steak & Ale pie, Sheeps Curd & Pickled Beetroot thanks to Josh we continued our tour.

Without wanting to go too in depth we visited the Bushboard stand to see the new M Stone solid surface; Sensio to have a look at the remote smart drives that can be operated using an iphone/ipad app; Abode to see their ranges of sinks which we are currently looking at stocking; Zip to reacquaint ourselves with their full range or products; and many more such as Franke, Rangemaster, Perrin & Rowe, etc.

I will add a small collection of photo’s that i took, showing some of the products mentioned to our facebook page. which you can visit here. If you would like to know about any of the products then please do not hesitate to get in touch through Twitter, Facebook, email or the old fashioned telephone (0115 9385 111)

For wine to reach its full potential and to stay in perfect condition, it must be stored in proper conditions without fluctuation, protected from light and vibration. Whether you are looking to store 2 bottles or over 25, we have the perfect solution. Here are some key tips on wine storage.

Dual Zones and Temperatures

The number of storage zones you need depends on a number of factors. Do you buy red, white or rose? How many bottles? Would you like to chill other drinks?  Wine is sensitive and each wine type needs to be stored at a particular temperature. Wine coolers are designed to maintain an optimum environment for storing wine whether you want to store it for days or years. A dual zone model gives you more flexibility. It’s useful for storing red and white at different temperatures or white and white in different zones for both storage and serving.

Vibration

Although you may not be aware, the slightest vibration or change in humidity can affect a wines taste. The wine coolers in our range also have low vibration compressors so the sediment balance is undisturbed.

Lighting and Storage

It is key that the correct lighting is used with the wine coolers. Ultraviolet light causes wine to prematurely age so it’s important to store wine away from sunlight and fluorescent light. Not only does it look great, but LED lighting featured in our wine coolers and is completely UV-free and does not produce any heat, ensuring wine is kept in perfect condition. This is why all our wine coolers have UV protected glass doors as well. Bottles should always be stored on their side to keep the cork moist and ensure a good air seal, preventing oxidation and immediate aging of the wine. All our wine cabinets offer shelves for side storage.

Not only are they extremely practical but wine coolers are a stylish addition to any household decor. Our handy slot-in wine coolers are easy to install and can be built-in under kitchen worktops to blend with the lines of your kitchen. Our smart wine coolers will effectively showcase your wine whilst adding style, sophistication and practicality to your kitchen. Alternatively, we offer larger, freestanding wine cabinets which can be conveniently moved as required. All of our wine cabinets can be kept anywhere in the house, so you can set them up wherever your heart desires!

Our main suppliers of wine coolers are Caple and CDA but we also do Siemens, Neff and AEG wine coolers. We do a variety of different sizes in under counter wine coolers from 150mm, 300mm and 600mm. We then do compact and freestanding wine coolers as well. Most of the models come in stainless steel and some have the alternative of black. And if you are after a wine cooler in a hurry we stock the CDA models FWC301SS and the FWC601SS so we would could get them out to you on a next working day service.

All this talk about wine has made me thirsty but its just going to have to be a cup of tea for now as i don’t think i’m allowed to drink alcohol at work.

With free delivery on orders above £500 you could be saving yourself £££££’s!

We started the day with a meet and greet with some of the reps and our trainer Paul Stringer accompanied with a very nice latte from one of the Bosch coffee centres, at this point I had a quick nosey around the Showroom were we were going to be doing the training, and i must say i was very impressed the showroom is finished in a very contemporary style with handle-less white doors, chunky white frames and elegant worktops not to mention the vast amount of appliances, which obviously you would expect but they are laid out in a very easy to follow way grouping the different sub brands, Classixx, Avantixx, Exxcel and Logixx.

After we finished our coffees we were seated in the training room to go through the days itinerary and learn a bit of background information about Bosch as a company, which i must admit may sound boring however was very interesting, in the two short films we watched they showed footage of the product testing that takes place, planning and designs of new future eco friendly ideas and a few quotes from Robert Bosch the founder of the company. One thing that was said was that ‘he would rather loose money than trust’, which I believe still to this day is followed in all Bosch products and service.

Once we had finished the films we were taken through into the Showroom to be shown how the 3D Hot Air cooking works. In the Showroom we were greeted by Adrian the chef who had already put two trays of fresh croissants and a large tray of roasted vegetables in the oven, which already smelt fantastic making me even more hungry than i already was, you would think that cooking these items together in the same oven would end up in having vegetable flavour croissants however because the air is drawn to the back of the oven heated up then circulated around individual shelves no smells or flavours are intermingled, this means you could cook fish, sausages and a sponge cake at the same time without ending up with a fishy sausage sponge, however if this sounds appetizing I’m sure there would be something along these lines in a Heston Blumenthal recipe book.

We then returned to the coffee machines for a nice latte along with the freshly baked croissant which i must say were beautiful and for the record roast vegetable free. Elevenses done it was time for us to have ago we donned our aprons, washed our hands and took to the Kitchens, in our groups we prepared ham and pineapple calzones, sweet chilli chicken kebabs and apple and berry crumble. With each course we got chance to programme the ovens and were told which shelves to put certain products on and why along with using different functions for the different dishes, for example we used the hot air grilling function for the kebabs, which alternated between the grill and fan locking in the moisture yet still giving a crispy grilled finish. All food in and timers set Paul showed us round all the different sub brands and explained the differences, before we knew it BEEP BEEP BEEP.. Dinner is served.

Dinner finished we were taken along with our bursting bellies back into the showroom to go through the different ranges of hobs, we covered gas first, Paul explained how as standard all their hobs now come with Flame failure devices, LPG jets and automatic ignition, showing us models ranging from 4 burner gas on glass to 90cm 6 burner stainless steel hobs with wok burners. We were then shown the ceramic and induction hobs which was done with a boiling water race to show how induction hobs benefit from speed, safety and controllability, obviously the induction wins hands down. One product that is soon to be released which may be of interest to some people is a 4 zone induction hob which can be run on a 13amp supply even coming with a 3 pin plug already attached, which will mean alot more people can benefit from induction without having to rewire only downside to this product being that if all 4 zones are ran at once on full capacity the power levels will be reduced.

Having covered quite an extensive range and people starting to flag after the large dinner it was time for abit of fun in the form of the biscuit challenge, we were again split into our 4 teams and each given a large chocolate chip cookie and some icing pens, Paul then shouted out different functions that we had learnt throughout the day and we had to expertly ice the symbols onto the cookie.

The majority of the hard graft done now our day was nearly at an end we just had enough time left to go into the extraction room to show how important having the correct ducting on your cooker hood is. They have set up a hood with 6″ ducting going into a large box with 4 different ducts coming out of it, each duct was blocked by a perspex shutter which when pulled out the airflow went through that channel, this was to demonstrate the noise difference between 4″, 5″, 5″ Compair and 6″ and if you could hear it for yourself you would without a shadow of doubt run every future extractor on 6″.

Returning to the training room we gathered up our belongings and were given certificates and a few little gifts to end our very enjoyable day at Bosch.

This model also offers sleek and stylish good looks that will add a contemporary feel to any kitchen. Its high quality LCD display with interactive menu and simple push button control also makes it very easy to use. This intelligent coffee machine has even thought of the cleaning and features an automatic cleaning programme and a descaling programme, to make sure it continues to work efficiently. This machine can provide the most enthusiastic coffee lover with enough caffeine to keep them going through those busy days.

Heres a quick easy guide on daily use:

1. Switch on
2. Fill up water tank, milk container and coffee beans (if required)
3. Select type of beverage (latte machiatto, cappacino, expresso etc…)
4. Select strength
5. Select size
6. Enjoy your beverage
7. Use as much as required throughout the day
8. At the end of the day set the machine to descale and clean itself ready for tomorrow
9. Switch off

Simples!

Our manufacturer of choice is Sensio. With a mission statement focusing on quality, versatility and functionality combined with industry leading design and a range second to none we feel we cannot go wrong with Sensio. Sensio have identified 3 keys aspects to consider when planning you lighting scheme: Task – providing ample lighting to undertake everyday activities. Mood – used to accent, add dimension and depth to a kitchen & finally Convenience – directed and intended to be focused on specific areas.

With eight different types of lighting in numerous different styles and colours there really is a light for every need. The eight different types are: <Deep breath> Under Cabinet Lighting, Under Cabinet Strip Lighting, In Cabinet Lighting, Over Cabinet Lighting, Flexible Strip Lighting, Plinth Lighting, Drawer/Shelf Lighting & finally Ceiling Lighting.

Lighting can add value to your kitchen with the “WOW!” factor. A well planned, bespoke lighting scheme can be the ultimate finishing touch. Surely lighting should be just as an important element of kitchen design and be given a reasonable amount of consideration as other design aspects like flooring and tiling/painting. We have created an album of lighting effects (using Sensio images) which can be seen on our facebook page here. Just imagine how different everything looks and how plain it would be without lighting.

And finally why LED lighting?

• High Definition LED’s are 80% more efficient than Halogen and could save you £50 a year on your electricity bill!
• They will also out last the life span of your kitchen: Halogen lights have around 3,000 hours of useful life whilst LED will stay strong for 40,000 hours.
• No wasted heat: around 90% of the energy used in a Halogen bulb is converted to radiant heat, whilst LED is only a small fraction of the energy used.
• And finally the light output on an LED is the equivalent of a 20W Halogen bulb.

To check out the full range we have available go to our website here and don’t forget there is also the powerpods online in various finishes here.