Kitchen Trends: The newest gadgets make your kitchen efficient and environmentally friendly!
Kitchen trends are one of the most popular topics homeowners search for on the web. In the past, following trends resulted in avocado-green appliances and bland cabinetry with funky flooring.  Today’s trends are still “green” but are more in tune with saving the Earth and making life convenient in the kitchen. The most popular trend in the kitchen, besides bold colors and darker cabinetry, is green living. From appliances to recycling, green living is a trend that most hope is here to stay. By conserving energy and being more efficient in general, the green life is quickly becoming the norm.
Green living can be as elaborate as installing a tankless water heater in your home, or just turning off the water while brushing your teeth. In the kitchen, it can be particularly effective. To conserve water, low-flow aerators attach to your kitchen faucet to mix air into the water stream and reduce water usage without affecting the pressure. Available at your local hardware store, aerators can save from 1.4 to 2.7 gallons of water each day.  For those afraid to use the dishwasher for fear it uses too much water, don’t be. Forget pre-rinsing and wait until the dishwasher is full before running. Tests by the Consumers Union show that rinsing is unnecessary and wastes up to 20 gallons of water per load. Other green trends include setting up a recycling center in your home, as well as recycling food scraps. Cabinet manufacturers are now designing recycling centers into the cabinetry, with separate bins for sorting plastic and glass. Turn your ugly leftover coffee grounds, eggshells and banana peels into a rich soil conditioner for houseplants, lawn and garden by composting them.
Take advantage of small appliances to save energy. Toaster ovens and microwaves use less heating power to cook your small piece of bread or tiny frozen entrée. When cooking for one, look to the smaller appliance to help save Mother Earth. 
Another new trend in the kitchen is the introduction of super-speed ovens. Found in new appliance collections by Whirlpool, GE and TurboChef, these ovens deliver tasty, quality food at record speeds. Preheating is a thing of the past. Baked potatoes in four minutes? No problem! These high-speed cooking devices bake, broil and brown at lightning speed but feature all of the flavor and taste you would expect from cooking 10 times slower. Chefs have more time to relax knowing it will take a fraction of the time to prepare their meals. 
For those seeking appliances that are both good for the planet and feature the latest styles and trends, look for the Energy Star rating. ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy designed to help save money and protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices. Energy efficient choices can save families about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort.
If your current appliances are more than ten years old, it is recommended you replace them for the more efficient Energy Star ones. New models—even cheap ones—are at least twice and up to four times as energy efficient due to stricter appliance standards. 
Another green trend is the induction-cooking range. Most people are familiar with gas and electric cooking surfaces but not induction. Electric and gas cooking surfaces transmit heat to your pots and pans, which in turn heats up your food. With induction surfaces, the cooker element (or burner) is a powerful, high frequency electromagnet that produces a high-frequency electromagnetic field that penetrates the metal of the cooking vessel and sets up a circulating electric current, which generates heat. That heat is then transferred to the vessel’s contents, better known as your food. As soon as the pan is removed from the element, or the element is turned off, heat generation stops, so no energy is wasted.
Incorporating any or all of these trends in your new kitchen will benefit you and Mother Nature.
Products:
Magnetic Personality
KitchenAid’s induction cooktop is so responsive that it can quickly go from boil to simmer. Sleek, integrated touch-activated electronic controls offer nine heat-level settings from keep warm to performance boost, allowing heat to be adjusted instantly with precision similar to gas cooktops. Induction cooking has been popular in Europe for years and is gaining popularity in North America due to its ease of use and environmentally-friendly properties.
www.kitchenaid.com
Sleek and Sophisticated
The new Medora pullout faucet by Moen adds a sophisticated style to your sink, and the single-hole mount keeps things neat and clean. The single handle design offers easy-to-use temperature and flow control, and the pull out sprayer has a ball joint at the end for increased maneuverability and features multiple flow patterns including stream, rinse, and veggie spray. The new matte black finish was designed to complement darker granite countertops; other finishes available.
www.moen.com
Good Looking, Strong, and Clean
High tech hits the counterop with Silestone brand Quartz countertops. Made from a combination of crushed Quartz blended with a high-tech polymer, Silestone is an ideal solution for kitchens or baths and is the only countertop on the market with built-in MicroBan technology, which protects against germs. Silestone is non-porous and scratch resistant, and never needs sealing.
www.silestoneusa.com
Turbo Charge Your Cooking
The TurboChef 30” Double Wall Speedcook Oven is a high performance gourmet oven that pairs a traditional convection oven with Turbochef’s remarkable Airspeed Technology oven that allows you to prepare food faster than conventional ovens. How much faster? Frozen pizza in 90 seconds, a rack of lamb in 3-1/2 minutes, or a Thanksgiving turkey in 42 minutes — all with five-star quality results. A user-friendly interface guides you effortlessly through the settings for all your favorite dishes and recipes, taking guesswork out of the equation.
www.turbochef.com
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