10 Little-Known Kitchen Appliance Features

The kitchen is the hub of your home, where everyone comes together to enjoy delicious meals and great conversation. Are you allowing your kitchen appliances to work for you to the best of their capabilities? Chances are that your kitchen appliances offer convenient features that you aren’t fully utilizing. Let us guide you through our top 10 tips for kitchen appliance features and how they’ll change your daily routine.

1. Self-Cleaning Setting on Ovens

At the heart of a kitchen design are the appliances that take us through our daily routine. The kitchen can be one of the hardest rooms to keep clean, but chances are that your oven offers a feature to make that chore a little easier. Utilize the self-cleaning setting on your oven and it will use either steam or heat to break down grease and food splatters from the internal surfaces of your oven. This saves you time, cuts back on the need for harsh cleaning chemicals, and makes it easier to keep the oven clean and safer to use.

2. Third Shelf on Dishwashers

Are you making the most of your dishwasher? Look along the very top of your dishwasher for a third shelf that pulls out. Often, this shallow third shelf features racks specifically designed for your silverware and serve ware essentials. The taller, narrow items that would otherwise catch in the cleaning cycle lie flat to fit on this shelf. We could all use just a little extra room in each load.

3. Convection Settings on the Oven

Get dinner on the table faster by utilizing the convection setting on your oven. Convection ovens feature an integrated fan that circulates the hot air around the interior of the oven, cooking your items more evenly and quickly.

4. Refrigerator Drawer Humidity Settings

Your refrigerator is designed to keep your food fresh for as long as possible, but did you know the humidity settings of your produce drawers are adjustable? Set the different crisper drawers with a humidity level appropriate for the contents of the drawer.  

• Fruits and veggies that tend to rot quickly should be in a crisper drawer with a low humidity setting.  
• Leafy greens should be in a high-humidity drawer to help them stay fresh for longer.

5. Integrated Water Filters on Your Refrigerator

Most refrigerators offer either an external or an internal water dispenser. These dispensers aren’t just convenient, they actually filter the water, eliminating the need to buy costly and wasteful water bottles. Ensure you’re always getting the healthiest water from your refrigerator by making sure you change out the water filter regularly. The brand of water filter you use will tell you how frequently to change your filter.

6. Sabbath Mode

Many ovens feature a sabbath mode designed to help you adhere to the rules of the Sabbath. This mode overrides the standard automatic shut-off and disables the lights and displays of the appliance. The overriding of the automatic shut-off makes it possible to keep food warm in the oven that you cooked the day before the sabbath day without changing the temperature on the Sabbath. 

Ovens aren’t the only appliances with a Sabbath mode. Many refrigerators also boast this feature. Refrigerators are another appliance with Sabbath mode that turns off lights while still keeping food cold.

7. Included Cooktop Features

It’s easy to think all cooktops are the same, but many modern ranges and cooktops feature included griddles and grills, extending the use of the appliance. Griddles provide the perfect place to make eggs, pancakes, bacon, and other everyday favorites. Built-in grills provide the freedom to sear that steak regardless of the weather.

8. Stemware Racks & Bottle Jets

The dishwasher accomplishes one of the hardest, most time-consuming chores in the kitchen: cleaning your dishes. Many modern dishwashers boast special features you may not be utilizing properly, including designated places to wash your bottles and wine glasses.  

Look along the side of your rack for a fold-down piece that supports the stem of your wine glass as the dishwasher does its job. This support will prevent wine glasses from tipping over with the force of the jets and prevent breakage.  

Some dishwashers also boast bottle jets, which direct a powerful stream of water directly up the center of your favorite reusable water and smoothie bottles. For the best result, place your bottles upside down on top of these jets.

9. Customizable Refrigerator Shelves

Many people load up their refrigerators as soon as they have them plugged in and ready to go, but did you know that you can customize the arrangement of your interior shelves? Refrigerator shelving is supported by tracks that allow you to manipulate the height of each section. This gives you the ability to accommodate tall beverage bottles, large pizza boxes, and all the groceries you have on your weekly shopping list.

10. Smart Features

Many appliances are now designed to be a part of your greater smart home system. Whether you have an existing appliance or you’re adding a new one, take a moment to check out any Smart features your appliances offer and work to utilize those to the fullest.  

In a washing machine, this could mean that you can load the washer or dryer before leaving for work and then start the appliance from your phone when you want the cycle to start.

In a refrigerator, these features could provide you with a view of the interior of your refrigerator while you’re at the grocery store. Imagine always knowing just how much milk you have left because you can see it right in the refrigerator. 

Smart features and other convenient, time-saving options are always advancing so check out your user manuals for the top tips to make the most of all your appliances have to offer.