Appliance Products and Trends for 2023: Good and Bad

I was at the KBIS show last weekend.

KBIS is where manufacturers display their latest designs and products.

You should know one key takeaway: Your kitchen and especially the laundry room will change soon.

Make that very soon.

But while some products are exciting. Some are not.

Below are the trends you will see in 6 months to 5 years maybe longer.

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Chinese Companies Will Have a Greater Presence

Chinese companies are already here. Haier owns GE, but the appliances are still made mostly in the US. The brand, Midea, is shown in a few stores.

However, smaller innovative companies will be exported soon as well.

Fotile reincarnated the in-sink dishwasher. KitchenAid had one for years before discontinuing it.

For apartments, a sink in the dishwasher is a space saver.

Robam features Smart technology with its 3D burner and Smart self-stirring pot.

To be transparent, the pot was not there, so the claim is at face value. Let's just say I am not placing orders just yet.

Their ventilation was interesting as well.

I thought the product was unique, but I want to test it in our service lab before selling it to you.

Ditto For Italian Companies

I have mixed feelings about Italian companies, specifically their ranges. You have a beautiful range lacking in output in features.

You have only 1 or 2 powerful burners out of 8 on a 48-inch range without a grill or decent griddle.

The ovens are typically smaller with about half the broiling output.

Still, they are inexpensive and good-looking, yet devoid of any control or performance.

Before you invest in a kitchen of unknown brands, you should see, touch and feel.

You have more choices for appliances than ever. That's good.

However, not all the choices may be what you want.

So be careful.

The Outside Is In

You can truly design anything for your outside kitchen.

My favorite booth was this Aura heater.

It projected tons of heat and was the only time I wasn’t freezing during the trip.

Blaze, Firemagic, and Twin Eagles all had huge displays.

Fire Magic had a grill with a window. I just wonder if you can see through all that smoke.

Outside griddles are everywhere now. Griddles can cook anything.

When I was a kid at Yale, I watched the cook in the diner across the street cook omelets, hot dogs, hamburgers, eggs, and hash browns on a small griddle.

Miele bought a grill company and now produces an outside salamander in addition to their grill. Salamanders are high-output infrared burners designed to sear steaks quickly.

Restaurants also use salamanders to sear the tops of foods like flan. The exposed infrared is more versatile than the infrared sear elements in the grills.

If you like pizza, you are in luck. You now have a number of companies offering elaborate pizza ovens.

How about your own crocodile-skinned bar? Perlick has one.

This fully stocked bar allows you to sauce up your party before saucing those ribs on a grill or in your new pizza oven.

Unique Colors

Remember when I said Green is never successful as a color? Manufacturers didn’t get the memo.

Green is the hot new color.

True showed their new finishes using a new process, so the refrigerator surface is shiny like a race car.

GE Profile showed a new charcoal finish and of course, green.

BlueStar, of course, has 1000 finishes and ten trim packages. They will even customize a color for you; yes, green is available.

However, you have plenty of choices for color in many brands. SMEG had the Peanuts theme and a bunch of interesting pastel colors.

Refrigerators

I was walking by Samsung's booth. We don’t sell Samsung, but I admire their style.

The woman in the booth showed me their new Bespoke refrigerator. You can change colors with an app on the phone.

She then snapped a picture, and my face became the refrigerator front.

Then I went to LG with their new color-changing refrigerator. You change the colors with an app on your phone.

Both are interesting because no installation is required.

True had their new built-in 30 and 36-inch refrigerators with or without glass fronts. BlueStar has its columns.

You also can now buy a 48-inch French Door pro from SKS.

Laundry

The new washers are the most interesting appliances at the show.

As any long-term blog readers know, combo washers and dryers are not my favorite appliances.

The current models cannot effectively remove lint, so it seizes the machine over time.

However, GE Profile has a new large combo with Microban anti-microbial surfaces and a large 4.8 capacity.

The heat pump dryer uses a compressor to store heat and dry more efficiently.

You can place this unit on an inside wall because it does not need to be vented. Best of all, it has a thick two-sided filter.

We will be testing it soon.

Beko receives a special notation for sustainability.

The outer tub on the washers is made out of used plastic bottles.

Whirlpool has its large-capacity heat pump combo as well.

Best Individual Appliances

• GE Profile Washer & Dryer Combo: If this works, you will never have to transfer a load, and it's family sized, far bigger than a compact.
• BlueStar X8 Dual Fuel: 25,000 BTU sealed burners with new 7-inch controls, and the oven still fits a sheet pan.
• SKS 48 Inch Built-in Professional: Only one on the market, and it's available.
• Samsung Bespoke Portrait Capable Bespoke: Other than it being my face during the demo, the possibilities are endless.
• LG Color Change 4 door: Ditto with the LG; the tech is impressive.
• True 30 Inch Bottom Mount Pro: Their race car finishes are spectacular. They now have a 30, 36, 42, and 48-inch Pro refrigerator with color.
• Beko Washer/Dryer: I love the sustainability story. More companies should follow.
• FireMagic BBQ w/ temperature reading and window: I liked this grill even though I had never heard of it. The temperature gives the reading, and you can watch the food through a window. You won't have to lift up the cover and lose all the heat.
• Aura Patio Heater: Not sure if it is this heater or the fact I was warmed. Heaters are a good way to extend your season into November (in Boston).
• Perlick Outside Bar: Just a beautiful piece of equipment for all your drinks.

Key Takeaways

Hard to believe laundry was the most exciting. However, between GE Profile, LG, and Whirlpool, the day of transferring your clothes from the washer to the dryer may be over. One machine will be able to do both.

You can coordinate colors in your kitchen so much better now.

In the battle of the colorful refrigerators of LG and Samsung: Who will win?