Italian home appliance manufacturers, Smeg is arguably one of the most recognisable kitchen brands on the market. Aside from the bold silver Smeg logo that adorns its products, the 60s retro-inspired designs add a pop of colour and detail to all types of kitchens.
Recently, I was kindly invited to visit the Smeg HQ in Abingdon for a very exciting ‘Desert Island Dish’ themed event. While I was there, I got a full tour of the showroom to see their new best oven launches in action, and I even got to make my own pasta dish using Smeg’s most popular appliances.
After my visit to Smeg’s HQ, I’ve found five new kitchen gadgets that I absolutely need for my home and that you should consider introducing to yours too.
1. Smeg Steam100 oven
Smeg recently revealed its new Galileo oven range, a collection that’s made up of five different combinations, including steam options. Included in the Galileo line are the SteamOne, Steam100 and the Steam100PRO, and as the names suggest, these oven types use steam to cook your food.
Smeg’s new steam oven, like the Smeg Linea Steam100, is a multifunctional oven that comes with a choice of cooking programmes for quick and delicious meals. It offers steam cooking up to 100% or as a ‘steam injection’ to reduce preparation and cooking times. It can be used as a main or secondary oven, depending on how you like to cook, and the Smeg team really opened my eyes to the idea of steam cooking.
Before, I only considered steaming as a super healthy way to prepare vegetables, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Smeg’s latest steam ovens can cook so much more than that. With its steam technology and high temperatures, Smeg steam ovens can cook meat, fish and other ingredients, as well as prove and bake bread.
2. Smeg Linea Vacuum Drawer
Next up is the Smeg Linea Vacuum Drawer. Located underneath the steam oven, the vacuum drawer can make any home cook look like a professional chef. Perfect for sous vide, the vacuum drawer has three vacuum and sealing levels so it can prepare a multitude of meals and seal open packets easily. The coolest setting on the vacuum drawer is the chef programme, which offers a 24 hour marinade in just five minutes.
While I was at the HQ, the vacuum drawer was used to make flavoured water. The Smeg chefs put water and orange slices inside a bag, and the drawer compressed it over a few minutes to extract the juices. While sous vide might not be for everyone, I loved being able to see all the food and drink options the vacuum drawer could make, so it’s now a must-have for my kitchen.
3. Smeg Classic Blast Chiller
Speaking of drinks, the Smeg Classic Blast Chiller looks almost identical to an oven but it has the opposite effect. Using microscopic ice crystals, the blast chiller cools and rapidly freezes your drinks to their exact specifications. For example, the blast chiller has a dedicated drink cooling programme, where you can choose from alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and the chiller will cool it to the right temperature. It also has a warming option where you can reheat and warm food, including proving bread.
4. Smeg Stand Mixer
I’ve wanted a stand mixer for a while now, and Smeg’s stand mixer collection is versatile and colourful, challenging KitchenAid for the title of the best stand mixers. For my ‘Desert Island Dish’ meal, I made butternut squash and sundried tomato tortellini so I got to use the stand mixer with the pasta rolling attachment. It was incredibly easy to use, and made super-thin pasta sheets, perfect for lasagne and other stuffed pasta.
5. Smeg Immersion Blender
As I made the filling for my pasta, I got to use Smeg’s immersion or hand blender. Another brightly colourful appliance from Smeg, the immersion blender perfectly blended the ingredients together. My current immersion blender struggles without too much liquid but the Smeg model easily breezed through big chunks of butternut squash without breaking a sweat.
I had the best time at Smeg’s HQ and can’t wait to visit again… although my bank balance would beg to differ.
