The New American Home 2010: A Sign of the Times

This year's version of the New American Home, a 6,000-square-foot desert contemporary designed by the KTGY Group of Irvine, California, is much smaller than recent versions. It is being built to National Association of Home Builder's (NAHB) Green Building Standard and will meet the U.S. Department of Energy's Builders Challenge and Energy Star energy efficiency programs. The kitchen reflects a return to the simple pleasure of cooking with an expansive open plan and appliances that help home chefs achieve gourmet results. Multiple built-in wall ovens including an electronic thermostat to monitor temperature, a 6-burner gas range top with star-shaped burners and intermittent flame simmer features, and a warming drawer were selected for cooking. Modular refrigeration columns were chosen to support consumer work flow. For more than 25 years, the NAHB's New American Home has showcased practical new ideas in the context of prevailing popular taste. This year's home is located outside of Las Vegas and can be viewed during the International Builder's Show held in that city from January 19-22, 2010.

Appliances at the New American Home help home cooks achieve gourmet results. Photo courtesy of Thermador

The sealed vs open burner is another consideration. Both versions have their proponents. In an open burner system, as most restaurant ranges are, the spills and boilovers end up on a pan below the surface of the burners that must be taken out and cleaned. Sealed burners were developed to facilitate cleaning, as the spills are capture in the spill-trays and can be mopped up on the surface, though both the grate and caps may require cleaning too. When it comes to cooking, some users feel that open burners offer better flame quality and distribution, citing the amount of "supply air." The ports need supply air to burn effectively, yet in a sealed burner, the ports are close to the pan, causing the flame to seem cooler or less aggressive, than with an open system. In this instance sealed star-shaped burners may come out ahead in combining cleaning convenience of a sealed burner with the heat distribution of the star shape. Star-shaped burners that are raised off the surface of the cooktop on a pedestal further facilitate cleaning, as a sponge can comfortably fit underneath the burner.

Electric. Traditional electric cooktops with electric coils are the least expensive cooktop option. Coil burners heat up slowly, change temperature slowly, and cool slowly, continuing to cook food even after the burner is turned off. Traditionally electric burners have lagged their gas counterparts in heat control, though manufacturers are quickly changing that with improved response and control features for electric cooktops.

Today, the most popular style of electric cooktop is the ceramic-glass "smoothtop."

Glass and ceramic are processed and tempered to conduct heat from the element through the stove top into the pot. While glassceramic is a mechanically strong material and can sustain repeated and quick temperature changes, it has a very low heat conduction coefficient and unlike metal cooktops, glass tops generate heat only at the element site, so surrounding areas remain cool to the touch.

Until recently, the elements used under the glass tops were similar to coil-type burners. Advances in technology have significantly upped the opportunity to use more convenient, energy-efficient heat sources, with glass stove tops now utilizing one of three sources of heat: radiant ribbon, quartz halogen or magnetic induction. Radiant ribbon is similar to the standard coils in regular stove tops and while having the same mass as an electric burner has considerably more surface area, which means it heats up faster and more efficiently coming to full temperature in as little as five seconds. Radiant ribbon can be used as the sole source of heat or combined with the quartz halogen or the magnetic induction elements. Quartz halogen is the quickest to heat up but the longest to cool off. Magnetic induction is the most energy-efficient heat source.

Induction Cooktops. Induction technology has been around for more than three decades and in extensive use in Europe and Japan as well as by professional chefs in the U.S. Induction cooking uses the transfer of magnetic energy, rather than flames or electric elements, to generate heat. Under each "burner" is a coil of copper. When an electrical current is passed through this coil, it creates electromagnetic energy. The energy passes into the pan, where the iron molecules vibrate up to 50,000 times per second, with the friction between the molecules creating the heat. As the heat is produced within the cooking vessel itself, cookware must have some iron content on the bottom in order to react with the magnetic field; non-ferrous cookware including glass, ceramic, aluminum and copper will not respond to a magnetic field and consequently will not generate heat.

Induction coils underneath the cooktop generate a magnetic field that excites molecules in the pan, creating heat and cooking the food. Photo courtesy of Thermador

 

Induction cooking may also have the edge over gas and electric in terms of safety as the cooktop itself can not generate any heat, and can only get as hot as the cookware. The coil produces energy only when a pan is detected on the burner, which shuts off automatically when the pan is removed or if its contents boil over. Also, the lack of an open flame and hot cooktop reduce the risk of burns. Its flat, smooth surface makes it easier to clean than other types of cooktops. Drawbacks to induction cooking boil down to cost − that of the cooktop itself, and a ferromagnetic set of cookware.

Regardless of heat source, glass stove tops incorporate technology to improve cooking performance over traditional electric coil options. Some models feature infrared sensor technology that continuously measures the heat from cookware. The electronic circuit compares the actual temperature of the pot with the programmed temperature and regulates the element accordingly. The sensor automatically cycles the burner on and off in milliseconds to maintain the precise temperature needed while preventing boil over. Even when put to the ultimate chocolate test, the infrared sensor technology can ensure that chocolate is melted and kept without burning for hours. This new technology not only ensures a good cooking result, but it is more energy efficient as it uses only the energy needed. Many models also come equipped with a version of electronic touch-sensitive controls that are activated by moving a finger over certain areas to indicate the preferred burner and heat level. Two light touches of the finger will turn on each electric element, and one touch turns them off. All elements can be extinguished simultaneously with a single touch, and a longer touch locks the entire unit for easy cleaning and child-proofing, making the unit safer and more convenient.

One major advantage of glass-ceramic cooktops over other styles is their smooth surfaces uninterrupted by drip pans, knobs or dials, which makes them extremely easy to clean.