Thermador, “Here’s a story…”
Founded in 1916 Thermador has a long heritage in the world of appliances. If you learn to recognize a Thermador oven, you might start seeing them everywhere – in restaurant kitchens, in “The Brady Bunch”, even in the classic “The French Chef” with Julia Child!
Alice on the “Brady Bunch” preparing food with Thermador Wall Ovens and Cooktop and the indoor barbeque grill, circa 1970’s
Starting in the 1950’s, Thermador established itself as a pioneer in kitchen appliances, actually inventing the Speedcook oven, the wall oven, the self-cleaning oven, and even the convection oven, in addition to bringing a pro-style cooking range into the home. Thermador isn’t just technologically ahead of its time, it has become known for its sleek and modern look. Thermador’s newest line is just as beautiful and timely as they’ve always been, with stainless steel fronts accented with a pleasing medium grey control panel, all highlighted by blue LEDs. Accompany that with a “wow” factor for inventiveness, as well as making extraordinary food, and you have a winner.
Gas Ranges
Take for example the Pro Grand and Pro Harmony series, which brings professional ranges into the kitchen. The Pro Grand series ranges, with true convection baking, Hydraulic SoftClose® hinges (so the oven drawer never slams), 22K burner (capable of going as low as 375 BTU) and a warming drawer which can be used for proofing bread or to warm up to 10 dinner plates. If you want to go less bells and whistles, the Pro Harmony Range has all the great quality, reliability, and still has the signature Thermador Star Burners.
The Star Burner has more ports (little holes where the flames come out) which distribute heat evenly, making sure there is no “cold spot” in the middle of the cooking surface. The burners have almost twice the number of ports as other brands. This ensures even coverage, and the ability to adjust temperature in smaller increments so that you can get that low simmer or that rapid boil on the same burner.
Thermador even invented a special way to accomplish that simmer on very low heat (XLO). It alternates so that the very low flame goes off and reignites intermittently, keeping the gas from extinguishing while maintaining a low temperature without burning. This can help with things like Bearnaise Sauce or melting chocolate, which can easily be overheated on a traditional burner.
Refrigerator Columns
Thermador’s Freedom refrigerators offer “ThermaFresh System”, humidity and temperature controlled drawers, which keep vegetables fresher longer. What Thermador calls the “Freedom” refrigerator.
When I talk about columns on refrigerators, this refers to the great deal of versatility one can add to one’s kitchen, virtually creating their own refrigerator/freezer/wine cooler set-up for their space. Columns are available in sizes from 18″, 23.5″ and 30″ widths that can be put together to create a 42″ or 48″ inch wide built in refrigerator.
Induction Cooktop
With Thermador induction technology you can boil a pot of water faster than on a gas stove. The new Freedom induction cooktops fit any pan, meaning you don’t have to try and match your pan to the perfect sized burner, or worry that a very small pan won’t heat properly. It automatically recognizes the shape of the pan no matter where it is placed on the cook surface, fitting up to six pans of any size. This is something that you have to see in person. It blows me away every time I use it!
Dishwashers
If you read Consumer Reports, you’ve probably heard a lot about Bosch dishwashers (Check out our Bosch Dishwasher article here!). Well, guess what? Thermador dishwashers are made by Bosch! They have everything Bosch has and even more features; The Star Sapphire Thermador dishwasher has the fastest cycle in the world, “StarSpeed”, timed at 20 minutes!. It also incorporates Zeolite, a natural volcanic mineral that is non-toxic and has been used for generations in water purification, which safely dries dishes by absorbing water molecules and releasing heat. This eliminates puddles of water without chemical rinse aid. This is not only great for the environment, but won’t leave a chemical residue on your dishes.
There is an interior blue LED light so you can see your dishes easier or, if you prefer a different shade, you can change it to a different color! There is a cycle for delicate dishes (HandWash Cycle). Also, A “Time Remaining PowerBeam® ” shines on the floor telling you how much time is left on your wash cycle. Lastly, it is so quiet you may need that light to let you know that it is on. It’s like Thermador watched “The Jetson’s” and invented this dishwasher.
Wall Ovens
Steam ovens are getting very popular because they make food so tender. You can steam vegetables and cook chicken, and if you let bread rise in a steam oven, you will get a perfect french bread crust. A lot of these foods will be demoed on our Thermador demonstrations that we host with Thermador. More on that later!
SpeedCook Oven
This oven is a convection oven and microwave. It also cooks a terrific pizza which bakes super fast, in about 10 minutes, without needing to preheat. (This pizza was the food that disappeared the fastest at our last cooking demo.)
Ventilation
Thermador offers great ventilation, with or without, professional baffles. Their large variety of island hoods, wall hoods, retractable downdraft ventilation (which they also invented), and a Masterpiece Chimney hood which expands in the front for when you want extra coverage, and allows for wifi access, so you can control it with your smartphone. No matter what type of ventilation you are looking for, Thermador has it. Click here to read more about what ventilation means in your kitchen.
Friendly buying advice
The amount of choices involved with choosing each appliance can be daunting, so get help from a great contractor, designer, or even us here at Metropolitan. We host Thermador at Metropolitan Appliance on different Saturdays throughout the year. Check out our Facebook page or our Instagram page to see when we will next be live in-store. It is so beneficial to attend demos of the product. As always, it is good to see the appliance before you buy it, and even better to see what it is capable of at the hands of a chef! The Thermador Chef and a Thermador factory representative will be at all of the demonstrations that we host, and they are walking encyclopedias of information. If you just want to come and have free lunch, that’s fine too, there will be a delicious culinary feast courtesy of Thermador and Metropolitan Appliance!