Healthy food trends are taking over the kitchen lately, with an emphasis on using fresh, local, and organic ingredients to cook food healthfully without sacrificing great taste. In fact, healthy cooking has become such an important part of many homeowners’ lives that they’re choosing kitchen appliances that will help them achieve a healthy lifestyle. Luckily, some kitchen appliances can help you reach your health goals.

Steam Oven

While a traditional oven cooks your food by using hot air that’s generated by heating elements in the oven walls, steam ovens boil water from an internal reservoir to create a cloud of steam in the oven chamber.

Benefits of a Steam Oven

This moist heating method means that food cooked this way (especially vegetables) hold on to more of their flavor, texture, and color. Cooking with a steam oven also causes the food to lose fewer vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, making it unnecessary to add salt or oil (steamed vegetables retain 22% more vitamins than conventional cooking!). Steam ovens can be used to cook a variety of foods: meat, fish, vegetables, pasta, potatoes, bread, and desserts. No one in your family will go hungry with a steam oven in your kitchen redesign!

What Steam Oven to Buy

When looking for steam ovens for your kitchen, consider the Miele DG 6600 PureLine SensorTronic Steam Oven, which is 24” wide with SensorTronic controls and Multisteam technology. Miele is known for their “Forever Better” philosophy and their modern technology that has legendary durability. You can also look for a 30” wide steam oven if you need more space; steam ovens can easily be placed in an oven cabinet or a base cabinet.

If you don’t want an entire steam oven, you can still reap the benefits of cooking with steam by installing an integrated steamer into your cooktop. This 15” steamer from Wolf can be used for steaming food, double boiling, proofing bread dough, warming food, melting chocolate, and as a slow cooker. It also has a two-gallon capacity and comes with one solid and one perforated stackable insert pan.

Convection Oven

A convection oven is another appliance that can help you cook more healthfully, and it can be placed easily in a tall cabinet or in a base cabinet. Unlike a microwave that uses electromagnetic radiation to cook food or a regular oven that surrounds food with heat, a convection oven uses a fan to circulate heat throughout the oven. You get faster, more consistent results for baking, roasting, and broiling your food.

Benefits of a Convection Oven

With this method, all food cooks at the same rate, so you don’t have to worry about where you place your food within the oven. Your food is also cooked faster (generally about 25% faster than a conventional oven), because the air circulation speeds up the cooking process, a feature that can really come in handy when you have a hungry family ready to eat! Thanks to the faster cooking times, you’ll also achieve a better flavor in your dishes and a more even and consistent brown – plus, you get to spend less time cooking and more time enjoying a meal with your family.

What Convection Oven to Buy

To give homeowners the best of both worlds, some appliance makers are combining convection ovens with steam ovens; this offers homeowners more versatile cooking and takes the place of a double oven. Wolf offers a line of convection steam ovens that are ideal for fast, healthy cooking; the smart ovens can sense the moisture content of your food and adjust the combination of steam and convection cooking to help you make the most delicious meal possible.

Refrigerator and Freezer

To maximize the amount of food you keep on hand, be strategic when choosing your new refrigerator and freezer. Since healthy cooking tends to involve fresh food rather than frozen, you can make accessing fresh food convenient by planning for a smaller main refrigerator to fit the basics and staples, while adding an under-counter refrigerator by the prep area for fresh fruit and produce.

The Difference

Some refrigerators also have an antimicrobial air purification system that significantly reduces mold, bacteria, viruses, and the natural ethylene gas that accelerates food spoilage. Separate compressors keep temperatures steady in both refrigerator and freezer compartments while also keeping food fresher for a longer period of time. Finally, water filtration systems reduce chemical pollutants, viruses, and bacteria.

Your kitchen remodel is meant to improve your home and bring your family together; including appliances to help you with healthy cooking is a crucial step to achieving these goals. Picture your family gathered around the kitchen table, dining on a juicy baked chicken and steamed fresh vegetables and sharing fresh fruit for dessert. With these new kitchen appliances, you’ll be able to spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying a meal with your family.