Are you looking to advance you’re cooking and kitchen experience? With a diverse range of warming drawers now on the market which offers you a wide range of options and uses.
A warming drawer can potentially be a brilliant investment, especially for the most hectic of households, for times when family member may be eating or preparing food at different times as the core use of a warming drawer is to keep cooked food warm and to not continue the cooking process which will dry your food out as with a conventional oven. This is because with a warming drawer the air around your pot or container is heated unlike a stove even on a low setting.
Apart from the obvious of keeping food warm, they can have multiple uses depending on the model and spec. We are looking at 5 interesting benefits you may not have considered an option for your warming drawer.
Helping Budding Bakers To Perfect Dough
Seasoned bakers will always advise you that when it comes to external temperature this can ultimately be the make or break for your baking end game results. A warming drawer can be used to prove yeast dough and provide it the perfect environment for an optimum result, great news if you like things such as bread, croissants and even pizza bases!
A Hot Towel – Who Doesn’t Love a Toasty Robe or Towel
Whether it’s a clean dish towel for drying or slipping into a nice and warm robe, a crisp & warm towel is a luxury you won’t want to give up once you try out, especially on those frosty morning or chilly evenings.
This isn’t advised by most manufacturers however is a popular use for these appliances, so please do read instructions or guidelines prior to use to make sure your model is suitable.
Preheating crockery
If you are hosting or cooking yourself a nice meal, there is nothing worse than serving up on a cold plate or bowl which in turn then makes your deliciously prepared food cold within minutes. With a warming drawer you can combat this issue by stacking a few plates and putting the drawer on a low setting making for a more enjoyable eating experience for you and your guests. Lower settings are for plated foods and the higher settings are generally uses to keep optimum temperatures for your soups, sauces and anything of that ilk to ensure they are piping hot.
Thawing Foods
Forgot to take your mince out of the freezer and now stuck for time waiting for it to defrost? One extremely useful option for a warming drawer is that it can help decrease thawing time. With its gentle internal temperature, it can help you regulate and defrost a number of different food types from breads and scones to hardier meats. Another great tip is softened butter, need your rock solid butter softened for your recipe? Simply place it in your warming drawer and you will have soft manageable butter in an instant.
Crock Pot Alternative
Another handy use is that some models can double up as a crock pot alternative. The Miele warming drawers are particularly good because they have added a fan into their warming drawer, which turns this warming drawer into what is essentially a slow cooker which makes it easy to cook roasts, stews and other dishes. Low temperature cooking has been used by professional and home chefs alike for years and is a stress free cooking process allowing you to do all your other prep without worrying.
As you can see from the points above, a warming drawer can be a perfect addition to your kitchen, not only can you keep your plates and other crockery warm, as is its primary use, you can get top results for your meat with a juicy and delicate finish, prove dough, make porridge or even cook a pavlova to perfection. They are way more than just plate warmer!
Other drawer options are accessory drawers which give you extra utensil storage with the aesthetic look and appeal of a warming drawer. Miele also offer a Vacuum drawer, this allows the user to vacuum pack food ready for sous vide style of cooking. Vacuum sealing means you can maintain the quality of your food.
In French, Sous-vide translated to “under vacuum”. This method lets you cook your food in a vacuum sealing bag at a constantly maintained low temperature in a steam oven.
If you are looking to add an appliance drawer to your new kitchen, or existing, please contact our sales team at Paul Alexander Kitchens on 01753 840004 or email hello@paul-alexander.co.uk . We have a range of Miele appliances on display at our Berkshire kitchen showroom based on Windsor High Street near the iconic Windsor Castle.
