Convert to Gas or Induction? The Choice Is Yours

Many people come into the store wanting and dreaming of converting to gas.  A lot of times this involves a big kitchen remodel project and can come with hefty costs.  There is a great alternative to the time, money, and effort that this takes to switch to gas.  Welcome to the world of induction ranges!

Take a look at the pros and cons of both and it will help you determine which option is best for you.

Gas Ranges

Most professional chefs prefer cooking on gas. Once ignited, the burners respond faster and you do not have to wait for the burners to warm up with conventional electric cooktops or ranges. They are also a little bit easier to clean and maintain. With electric, there seems to be a huge mess after cooking and you have to clean it with a special product and elbow grease. With gas, you just have to remove the steel grate and wipe the crumbs and food way more easily, but not as easily as induction. Gas allows you to use different types of cookware and have your food cook pretty evenly and keeps your pans flat-bottomed.

Benefits of Gas

• Better control
• Fast boiling
• Can use different types of cookware

Drawbacks of Gas

• Tougher cleanup than induction
• High cost of conversion
• At altitude the effectiveness is reduced
• Can have a gas leak

Top Gas Choices

Ranges

• Viking VGR5606GQSS
• Samsung  NX58H5600SS
• GE JGB660SEJSS

Cooktops

• Thermador SGSX365FS
• Bosch NGM5624UC
• Maytag MGC9536DS

Induction Ranges

An induction range uses electromagnetic field to heat pots instead of radiant heat that standard electric ranges have. You have to make sure that you have the correct cookware for it to work properly which is magnetic or induction-capable. With induction, your cooking time can be reduced dramatically. The technology allows you to boil water 2 to 4 minutes faster with 6 quarts of water. The surface of induction cooktop stays cooler than the standard smooth top. This will make cleaning easier. Don’t get me wrong, your pot will still get very hot, but with the heat transfer technology, the surface below and around the pot won’t get as hot. Once you take the pot off the heat element, the heat stops and the surface won’t be super hot making it a very safe option, especially if you have kids.

Benefits of Induction

• Boils water in less than 90 seconds
  
• Better control than gas
• Easy clean up
• Safe option
• No conversion or remodeling needed

Drawbacks of Induction

• It just doesn’t have the flame
• You need specific cookware
• There is a buzz sound

Induction Choices

Ranges

• LG LSE4617ST
• Samsung NE58K9560WS
• Frigidaire FIF3054TS 

Cooktops

• GE Monogram ZHU30RSJSS
• Jenn-Air JIC4536XS
• ElectroluxEW36IC60LB

The Best French Door Refrigerator for Your Family!

Pam from our Greeley location is here to show you all the great features of the Kitchen aid 26 cu. ft. 5 door French door refrigerator. Watch the video to see all the amazing features.



Some of the features include:

• Water and ice dispenser with adjustments and presets
• Ice maker is in the door with a larger capacity bin.
• Removable drawers.
• Adjustable shelves
• Grey interior
• LED lighting throughout
• Herb Storage
• 2 independent cooling systems
• Crisper drawers
• Air flow throughout
• Easy close doors
• Pizza freezer area
• Extra freezer drawers for organization
• Sleek stainless steel and black stainless steel finish options
• Kitchen Aid handles with red badges at the ends

If you are in love with this refrigerator, please give one of our stores a call or you can check it out here.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Black Friday

Next week, as soon as our pumpkin pie dishes have been cleared away from our Thanksgiving dinner table, our thoughts will inevitably turn to the holiday season ahead. Specifically, it will be time to start thinking about how to get the best holiday gifts for our loved ones without spending a fortune. Enter Black Friday- a truly American holiday with roots going back as far as the 1950s, the day after Thanksgiving is famous for being the biggest shopping day of the year! Stores slash prices with reckless abandon, each trying to outdo one another for the best deals in town. Eager consumers line up as soon as their Thanksgiving dinner is finished and wait in line overnight for the chance to score a big-ticket electronic item or hot toy of the year at a deep discount. In recent years, Black Friday has actually started on Thursday, as more and more retailers open their stores to the public on Thanksgiving night to begin the annual buying frenzy. But where did Black Friday come from? Here’s a little history behind modern capitalism’s favorite holiday, so you can impress your friends while you’re waiting in line at 4 AM for a 4K TV at 50 percent off!

Why is it called Black Friday?

You’d think a holiday where shoppers can save untold amounts of money on holiday gifts for their friends and families would have a slightly less morbid-sounding name. After all, “Black Friday” sounds so ominous, like something one would equate with a stock market crash or a dark day in history. Actually, the origin of the name “Black Friday” includes both of those things! The term “Black Friday” was originally used way back  in the 1800s, and did not have anything to do with holiday shopping at all- in fact, the original Black Friday, September 24, 1869, was the day the U.S. gold market crashed, sending the country into financial crisis.

In the 1950s, the term was used to describe the day after Thanksgiving by police officers in Philadelphia, when the annual Army-Navy football game held the Saturday after Thanksgiving would result in a flood of tourists and shoppers to the city. The police would have to work all day, taking no time off, in order to deal with the bedlam and chaos that ensued. By 1961, the Black Friday name had caught on in Philadelphia, with retailers cashing in on the phenomenon by marking down their merchandise considerably for one-day doorbuster sales. Though marketers tried unsuccessfully to change the name to “Big Friday,” so as to make it sound more consumer-friendly and upbeat, the name Black Friday had stuck, and everyone in Philadelphia more or less treated it as a city holiday to kick off the Christmas season.

Black Friday as a concept didn’t spread to the rest of the country until about 1985, which is when retailers came up with the “official” origin of the term- since the day after Thanksgiving is one of the biggest shopping days of the year, it is a chance for stores to get “out of the red and into the black,” meaning that they can turn a profit even if sales have been slow for the year. Since the re-branding of Black Friday took place in the 80s, a decade known for its rampant consumerism, shoppers took to the new spin on the old holiday and used it as an excuse to boost the economy while enjoying tremendous savings. (In reality, the Saturday before Christmas is officially the biggest day of the year for retail sales, but it doesn’t have quite the notoriety that Black Friday does, thanks to the magic of marketing.)

Black Friday has gone on to spawn several other “shopping holidays” based on its popularity, including “Cyber Monday” (the Monday following Thanksgiving where online marketplaces slash their prices for unbelievable deals) as well as “Small Business Saturday/Sunday” (the weekend after Thanksgiving dedicated to supporting local businesses). Like it or not, Black Friday is truly an American tradition, and will be part of our holiday rituals for years to come.

In the market for incredible Black Friday deals on all your favorite brands of appliances? Want to give yourself the gift of a good night’s sleep every night with a great new mattress? Check out the Black Friday savings at Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom!

Special thanks to history.com for research on this article.

For Mattress Purchases Consider Motion Transfer

There are a couple of things to consider before buying a new mattress. On of the big things that can affect your decision is motion transfer. Watch the video to see what it is.



Things to take away:

• Innerspring mattresses have motion transfer. 
• Memory foam and hybrid mattresses can reduce if not eliminate motion transfer. 
• Some great options to consider are Tempur-Pedic brand mattresses.

What questions do you have about purchasing a new mattress? 

Top 3 Types of Mattresses - Get the One You Need

Eric is here to show you the different types of mattresses.  There are great benefits when upgrading your old inner spring mattress with one of the 3 new innovative mattress designs.



Recap, the three mattress designs are :
1. Pocket coil: We recommend looking at the Sealey Tuberose Plush
2. Memory Foam: This one is a great option Tempurpedic TEMPUR-Cloud Supreme Breeze
3. Hybrid: Check out Sterns & Foster Brooklet Cushion Firm

Stop by one of our stores to see which one will give you the support that you need.

2017 Kitchen Appliance Finish Trends

Trends in kitchen styles and finishes are always changing and now with hot new natural looks and finishes showing up everywhere kitchen appliances making leaps and bounds every year.  Among these is a shift in style from the stainless steel that has dominated the market for the last several decades.

New Metal Finishes and Panel Ready

Metal finishes across the board in the kitchen are slowly moving away from the long lasting finger print ridden stainless steel.  Finishes are becoming more user friendly and require less maintenance like black diamond stainless.  Keep in mind, however, that the biggest movement isn’t being seen among the manufacturers; it’s the bespoke pieces instead. Homeowners are having appliance doors made specifically for their kitchens, which are leading the way in this trend.

Invisible Appliances

Appliance panels are not new, but they’ve never been this popular before. While modern and transitional kitchens are using black stainless and bold colors in their appliances, formal and traditional kitchens are taking a different route. They’re using appliance panels to conceal and hide their appliances from sight.

Appliance panels are extensions of the cabinet doors you use in the rest of your kitchen. They fit over the appliance front, concealing it. So instead of a dishwasher, you simply see a larger cabinet door. Look for more cabinet makers to offer these panels, as well as for appliance manufacturers to offer models that can use the panels easily without blocking things like ice makers in the door.

Trends are Trends are Trends

After years on top, stainless steel continues to be the most popular with realtors which is the best reflection of a continuing popular trend.  Despite predictions of trends moving away from stainless as long as people expect stainless appliances when buying a home this will continue.  So be cautious if this isn’t your final home that your taste in finishes may not be reflective of the masses.

What appliance trends appeal to you in your kitchen upgrade? We look forward to seeing you in one of our Colorado stores to make your kitchen dream come to life!