Spending so much time at home during 2020 has made all of us acutely aware of how well or how poorly our kitchen appliances perform. The designers and engineers at major manufacturers considered it too and developed smarter appliances that keep track of our food supplies, allow for wireless and touch-free connectivity, and help us out when we get overwhelmed by kitchen multitasking while working from home.

All those loaves of sourdough bread, gourmet recipes, and craft cocktails we’ve been making have influenced the largest number of innovations to refrigerators and ranges. We gathered the best kitchen appliances of 2021 so you can create your dream kitchen.

The Latest in Refrigerators

Samsung Bespoke Modular Refrigeration

Every household has different needs when it comes to fresh food storage, with safety considerations and convenience leading the way. If you are tired of the usual refrigerator and freezer options, take a look at Samsung’s Bespoke Modular Refrigeration. Available in modular refrigeration and freezer units, you can customize cold storage-all-refrigerator, all-freezer, mixed units, or a 4-door flex refrigerator with a compartment that can change from freezer to refrigerator depending on the temperature you select.

Customization options continue with a water pitcher that refills automatically and a built-in infuser to create your favorite flavored water. Even the ice is customizable from cubes to “ice bites” or nuggets. Finally, the units can be mixed and matched with panels in a range of colors from white gloss and matte black to sky blue, rose pink, and champagne, so your refrigerator is uniquely yours.

LG InstaView Refrigerator with Craft Ice

LG Electronics’s InstaView Refrigerator lets you see what’s inside by just tapping on the tinted window. If you have your hands full, use the voice command and WiFi connectivity through the app, Alexa, or Google Assistant to open the door. There’s also a built-in speaker to announce updates to your schedule, how much ice you have on hand, and the status of the water filter. You should have plenty of ice, since there are two ice makers, including one producing clear spheres of craft ice perfect for cocktails.

To keep foods at optimal temperature, the door-in-door design allows you to access drinks and snacks easily without drops in the refrigeration temperature. For added safety, the water dispenser is illuminated with UV light to help reduce bacteria.

The Latest in Ranges

BlueStar Platinum Series Professional Range

Now that you feel like you’ve become a professional chef, you should have a powerful range. BlueStar has its roots in commercial kitchens and this Platinum Series Professional Range has restaurant-style burners, an interchangeable grill and griddle burner, convection oven, and infrared broiler. The exciting twist is that you now have more than 750 color and hardware options to customize the look of your kitchen range.

LG InstaView Range

LG introduced its InstaView Range in 2019 with a “knock twice” window that illuminates the interior. To help reduce the clutter of small appliances on your countertops, it added a convection/air fry feature in 2020, and for 2021, you’ll get instant views, air frying, and air sous vide in the 6.3-cubic-feet LG InstaView Range.

Traditional sous vide is a gentle cooking method of vacuum-sealing foods in a plastic bag and submerging the bag in a water bath. In the LG range, the vacuum-sealed bags are cooked with precisely controlled airflow at low temperatures to seal in flavors. You can monitor and control all these features through LG’s ThinQ app, Alexa, or Google Assistant.

The Latest in Ovens

Electrolux Smart Double Wall Oven

If you’re really serious about baking, then you need a double oven. The Electrolux Smart Double Wall Oven features two 5.1-cubic-feet ovens with WiFi controls through the Electrolux app. The spectrum of settings includes steam baking, a dehydrator, convection cooking, air fry, air sous vide, and self-cleaning or steam-cleaning modes.

Sharp SuperSteam+ Wall Oven

The Sharp SuperSteam+ Wall Oven has a smaller footprint (1.1 cubic feet) than other ovens (it is also available in a countertop model), but still offers the culinary amenities of steam baking and roasting up to 485 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as convection cooking. The unit requires only a 120v outlet and can be wall-mounted or installed under the counter in a kitchen island. Just download the Sharp SuperSteam+ app and connect through WiFi for remote voice control.

The Latest in Dishwashers

Bosch 800 Series with Zeolith

Unfortunately, the latest dishwasher innovations in the Bosch 800 Series With Zeolith don’t include loading and unloading automatically, but Bosch kept its commitment to the planet by achieving carbon-neutral status. Using only around three gallons of water for each cycle, you get clean, sanitized dishes and the ultimate dry (even on plastics) thanks to 3D airflow and the use of the mineral Zeolite to absorb humidity. The dishwasher connects to WiFi through the Home Connect app and has a delay start timer so you can run the dishwasher at off-peak times.

Miele G 7000 Smart Dishwasher with Automatic Dosing

No more forgetting to put in the detergent before you run the cycle, thanks to the Miele G 7000 Smart Dishwasher’s automatic dosing. The innovative AutoDos system uses PowerDisk technology to dispense the appropriate amount of detergent for each load. Additional features are the quick intense wash cycle that is complete in less than one hour, four interior LED lights for easier loading, and WiFi compatibility.