New appliances help you spend less time cooking and cleaning up, and more time enjoying your meal.

Want to spice up your kitchen? Looking for a little luxury? Maybe a quieter dishwasher? An oven that can do more? Or some gear that will ease life and add contemporary style to your home?

Good news. There's a plethora of new appliances on the market today.

Cooking:

When Rachel Mattie and Wayne MacDonald of Antigonish County, NS recently moved into their home, one of the modern appliances they chose for their new kitchen was an Electric Dual Oven Range made by Kenmore Elite - which gave them two ovens in a single appliance.

The reason? "We liked the idea of having so much oven space for cooking," Mattie says. "The two ovens allow me to cook the main course, such as roast chicken or beef in the convection oven in the bottom, and at the same time bake dessert in the top oven."

Want to roast a turkey in the bottom and cook a casserole in the top? No problem. The double ovens let you prepare two different dishes at two different temperatures at the same time.

The oven is also self-cleaning, which gets a "big yea!!" from Mattie, "because the fumes from oven cleaners are terrible."

She's only owned the oven a short time, but so far it has cooked very nicely with roast beef and other main courses coming out quite tender. Another plus, she says, is the stove surface itself, which has five elements. The smallest, the fifth element is a warming element. "I have used it and it is great to keep a pot of food warm without being concerned about burning in the bottom of the pan," she says. That's only one example of many new kitchen innovations on the market today making life easier. For instance, in September 2010, GE Profile launched a new line of high-capacity ranges specifically designed for the Canadian consumer, with engineered-efficiency and contemporary style in mind.

The kitchen is the heart of most Canadian homes, a multi-purpose space that's busy beyond mealtime, the life of every party and the focus of friend and family time, says GE Profile brand manager Rebecca Brennan. That's why GE Profile revamped its large-capacity line-up of 10 gas and electric ranges to include industry-leading features and cooking versatility, she says.

Specifically designed to meet the demands of modern Canadian consumers, the ranges can do more in less time thanks to the largest oven capacities; space maximizing, multi-element cooktop configurations; and available dual-temperature ovens that can bake a pie and roast a turkey at the same time.

"Our new GE Profile line of ranges features 10 models with space-efficient layouts that give consumers best-in-class flexibility while cooking. With available dual-cavity ovens, five-element cooktops and warming drawers, you spend less time making meals and more time enjoying them," Brennan says. "Our proprietary research tells us that busy Canadian consumers want time-saving kitchen appliances, as well as trend-setting design for their homes. We listened to their feedback."

The new line of free-standing and slide-in gas and electric ranges was launched at appliance retailers across Canada in late September.

Induction cooking is another area growing in popularity. In induction, magnetic energy turns the pan into the heat source. Benefits include an instantaneous reaction time as good as gas heat. You can bring something to boil rapidly, and to simmer just as quickly. In essence, induction cookers are faster and more energy efficient than traditional electric cooktops, and industry sources say they allow instant control of cooking energy, like no energy source other than gas.

Induction also offers some pretty cool features like sensor dome technology, which measures the temperature of the pot so that it can keep the temperature consistent so that it can be kept simmering at the same temperature for a long time. As well, some cook tops offer a timer feature. For example, if you're cooking rice, you can set the burner to boil for five minutes then to simmer for 15 minutes. The element automatically shuts off so that you can essentially forget about the rice and it will be done.

Also in ovens, the combi-steam oven offers a combination of thermal energy and steam technology to really give three oven options in one. Benefits of this type of appliance include the steam cooking, great for vegetables as they retain their colour and nutrients. The combination oven will also sear meat so that it will brown and crisp on the outside and the steam will cook it from the inside out so that it retains its moisture and texture. The system, in essence, combines the dry heat of a convection oven with non-pressurized steam. Combined with hot air, steam opens up a lot of possibilities such as steaming, baking, simmering, braising, and reheating. You can also use the hot air by itself.

As for microwaves? The technology hasn't changed a whole lot over the years, although built-in units are becoming more popular.

In fact, built-in appliances in general are becoming more popular in renovating and building new kitchens. Industry members say the built-in gives you a better flow and flexibility in designing a kitchen. Appliances can also be raised to waist height for ease of access and convenience.

Preserving:

Within the refrigeration and freezer category, the bottom mount refrigerator is becoming quite popular. Industry sources say people are trending towards this product. Boomers are getting older and are thinking more about easy access to the fridge, which they often use more than the freezer, making the product quite popular.

Column refrigeration is also something new for consumers to consider.

Column refrigeration gives the ability and freedom to be able to split the two units apart so that you can have a large fridge in the kitchen and a freezer in the pantry or some other part of the kitchen. No longer do the fridge and freezer have to be together.

Cleaning up:

When it comes to dishwashers, customers are looking mostly for quietness and energy efficiency in their purchases. All manufacturers are trying to accomplish this, so ask your salesperson about individual features. Bosch manufactures a unit that raises only 40 decibels - so quiet you can barely hear it. It also only uses 180 kilowatt hours, which exceeds Energy Star guidelines, so it is quite energy efficient. Customers are asking for this and the industry is responding

Other dishwashers, like the Kenmore Elite, are advertised with features such as jets that blast dishes from all angles - no more pre-soaking or scrubbing - drying made smarter, quickly rinsing small loads, and accommodating tough-to-fit items.

With all the advances, it seems now even the watched pot may indeed cook faster!