By Amanda Kavanagh
14th Jul 2019
14th Jul 2019
“Ask him if he knows Dr Oetker,” quips a colleague when I mention I’m invited to visit Gütersloh, Germany, to interview Dr Markus Miele, fourth-generation Executive Director and Co-Proprietor of Miele.
The occasion is one of the biggest launches in the high-end domestic appliance company’s 120 year history, and with a reputation for setting an industry standard, I’m intrigued to see what Generation 7000 entails.
As a gaggle of journalists, architects and interior designers gather in Dublin Airport, Patrick McGrath, chief executive of Miele Ireland, sets the scene of where we were headed and breezily mentions Dr Oetker is manufactured nearby.
I board the plane, with the promise of pizza in my near future, and this is what I learn.
Ovens equipped with internal cameras have both safety and laziness benefits.
Imagine keeping an eye on your croissants as you sit in bed reading the Sunday papers… not too shabby.
Miele’s ovens are already well-lauded for their self-cleaning function– fellow launch attendee Dermot Bannon gushes about his lifting a treacle-like glaze from its base after cooking a cider-soaked Christmas ham – but Generation 7000 comes with a few new snazzy features too.
Miele VitroLine oven in Brilliant White
Firstly, there’s an internal camera, which means you can see what’s cooking from an app, while a push notification will notify you when your food is ready. If you can’t make it to the oven in time, you can use TasteControl to keep it warm.
And if you’re bothered to get up and check on what’s cooking in person, MotionReact means the internal light turns on as you approach, which minimises grubby finger prints on the interface. It’s the little things.
In Ireland, many of us don’t prioritise an extractor fan.
“When people start a kitchen, they’ve got a wish list, and when the budget gets squeezed, we find that one of the first things that gets knocked off the priority list is a quality extractor,” explains Patrick, “which we think is a mistake.”
With the amalgamation of living and cooking spaces, the extractor is becoming much more important in the home, and it is now a critical part of the living space, not just the kitchen.
Miele Generation 7000 DA7078 Aura 3.0 Cooker Hood
“From the extraction of smells and odours perspective, but also noise. We see now, one of the biggest success we’ve have over the last number of months is two-in-ones. So, you have your downdraft extractor in the middle and you have an induction hob on either side.”
Cheap extractor fans often come as part of a kitchen deal, but Patrick says they are often noisy and don’t extract smell.
“You spent all this money on a fantastic kitchen renovation and you’ve got a hood that isn’t working. We’re constantly trying to work with the kitchen designers to educate consumers to the fact that they really need to put the hood close to the top of their list.”
Dishwasher-safe hob-inset extraction fans are the next kitchen must-have.
I never thought an extractor fan could be covetable, but the hob-inset Generation 7000 one can easily be taken out and popped in the dishwasher, making the unpleasant job of hand-cleaning a grease-laden extractor fan a thing of the past.
Miele’s inbuilt hob extractor fan
Full surface induction hobs will be integrated into kitchen tables eventually.
Dr Miele says a lot of professional kitchens are turning from gas to induction “because it creates a much nicer working atmosphere”.
He continues, “Typically, with gas, a lot of the heat doesn’t go into the pots and pans, but around, and the people are more or less sweating, so it’s not a nice atmosphere to work in. But with induction, you just generate heat where you want it to be, and that’s it.”
It all sounds positive if don’t care for the feel of gas, or if you have an open-plan kitchen and like to look effortless when entertaining.
A full-surface Miele Generation 7000 induction hob
And after a spot of interpretive dance, a new full-surface induction hob is unveiled, meaning there are no set cooking zones. You can pop a saucepan anywhere on the surface and shove it over to make room for more when needed, up to 6 or 7 pans.
We rustle up some quick meals in a demo to test it out, and it all seems very precise and comfortable.
Patrick chimes in, “Full-surface is really where induction hobs are going. Eventually it’s going to be a situation where it’s in the middle of the table and in the future, you’ll have your induction plate and the heat will follow it, just as it follows the pots now.”
Push notifications will remind you to order washing detergent.
Blame Laura DeBarra for our recent pique of interest in dishwashers.
After more interpretive dance, albeit under water-themed this time, the Alexa-integrated, hidden control panel Generation 7000 dishwasher is revealed, with the first touch display to market.
Generation 7000’s dishwasher interface
While the aesthetics are strong, functionality comes first, and each is fitted with a deep cutlery drawer and retractable silicon supports for stemware.
Miele’s PowerDisk
New is the Miele PowerDisk, which is recyclable, lasts 20 cycles and dispenses detergent based on duty needed. It’ll even remind you when its running low.
You’ll be able to schedule the dishwasher to turn on/off when someone else will be at home to unload it.
We’re not sure how long you’ll get away with this swizz, but it’s well worth a try.
Miele Generation 7000 dishwasher
Control it from the app to suit your schedule and you’ll never have to pretend you didn’t notice the dishwasher has finished again. You simply won’t be there to see it.
Freshly ground coffee is the new capsule coffee.
In our mid-morning break, we have coffee served from Generation 7000 coffee machines. While Miele have partnered with Nespresso before, the new focus is “bean to cup technology” that are wall-inset and flush with your oven appliances.
Miele’s new bean to cup technology
“As kitchens are getting smaller, space is at a premium,” says Dr Miele. “So when you are planning your kitchen cabinetry, you have to make some decisions about what you want to put into those.”
Investing in start-ups is key to how Miele look to the future of living.
A few years ago, Miele launched Miele Venture Capital who invest in different companies, who are connected to washing, drying or food.
“We’ve already invested in some start-ups” says Dr Miele. “One is MChef, for example, which is convenience food. We have one investment in laundry and two more investments in food; Plant Jammer and KptnCook. I think it’s seven or eight investments we have all together, and it’s interesting, because it extends a little bit our universe; it’s not only the product itself, it’s the business behind it.”
Miele’s canteen does not serve Dr Oetker pizza.
We actually sample items from the MChef menu, which will be introduced to Ireland soon.
Somewhere between Deliveroo and M&S Meal Deals, essentially, these are pre-prepared meals that come delivered to your home on porcelain plates and just need to be placed in a Miele Dialog oven (which uses electromagnetic waves to cook food) to be heated up. For more enthusiastic home cooks, Ross Lewis currently has a Dialog oven installed at Chapter One and will be developing recipes over the coming year.
Ross Lewis
Miele’s Generation 7000 will be available from August 2019.
Featured image: Miele Generation 7000
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