House junkies’ appliance heaven

ORLANDO, Fla. -- For those who have never steamed anything more exotic than, say, broccoli, it’s puzzling to ponder the prospect of steaming our dishes, our blue jeans and our dirty ovens. And what if that range is neon orange or the color of lemonade?

Capturing attention was the point of the trade show at the recent International Builders Show, where 1,800 exhibitors trotted out their wares for Americans’ dream homes.

There were more than enough goodies to satisfy even the most hooked house junkie. Some already are available, and others will debut next year.

Here are a few grabbers:

Getting steamy: Appliance manufacturers’ ongoing challenge is to get you to fall out of love with your bland but serviceable kitchen and laundry devices and replace them.

The latest tack is steam -- touted to dry your clothes wrinkle-free, to make glassware glisten and to loosen stuff from that petri dish you call the floor of your oven.

Steam has been building up, so to speak, for a couple of years in appliances. Now it has burst forth.

There are steam dishwashers from Maytag, GE, KitchenAid and Jenn-Air, among others. Traditional dishwashers generate steam in the drying cycle, but these babies steam in the wash cycle. It makes glass shinier -- or so the manufacturers say.

There are steam clothes dryers. Whirlpool and Sears showed models alleged to remove wrinkles (from your clothes, sorry) and odors.

And though steam has long been used for cooking, KitchenAid and Viking have combined it with convection cooking in ovens, eliminating the need to mist and baste some foods, the companies say.

Living color: Beiged out? Cabinet and appliance companies have the answer: color. This started a short while back in the laundry room with apple red and sea-foam green.

Viking Range Corp. seems to be leading the kitchen charge by expanding its appliance palette to 24 from 14 colors. The company showcased its pumpkin-colored range -- shades of the 1970s.

A Viking spokesman said it suggests using the bright colors as a single accent. Its St. Charles Cabinetry subsidiary is rolling out the two dozen colors in metal kitchen cabinets.

Seeing infrared: Thermador introduced its Sensor Dome electric cooktop. A retractable sensor pops up and fires an infrared beam at your pot. It measures the heat from the cookware and automatically cycles the burner on or off to maintain temperature, the company says.