Kevin Henry

Today…

The laws of nature will be broken.

Matter as we know it will be altered.

Time will have no relevance.

The past is hot.

The future is COOL!”

Not since our ancestors squatted around an open fire, cooking the catch of the day of the day on a stick over an open flame has there been such a leap in cooking technology. With today’s modern kitchen consuming as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of household energy, the magnetic induction cook-top uses 90 percent less energy than that of a conventional gas or electric cook top, making it the most energy efficient form of cooking on the market today.

"Nothing is too wonderful to be true."- Michael Faraday 1831

The principle of magnetic induction was discovered in 1831 by Michael Faraday, a British physicist who laid the foundation to many of today’s common technologies. Faraday found that the electromotive force produced around a closed path is proportional to the rate of change of the magnetic flux through any surface bounded by that path. In other words, a magnetic induction cook-top uses electromagnetic energy to heat the cooking vessel itself, without generating heat on the surface of the cook top.  Compared to a traditional gas or electric cooking surface, magnetic induction is faster, safer, cooler and a more efficient form of cooking.

“Nothing is too wonderful to be true.” Michael Faraday 1831

The first patent for an induction cooker was filed in 1900, but the idea was never fully realized until Frigidaire created a prototype for a traveling road show showcasing the kitchen of the future.

The first real production induction cook-top was launched by Westinghouse in the 1970’s, but production ceased when the company was sold in 1975.

From here, development of induction cooking moved from the U.S. to Europe, where induction cooking was developed for the commercial market. Induction cooking was first introduced to the great kitchens of Europe’s leading hotels and restaurants as a way to reduce energy consumption and extreme temperatures, while at the same time allowing for the quick and safe preparation of food without the need for open flames and time consuming pre-heating of pots and pans.

"Nothing is too wonderful to be true."-Michael Faraday 1831

Today, adapted for residential use, the magnetic induction cook-top uses electromagnetic energy to heat the cooking utensil itself. When the unit is turned on, the induction coils produce a high frequency, alternating magnetic field, much like a radio wave, which flows through the cookware quickly and evenly, stimulating the iron molecules in the cookware to move back and forth rapidly, causing the molecules to collide, thus creating friction, which in turn creates heat to cook. Unlike traditional cooking surfaces that heat up and stay hot long after the meal has been prepared, the black glass-ceramic surface of the Induction-Top stays cool to the touch as it is unaffected by the magnetic field.

As with any new technology, the question of health and safety always comes up in regard to the effect that magnetic induction has on the human body. The answer is simple…none! The energy transmitted from a magnetic induction cook top is not considered a safety hazard according to most scientists and engineers. The radiofrequency radiation that is transmitted from an induction cook-top is less than those encountered during every day interaction with common household appliances.

The magnetic fields that are created during use are safer than electric fields. Electric fields interact with the water in a person’s body, which magnetic fields do not do.

The reason is simple; the water molecule is a polar molecule with an electrically positive end and an electrically negative end.

A water molecule within an electric field will tend to align with the field and when the field is oscillated, the water molecule will oscillate as well. This is how a microwave oven pops popcorn. Magnetic fields, on the other hand, go relatively unnoticed by water molecules or any other molecule in a body. So not only is induction cooking the most energy efficient form of cooking, I would have to say that it is the safest as well.

In closing, magnetic induction cooking is safe to use, easy to clean, quick to heat up as well as to cool down and most important, and energy efficient. It would be safe to say that in any other culture, this technology would be mistaken for magic.

The Benefits of Induction Cooking:

• Because energy is directly transferred within the pan, induction cooking is extremely fast …even faster than gas.
• Induction is much safer than gas or other electric cooking surfaces since there is no open flame, red-hot coil or other radiant heat source to burn or scorch if left unattended. No contact…No heat.
• With no grates or grease catch to worry about, clean up is a breeze. Just use a damp cloth and wipe over the easy-to-clean surface.
• Almost no ambient heat is produced since all the heat is being generated in the pan itself. This means a much cooler kitchen to work within.
• Induction cooking is far more energy-efficient than gas or traditional electric cooking. The induction Cook-Top delivers 90 percent of the energy that it uses to the pan! Gas on the other hand delivers only 55 percent to the pan and traditional electric about 65 percent. In addition, when you remove the vessel from the induction-cooking surface, the cooktop immediately goes into standby mode, which uses almost no energy whatsoever.
• Unlike a gas burner or electrical stove, the induction cooktop is incapable of producing heat on its own; only until a pan is placed on top of it does it generate a magnetic field that excites the magnetic molecules in the pan which creates instant, precise and very controllable heat.

(Kevin Henry is a designer, writer and speaker with over 25 years of experience in the kitchen industry. Henry has been behind the success of such brands as Snaidero, Poliform/Varenna, Küppersbusch, ALNO in North America and Bazzeo Earth Friendly Kitchens. Currently, he is the president and creative director at Group42, a design + marketing collective dedicated to redefining the boundaries of the modern kitchen. He can be reached at kmhenry@group42.net)

Almost 35 years ago, while still living a post-hippie lifestyle, I attended my first Earth Day in Los Angeles. I was working at one of the first 24 hour gas stations in California, where gas was 25 cents a gallon.  A couple of bucks would fill the tank of my, mint condition, 1955 VW Bug, almost to the brim.

I was invited to attend the day in the park by a young woman who wrote for an ecological magazine, a “commie rag”, as my father would say.  She would come in late at night to get gas and we would talk about movies, politics and the world around us.  Her passion and main train of thought was about the environment and her involvement in the upcoming Earth Day festival.  At the time, Earth Day had the overtones of a “love-in” of the sixties with music and speeches, but instead of the war in Vietnam, the direction had shifted to the environment.

The focus of Earth Day in 1974 was about the quality of our air and water as well as the use of pesticides in farming and toxic waste being dumped in the ocean.  And on that sunny spring Saturday in the park, with the sun shining down, out of a clear blue sky, global warming or the thought of climate change was far from the minds of this eclectic group of people, holding hands and singing along with Joni Mitchell’s, 70’s hit and anthem of the fledgling environmentalist movement, Big Yellow Taxi, one of the most prophetic songs ever to be written.

During the day’s event of music and speeches, my friend invited me to the podium to say a few words during an open “mic” period in between sets.  I remember my stomach feeling like it was tied in a knot, as I had never spoken in front of a large group before.   A light breeze blew through my shoulder length hair and I can still feel the way the sun played upon my face.  I don’t remember much of what I said that day, a blessing of time I think, other than these few words, “the future is deeply rooted in the actions we take today”, and from that moment forward I become an environmentalist.

Now, forty years after the start of Earth Day, the movement is under attack from all sides, challenging and dismissing years of recorded data, attacking the credibility of thought-leaders, scientists and engineers, but the worst part is that the confidence of the American consumer has been shaken and they have begun to question an idea that had touched their lives.

Simple things like recycling their trash or driving a fuel efficient car or purchasing energy star appliances or changing out every light bulb in the house for compact-florescence  ones, began feel silly as if they were the butt of a secret joke.   It all became very clear for me one evening as I sat at the kitchen table, helping my 7 year old son with his Earth Science home work, when he asked me “what if all these things we do around the house, don’t change anything?”  POW!…right between the eyes by one of my own.  It was like being asked if I believed in GOD.  I sat dumbfounded for a minute or two and looking him straight in the eyes I said…”is it ever wrong to do the right thing?

I explained to him that we, as individuals can make a difference, by the choices we make and the actions we take, we can make a lasting impact on the world around us.  So, yes…the things we do around the house to lower our carbon-footprint, like taking shorter showers or changing out light bulbs or compositing or bring our own bags to the market…do make a difference.

So even if climate change or global warming were not an issue, I ask, is it wrong to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and seek alternative energy resource?  Is it wrong to want a more energy efficient automobiles or home appliances?   Is it wrong to conserve and protect our limited natural resources?  Is it wrong to want to make a difference in the world around us?  No, it is not wrong to want and expect these things, but we have to take action and we cannot wait for the government or a group or committee for the answers, we, as individuals, hold the power to make a difference and by the choices we make and the actions we take, we can alter the course of life on this planet, now and for generations to come.

(Kevin Henry is a designer, writer and speaker with over 25 years of experience in the kitchen industry. Henry has been behind the success of such brands as Snaidero, Poliform/Varenna, Küppersbusch, ALNO in North America and Bazzeo Earth Friendly Kitchens. Currently, he is the president and creative director at Group42, a design + marketing collective dedicated to redefining the boundaries of the modern kitchen. He can be reached at kmhenry@group42.net)

Imagine a kitchen where you will no longer have to wander about like a desert nomad with your blender or toaster in hand searching for an oasis of power or at least a clear space near a free outlet.

The idea of wireless electricity was first conceived by legendary inventor, Nikola Tesla in the early 1900’s. His idea was to build giant transmission towers across the US that would emit an electrical frequency that your home appliance or light bulb would receive and be powered, much in the same way as a radio picks up a broadcast signal. After a major legal battle that was finally settled in the Supreme Court on the side of GE and Thomas Edison, Tesla and his idea of free electricity faded into obscurity.

But all is not lost, Sony Japan announced that it has developed a highly efficient wireless power transfer systems that elements the use of cables or cords for small appliances. The new system can transfer wirelessly 60w of electrical energy over a distance of nearly 24” with 80 percent efficiency. This new technology is based on magnetic resonance, where two or more devices can transfer energy when using the same resonant frequencies.

The idea requires embedding a line-connected power transmitter into a counter-top, table top or wall, which then transmits power to an adapted appliance placed near or on the transmitter without the need for a cord between the transmitting or receiving elements.

Once developed to its full potential, you would be able to place any future portable household appliance, such as a toaster, blender, coffee maker or can-opener anywhere in the kitchen you would like to work without the need of a power-cord, plug or socket.

One of the greatest benefits of this new technology will be safety with the near elimination for electric shock. Gone will be the days of socket guards and curious hands and just think of the fun of making margaritas poolside with no need for plug. The possibilities are endless, and the modern kitchen as we know it, will continue to open up and expand its borders as new technology and applications continue to emerge.

Now Mr. Tesla…about that “free” electricity idea?

(Kevin Henry is a designer, writer and speaker with over 25 years of experience in the kitchen industry. Henry has been behind the success of such brands as Snaidero, Poliform/Varenna, Küppersbusch, ALNO in North America and Bazzeo Earth Friendly Kitchens. Currently, he is the president and creative director at Group42, a design + marketing collective dedicated to redefining the boundaries of the modern kitchen. He can be reached at kmhenry@group42.net)

I love to cook and enjoy the process of preparation, selecting the ingredients, laying out my tools, cooking my meal and then to finally serve it to my family and guests. As with most chefs, professional or amateur, I nibble my way throughout the undertaking and have little room to actually sit and eat with my guests, but to sit and talk, to eat and drink and just commune with one another is its own reward

I am glad to say that there has been a renascence in kitchen design over the last few years, maybe it’s because of the current economic times we live in and people are staying home more and eating meals around the family table has once more taken center stage. What has changed, or maybe a better word would be, evolved, is the democratization of the family kitchen. This once private domain of the feminine world has now given way to a new social order that reflects the world that we live in. Everyone is welcomed, if not expected to participate in the ritual of preparation.

And with this increased activity and additional bodies in a high-traffic ballet of fire, boiling water and sharp pointy things…we find that the assembly-line kitchen of the past, with its uniform horizon of sink, dishwasher, cook-top, oven and refrigerator, forever locked in its limited one-person “work-triangle”, must now give way to a new way of thinking.

Appliances once dictated the form and flow of the kitchen. Today, they have all been replaced by the individual/s and the task and then the appliances and the space needed to fulfill the task. With a variety of people and activities in this enclosed environment, we must create a fluid, interactive, multifunctional arena, where tools and materials are close at hand and within a given task boundary.

Much like selling toilet paper, the primary use of the product is seldom addressed. The same has gone for modern kitchen design. Over the past several years, the collective thought of modern kitchen design was to create the “illusion of order.” This was accomplished by hiding the true function of the kitchen. By hiding the food, the waste and the appliances, we create the illusion of productivity and efficiency by hiding the process.

With cooking returned to the primary function, the kitchen must be efficient to be productive, an environment that is conducive to the task at hand. To this end we have reached out to the commercial kitchen to better understand the true meaning of efficiency, a world that clearly defines the boundaries of form and function and where the poetry of chaos is the rule of order. The commercial kitchen is designed around a menagerie of players, each with a tack or goal to fulfill, all working independently, all working to the same conclusion and all working in perfect harmony.

(Kevin Henry is a designer, writer and speaker with over 25 years of experience in the kitchen industry. Henry has been behind the success of such brands as Snaidero, Poliform/Varenna, Küppersbusch, ALNO in North America and Bazzeo Earth Friendly Kitchens. Currently, he is the president and creative director at Group42, a design + marketing collective dedicated to redefining the boundaries of the modern kitchen. He can be reached at kmhenry@group42.net)

More than 70 years ago, the “Futurist” predicted that our world would be awash in jet-packs, flying-cars, moving sidewalks, personal robot helpers, mile-high cities, and let us not forget the ambiguous vacation on the Moon, or better yet on Mars.

Much like a feather on a string in front of a playful kitten, the kitchen of the future with all its time and labor saving gadgets and gizmo’s, has been dangled in front of the American consumer since the 1939 New York Worlds Fair, but for me the future became a reality one very hot summer day in 1960, while I stood in line at Disneyland to see the house that would change my life forever, the house of the future…the Monsanto House.

My first impression of the future, as an eight-year-old boy, was that it would be cool. Ice-cold air-conditioned air blew on my skin as I walked in from a hot and sticky Anaheim heat wave. There was the future…laid out before me like a buffet. The embodiment of every science fiction movie, TV show, book, magazine and comic book I had ever seen, all before me in glorious molded plastic, and as expected, everything was white or chrome with accents of color, it would be easy to see my life in this home of tomorrow.

And the kitchen of this brave new world was laid out as if a medical laboratory. A shiny, gleaming, pristine environment where actual food and food preparation would be banned and we would pop “food-pills” and consume “radar-ranged” freeze-dried dinners, and our personal robot helper would clean up the dishes using no water in the sonic dishwasher and we would all talk to our friends and family on a Viz-A-Phone after dinner.

Thankfully many of these visions are still the stuff of science fiction. But as we wade knee-deep into the 21^st century, we find that a few of Monsanto’s visions have survived and evolved. The ubiquitous microwave oven has evolved from the radar-range in to an everyday kitchen cornerstone. The magnetic induction cook-top with its heat-free cooking is right out of the Jetsons and the integrated dishwasher, though not sonic I am sorry to say, is a standard feature in every American home.

So, where is the future I was promised? I had invested all that time in books and movies and I knew every nook and cranny and back road of the future, and with great disappointment I woke one morning to the world as it was and lived out my days feeling a little bit cheated. But then something happened, the future caught up with me. I realized one day, not so long ago, that I am living in the future of my youth, but only without the official uniform of the future, the one-piece unitard.

I have my Bluetooth firmly lodged into my ear, I drive an electric car and I can watch TV as well as communicate instantaneously, around the world via email, IM or Twitter…all from my cell phone. I don’t have a personal robot assistant, but I do have to lift my legs every now and then with the RUMBA comes scooting along the floor. I knew for sure I was living in the future, as I sat on my sofa, watching live images streaming in from Mars, while eating microwaved popcorn. Now, if I only had a jet-pack.

(Kevin Henry is the executive vice president of Bazzèo LLC. He can be reached at kevin@bazzeo.com or read more of his observations at www.theessentialkitchen.blogspot.com)

I was invited to attend a luncheon last week with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Author of “The World is Hot, Crowded and Flat” Thomas Friedman.  I have been involved with environmental issues for over 30 years, ever since my first Earth Day rally in 1974, but this event was on an entirely different plane than I have ever been associated with before.

I realized that the revolution had moved to a new level…it wasn’t about fighting the machine…this was the machine.  The event was attended by Governors of other states, UN delegates, international media, scientists and engineers, non-profit organizations and corporate leaders…this wasn’t your tofu eating, long hair, Birkenstock wearing radicals…this was people from all walks of life, from around the world, multi-cultural, trans-generational and across all economic boundaries.  All on the same page regarding Climate Change with no finger-wagging or blame assignment.  They were there for one purpose…to find solutions to a problem of global proportions.

This luncheon was part of larger conference, the 2nd Annual Governors Conference on Climate Change, the Road to Copenhagen.  A week of speeches, presentations and workshops all centered on Climate Change and what governments, organizations and corporations can do to be involved.

With all these powerful people, government bodies and organizations, the message I walked away with from my lunch with the Govenor was a simple one…”that it is the individual who holds the power to make a difference”…by the choices we make and the actions we take, we can alter the course of life on this planet, now and for generations to come.

The leaders wrapped up their three-day summit in Los Angeles by signing several declarations and statements, including pledging to pursue cleaner transportation alternatives, to work together to stop de-forestation and to contribute towards low-carbon development in developing nations.

I left the conference re-born with a new vigor as well as a new commitment towards the future.  No matter what the talking heads on TV may say, it was clear that Climate Change is real and that a clear path on both a local as well as global level has been defined and that through our individual actions we can make a difference.  I was quoted in 1974, while attending Earth Day as saying, “The future is deeply rooted in the actions we take today”, that challenge has never been truer, I only hope that we move a little faster than the 30 years that have brought us to this point today.

(Writer, speaker as well as a green activist, Kevin M Henry is President of Group42, a consultancy specializing in Strategic Brand Management.  Kevin can be reached at kmhenry@group42.net or follow his blog at  www.theessentialkitchen.blogspot.com)

Today, when uncertainty surrounds us and the world outside seems lost to confusion and chaos, we seek, almost by instinct, sanctuary and communal comfort, much like our ancestors once did around an open fire. 

Reaching into our collective past, to a time when all family, community and social activates took place deep within the heart of the castle, we find the “Hearth”, a place where life, feasting, entertainment and communal gatherings centered.

Today’s hearth, the modern kitchen has evolved far from its original function of food preparation to that of “the social hub of the home”.  In the modern kitchen, the family, both nuclear as well as tribal, still gathers to share, rejuvenate and commune together, but the walls have come down and this once hidden and secluded place is now part of a larger social arena.  As the hearth of yore, the modern kitchen serves as a meeting place, a dinning room, a home-office, a place to do homework; it can also serve as a sanctuary for quite reflection, or a place to gather for fun and entertainment. 

Once the center of all communal life, the modern hearth has taken on a new domestic role, now finding it self reflecting a family lifestyle based on the sharing of traditional roles and functions.  With a more democratic lifestyle the modern hearth embraces the kitchen as a multifunctional arena, were food is prepared, people talk, homework is finished and where family and friends sit by a modern hearth to bathe in the warmth of community. 

So throw another log on the fire, pull the children closer and tell a tale or two of days gone by, and let the winds of uncertainty blow outside and feel secure in the natural  warmth of the hearth of your modern castle.

(A writer, speaker, designer as well as a green activist, Kevin M Henry is the Executive VP of Bazzèo Kitchen + Home Interiors.  Henry can be reached at kevin@bazzeo.com or follow his blog at www.theessentialkitchen.blogspot.com)