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The Electrolux Grand Cuisine is, without exaggeration, superlative in every way. It’s more powerful than any other collection of kitchen appliances. Its reflective glass surfaces dissolve into the surrounding cabinetry and countertops, rendering the machines nearly invisible. The precision technology that each piece promises is outwardly intimidating, yet their interfaces are comically simple. Grand Cuisine so easily lends itself to hyperbole because it is so far ahead of everything else on the market today. It plants a flag and heralds the kitchen of the future — making complex appliances destined for ubiquity in a decade’s time available in the present day.
Fifty percent of Michelin-starred chefs use appliances from the Electrolux Professional line, favored for their quality, accuracy and dependability. They’re not just high-powered ovens and intelligently designed stoves; they’re appliances engineered for flexibility and for precision, with capabilities that most mainstream kitchen setups lack. In much the same way that food processors were once used exclusively in restaurant kitchens, and sous-vide circulators were inaccessible to all but the world’s most renowned chefs, appliances like steam ovens and blast chillers will soon trickle down — and Grand Cuisine is leading the charge.
Fifty percent of Michelin-starred chefs use appliances from the Electrolux Professional line, favored for their quality, accuracy and dependability.
“With Grand Cuisine, we give you the opportunity to do really good regular cooking; and at the same time, if you want to do [fine dining–style cooking], you can do that, as well,” explained Grand Cuisine Head of Marketing Henrik Ohlstenius. After years of development, Electrolux launched the Grand Cuisine brand in Europe in 2012 — and is just now bringing it to the U.S. Professional chefs may not always prepare elaborate meals at home, Ohlstenius added, but they still want to cook with powerful precision appliances. Industry leaders like Magnus Nilsson, of Faviken, have been fervent supporters of Grand Cuisine, and Noma’s René Redzepi has the full lineup installed in his home kitchen — the greatest endorsement possible.
Grand Cuisine shies from all-over stainless steel in favor of premium materials like glass and chromium, adapting the design of the appliances to the domestic realm just as much as their functionality. “We decided at an early stage that we were going for the best materials,” Ohlstenius said. “We wanted to take this to the next level. We wanted to create something that you couldn’t find in the market, something that makes the appliances part of the kitchen’s design, that fits equally with something very modern, or very traditional, or more contemporary.” What results is a series of appliances that don’t look like appliances at all — and don’t quite function like them, either.
The technology behind Grand Cuisine verges on automation, making the act of cooking virtually effortless. The precision combination oven — a hybrid convection and steam oven — is operated by a touchscreen interface that holds pre-programmed recipes for different cuts of meat, fish, poultry, breads and baked goods. If something can’t be found in the oven’s collection of recipes, an on-call concierge chef offers 24/7 support — for the combination oven and for all Grand Cuisine appliances — and can program formulas to be uploaded to the oven via USB port.
