The German appliance giant raises the bar on smart features, connectivity and efficiency.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
Miele USA’ latest collection of appliances, the Generation 7000, builds on the strengths of its predecessor Generation 6000 collection, and updates design, adds innovative features, advanced connectivity and smart technology.
“Iconic brands all share common beliefs: Deliver an experience that’s unforgettable based on the highest quality, without compromise,” said Kelly Lam, VP of marketing for Miele USA. “At Miele, this is no different. The foundation of our brand is built on four key pillars — quality, performance, design and purposeful innovation — all this is brought together in our Generation 7000 series cooking appliances.”
He said Generation 7000 appliances focus on a global evolution of customers’ preferences, tastes and demands, and combined efforts of product management, design and engineering teams in Germany and North America. For instance, color has played an increasingly important role, so the next generation of appliances needed to meet these preferences and provide color options. Another key factor was customer interaction with the appliances, ranging from the simplicity of dial control to touch-panel control, to integration with mobile devices. And Generation 7000 needed to be flexible enough to accommodate all these consumer experiences.
Dirk Sappok, Miele’s director of product development, pointed out how Generation 7000 amplifies the successes of the 6000 series, whose sleek styles were consistent across different sub-collections, and offered more metals and color. Innovations in the 6000 collection included dual-fan convection systems, plumbed-in units to add moisture to the cooking process, easy functionality and three control options, from direct-select dial control to electronic touch-panels to the revolutionary M Touch control, with pre-programmed, easy-navigation menus.
Generation 7000 built on these concepts, with easier, more intuitive use. Besides a distinctive, updated design, the Generation 7000 series introduced innovative features in its convection oven, as well as the Combi-Steam oven, a combination of steam and convection cooking that offers numerous options, from using automatic cooking programs to the ability for users to program their own recipes.
Design-wise, Generation 7000 addressed the look of the appliances so all handles would be consistent within the collections. Miele also offers the ArtLine, which has no handles, so it’s even sleeker.
Jared Costa, director of national sales and product training, and John Hynek, senior manager for culinary product development, discussed some of the specific features and advanced technologies of Generation 7000, particularly its convection ovens, and the most successful elements from Generation 6000.
Hynek said an important element is continuity, and that the sizing of the appliances is a key part of that. The 24-inch and 30-inch appliances all remain the same, however, the company increased the number of 30-inch appliances by about 30%. Another feature that continued from Generation 6000 to 7000 is the “M Touch” interface. But a significant upgrade in Generation 7000 line is MotionReact technology, which allows the appliance to react to the user, Hynek said. When prepping raw foods, the chef doesn’t have to touch the appliance to operate it — a wave of the hand turns on the oven light, for example.
“We have three different types of control panels on the appliances,” said Hynek, “First, the M Touch and M Touch S — essentially the same but a little smaller panel. The symbols in the M-Touch carry over to our third panel, the DirectSensor, a new control panel in the Reference 2 series.
Two features that didn’t change, said Hynek, were the Wireless Precision Probe and MoisturePlus. The probe ensures that meat won’t get overcooked, and MoisturePlus allows an ideal amount of moisture into the oven cavity, to give pastries and baked goods a professional quality.
Generation 7000’s convection oven has FoodView, a built-in camera in the oven cavity. The feed is viewable via app on a mobile device, so the homeowner can look in on the food as it’s being cooked. “Say you’re cooking and need to take a call, or you’re in a meeting. You can look in the oven and if the food is cooked to your liking, you can activate the TasteControl feature and remotely cool down the oven so the food doesn’t overcook,” explained Hynek. “And you’ve done it all directly from your app.”
Costa noted that just a few years ago, “The app was a ‘nice-to-have’ feature, whereas now it’s a ‘must-have,’ as client expectations dictate that they want this seamless integration.”
