I had intended to write this before Christmas having had the opportunity to put my question to both Catherine Fulvio, Celebrity Chef and Whirlpool Ambassador and John Lowe, an economist but perhaps better known as The Money Doctor however we had some sad news in the Mamma Fairy house so I put blogging aside for a few weeks. Back at it now so you can expect quite the influx of posts from me. Where better than to start but the study conducted by Whirlpool which looked at the impact of modern life on our cooking habits and found that over 40% or 2 in 5 of us skip the evening meal as we simply don’t have time to cook. I can attest to that in the Mamma Fairy house, we both work full time as well as have 2 busy boys aged 3 and 10 months.
In repose Whirlpool have developed a range of new smart technologies, the first one being the new 6th Sense Ready 2 Cook Technology that can heat an oven to optimal temperature literally at the touch of button, rather than waiting up to 15 minutes to fully heat up.
Sounds pretty cool to me, it’s something I’d certainly be interested in. I don’t have one myself therefore I was delighted to be able to chat to Catherine Fulvio to see what she thinks about it.
1 -You are a busy mum yourself, have you found it beneficial on a day to day basis?
Absolutely! The Whirlpool 6TH SENSE ovens have intelligent pre-set options so you can literally cook the perfect pizza or lasagne at the touch of a button. Their settings mean you can almost cook on auto-pilot – and the results are always amazing!
Probably my personal favourite is the dough rising facility of the ovens – they literally halve the time the dough rises, meaning I can put fresh bread on the table so much quicker. I’m a firm believer in baking not buying if at all possible, so this is a massive time saver for me!
2 – In terms of functionality, is it fair to say, there is no compromise on quality of output?
Not at all, in fact I always feel like my meals are in safe hands if they’re cooked with Whirlpool! You can tell the research that’s gone into the 6th SENSE range because their new features address so many common problems. Having the oven switch on to optimal temperature instantly is a godsend, as is the crisp plate that allows perfect baking in the microwave.
3 – What is your favourite recipe to cook when the kids are starving and time is limited?
A pasta bake is always a winner midweek. It’s so easy to whizz it up especially with my Whirlpool oven which can heat an oven to optimal temperature literally at the touch of button. And it’s even faster if I’m using up the leftovers from the Sunday Roast!
I also had the opportunity to put a number of question to John Lowe, also know as The Money Doctor. John , is a regular contributor in both print and digital media on money saving issues, tips and advice. He also introduced the popular Money Doctor App to help track spending and saving.
1 – A product that is both time saving and money saving is bound to get people interested. From your own work have you seen this has increasingly become a key concern for consumers?
As they say, time is money and while most people look at the actual product they are using, they sometimes forget the underlying product without which the product they have saved money on, is actually costing a fortune to maintain. Example of this is petrol. How many times do we check the petrol pump prices of the various stations when it’s the actual car that is guzzling the petrol. The oven is a prime example. Saving that pre-heating time is time and money, both of which could be put to better use. Consumers are now looking at saving money from every angle.
2 – In your view is smart technology such as this the way forward for consumers to have more disposable income?
Smart technology is the only way to go. As the first person to sell a mortgage on the interest in Ireland ( 23 years ago ) I have had a love affair with technology ever since. Technology not only betters and improves our lives making it much more efficient but it can also save us a considerable amount of money. You only have to look at online banking and see the significant savings from using technology for your current account and savings. “Let your fingers do the walking” is now passé – gone are the big thick directories it’s whatever search engine you use and you have the information. Sure even before you have finished typing the word, the prescriptive text kicks in and finishes it ! How many of us use the budget planner spread sheet to manage our annual income and expenditure ? The free Money Doctor app is a simple download that tracks all your spending for up to a month to determine if you are overspending, buying too many lattés, newspapers, magazines or in my case chocolate .. only discovered how much I was buying when I did my own spending record – a useful exercise. And free! Just remember income is your number one asset and it has to cover everything.
Many thanks to both Catherine and John for taking the time to answer my questions, who knows I may invest in one when we finally get around to doing up the kitchen (that’s a post for another day!!)
More on Whirlpool’s 6th Sense Ready 2 Cook Technology can be found on www.whirlpool.ie
1 in 5 people spend up to 3 hours a year locking up their home!!
