5 new fridge and freezer technologies to keep your food fresher for longer
The technology in our home can make a big difference to our everyday lives. It’s easy to take for granted the machines that wash and dry our clothes, clean our dishes, and heat and cool our homes.
One of the machines that we could not live without is the refrigerator. Refrigerators have come a long way since they were first built for home-use in 1913. Technology is smarter than ever before; made to make our lives easier and our food last longer.
Whether you’re looking at purchasing a new refrigerator, or planning a big home renovation, there are plenty of new technologies you need to know about to ensure you make the right decision for you and your home.
You might think you know all that a refrigerator can do, but there are plenty of smart technologies that you may never have heard of. Here are five new technologies you should keep an eye out for to keep your food fresher for longer.
1. A Light That Stays On to Keep Produce Fresher for Longer
We all know that fruit and vegetables love sunlight, so what if you could recreate sunlight inside a fridge to extend the life of produce? It turns out that amber LED lighting, which recreates sunlight, can slow down the wilting process and maintain the original vitamin levels of produce for longer.
This lightbulb moment was the catalyst for engineers at Mitsubishi Electric to develop and design a range of multi drawer fridges that have a dedicated humidity drawer with a low energy amber LED light that stays on inside, even when the drawer is shut.
2. A Freezer That Makes Cooking Quicker and Easier
Think a freezer can only freeze one way? With ever-changing innovations in technology, the freezer is no longer just a tool for keeping food frozen long-term.
Advancements in freezer technology have led to the ability to freeze food in a ‘soft’ state for up to three weeks. This means frozen meat can be easily cut and sauces can be stored frozen but kept soft enough to scoop out in portions.
Soft freezing is also the perfect tool for reducing food wastage. Whether you have a little or a lot, leftovers can be easily soft frozen for a quick snack the next day.
Soft Freeze Technology is a standard feature on all Mitsubishi Electric Four Drawer Refrigerator models.
3. Freeze Without Altering Taste and Texture of Your Prime Meat Cuts
One of the problems with conventional freezing is that sometimes you can taste the difference between frozen and fresh meat. Why is this? The conventional freezing process slowly freezes food from the outside in. This can lead to moisture in the food forcing large, needle-like crystals to form; destroying the food’s structure and therefore affecting taste and texture.
The engineers at Mitsubishi Electric developed Supercool Freezing technology; a standard feature of their Four Drawer Refrigerators. Supercool Freezing works by quickly blasting food with cool air; ensuring minute ice particles form instantly and meat is frozen evenly. This means that thawed meats that have been frozen using the Supercooling function will look and taste as if they were fresh – straight from your local butchery.
4. Don’t Wait Around for Food to Cool – Freeze Straight Away!
It’s well-known that you shouldn’t put hot food into your freezer as it can increase the freezer temperature and possibly start defrosting your already frozen foods. Instead, food is typically left to cool down before it is put in the freezer.
However, food left to cool on the counter can quickly reach the danger zone (between 4 and 60°C) where harmful foodborne bacteria can grow. To minimise the amount of time food spends in the danger zone, some multi drawer refrigerators now enable hot food to be placed straight into a dedicated freezer drawer directly from the stove.
Hot Freezing, a function of the innovative Versa Freezer Drawer found in all Mitsubishi Electric Four Drawer Refrigerators, uses an advanced LED sensor to automatically detect hot food and adjusts the cold airflow directly towards it. Hot food is cooled quickly via an independent air outlet for added convenience and preservation of the quality and freshness of food. This feature is the perfect tool to avoid food wastage – you’ll never forget to put your leftovers in the freezer again.
5. A Fridge That Never Switches Off but Saves You Power
With so many appliances in your home, running costs can add up quickly.
Traditional fridges use fixed-speed compressors (the compressor can be either on or off, with no in between). A fixed-speed compressor causes high temperature fluctuations within the refrigerator and consumes more energy when it turns on to take the fridge temperature back to a suitable level.
Look for fridges with an inverter compressor to ensure your food stays fresh and your power bills stay low. Inverter compressors ensure food stays fresher for longer with a more consistent temperature. No matter how many times you open and close your fridge, your food will not be affected by temperature fluctuations.
Mitsubishi Electric adopts an advanced Inverter Compressor with Neuro Fuzzy Logic Technology. The compressor gradually slows or speeds up in order to maintain the optimum temperature, whilst Neuro Fuzzy Logic allows the refrigerator to seamlessly memorise your households’ usage patterns and adjust power levels accordingly – for unparalleled energy efficiency and cheaper running costs.
