Most people wouldn’t want Vikings coming to their home. But don’t worry; this kind of Viking won’t pillage your village and ransack your house! Viking is the leading name in industrial appliances for the home. The Mississippi-based makers of upscale appliances don’t just make ranges – although that’s what made them famous at first. Viking appliances of all sorts may cost you a little more, but they also give you the professional-level performance that many cooks desire.
Let’s take a closer look at Viking appliances, which include refrigerators, dishwashers, gas grills, blenders, and stand mixers. But first, we should examine what made Viking such a prominent name: they were the very first company to provide a professional range for home use, according to the Viking website.
According to their website, Viking now makes two distinct series of ranges. The first is the traditional industrial oven called, suitably enough, the Professional Series. Another line, the Designer Series, offers what the company calls a softer or more homey appearance – for those chefs who want the strength of a restaurant oven, but not the look.
The Professional Series is what made Viking the company it is today. Available in a self-cleaning gas version or an electric option, the Professionals are astonishing to say the least. For instance, the electric contains something called QuickCook, a trademarked system which utilizes heating element technology to allow the range to reach cooking temperature in just three seconds, an incredible development. The inside of these wonders is no less impressive. Six cooking racks, broilers that can be set to minimum or maximum power, and fan-induced heating that comes not from the top and bottom of the oven, but rather from the sides, all contribute to the Professional Series’ ability to reproduce gourmet cooking capacity at home.
What if you don’t like the look of an industrial oven? No problem, you can just choose the Designer Series, and have your range blend in nicely to the rest of your kitchen’s décor. Designer entries in the Viking line still feature the QuickCook and other features of the Professional Series, but the Designer Series also offers contours and finishes that are softer and add a more traditional home kitchen look. One of the neatest features of the Designer Series is a seamless Continuous Grate top; this allows for ease of cleanup, plus a stylized, post-modern look.
They’re not as prominent in the Viking lore, but appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers are also top performers in the world of home products.
Like Viking ranges, Viking refrigerators offer both Professional and Designer lines. The Professionals are available with some jaw-dropping features, such as a wine cellar with three different temperature settings for different types of vino. A Beverage Center provides the extra storage capacity for your bar, while side-by-side full refrigerators from Viking come as large as 48 inches, and offer ice-making and water dispensing options.
Viking dishwashers are as efficient and impressive as their range and refrigerator counterparts. Some of the cool features with Viking dishwashers are the control pad that is inside the door (it becomes hidden when the door is closed), and an interior light, top and bottom wash-only cycles, and an extra rack for knives. Using what Viking calls graphite nylon racks for durability, and with space for a whopping 16 place settings and nine-inch dinner plates, these great dishwashers are every bit as professional-strength as everything else the company makes. This is because Viking dishwashers also operate with a high level of energy and water efficiency (only two to three gallons of water per cycle, according to Viking’s website), so your dishes get clean with a very moderate amount of expense.
What if you’re looking for a great gas grill for outdoors cooking? Well, you won’t find Viking grills next to those bargain models at your local department store. Viking gas grills are of the highest quality, with features like standard rotisseries, removable smoker trays, and chrome-plated warming racks that are adjustable in three positions. One of the most unique features of the Viking gas grill is the two-tray drip plate design, which the company says allows for direction of run-off liquid to a very precise and controlled location. This high tech solution to an age-old grill dilemma is Viking’s own design, and a feature that is typical of their high ideals.
If you’re in the market for a new blender or stand mixer, Viking makes those too. Sacrificing none of the professional quality of their larger appliances, Viking’s counter electric items contain super features and dependability to boot. The Professional Blender has high quality stainless blades, a die cast body, and two speed plus pulse operation buttons. Viking’s website says that this blender is easy to clean and will fit under most kitchen cabinet setups.
The Professional Stand Mixer is available in five quart or seven quart options, with motor speeds of 800 and 1000 watts, respectfully. These stainless steel workhorses have tilt-back heads and feature dough hooks and standard whip-type blades, as well as the ability to utilize any number of attachments, so basic is the design of the rotors. The unique quality of these mixers, however, is a set of back wheels, which allows you to spin and rotate the mixer to a variety of positions on the countertop itself. Anyone who has ever lugged a heavy mixer around the kitchen will greatly appreciate this option, which Viking says is patent-pending as of September of 2004.
Where can you purchase Viking appliances? Unlike many producers, Viking does not make their products available through chain retailers (so-called Big Box stores), but rather operates in a system of independent, culinary and high-end kitchen sales outlets. Check Viking’s website, where you can enter your zip code and get a list of dealers.
Even if you don’t want real Vikings coming to your neighborhood, Viking appliances are the industrial strength answer to all your kitchen needs. If you seek to turn your kitchen into a restaurant-styled affair, where you can turn out culinary specialties that would make a four-star chef proud, then look into Viking appliances.
