Today was the first day of the 2015 International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago. Wandering the floors of McCormick Place, we discovered everything from a robotic pancake designer to a mega audio system in a picnic cooler to some awesome Keurig killers. Here are some of our favorites from day one.
Elegantly present your next cheese board on a serving slab of granite or marble. All slabs are reclaimed materials, polished and sold by Serving Slabs.
Literally design your own pancakes and then watch as the PancakeBot precisely paints your design with batter and cooks it on the heated griddle. Coming soon on Kickstarter.
Who needs Keurig 2.0 when you can get a Touch T526S that makes 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 oz or a carafe of 26 oz from K-cups, their own Xbold cups, XLarge cups or refillable Jumbo cups. This machine does it all. Coming early April. http:touchbeverages.com
Lekue popcorn maker takes 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels and yields a batch of popcorn in 3 minutes in the microwave. Folds to 8” x 2-1/2” when not being used.
Ecolight candles by Stone Candles are the safest burning candle on the market. Using mineral oil for fuel, they self extinguish if accidentally knocked over. http://stonecandles.net
The George Foreman Evolve (GRP-4842R) is possibly the most diverse grill of the line. With dishwasher safe, removable cooking surfaces, you can sear and grill all on the same grill. You can also swap out the standard grill and prepare omelets, sliders, waffles, or deep dish creations.
The 40 QT KoolMax cooler is a beach party waiting to happen. 350 watts of music power from your Bluetooth device, a USB stick, and SD slot, FM radio, or any MP3 player with Line-In. There’s also a jack for a microphone and a guitar. One more 12 volt port powers your air pumps. A 4-hour charge lasts up to 16 hours. Waterproof speakers are ready to go in any location. Oh, and it keeps your beverages cool too. Available this month. http://sondpex.com
Cuisinart Alfrescamore Outdoor Pizza Oven (Model CPO-600) lets you create your own pizzas in 5 minutes with a woodfired taste.Comes complete with 13” stone and a foldable pizza peel. Runs on botted propane or connect it to your LP gas tank on your BBQ.
Cuisinart Velocity Ultra Trio 1-HP blender/Food Processor with travel cups (BFP-160) is a compact powerhouse combining blender, food processor for chopping, slicing and shredding, ice crusher, and smoothie maker with two make & take travel cups
Waring Popcorn Maker with Melting Station (WPM1000) lets you make 20 cups of freshly popped popcorn while the halogen heater with built-in stirrer melts chocolate, caramel, cheese, butter or whatever other topping you can imagine.
iCoffee is also taking on Keurig with their spin-steam-stir technology that makes a typical K-cup taste even better that when made with a Keurig. In blind taste tests conducted at the Ohio State University, testers overwhelmingly rated iCoffee made coffee better than the same coffee made in a Keurig machine. This is the Picasso model which will be sold at Kohls. It makes 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 oz. at the touch of a button. http://www.icoffee.com
Koolatron was showing a line of CocaCola branded coolers. This one (CVF18-G) holds 10 cans of Coke with a push button “dispenser”. The cooler will cool the cans to 29 degrees colder than ambient temperature.
Be your own Barista and make a cup or pot of coffee with the Dripper (3VDS-3012R) from Hario. Design your coffee bold or medium depending on the speed of your pour.