Siemens LiftMatic: Wall-Hung ‘Hover Oven’
The old fashioned ‘dumb waiter’ does not refer to a service professional of sub-average intelligence – it is nifty vintage space-saving, elevator-style invention (attributed to Thomas Jefferson). The originals were made for manually hauling things (often fully-prepared meals in fancy homes) from one floor up to another within a home – this one is designed to lower your food right down in front of you.
This oven pays indirect retro-tribute to this classic food-service creation with a pull-down-to-open and lift-up-to-close cooking surface that slides along a track and stays out of your way while you cook. Produced by Siemens and others in various styles and models, some have additional cooking racks and trays for higher capacity and versatility.
Unlike a traditional front-opening oven, these hang up high on the wall and are thus safer for houses with small children. The units also displace less usable cooking and preparation space (counter and floor area) for home cooks with smaller condo or apartment-size kitchens.
Via Appliancist:
“Siemens creates an oven with a moving bottom – it moves up and down by pushing a button. Designed for your convenience, the Liftmatic Oven will position food at your eye level. It will also preserve the heated air inside while open. If you keep the door of the LiftMatic Oven open for 15 seconds, temperature falls from 200 degrees Celsius to 175, whereas in conventional oven, it drops by almost a 100 degrees after 15 seconds, so watch out – don’t burn your fingers. It takes only 10 minutes to get completely frozen pizza ready which is almost 5 minutes faster compare to conventional ovens. Another beautiful thing with Liftmatic Oven is the self cleaning feature. You push the button and heat gets so intense, all the post cooking residue turns to ashes and can be simply wiped off with a cloth or paper towel. As always Siemens came with a brilliant idea.”
