It’s the time of year when all water-cooler conversations turn to baking and Bingate – the Great British Bake Off is back on our screens. And the series seems to be inspiring people to buy new kitchen appliances.
This year, some people have been are ‘up in arms’ about the change in stand mixers from the iconic KitchenAid to this year’s Kenwood kMix.
Personally, I can’t imagine ever getting so het up about a bit of kit on a TV show – even if it is one that I’m slightly addicted to.
But appliance websites say that people are flocking to buy the equipment used in this year’s series.
Bake Off’s sliding-door oven
Part of that is because of the vintage look in the Bake Off tent – the bunting, Bakelite-look kit, and rum babas conjure up a delicious village fête feel.
The oven with a door that slides away seems to be the biggest winner so far, with one online appliances store saying that they’ve seen sales more than double since the series began.
But given that one contestant had problems turning it on last week, producing a sorry-looking batch of arlette biscuits that saw her kicked off the show, I do wonder how easy it is to use.
Retro fridge-freezers
The sales of retro fridge-freezers are up as well, with the Gorenje model replacing the pricier Smeg brand. It looks like people are favouring bright colours over the sleek look of most fridges on the market, but with mousses failing to set at crucial moments, are they really worth the money?
Have you kitted out your kitchen with items from the Bake Off tent? Are you more tempted to bake when you’ve got brand-new equipment to try out? Or can you do just as good a job with what you’ve already got?