Outdoor Living
Ooni Portable Pizza Oven for the Patio
The Ooni Koda portable gas-fired pizza oven weighs only 20 pounds, heats up to 932 degrees Fahrenheit and is ready to cook in just 10 minutes. Just unfold the legs, insert the pizza stone, attach the hose to the propane tank, and Koda’s ready to go. After the 10-minute preheating time, it’ll cook a Neapolitan-style pizza in just 60 seconds. Afterwards, just turn the pizza stone over and use the other side to cook the next pizza while the heat of the oven cooks the first side clean. Built by a family-run business that’s based out of Scotland, the Koda oven retails for $299 for the gas-fired model. There’s also an original model that’s fired with wood pellets that retails for $275, and the company also offers a range of accessories that includes carry bags and cast iron cookware for cooking food other than pizzas.
Apption Labs Bringing Wireless Meat Thermometer to IH+HS
Apption Labs is making makes its debut at the International Home + Housewares Show this year with a truly wireless meat thermometer. Its newest is the MEATER+, which offers improved wireless range and enhanced technology over the original MEATER. The recent launch of MEATER+ marks the second consecutive product launch for the brand, leveraging consumer feedback and valuable cloud data to swiftly deliver a product to the market less than one year after the original MEATER was introduced.
The MEATER+ includes a built-in Bluetooth repeater designed to extend wireless range to up to 165 feet, making the device well-suited for more substantial cookers, including smokers and kettle grills. An upgrade from the original MEATER’s wireless range of 33 feet, MEATER+ includes all of the advanced features that consumers enjoy, including use to the companion app, smart watch support and access to MEATER Link WIFI and MEATER Cloud with a secondary smart device. When using a secondary smart device, users can connect to WIFI and Cloud technology for extended wireless range, surpassing traditional Bluetooth capabilities, allowing any smart phone connected to the WiFi network the ability to monitor the cook from anywhere in the house. Adding to its robust feature set, MEATER+ is equipped with Alexa capabilities, allowing users to ask for status updates on their cook time while away from their phone.
Delivering the best backyard barbecue or indoor cook experience, MEATER+ boasts unique, patented technology that measures both internal meat and external ambient temperatures in the oven or grill, providing estimated cook times and alerts to your smartphone, giving you the freedom to step away from your oven or grill. In addition, its sleek design makes for an attractive feature to any kitchen or outdoor space. Apption Labs will be exhibiting in the Smart Home Pavilion at the International Home + Housewares Show.
“We designed the MEATER and MEATER+ as a direct response to the market’s demand for smart home technology that solve the common pain points consumers face, including ridding meat thermometers of pesky wires,” said Joseph Cruz, co-Founder of Apption Labs. “We studied the market extensively and have developed a product unlike anything else currently available. We look forward to continuing to create products that enhance the culinary horizons of our users with the tools and technology needed to ensure the perfect result.”
Blue Rhino Offers 30-Piece Tool Set with Aluminum Case
Even in the depths of winter, it’s never too soon to start planning for sunnier days ahead. Perfect for the traveling chef, this Blue Rhino 30-piece set of stainless-steel outdoor-grilling tools is easy to carry on the go from the backyard to the campground or the beach in a sturdy aluminum case, with reinforced corners and snap closures plus extra room for seasonings and other essentials.
The spatula handle features a bottle opener, while the head of the spatula can flip, tenderize and cut. The other tools include a fork, tongs, basting brush, knife, 12 corn holders, six skewers, four steak knives and a grill brush with two replacement heads. This Blue Rhino complete set includes a limited lifetime warranty and has a suggested retail price of $68.
For more information, visit www.bluerhino.com or call 888.398.8643.
New OtterBox Venture Americana Picnic Cooler
Summer is made for backyard barbecues, weekend camping trips and patriotic holidays. Celebrate the summer in style with the new limited edition OtterBox Venture Americana Cooler featuring the Stars and Stripes.
Venture coolers are proudly made in the U.S.A. at an innovative manufacturing facility in Detroit, Michigan, – where high-quality American manufacturing was perfected. This guarantees that every Venture cooler is meticulously molded, shaped, assembled and quality-checked with 100 percent American craftsmanship. This consistency, precision and care delivers a cooler unlike any other, providing superior cooling with trusted OtterBox durability.
Available in 25-, 45- and 65-quart sizes, Venture can keep ice for up to 10 to 16 days. This rugged cooler can be enhanced with a variety of optional accessories that snap on or slide into place on the cooler, including a side table, separators, cup holders, dryboxes and all-terrain wheels. All Venture Coolers come with a sturdy bottle opener that clips onto the front of the cooler and the Venture 45 and Venture 65 include a dry storage tray.
For a limited time only, Venture Coolers and the Drybox 3250 Series are available in “Americana,” an American flag pattern. The design is molded on the cooler or drybox lid, providing longevity against wear and fading, so patriotism will be on-display with this American-designed and American-made cooler for years. The limited-edition Americana is available for order now on Venture 25 ($279.99); Venture 45 ($349.99); Venture 65 ($449.99) and Drybox 3250 Series ($49.99). Venture Coolers and other OtterBox outdoor products carry a limited lifetime warranty and are available otterbox.com.
Some Nifty Finds at Las Vegas Market for Entertaining at Home and Beyond
By Robin Mather
When your customers mention entertaining at home, are they thinking about strictly within the four walls of their own houses? Or are they also planning what we’ve come to think of as entertaining-at-home-adjacent — the upscale picnic that goes to the concert in the park, or dinner on the dock, or the day at the beach, or the kids’ birthday party anywhere but home?
Though retailers haven’t focused specifically on that trend, we saw a number of items at the recent Las Vegas Market that work especially well for entertaining away from home. The manufacturers we met agreed that their customers, especially their Millennial and younger customers, adore the idea of entertaining in locations away from their homes.
While wine glass charms have been around for some time, Going Stemless offers super-powered magnet single charms and sets of charms so guests can identify their own glasses. A stainless steel magnet goes inside the glass, and the dangling brightly-colored charm clips onto the outside. The benefit here is that these adorable little charms also work on the kind of glasses we often take on picnics: the iconic red Solo cup. The company’s best seller is a beach-themed set of five charms with a suggested retail price of $21.95.
Two items from the Di Potter line are perfect for an elegant dinner outside the home. Wine glass shades rest on any wine glass; drop in a battery-powered tealight, and you’ve got an instant, upscale, safe light for an intimate dinner. With a suggested retail of $18 for a set of six, they’re an affordable addition to your customers’ entertaining pantry. The Bottle Light, a battery-powered light that drops into a wine, champagne or water bottle, casts a dreamy, soft light that is especially appealing. Using three AA batteries, Bottle Light’s batteries will last 80 to 100 hours of use, or customers can replace them with a rechargeable USB power source (suggested retail price $30). The Bottle Light is available in clear and colored versions; suggested retail price is $30 for clear and $50 for a color option that allows you to choose from a number of colors.
Messermeister has introduced a line of knives with cheery colored handles, in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and black. The six-inch cheese and tomato knife (suggested retail $7.95) has a slightly serrated blade, which makes it ideal for soft foods such as fruits, vegetables and cheeses, as well as harder foods such as baguettes and firmer cheeses. Holes in the blade keep soft foods from sticking, and its pronged tip makes serving sliced cheeses easy, too.
JK Adams, makers of cutting and carving boards, also has a line of just-the-right-size cheese and cutting boards made from maple, ash and other fine woods. Suggested retail prices start at around $12 for these little guys, and retailers can offer personalization at an additional cost.
Sophistiplate showed a line of handsome and especially sturdy paper plates and cutlery, available in a wide range of colors and patterns. Ruffled edges on some pieces make an especially charming place setting, and 70-piece sets for service for 10, including plates, bowls, napkins and cutlery are available with a suggested retail price of $39.99.
Twine Living continues its seaside line of picnic helpers, including a tidy ticking striped picnic blanket with a waterproof lining and four stakes to secure its sturdy grommeted corners. The blanket comes with a handsome leather carrier to make toting it to its destination easier. With a suggested retail price of $49.99, the blanket would be a welcome addition to the entertaining away from home closet.
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