One of the more intriguing long-term technology trends in the kitchen industry has been the up-and-down market evolution of induction cooking. Though introduced almost a century ago at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, residential induction cooktops only became widely available in the early 2000s and have never really taken off here in the States due to, among other things, America’s love affair with gas cooking.
There are other factors – like the requirement for new cookware with induction cooking and the technology’s historically higher price point – but the bottom line is gas has long enjoyed pole position in American homes and on appliance show floors across the US.
However, induction cooking has slowly but surely been gaining ground over the past couple of years. Lower prices, health benefits, and local government building restrictions have given the technology momentum.
And now, at least if you’re Whirlpool, induction cooktop may have another ace up its sleeve in the form of downdraft ventilation. That’s because the appliance giant announced today they’ve teamed up with downdraft ventilation specialist BORA to bring the German company’s technology to the US market. From an article I wrote for Forbes (ed note: where I’ve long been a contributor and the publication Whirlpool agreed to an exclusive):
By adding downdraft technology, Whirlpool hopes to capitalize on the growing popularity of a venting technology that does away with the traditional vent hood and puts additional wind at the back of induction cooking here in the US. Reviews for downdraft ventilation, which like induction has taken off faster in Europe, have been mixed, but gradual improvements in the technology have caused some to give it a second look.
For BORA, the deal marks the first time the company has agreed to license the technology to an external company.
“This is the first time since the beginning of BORA that I have given away the right for the technology,” Willi Bruckbauer, company founder, told me in an interview. “I founded the company in the year 2007. More and more people liked the idea, like the product, and now it’s ready to go from Europe to the US.”
For much of its life, reviews for downdraft technology have been pretty mixed. Clogged filters and an inability to capture all smoke and cooking smells have been top complaints. However, BORA’s patented technology has been earning rave reviews in the European market, so Whirlpool may just have locked up a deal that could help it create separation from other kitchen brands that already have downdraft technology for their gas cooktops and are planning rollouts of downdraft technology with induction cooktop models.
And let’s be honest: kitchen hoods, while effective, often obstruct views and seem out of place in kitchen islands. And, with kitchen islands making a comeback as more home designers and kitchen remodelers are opting for open designs lately, the timing for this partnership seems especially good for Whirlpool.
According to Whirlpool, they are slotting the rollout of the BORA-powered downdraft technology in its JennAir and KitchenAid brands in the second half of 2025. By combining what some see as the world’s leading downdraft technology exclusively with its induction cooktops, Whirlpool could set itself up for additional momentum for its induction models and help drive interest in the electrified cooking technology in the US market.
Could someone please give a firm (or a reasonable guess) as to when these induction/downdraft ranges will actually be available?