Sometimes, the onset of the summer months can mean that things slow down in the kitchen sector. With the world of interiors being taken over by Christmas press shows next month (yes, really), kitchens can often be forgotten as professionally it’s all about festive gift guides while personally it’s barbecues and alfresco dining. But this month there’s a raft of gorgeous new products, furniture designs, appliances and accessories being launched, which should reignite our love affair with the kitchen.

CAPLE’S NEW CERAMICA ISLAND HOOD

I adore the new CR700 Ceramica island hood from Caple – the only cooker hood in the UK to have a ceramic body, which has been made by hand with a copper finish in line with the latest trend for designer kitchens. This high performance extractor features recirculation with 550m3/hr extraction rate and a maximum noise level of just 55dB. A handy remote control with four speeds allows busy cooks to easily adjust the setting while a 20W LED light helps to illuminate the hob. It also has an auto timer that switches off the hood 10 minutes after cooking is complete.

SENSIOSOUND – AN LED BLUETOOTH SPEAKER LIGHT FROM SENSIO

For those who love listening to music while they cook, or for background tunes while you entertain, Sensio Lighting has launched a dual purpose under cabinet light with Bluetooth speaker. Practical and super-stylish, SensioSound offer a high output cool white LED light without cluttering up the worktop with speakers. Simply wirelessly connect your mobile device to the SensioSound by enabling Bluetooth and you’re ready to go.

SMEG UNVEILS VICTORIA GAS HOB

Part of the new Victoria built-in range, the SR975 70cm traditional gas hob from Smeg features the same aesthetic and classic styling as the Victoria range cooker collection. It has five burners, including an ultra-rapid dual-flame three-way burner in the centre, and is available in stainless steel, cream, black and white.

TEXTURED DOORS FROM PURO DESIGN

This summer sees the introduction of a new textural door finish for Puro’s Glass collection. In a choice of Carrara, Basalto, Plank Grey, Kerlite Brown and Kerlite Grey, as shown, the door fronts – in textural glass – appear to be made of stone. Beautifully tactile, the doors are made to order in Italy and custom-created to the client’s requirements.

NEW ARTISAN COOK PROCESSOR FROM KITCHENAID

It’s great to have everything in one handy gadget and with the Artisan Cook Processor, you get an intelligent, all-in-one appliance that can do everything a sous chef could. Cooking functions enable you to boil, fry, stew, steam, knead and prove dough, chop, mince, purée, emulsify, whip, flip and stir – all at the touch of a button. It also includes six pre-programmed cooking modes to assist with more ambitious recipes. Take your pick from a variety of colours such as almond cream, candy apple, empire red, frosted pearl, onyx black and medallion silver.

HOOVER’S DYNAMIC NEXT 4 x 4 MULTIFUNCTION FRIDGE FREEZER

Summer is the time when you need high performance, energy efficient refrigeration such as this huge 421-litre A+ rated design from Hoover with large double-door fridge and two spacious freezer drawers. It comes with full touch screen display, enabling users to easily control the temperature between fridge and freezer zones, No Frost technology and LED lighting.

GOURMET SERIES FROM MICROPLANE

I use my Microplane for so many things – from grating cheese to zesting lemons – and now there are new additions to the range in the form of fresh Red and Green designs. There are five different graters in the paddle-style Gourmet series – coarse, fine, ribbon, large shaver or extra coarse – delivering various grating results to suit your needs. Blades are made in the USA using clever photo-etching technology to make them super-sharp.