Oven handles are great for hanging up kitchen towels, but they’re also great for snagging your clothing as you rush by them. They’re perfect for unifying the look of your appliance suite, but rather imperfect at creating a streamlined, integrated kitchen design.

One appliance brand, Wolf, is offering an alternative. Its new DO30 double and SO30 single ovens feature handle-free doors that open using a heavy-duty, push-latch mechanism. You press on the stainless-steel band on its face to release the latch and open the oven-no wrist- or bicep-curls required. When you’re ready to close the door, just give it a push up and press it closed. When I tried the prototype in June at Dwell on Design in LA, I was impressed; the door moved more smoothly and easily than the typical oven door.

An exact release date, pricing, and some additional features for Wolf’s handle-free ovens are not yet finalized. Here, however, are the details that are:

• Handle-free doors that open with a firm push on the trim make them easier, and potentially more ergonomic, to operate.
• Flush-mounted, black-glass fronts with stainless accents and clutter-free style evoke iPhone minimalism.
• Delayed start and timed settings come standard with every Wolf built-in oven, so you can get a head start on dinner.
• Each one comes with an internal temperature probe, also standard on Wolf ovens, to let you determine the doneness of your dish without opening the door.
• Release dates, pricing and availability will be posted on the company’s website, subzero-wolf.com, when they become available.

– Jamie Gold, CKD, CAPS is a Certified Kitchen Designer in San Diego and the author of New Kitchen Ideas That Work (Taunton Press, 2012).

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