Smart Kitchen Technology Tools You Can Use
When you think of a gourmet galley, look no farther than your kitchen. Today’s smart kitchen technology can simplify your day while helping you create amazing cuisine. Smart technology helps us drive, navigate, communicate with our friends, bank, shop, and do just about everything we do. It’s only natural that your kitchen should be smart too.
That concept starts with one of the biggest appliances – your refrigerator. A smart refrigerator can definitely make life easier. Many of today’s smart refrigerators are connected to Alexa. You can tell it to make ice, adjust the temperature, check the filters, and see if the doors are closed. Some connected models read your recipes and let you know when food is about to expire. Cameras tell you what foods you are low on, and they can even create grocery lists based on what you have and don’t have. These refrigerators are also a great way to communicate with your family. A touchscreen lets you leave messages and to-do notes, so no one will say they didn’t see it.
To pair with your smart refrigerator comes a smart oven. These ovens give you greater control by precisely controlling the time and temperature with just a click on your phone. Cameras monitor what’s cooking, so you can check in remotely at any time to make sure your food isn’t burning. Many of these ovens come with a library of recipes as well.
Every kitchen also needs a smart blender. Easy for making smoothies and chopping or mincing vegetables, a smart blender comes preloaded with recipes and nutritional values. If it’s a smoothie you’re making, for example, you’ll know the exact carbs, proteins, and fats.
A smart slow cooker gives you control of your meal, even if you’re not at home. An app on your phone lets you control the slow cooker’s temperature and time you turn it on and off. Your meal will be waiting for you when you hit the door.
For baking and mixing drinks, a smart scale gets the recipe right every time. Syncing up to an app on your cell phone, it’s a scale that monitors your mixing bowl and lets you know how much of an ingredient to put in and recommends adjustments if you’ve added in too much. The scale app comes loaded with recipes, and you can add your own.
A Bluetooth thermometer is one of the best ways to tell if your food is done. They generally come with two probes that can measure the temperature of two different dishes. You don’t even need to be nearby, as the temperature will display on your phone.
If you love using Alexa or an Amazon Echo, there are some great gadgets that sync up with them. From microwaves to coffeemakers, you can go hands-free and just tell Alexa or the Echo to start them up for your morning java or midday meal.
One of the latest gadgets a foodie shouldn’t go without is a precision cooker for sous vide (pronounced “sue-veed”) cooking. Sous vide is a French word for “under vacuum.” Sous vide is a technique that uses precision temperature control for consistent, restaurant-quality cooking every time. You can either buy a temperature-controlled sous vide pot or use one of your own with a precision cooker tool. The precision cooker attaches to your pot and heats up the water to the programmed time and temperature. Clip food that’s vacuum sealed or in a plastic bag on the side of the pot and cook. For a foodie finish, sear, grille, or broil it. Sous vide cooking makes food more tasty since meats, chicken, fish, and vegetables are cooked in their own juices and to the exact time and temperature.
If the chef in you is ready to impress, get cooking! Some of these gadgets cost under $100 and are easily found online or at your local retailer.