(Guest Writer: Colin Matthews)

It is no secret that the families that consistently eat main meals together, will build strong, emotional, and personal bonds – both collectively and individually.

The kitchen today is more than merely a place where we can store our fresh food and pantry staples, but a central and personable hub where we can share all forms of communication - such as quick chit-chat, or a catch up with friends and family over a cup of coffee or tea.

Image by Speedy McVroom from Pixabay

Suppose you either partially renovate or knock-down and completely rebuild your property. In either case, the kitchen will always receive the most avid attention when one is planning renovations. It is a fact that the modern kitchen has steadily increased in size over time compared to the houses that were built in previous generations.

As a result, the kitchen has become a technologically advanced room in the house, even more so with our heightened awareness and knowledge of healthy, eco-friendly and sustainable living lifestyles.

Smart Kitchen Gadgets

No matter what size kitchen you have, or whether you prefer to cook gourmet or eat simplistically, there will be a smart kitchen gadget that can make your time so much more comfortable cooking in the kitchen.

1. The (Sous Vide) Immersion Circulator

Sous vide cooking. Image © Anova Culinary via Flickr

Considered only a relatively new cooking technique, sous vide has become quite popular in the kitchen in recent times. This cooking requires placing food in a vacuum-sealed container, or a plastic bag, and submerging it in a hot water container kept at a specific predetermined heat.

There is no moisture loss during the cooking process due to the sealed container, and the temperature in the water ensures that the food will not become overcooked. The outcome will be a tender, rich, perfectly cooked meal. Some cooks prefer to briefly and quickly sear the post sous vide cooked food on a hot pan to deliver a crisp, caramelized outer texture.

A large sous vide device is used for this cooking technique, having its own internal water bath, or you can easily use an absorption circulator on the pot or a large plastic box’s side.

There are many different immersion circulators available on the market, with various designs and functionality controls; however, they all perform what is required of them - heating the water to your desired cooking temperature before immersing the vacuum-sealed food container.

2. The Smart Fridge

Samsung Family Hub. Image © Samsung

A smart fridge will do so much more for you than ensure your perishable food is adequately refrigerated. As the fridge can individually connect to the Internet, the smart fridge will set expiration notifications for the different food types contained within so they never spoil from lack of use, and they can suggest and even plan a meal for you and your family based on the available ingredients it contains.

You can access and view the inside of your refrigerator from anywhere, using a PC computer and smartphone app. Photos or videos obtained from this access can be shared and synced to personal and group calendars – and some of these commands can be voice-controlled too.

What happens if you accidentally leave your smart fridge door open and leave for work? After a period, pre-configured timeframe, you will receive a message on your smartphone alerting you that your fridge is still open.

3. The Smart Full-Sized Blender

Yes, you can make drinks, smoothies, soups, desserts, and dips with any reasonably sized blender. What differentiates a smart blender from a normal blender is its versatility and professional-grade blending ability.

A smart blender will detect the size of the container and then adjust its internal program settings and blending times accordingly. The built-in programmable timer will automatically turn the blender off when your custom recipe is completed.

The app within the smart blender can contain up to twenty blending programs and upwards of more than 600 recipes.

4. The Smart Instant Pot Cooker that Uses Alexa to Find Delicious Recipes to Cook

This smart instant multi-cooker has Wi-Fi access and voice assistance capability that can be more than useful when your hands are busy planning and preparing the family dinner. Simply ask Alexa to help you find a suitable recipe with what’s in your fridge, and through the mobile app, you can manage settings, cook your ingredients and check on progress.

Not only is this multi-cooker perfect for cooking comfort foods during the cooler months, but it will save you time and money. Their versatility, combined with a range of functionality, will save you precious cupboard space by replacing several appliances.  

5. The Smart Personal Blender

A smart blender will help you manage a healthier way of life by monitoring the nutritional value of your meals via the corresponding app and help you create a personalized and customized grocery list.

The blender has a powerful base with a smart nutrition sensor and can be connected via USB. This blender can technically address your specific nutritional needs and help you reach your fitness goals.

6. The Smart Kitchen Scale

As all pastry chefs and amateur bakers know, baking is highly dependent on the precise measurements of your ingredients - if you love baking, then a smart kitchen scale is required.

It is much faster and easier than using measuring spoons and measuring cups, and it greatly assists by making the most complicated recipe less complicated.

Clean-up time is significantly reduced as you simply place all of your baking ingredients into one bowl.

7. The 7-in-1 Smart Oven

Instant™ Vortex™ Plus Air Fryer Oven. Image © Instant Brands

The smart 7-in-1 oven will allow you to cook practically everything you can think of. This smart oven can air fry, broil, cook conventionally, dehydrate food, perform slow cooking, and even act like a toaster oven. You can download the oven’s smartphone app, and you can control it with Alexa as well.

The oven app can recognize lots of foods via the camera of your phone, and it can electronically store approximately over 200 cooking programs and almost 400 video recipes.

Because of its carbon fibre heating elements, the smart oven will cook approximately 30 percent faster than normal ovens. Like the smart blender, this oven can take the place of some cooking appliances, saving time and money.

8. The Smart Wi-Fi Capable Coffee Maker

Atomi Smart WiFi Coffee Maker. Image © Atomi Smart

The smart coffee maker can be managed and controlled by Google Assistant or Alexa, and it has controlled state-of-the-art functionality that can satisfy all of your coffee making needs.

Instead of having to get out of bed, head off down to the kitchen to prepare and wait for your coffee to be made; with the use of a personal preset button on your coffee app, you can readily have a hot cup of coffee waiting for you, and exactly when you want it too.

Smart coffee makers have the ability to schedule different coffee types to be brewed at different times for each day of the week. A coffee brew-strength adjustment is also available and can be accessed via the corresponding smartphone app.

9. Hydration Centers

A hydration center is simply a built-in filtered water dispenser that can be conveniently located in various areas within your home. Potential locations include the kitchen, living room, the outdoor veranda, and all of the bedrooms.

Hydration centers are self-serving water dispensers that will provide filtered and refreshing water whenever you want it. There will be no need to move from the living room to the kitchen for a water fill-up. 

Hydration centers are also sustainability-friendly as there will be no requirement to use disposable plastic bottles anymore.

10. Long-Range Smart Meat Thermometer

MEATER® Plus. Image © MEATER

The long-range smart meat thermometer will give you the flexibility to cook other foods in your kitchen while you can actively monitor the temperature of the meat you are grilling outside.

They typically have a range of approximately 40 meters, and with a corresponding smartphone app, you can monitor the internal meat temperatures as they cook, so you will maximize perfect outcomes each time you cook on your grill.

Conclusion

Smart kitchen appliances merge advances in technical design with traditional kitchen appliances. They will guide you through the complete end-to-end process to help you with everything about cooking. They will provide you with more spare time and free up your busy schedule so you can minimize time wasted from watching meals cook.

Many of the appliances that have been described above will pair-up with a corresponding smartphone app that provides you with the capability to monitor and adjust cooking temperatures, the time required to cook a specific meal, and power switches on and off remotely.

Regardless of whether you are a cooking and kitchen novice who has trepidation stepping into the kitchen or an experienced cook with many years of experience who likes to multitask, the smart kitchen appliances described in this article can help you produce the perfect meal, and every time too.