When I was starting to cook back in high school, I had a handful of cookbooks and a few recipe cards from my mom and my grandparents where they had jotted down some family favorites. The cookbooks were reliable, but the family recipes often left out crucial things, such as the cooking time or temperature. They were still great resources, but they left a lot to be desired when I compare my experience of using them to all the resources that I have at my fingertips today. Even though I may not have a “smart range” that can predict exactly how long to bake my cakes and a refrigerator that knows how long to defrost anything I might want to cook for dinner (yet), my kitchen is becoming very “smart” when I compare it to my kitchen of just a few years ago. And that isn’t just because I’ve done a little bit of remodeling between then and now.
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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held annually in Las Vegas is an event that highlights new and upcoming technology-related products, and since businesses often use it as an opportunity to showcase their most innovative technology, you can find things that you might never have expected.
LG brought some very “smart” technology to CES this year in the form of kitchen appliances. They introduced a Smart Refrigerator and a Smart Oven. The refrigerator has a LCD screen on the front that runs a version of Google’s Android operating system. While you’ll be able to check the weather and leave digital memos with the software (no more magnets or post its on the fridge!), you will also be able to use an app called Food Manager. This program keeps track of what you have in the fridge, what all of your expiration dates are and can even suggest possible menus based on the food you have available.
The Smart Oven pairs up with a smart phone to allow you to control your oven remotely. So, for instance, if you want to bake a batch of cookies, you can simply select a recipe from the oven’s large recipe bank and it will preheat to the appropriate temperature. This can be done remotely, via a connected app, or manually, as well. The oven will also share a connection with the fridge, so you can send a suggested recipe from the fridge right to the oven.
You probably won’t see products like these in stores just yet, but they are indicative of where our kitchen technology is headed and it might not be too long before we see things like this become more widely available. I just hope they make it easy to bookmark recipes from your favorite blogs in the oven’s recipe bank, too!
