Smart kitchen
Add a dash of wireless to your kitchen to help you manage your shopping, make amazing coffee, cook the easy way, and keep things clean, even organise your life. And still have total control through the power of AI assistants
From connected kettles to clever cat flaps, we bet many readers have already dabbled in the world of smart kitchen gadgets. But rather than focus on gimmicks, we’ve collected together some of the best new smart tech designed to make cooking, cleaning and automating your kitchen life easier than ever before.
If you want to make a big difference to your kitchen, then invest in a brand-new fridge that can act as the hub of your smart home. 1 The Samsung Family Hub Fridge Freezer (from £1,999, samsung.com) is a state-of-the-art appliance with best-in-class energy efficiency, as well as an advanced cooling system that promises to keep food fresher for longer. But its smart capabilities are what makes it really stand out from all the other appliances in your smart kitchen. For starters, it keeps tabs on the food inside it, allows you to share family calendars, reminders, photos, notes and follow recipes from the big screen on the outside and it’s equipped with speakers, meaning you can stream music, radio and mirror your TV.
If you don’t want to overhaul your whole fridge, or can’t afford such a big commitment, the 2 Smarter FridgeCam (£149.99, smarter.am) makes your old fridge significantly smarter. This handy wireless camera sits inside your fridge, so you can monitor what’s there from the app. It enables you to keep on top of what you have in at any time and aims to stop you wasting so much food with its best-before tracker and shopping list feature.
If you need a smart new washing machine more than you need a smart new fridge, the 3 Bosch Serie 8 WAYH8790GB Washing Machine (£969, boschhome.co.uk) has Smart Home Connect, which means you can control it remotely via your smartphone. As well as being connected, it’s also a great washing machine, with a feature to help you pick the most efficient and eco-friendly cycle that’s right for you, to reduce time by up to 65 per cent and energy use by 50 per cent. Another option adjusts the drum to better tackle specific stains.
The 4 Triby Smart Speaker (£159, invoxia.com) is portable and perfect for the kitchen because it can be mounted on your fridge or happily sit on any countertop. It’s Apple HomeKit-enabled, which means you can control HomeKit devices with the touch of a button. It’s also Alexa-enabled, so you can use Amazon’s voice assistant to play music, set timers and more. Soundwise, it’s powerful, despite its small size, and can stream music for up to 12 hours before it needs charging, which is more than enough time for a cooking sing-a-long.
For home-cooked food without the hassle, try the
5 Tefal Cook4Me Connect (£319.99, homeandcook. co.uk). It’s a Bluetooth smart multicooker that acts like your own personal kitchen assistant. It allows you to create perfectly cooked meals with the help of step-bystep instructions on its app, as well as a touchscreen that enables you to select what you want to cook. From there, it’ll adjust its settings accordingly. That means no more burnt, undercooked or boring meals.
Calling all classy coffee connoisseurs, the 6 Jura S8 (£1,495, uk.jura.com) is a state-of-the-art coffee machine that promises to create the perfect blend without any of the usual hassle. It boasts premium coffee-making abilities, mastering everything from an espresso to a latte macchiato. You can control it via a touchscreen or even set the Jura S8 to start making you coffee from the app as soon as you open your eyes in the morning.
There’s been so much talk about how to make your kitchen smarter for us humans, let’s not forget about your pets. The Pawbo Munch (£109.99, pawbo.com) is a gadget specially designed for your pets, which dispenses treats via a remote control for your furry friends even when you’re not around. There’s also a game mode, which essentially turns the device into a slot machine for your pooch, and an LED screen to keep your pets entertained when you’re out.
If you can’t afford to kit out your kitchen with new smart products, then don’t worry. Get yourself one, two or a dozen 7 D-Link DSP-W115 Wi-Fi Smart Plugs (£29.99, amazon.co.uk), which will make your old, ‘dumb’ products smart instead. Although you won’t have a lot of the fancy features of other smart kitchen tech on the market, you’ll can effectively turn some products on and off remotely, for a lot less cash.
Invest in a new fridge that can act as the hub of your smart home