We’ve entered a brave new world of home appliances; a high-tech place where refrigerators are connected to the Internet, cutting boards weigh what we chop and coffee makers are synced to smartphones, allowing us to brew that much-needed cup of French Roast from bed while we hit the snooze button.
This is what the home of the future looks like. The good old days of the simple on/off switch are over. While we might not be as futuristic as “The Jetsons,” we’re getting close. Although many of these high-tech appliances sound cool, you have to ask – is the technology worth the extra cost? There’s a fine line between kitchen tech and kitchen gimmickry. Here are 10 high-tech appliances perfect for the modern homemaker.
1. Samsung Four-Door Refrigerator with Wi-Fi Enabled LCD
Refrigerators are getting smarter and smarter. According to the Daily Mail, a “fridge of the future” is currently being developed in Britain. This high-tech appliance will supposedly tell you what to cook with your leftovers and automatically re-order fresh food. If this sounds a bit too smart (more War of the Worlds robot than home appliance), consider the Samsung Four-Door Refrigerator with Wi-Fi Enabled LCD. The Samsung’s eight-inch LCD touchscreen enables web browsing and easy access to apps. Don’t know what to have for dinner? Don’t worry… your smart fridge can quickly pull up recipes. You can also connect your smartphone to the fridge’s LCD screen and order takeout.
2. Miele 48-Inch Dual Fuel Range
Even your oven can have 21st century capabilities. Sleek, classy and sophisticated, Miele’s high-tech professional range streamlines the cooking process with style. The Miele isn’t a Michelin star chef, but it does prompt you to move from one step to the next when following a recipe. And that’s just the beginning.
The centerpiece of the Miele is its control panel. The panel tilts up to a 45-degree angle, making it easily visible to the chef and features presets for recipes as well as two touch screens: one for the speed oven microwave and another for the convection oven. The Miele 48-inch Dual Fuel Range features a handle-less warming drawer and a built-in infrared griddle. Its exterior is clad in smudge-proof stainless steel.
3. Perfect Company Bake System
Does your homemade bread always fail to rise? Did the birthday cake you baked for your child collapse, leaving a giant sinkhole of chocolate frosting? The Perfect Bake System is like having your own personal robot confectioner. The machine is a math genius: it can weigh each ingredient for precise accuracy – no measuring cups or spoons required! Moreover, the bake system’s built-in timers tell you exactly how long to mix, bake and cool.
4. Smarter Wi-Fi Coffee Machine
Described as the world’s first grind and brew coffee maker, the Smarter Wi-Fi Coffee Machine is controlled via a smartphone app, allowing you to grind beans in its built-in grinder and start your coffee from bed (or anywhere else for that matter).
But that’s not all. The Smarter coffee machine sends you a notification when it needs to be topped off with beans or water and when it’s finished brewing. With the Smarter Wi-Fi Coffee Machine, starting the day with a lack of shut-eye just got a whole lot easier.
5. Whirlpool Cabrio Washer
This top loader is a washing machine wizard. The Whirlpool Cabrio adapts the water level to what is being cleaned, making the machine water efficient and eco-friendly. It also has technology that adapts the agitation level (Adaptive Wash Technology) of your laundry load. In other words, the Whirlpool Cabrio is smart enough to know that no two loads of laundry are the same, and the amount of agitation you need to get out a grass stain is different than what’s needed to wash the dog’s bed. The Whirlpool Cabrio is designed to spray water and detergent in a cone-shaped pattern, creating a more even and thorough wash.
6. Crock-Pot WeMo Slow Cooker
Take a traditional slow cooker, give it automation capabilities, and voila! You never need to be at home when you cook a meal. The Belkin WeMo slow cooker is a smart appliance that allows you to turn it on, off and adjust the settings and cook temperatures via smartphone. You can now start the Sunday roast from anywhere there’s a Wi-Fi signal, so you might as well spend the day out rather than over the stove.
7. Bosch 500 Series Dishwasher
Does your dishwasher clang and bang so much it wakes the whole house? Good news: that won’t happen anymore! Today’s high-tech dishwashers are whisper-quiet. In fact, Bosch’s model is near silent as it runs, with a noise level of just 44 decibels. In addition to its quietness, Bosch’s model has a 16-place setting capacity (cleaning up after a party just got easier!), an LED remaining time display, shine technology that leave dishes sparkling and a red light that lets you know when a cycle is running and when your dishes are clean.
8. Picobrew Zymatic Home Brewer
The craft beer industry is experiencing a revolution. In 2014, craft beer production rose 14 percent. Today, more and more beer lovers opt for small batch IPA’s than the cheap suds produced by gigantic global beer manufacturers. Many beer hobbyists take their love of hops and barley one step further and brew their own beer at home. The Picobrew Zymatic Home Brewer makes the job easy. It features four bins for different hop, grain and spice varieties, and enough water to brew 2.5 gallons of beer in four hours. With this automated machine, anyone can be an award-winning brew master! The Zymatic even links to the Internet, so you can access and re-create dozens of your favorite beer recipes.
9. Blendtec Designer Series WildSide Blender
Today’s tea kettles can heat water to a variety of choice temperatures. Modern toasters have six browning modes and a “Bagel Function.” But do we really need all of these features? The quality of a home appliance shouldn’t be judged by how many futuristic functions it has. Case in point: the Bledntec Designer Series Wildside Blender. This blender doesn’t sync to the Internet via smartphone or play Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” as you blend a frozen drink. However, it does feature sleek LED controls, preprogrammed cycles and 10 speed choices. The Blendtec’s high-tech sophistication is in its simplicity and power.
10. Escali SmartConnect Kitchen Scale
Are you trying to live a healthier lifestyle? The Escali SmartConnect Kitchen Scale helps you calculate and monitor your food intake. The scale measures weight up to 11 pounds, has a built-in kitchen timer and features Bluetooth connectivity to most iOS and Android devices. The Scale syncs to your phone, which allows you to analyze calories, fat, sodium and other nutritional information of over 8,000 food items in the USDA database.
Call it the high-tech world of “The Jetsons.” Call it Tomorrowland. With these cutting edge home appliances, your kitchen is smarter, and you (the busy, modern homemaker), are more connected than ever before.
