The purpose of smart appliances may not be to reinvent the wheel, as far as elemental cooking is concerned. But GE Appliances’ smart kitchen gives you unprecedented control and possibilities when it comes to the ease with which you steam, sauté, fry, broil and bake.
For instance, Wi-Fi-linked smart ovens and ranges have the ability to seriously streamline dinner by automatically adjusting cooking temperatures as you go. And now GE Appliances has come out with a first-of-its-kind Kitchen Hub that goes even further toward connecting the center of your home.
As for its most practical feature, the Kitchen Hub is partly a powerful ventilation hood that sits above the range and provides a 4-speed, adjustable 600 CFM exhaust system and also creates a patent-pending air curtain around a 27-inch smart touch screen. And as far as that screen is concerned, it essentially acts as a command station, working with integrations like U+ Connect to brew coffee, do the laundry, adjust the lighting and check your calendar, from the most vital room in your house.
When it comes to actually getting down to cooking, over 5,000 recipes with detailed instructions can be accessed through a guided cooking app. A tap of a finger sets your oven to preheat (this can be done via voice through the app as well as part of progressing through the recipe steps, so you don’t need to initiate through a tap—it’s automated during the recipe process), while all you need is your voice to maneuver from step to step. Touch the “heart” button to save certain dishes to favorites, such as tangy potstickers with cabbage and veggies, or upload old ones, like your grandma’s hand-scrawled, time-honored method for making Italian pignoli cookies.
Want to let her check your progress and approve the final result? One forward-facing camera allows you to video chat with loved ones, while another, aimed at the cooktop, shows off your handiwork. There’s also ample task lighting provided, so you can share your latest culinary masterpiece on social media.
And you don’t even need to forfeit movie watching, or miss out on your favorite shows, while you’re in the kitchen. Take advantage of apps like Google Play to stream Netflix or Hulu while you sizzle and slice, or turn to Spotify to structure a playlist, and turn dinnertime prep into an all-out party.
Technical advancements in the culinary world don’t always exclusively affect taste. Sometimes, as in the case of GE’s Kitchen Hub, they can actively influence the culture of cooking itself.
Photos courtesy of GE Appliances.
