Cabin Fever

Smarter Than We

No one knows when a human first dropped a bit of meat in a fire, perhaps by accident, and found that it tasted better cooked than raw. But we can be sure that over the last two million years the process of cooking was time-consuming, arduous, repetitive, boring and difficult. But no more. The Colonial dame has damped her hearth, the Early Republic mother has closed down her beehive oven and even the unpredictable gas and electric ovens of the past have drifted away into the mists of time.

In a 1906 article H.W. Hillman, director of electric heating for General Electric, described the efficiency and conveniences of his own “thoroughly equipped electric house,” citing benefits such as cooking with uniform heat, no ashes, dust, smoke or odor from gas, coal, or wood. He described a home equipped with such “modern” conveniences as an electric coffee percolator, chafing dish, carpet sweeper, sewing machine and even a heat pad.

One wonders what Hillman would think if he could see the kitchens of today, wonderlands that free the cook to do more in less time and with less effort; kitchens that even allow food to stay fresher longer and to taste better when served.

“Convection ovens are hotter than a pistol right now,” said Timothy O’Donnell, a veteran appliance salesman who currently works with Lowe’s in Torrington. “They cook the food 30 percent faster, searing the meat and making the food taste ten times better. I wouldn’t sell an oven that wasn’t convection.”

Convection ovens use fans to distribute heat evenly around the food, removing the blanket of cooler air that surrounds food when it is first placed in an oven and allowing it to cook more evenly, in less time and at a lower temperature than in a conventional oven.

But the advances in the humble kitchen stove don’t stop there. Today’s kitchen appliances are often as smart—and possibly smarter—than their users. Smart ovens, for instance, are high-tech and multi-function units that can cook in several different modes through simple navigation (usually a push of a button), helping to take some of the guesswork out of cooking.

Where the early 20th-century housewife had to use the time-honored method of putting her hand in the oven to judge the heat, the modern cook can be sure of getting the right settings every time through the Yummly app, which pairs with smart Whirlpool ranges. Running late? You can preheat your oven with your smart phone. You can send Yummly Guided Cooking instructions directly to the smart range or use Scan-to-Cook technology, scanning frozen food barcodes with your smartphone or tablet to send recommended or customized cooking instructions straight to your oven.

Leveraging “Internet of Things” (IoT) capabilities, the range lets the home chef remotely monitor the cooktop and oven functions on his or her smartphone, to preheat and adjust oven temperatures, set a timer, receive real-time alerts and turn the oven off.

Stoves even come equipped with a touchscreen that provides instant access to the settings used most. It learns, adapts and suggests customized presets based on your family’s routines. You can even control your kitchen through simple voice commands using Google Assistant or an Alexa-enabled device.

Smart ovens are labor-saving but not quite as smart as their kitchen cohort, the refrigerator. For centuries, large animals were slaughtered after the first hard frost and hung outside to freeze solid. The only alternative means of preservation were drying or brining the meat for long-term use. Then in 1803, the first icebox patent was issued, ushering in 120 years of messy, laborious refrigeration that required housewives to empty melted ice water daily.

Electric and gas refrigerators were introduced in the 1920s but, perhaps because the Great Depression put them out of financial reach of many Americans, they did not become popular until a marketing push in the 1930s boosted their appeal. By the early 1940s about half the populace had a refrigerator, a figure that has increased to nearly 100 percent today.

Today refrigerators are high-tech wonders that are vying to take over our domestic world. No longer content to just keep food cool, these up-and-comers are now tracking our existence, planning our futures and monitoring their own functions. Internet compatible, they can send you a message when the fridge door is left open, keep track of what food items you have on hand, and tell you when the milk is past its expiration date.

An LG model with “Instaview” and “Door-in-Door” technology allows the user to tap the door twice to take a look at what is inside without opening the door. The tinted glass Instaview panel illuminates, allowing the user to see inside the compartment to locate needed items before opening the door. This reduces cold air loss and keeps food fresher longer. The Door-in-Door feature includes bonus food bins for added organization and storage, while the ColdSaver Panel acts like barrier keeping cold air in.

The GE Profile model comes with the TurboCool feature, that drops temperatures back down after frequent door openings.

Perhaps the star of the smart refrigerators, however, is Samsung’s “Hub.” Users can monitor and control it remotely with Wi-Fi connectivity. It works to do all things excellently—preserving frozen foods with frigid, dry air, controlling temperatures within one degree of the setpoint, and locking in cold air with a magnetic door seal system. It fights spoilage and odors with an air purification system, filters water and ice to remove contaminants and keeps fruits and vegetables fresh longer.

But this over-achiever is not content to just do its job. No, it is crossing the bar and is become the “Family Hub” through the 21-inch tablet built into its door. Homemakers can search recipes and grocery shop through apps right on the fridge. Shift to another screen to play music from favorite apps or mirror your TV directly so you never miss your favorite show.

Not enough? A third screen allows you to monitor family’s activities, set reminders, leave notes and upload digital pictures. This busy-body appliance even pays attention to what other devices are doing, sending notifications for the laundry, dishwasher and oven, allowing you to start and stop appliances wherever you are in the house.

An intelligent voice assistant allows hands free navigation and recognizes the user’s voice to provide a personalized experience (how comforting to have someone to talk to in these days of COVID). It even offers one-tap ordering from GrubHub for past restaurant orders.
Smart refrigerators of all ilks will help with shopping lists. Many smart refrigerators are able to send content lists to other display devices.

The design of refrigerators has come a long way from the small, electric chests of the 1920s, with their gallon-size freezers. Today the units come with single doors, French doors, freezers of various sizes and designs and even Flex Zone Drawers that fall between the freezer and the refrigerator. “It keeps food at 32 degrees, which is not frozen, but much colder than the 42 degrees in the refrigerator,” said Lowe’s Tim O’Donnell. “You can put chicken in there and it will still be good in two weeks.”

These refrigerators and ovens come with healthy price tags but, even those not ready to invest at that level, can still tap into the technological kitchen revolution. Consider, for instance, the Hiku refrigerator magnet that serves as grocery assistant. Scan a bar code, or tell it what you need, and the Hiku creates a list for you. Need an extra pair of hands in the kitchen? Look into automatic pot stirrers, that keep delicate sauces from catching on while you continue with meal preparation.

Even toasters have gotten smarter. The smart toaster features a touchscreen that allow you to select the item you’re toasting, fresh or frozen, and the ideal level of crispness, while the wi-fi enabled Instant Pot acts as a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker and steamer. It will even sauté and sear.

And for those who can’t get out the door in the morning without the perfect cup of coffee, there is the smart coffee grinder which has 60 grind settings to achieve the perfect brew.

The list goes on and on and one wonders what else can be achieved in the realm of convenience and energy conservation. But fertile minds are at work and surely someday we will be as amazed by the kitchens of the future as H.W. Hillman would be by ours.