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I test a lot of shrewd technology and am an avid home cook, so I know the difference between a legitimately useful innovation and a gimmick. I don’t want a remote control for my ice maker: I want the ice maker to know when I need ice, what kind of ice I need, and how much I need in a glass.
That’s the problem with a lot of kitchen tech on the market – they don’t really add much to the experience beyond connecting the appliance to the internet. In fact, sometimes I find that shrewd kitchen technology can take away some of what I love most about cooking; process and human craftsmanship.
Companies lined up at CES 2024 to prove me wrong, and while there are simply too many devices to list them all, here are the ones that stood out.
Cook and cook faster
Seer Perfecta, which aims to dramatically reduce cooking time
Source: Seer
For a long time, we were all obsessed with the sluggish food movement, which implored us to spend more time thinking about food, our relationship with it, its source, the way we cooked and ate, and tried to contribute to this process a little more thoughtfulness. Apparently we’re already past that, as many devices at CES promised to utilize artificial intelligence and lasers (!) to cook food at a rate that some might find alarming.
Piercing introduced A high-speed oven with grill, convection, inverter microwave and “AI cooking” (apparently it analyzes what you’re cooking and then applies the appropriate cooking method), all with the promise of cutting cooking times by two-thirds. In a similar vein To be perfect I want to cook your steak in a moment. Literally a minute. It is basically a double-sided toaster using infrared burners, but for meat that is fried at a temperature of over 1,600 degrees, and its price is $3,500.
More than just a device, Sevvy showed off the cooking technology it hopes to license at CES. By cooking uniformly, it is claimed to cook food not only faster, but better, at lower temperatures and using less energy. It uses integrated heating, which appears to be similar to sous vide, without the sous vide. Instead of heating and circulating water, it uses electricity that flows through the food itself. Because it cooks food in less time than other methods, Sevvy claims that food cooked this way requires less fat, salt and sugar (without explaining exactly why why/how), which would then mean “healthier” food. It’s definitely engaging, and last year Sevvy took top honors for its shrewd cooker, so they have teeth.
There are so many branded shrewd ovens on the market today – June, Brava, Tovala, to name a few – that I’d have to see something truly inventive to get excited. That said, a revolution in cooking Macrowave piqued my interest: This appliance promises to eliminate the need for a microwave, fryer, and toaster by providing all of these cooking methods in one neat little countertop box. Revolution already offers a very competent set toastersso I’m inclined to believe it’s worth taking a look at, even if it’s priced at $1,800.
If you take the guesswork out of grilling, will it still be a sport?
Clever indoor smokehouse by GE Profile
Source: YouTube/GE Appliance
Wireless shrewd thermometers take a lot of the guesswork out of grilling, but CES 2024 brought a range of completely shrewd grills to the forefront. The current Backyard Electric Grill ($899) is gigantic and burns at 700 degrees — making it much hotter than most gas grills — while also providing two heating zones so you don’t end up igniting your mushrooms. Interestingly, it also cleans automatically and you can monitor everything via the companion app.
Weber is probably the most respected brand in the grill industry, and for that reason I want to try the Weber Summit 2024 grill when it launches later this year. At $3,800 it will have to prove its worth, but the infrared broiler is a huge draw.
The device I’m most excited about is the GE Profile Astute Indoor Smoker. Smoking is an art I’d like to perfect, and classic methods don’t give me the control I want. Even better, the GE smoker brings this technology inside so I can monitor and smoke it in the middle of winter. This is the second time in a month that I’ve fallen in love with a device from GE’s incubation lab called First compilation. Clearly, GE has made progress by creating an incubation space that will assist it innovate. Yes, the Astute Smoker can handle multiple racks of ribs and a gigantic roast, but I’m just here to cool smoke some lox.
Your kitchen appliances are getting smarter
Air frying eludes me, mainly because I can’t see what’s going on in my air fryer; it’s a trust exercise with a countertop device and I usually fail at it. AI bossthis is why I’m interested because it claims to take the guesswork out of it by using artificial intelligence to figure out what you’re trying to do and handle the cooking itself. Apparently it will do so for $250, which seems downright affordable at CES if you can track it down. I couldn’t even find the company’s website, so the jury’s decision is still out.
The Secret kitchen hood, while it’s definitely not the sexiest technology, it’s also a groundbreaking device. It’s 80% smaller than most downdraft hoods and features a cooling system that makes it more productive than its bulky brethren. CES was also impressed and sent it home with an innovation award.
Nearly every major home appliance brand now has connected kitchen appliances, but few have impressed me with a better feature set than Samsung. Their Made to order line of home appliances offers more than a straightforward Wi-Fi connection. At CES, Samsung showed off a feature that allows you to stream live video from inside your oven. (Anyone want to come and watch the turkey being cooked on the huge screen?) While I’m skeptical of the fresh AI feature that notifies you when you’re running low on items in the fridge, I’m still impressed by the idea.
What is the ultimate goal here?
What I saw at CES 2024 was nippy, but it didn’t convince me that I needed to spend thousands of dollars to revolutionize my entire kitchen with shrewd technology. Even though I’m a shrewd tech enthusiast, I’ve historically been sluggish to embrace cooking technology because ultimately I still believe I can improve it on my own.
For me, the process of preparing food is not an obstacle – I simply enjoy it. Sous vide ribs can be prepared more carefully, but they will not fill your house with the warmth and smell of caramelizing meat. Maybe not actually to want my steak will be cooked in 60 seconds. If shrewd kitchen technology brings more people into the kitchen, great, but I worry it will take away some of the magic.
