When we think of the term “smart home” we often think of devices like smart switches, plugs, lights, cameras, video doorbells, and voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Home. While these are certainly the foundation of a smart home there is so much more to it than turning on and off lights with your voice…

Let’s take an in-depth look at some of the best smart home appliances and learn how smart home tech can help you prepare and cook more healthy, gourmet, restaurant-quality meals at home.

Thermomix® TM6™

The Thermomix® will change the way you cook forever.

All the cooking is done in a durable stainless-steel bowl, with a state-of-the-art blade.
Add in a precision heating element and an embedded scale, and the Thermomix® TM6™ can perform over 20 different functions and techniques in one, sleek countertop appliance. This means you can clear up some counter and pantry space by selling or donating other single-purpose appliances that Thermomix® can replace.

With Thermomix® failure isn’t an option thanks to over 70,000 Guided Cooking Recipes from the online recipe platform, Cookidoo®. With Guided Cooking recipes, auto settings for timing, temperature, and speed are pre-set by Thermomix® allowing home cooks of all skill levels to execute recipes with ease, from the simple to the extraordinary.

Thermomix® will teach you new cuisines, cooking styles, and techniques all while saving you money since you control what you have at home, the exact amount you need for each recipe, or you can do what I do, cook according to what I already have in the pantry by looking for recipes with the ingredients I have before they spoil.

The Thermomix® TM6™costs $2,099 CAD and it comes with:

• Thermomix® TM6™
• All parts and core accessories
• Unlimited access to Cookidoo® for 6 months (optional $69/year subscription thereafter)
• Exclusive and personalized customer service, including free cooking classes
• 2 year manufacturer warranty

Pros:

• Includes everything you need
• You will eat healthier knowing what exactly is going into your food
• You save space
• You learn new things
• You save money
• You save time
• Cookware is dishwasher safe and easy to clean

Cons:

• High initial investment
• Optional, monthly subscription for Cookidoo®

Brava Oven

Brava empowers busy families to make delicious home-cooked food quickly and easily so they can have more time and energy for the things and people they love.

Brava uses what they call “Pure Light Technology” to cook your food up to 5x faster than conventional cooking methods.

How does it work?

• 6 halogen lamps heat to over 500 degrees in a 10th of a second
• Food cooks faster, sears quicker, and retains juiciness
• Partitioned cooking lets you cook up to 3 “Zones” of ingredients simultaneously

Brava’s lamps are so powerful, the heat and light they emit can be programmed to mimic different cooking methods such as traditional baking, dehydrating, air-frying, and more.

The Brava Oven costs $1,295 USD for the starter bundle and it comes with:

• 100 day free trial
• The Brava Oven
• Tempsensor
• Metal tray
• Glass tray
• 1 year manufacturer warranty

Pros:

• Small footprint
• Preheats in moments with most cooks requiring no preheat at all
• Allows for an almost totally hands-off prep of a real dinner in minutes
• Perfect for one to four people
• Good nonstick metal trays
• Cookware is dishwasher safe and easy to clean

Cons:

• Its expensive
• Tempsensor/probe is hard to use and remove
• Too small for a meal for more than four

Hestan Cue

Instead of finding it through trial-and-error, Cue cookware tells you the exact temperature of the cooking surface.

Hestan Cue’s Real-Time-Heat control gives you the magic touch of a chef’s temperature control automated into every Hestan Cue recipe. Oh, and did we mention that there are over 600+ step-by-step video-guided recipes within the Cue app?

The App connects the induction burner and cookware together. Giving precise temperature feedback that adjusts in real-time as you step through recipes and add ingredients.

Making delicious meals is complicated. The temperature is always changing depending on how much food is in the pan, the material of the pan, and the burner setting. And how do you know what temperature the burner is anyway? 

Knowing when to flip your salmon fillet depends on the thickness of the fish. This means every time you cook a different fillet the right moment to flip is unique.

We all want the same thing- to succeed in the kitchen. But not all of us can dedicate years to learning culinary techniques.

The Hestan Cue costs $515 CAD for the 11″ Smart Pan + Induction Cooktop and it comes with:

• 11″ smart pan
• Induction cooktop
• Unlimited access to the Hestan Cue app featuring 600+ video-guided recipes
• 2 year manufacturer warranty

Pros:

• Precise temp control
• Detailed recipe steps, including videos
• Smart enough to turn down temp if you get distracted
• Free companion app with guided recipes
• Can use precision temp control with your own recipes
• Cookware is dishwasher safe and easy to clean
• Smart probe makes is usable for deep frying, candy, and sous vide (without a circulator)

Cons:

• Recipes are pan-specific
• Must weigh and measure food precisely for best results
• Most recipes are for 2-4 people and you can’t really deviate from them
• As with all apps, there is always the chance it will stop being supported