As a nation, our love of cooking has grown at about the same speed as our love of all things tech. So, it makes sense that there is a combination of the two with some kitchen gadgets to make things a little easier and plenty of apps for inspiration and to keep you on track. Here are my Top 5 Kitchen Tech Tips:
- Get 'Appy
You probably have more apps on your phone than you know what to do with, but there are some must haves for the kitchen! We eat a lot of eggs at home, and we hate wasting food, so we use the Egg Minder app a lot. The Egg Minder is a “smart egg tray” that syncs via Wi-Fi so you can use your phone to check how many eggs you have left. It also lets you know when you put the oldest one in there so you know how fresh your eggs are and how many you might need to pick up on the next trip to the supermarket - how handy is that! Each tray holds up to 14 eggs, and needs two AA batteries to run.
If like me you love apps, as well as a good pun, then download Thyme for just 99p! It’s a kitchen timer that lets you keep track of all 4 hobs and the oven too - this one is a must for Christmas Day.
And if you’re tired of losing scraps of paper with your shopping list on…well, there is an app for that! The Shopping UK app is a shopping list app where you can add stuff as you remember it and it organises lists too - I use this app every day, so it really is an essential for me.
- Bin-tastic!
A bin is a kitchen essential, but you might not put much thought in to it. Get yourself a Morphy Richards Sensor Bin which is activated by the swoosh of a hand! Meaning you don’t need any pedals or need to get the bin dirty by touching the lid. It cleverly closes automatically after 5 seconds of inactivity too.
- Smart Tech doesn’t have to be fast!
One of my favourite bits of kitchen tech is the slow cooker and they are now smarter than ever! You can get them with timers built in, so you can set it to come on and go off exactly when you want, meaning dinner is perfectly cooked as soon as you get in the door.
- Choose Gadgets Wisely
If you are as gadget crazy as I am, then it can be easy to fill up your kitchen up and not have any space to cook. So, if you only cook waffles once a year, then a waffle maker is not an essential, but if you love a daily smoothie, then a blender is a must. A high-powered blender/food processor is my kitchen essential for smoothies, sauces and quickly chopping vegetables (such a time saver) - get a smart food processor like the Panasonic MK-F800SSL that has 5 pre-programmed touch auto menus to make things quicker and easier.
We are also coffee lovers, so a barista machine helps us wake up in the morning and saves us a fortune by not having to go to the coffee shop. You can auto set your smart coffee machine so it comes on at a certain time in the morning, meaning you wake up to the smell of coffee.
- The Future is Smart.
Things are getting so much quicker and easier in the kitchen with smart gadgets like a WiFi Kettle – you can turn it on with your phone, from anywhere in the house, just lie in bed and start making a brew. I love coffee, so I set the coffee machine for my morning cup every day, but my husband sometimes prefers a cup of tea, so will set the kettle off for his morning brew when he wakes up.
We also love this Redmond SkyScale that has its own nutritional tracking app that the scale links up to. You just weigh your food and it adds it to the app. Now that's smart!
To take full advantage of the apps and gadgets I’ve talked about, you need a great phone and network. With EE, you can be sure to have extensive coverage so that you can access your favourite kitchen and food related apps wherever you are. Want to track those calories whilst traveling? Not a problem, EE Roaming has you covered. But, make sure those phones are kept charged, as you don't want to wake up in the morning unable to turn your kettle on from your bed because your phone died overnight!
What are your must have kitchen gadgets? Are there any essential apps that make cooking a little easier? Let us know in the Comments!
