The State of the Smart Kitchen
Uncanny Valley | WIRED
WIRED
4.1 • 570 Ratings
🗓️ 29 September 2022
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Companies love sticking chips in everything. That's how you get a feast of connected kitchen tech: app-controlled Instant Pots, $400 touchscreen toasters, and Wi-Fi enabled fridges that let you check Twitter while you wait for some crushed ice. It's all very high tech and modern, but does any of it actually help you cook—or live—any better?
This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED contributor and food writer Joe Ray joins us to talk about how to navigate the smart kitchen and whether any of these connected gadgets will really improve your cuisine or bring you happiness.
Show Notes
Read Joe Ray’s many reviews of smart kitchen tech.
Recommendations
Joe recommends the cookbook I Dream of Dinner (so You Don't Have To) by Ali Slagle. Lauren recommends pasta e ceci. Mike recommends the Oxo Brew Precision Scale With Timer.
Joe Ray can be found on Twitter @joe_diner. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Lauren. |
| 0:01.0 | Mike. |
| 0:02.0 | Lauren, what is your go-to kitchen gadget, like the one piece of equipment in the kitchen that you can't live without? I have two and neither are internet connected. That's fine. What are they? One is a $7 Swiss knife, a cutting knife, not an army knife. It's so sharp, it'll take your fingertip off in an instant. That's what you want. It's great. And the second is a box cutter, which I think was also $7 from Amazon. |
| 0:25.9 | Box cutter? |
| 0:26.9 | Yeah, like I don't use it for cooking. |
| 0:28.5 | I just use it for like, I'm passing the box. |
| 0:31.9 | Why is everyone laughing? |
| 0:34.0 | That's not for the kitchen. |
| 0:35.4 | It is for the kitchen. |
| 0:36.2 | You can put it anywhere. |
| 0:37.1 | You can have a box cutter anywhere. What's not for the kitchen. It is for the kitchen. You can put it anywhere. You can have a box cutter anywhere. |
| 0:38.6 | What's yours? |
| 0:41.1 | Probably my electric kettle because it's what I used to make coffee and nothing happens |
| 0:45.3 | if I can't make coffee. |
| 0:46.5 | That's actually a really good one. |
| 0:48.3 | All right. |
| 0:48.5 | Well, we'll talk more about this on today's show. |
| 0:50.4 | And box cutters. |
| 0:51.9 | Mm-hmm. |
| 0:59.8 | Yeah. show. And box cutters. Mm-hmm. Hi, everyone. |
| 1:00.7 | Welcome to Gadget Lab. |
| 1:01.6 | I'm Michael Colori. |
... |
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