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9 smart kitchen gadgets that will up your cooking game immediately

Can a gadget really turn you into Heston Blumenthal overnight? Today’s hi-tech cooking gadgets can certainly give you an edge in the kitchen.

From ‘smart’ frying pans which tell you when to turn up the heat to fridges which suggest recipes based on what’s inside them, here’s some of today’s cleverest cookware.

Samsung Family Hub fridge

Samsung’s ‘smart fridges’ have a camera inside the fridge, so families can keep track on stocks of food. Users can check if they need milk by ‘looking through’ the camera via an app while in the supermarket.

This year’s models also offer a Meal Planner, which suggests recipes for the family based on what’s in the fridge and family food preferences and allergies.

The fridge also works as a central ‘hub’ for Samsung’s Smart Things smart home system, allowing users to, for instance, answer the doorbell without leaving the food bubbling on the stove.

Hestan Cue

This ‘smart’ pan walks novice cooks through every step of the cooking process, telling users when to turn up the heat (based on sensors in the pan and a Bluetooth transmitter in the handle).

The £355 pan comes with its own induction heater, and offers video tutorials for each recipe in the paired app.

On-screen instructions tell users exactly when to turn the heat up to get their glazed duck breasts (for instance) perfectly medium rare.

Anova Precision Cooker

Sous vide cookery used to be the preserve of top chefs, cooking foods sealed in plastic in a bath of warm water over the course of many hours.

App-controlled sous vides machines such as Anova’s Precision Cooker (£149) puts the technique in the hands of ordinary people – with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-controlled cooking and timers on screen.

Users squeeze air out of a ziplock bag to create a vacuum, set the Anova going, then return to perfectly cooked meals.

Thousands of recipes are built into the app, and users can monitor progress from their phones and change the temperature from anywhere.

Drop Smart Kitchen Scale

This ‘smart’ £80 kitchen scale pairs with an iPad or iPhone via Bluetooth, and can ‘scale’ recipes automatically on screen so users don’t have to multiply and divide quantities.

The app comes with hundreds of recipes built in, and offers suggestions for substitutions if you run out of something crucial.

LG EasyClean oven

LG’s new EasyClean oven connects to the internet via Wi-Fi, and can download recipe information so that it automatically preheats to the right temperature.

If you’ve got an LG QuadWash dishwasher from the same range, the oven communicates with it to set the appropriate wash cycle after you’ve finished dinner (good news if you’ve cooked something sticky like a lasagne).

When the oven needs to be cleaned, it sends a notification to its owner’s smartphone via the LG app.

Meater Thermometer

This £89 wireless meat thermometer pairs with your phone via Bluetooth, with alerts delivered when your meat is cooked perfectly.

The wireless unit has twin sensors which measure your meat’s internal temperature and your oven’s temperature, as the app walks you through recipes.

Amazon Echo Dot

Voice assistant smart speakers such as Amazon’s Echo (£89.99) come into their own in the kitchen, where owners can access smartphone-style functions even with messy hands.

Amazon’s Alexa lets users add items to a grocery list – ‘Alexa, add eggs’ – and offers multiple kitchen timers as well as converting instantly between different measurements.

Research by Harman found that 24% of smart home users use their smart home speaker in the kitchen.

Whirlpool microwaves with Yummly

Later this year, Whirlpool ovens will offer ‘scan to cook’ technology, using the recipe app Yummly.
Users will be able to scan ingredients in their fridges with a smartphone’s camera, and generate suggested recipes based on what’s in there.

Users can beam cooking instructions for their meal direct to their microwave from the app.
Models with this function are expected later this year.

Philips Airfryer

Philips Airfryer is a hi-tech fryer which uses a fan to circulate extremely hot air over foods, meaning you can ‘fry’ with much less oil.

Philips claims you can cook foods such as chips with up to 80% less fat, with a crispy layer on the outside formed by the circulating air.

The paired Airfryer app offers hundreds of healthy recipes and suggestions on how to use the £190 machine.