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Whirlpool buys Yummly recipe site, app

The acquisition will help the appliance manufacturer build a "seamlessly integrated connected kitchen," Whirlpool reps said in a statement.

Ashlee Clark Thompson Associate Editor
Ashlee spent time as a newspaper reporter, AmeriCorps VISTA and an employee at a healthcare company before she landed at CNET. She loves to eat, write and watch "Golden Girls" (preferably all three at the same time). The first two hobbies help her out as an appliance reviewer. The last one makes her an asset to trivia teams. Ashlee also created the blog, AshleeEats.com, where she writes about casual dining in Louisville, Kentucky.
Ashlee Clark Thompson
2 min read
Chris Monroe/CNET

Whirlpool has bought the recipe website and app Yummly for an undisclosed sum, a move the company said will further strengthen the development of its smart kitchen products, the appliance manufacturer announced this week. The move gives Whirlpool access to more than one million recipes that the company could include in its smart appliances and app.

"Every day, millions of consumers around the world use Whirlpool Corporation appliances to prepare meals for their families. The Yummly acquisition will allow these consumers to dramatically reduce the stress from meal planning by helping answer the age-old question, 'What's for dinner tonight?'" the company said in a statement.

Whirlpool has been one of the most aggressive large-appliance manufacturers when it comes to connecting its kitchen appliances to the Internet of Things, the world of seemingly normal products (like thermostats or light bulbs ) that connect to the internet and one another. Whirlpool has already connected some of its appliances to Alexa, Amazon's voice-activated virtual assistant. Its Jenn-Air line of luxury wall ovens connect to the Nest Learning Thermostat. An upcoming line of kitchen appliances with work with Scan-to-Cook, a new feature in Whirlpool's app that will send instructions to your oven or microwave so it can cook your frozen dish correctly and automatically. And the manufacturer paired with a software company called Innit to develop appliances that could identify your food and connect to one another. (The companies announced in March that they had parted ways.)

Large appliance manufacturers are increasingly working with software-centric companies or established smart-home vendors to create products that use technology to help you cook better. For example, Bosch announced last year that it would use software from the company Drop in its Series 8 ovens that will adjust the oven's cook times, temperature and humidity levels via Wi-Fi, and GE has built an Alexa Skill to control its Wi-Fi connected appliances rather than relying on an in-house app.