2016 was a big year for the smart home and we saw companies take a huge drive towards making your cooking smarter too.
Let's take a look at some of the gadgets that caught our eye this year by handing out a few superlatives.
Now the award for most improved goes to Amazon Alexa.
At the beginning of the year, this platform didn't really do much in the kitchen.
But she really stepped up with partnerships with GE appliances and a new emerging circulator called Dual.
And what is this partnership mean?
You can use your voice to control some of your cooking appliances.
So you can preheat the oven or check the temperature of your soothing water bath just with your voice.
And for the most ambitious debut, I gotta give this one to the June Intelligent Oven.
This countertop cooker Has a camera built in.
Along with a processor that's worthy of being in a smart phone, and Wi-Fi capability so that you could not only watch what you cook as it was cooking.
But the oven could also recognize your food.
Now it did have some faults in it's $1,500.
But it was definitely an ambitious debut for company that showed what we can do when it comes to cooking and technology.
And speaking of extensible appliances I'd give the splurge if you got it award to the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator.
Yes, this appliance is $5,600, but it is so cool.
It has a very sleek modern look.
A lot of storage options once you get inside.
But there's also a 21 and a half inch touch screen built into the door of the refrigerator.
That has special apps that help you create to-do lists.
There's also built-in cameras in this fridge, which is great if you're stuck in the grocery store, and need a quick picture of what you have at home.
And one thing 2016 showed us, was that Sous Vide Immersion Circulators aren't going anywhere.
Which is why I give this category of gadgets the Here To Stay award.
Brands like Novitude, Anova, and Jewel all debuted new Wi-Fi connected appliances that help you you cook with Sous Vide.
Which is a kind of weird method that involves a vacuum sealed bag of food in a water bag.
Even if you're not quite on board with this method of cooking.
It's becoming more and more popular, and because of that we're seeing more and more devices enter this category.
2016 was a big year for smart kitchen appliances, and I don't expect 2017 to be any different.
Be on the lookout for more partnerships and more innovate technology that actually proves to be helpful, and maybe teaches you a thing or two about cooking.
