I enjoy cooking so much that I treat it as a sport and find excuses to create complex or unique dishes. I thought developing a menu for a group of people with different allergies and preferences sounded like a good time. Until recently, smart cooking technology didn't appeal to me because I thought it was only for people who felt clueless in the kitchen and needed help from machines.
But over the past year, I’ve interacted with cooking devices—from ovens and grills to refrigerators—that not only leverage smart technology, but also incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning. While AI can't eliminate all the labor of food preparation, nor can it make you fall in love with cooking (if you don't already do that), it can make the cooking process easier... not just for newbies, but for seasoned cooks as well. The same is true for.
Artificial intelligence can help you avoid undercooking (or overcooking) food
For many people, not enjoying cooking is due to anxiety. It's hard to mess up a salad, but making anything that can be messed up can be daunting—what if you undercook it and give yourself or others food poisoning? What if you overcooked an expensive piece of meat and ruined it? I cook with friends who share these fears—friends who lack my ability to use visual cues to know if a protein is done, or who have difficulty trusting that a little pink is safe.
Tools like a combustion prediction thermometer can alleviate this anxiety. Combustion is a smart thermometer probe that can be used in almost any situation—on the grill, in a pot of boiling water, sous vide, in the oven, or on the stovetop. The device has eight sensors along the length of the probe that measure the inside and outside of the food you're cooking. Next, apply artificial intelligence and algorithms to accurately predict when food should be taken off the heat. This means you don't have to stand over the stove waiting and watching (the app and probe handle that part). It also means you won’t overcook food because of concerns about food safety, something 50% of people admit to doing.
Late last year, Combustion changed its algorithm specifically to ensure foods meet USDA-recommended standards beyond simple temperature thresholds. For example, while you typically consider chicken to be "done" at 165°F, the USDA has determined that you can achieve the same food safety as using sous vide by cooking it at a lower temperature for a longer time. A combustion thermometer can determine whether your food is "safe" based on the protein's entire cooking history. This can give them the confidence they need to work with protein and feel confident in their cooking as they see better results. Even as an experienced cook, I like that Combustion does the math for me so I don't have to rely on external cues, like the feel of a protein.
There are many other temperature probes with features like Combustion, including the ThermaPro (which I haven't tested yet) and the Meater 2 (which I found to be impressive ).
Combustion prediction thermometer
Artificial intelligence can help reduce food waste
When I go grocery shopping, I often forget what I already have in my refrigerator and pantry, and end up buying a lot of irrelevant stuff—especially when I buy fresh foods that have a short shelf life. The company is working to resolve this issue. Samsung's latest refrigerator features "food artificial intelligence" and uses a camera inside the fridge to tell you you might need to buy more food. The refrigerators are part of its customized range and come equipped with AI Family Hub+ and AI Vision Inside. The center not only identifies the fresh foods in your refrigerator (up to 33 items); It will also provide recipes based on these ingredients.
I haven't tested the custom version yet, but the video of the fridge running shows a clear enough image that you should be able to easily identify what's in the fridge via the app, meaning you'll never have to wonder if you're out of the fridge. Butter or eggs when you're at the supermarket.
Custom 4-door Flex Refrigerator with Family Hub+
Artificial intelligence can help you figure out what to make for dinner
Newer technology is taking things further. Artificial intelligence voice assistants are already embedded in many cooking devices. You can provide the assistant with a list of ingredients, a mood or a craving, or just let it ask you questions and it will create meal suggestions for you.
Even if you don't have a device that can talk to you, there are plenty of apps that can provide advice on the fly. DishGen , MealsAI , and MealPractice all use AI models such as Gemini as the underlying engine to generate suggestions based on the language you input, whether it's a pile of ingredients or a request based on your mood.
Using AI while cooking is actually fun and can save you time
There are many "smart" ovens on the market from Tovala, Breville, and June, but for the past few months, I've been using the Brava , an expensive toaster oven with a brain. From the graphical interface on the toaster, you can look up any ingredient and it will generate a list of possible recipes. Choose one, and you'll be guided through inserting the thermometer probe, telling you where to place your food on the tray and where the tray will be. Then you press the button and walk away. The oven sends you a live video of your food cooking, monitors its progress, and turns off exactly when your food is done.
This oven relies on light technology rather than the normal heating elements you'd expect in an oven. It focuses heat where it's needed only when it's needed, specifically the precise food you're cooking. Instead of heating the entire oven, food is cooked from top to bottom in a very small space. Therefore, the cooking time is usually reduced by half, sometimes more. Last week I made sweet potato fries using raw potatoes. Within eight minutes, they were perfectly crispy and toasted.
While Brava currently uses only very light artificial intelligence behind the scenes, it's easy to imagine a future where machine learning could help the company process the data returned from its devices to create more recipes and improve existing ones. The technology isn’t there yet — I spoke with Brava product manager Zac Selmon, who noted that when the variables involved are different than the ingredients, creating a set of parameters ensures that everyone making the recipe can How difficult it is to get the same results, for the environment, for the chef. For this reason, Brava still uses a team of chefs working alongside data engineers.
Brava Surprisingly, I really enjoy not having to think about what I'm cooking. It turns out that the tedious part of the process, paying close attention to the dish as it cooks, can be skipped. An oven can cut cooking time in half or more, and even better: you can enjoy the preparation and the results without having to worry about the in-between.
I'm excited about the future of AI kitchens
As a self-certified control freak, I shouldn't like to give up on the cooking or preparation process, but it turns out I do. It saves me time and allows me to focus on the parts of cooking that I really enjoy. I've given smart thermometers to some friends and the devices have changed mealtimes in their homes too. They buy better cuts of meat because they're less afraid of ruining them. They take more risks and are more confident.
In the future, AI technology will streamline the process even further, allowing you to manage meal preparation from your couch or deck while you spend more time with family and friends. No, a gadget won't turn you into a person who loves to cook, but it can make cooking more manageable.
