SideChef, a home cooking platform offering meal planning, grocery delivery and smart kitchen connectivity, has partnered with connected kitchen appliances makers General Electric (GE) and LG.
LG, a South Korean consumer electronics maker, has announced the integration of SideChef into its 2018 line of smart ovens and ranges. SideChef currently offers more than 11,000 recipes.
Once the user selects a recipe on SideChef, LG appliances automatically start to perform pre-cook tasks such as heating the oven to the right temperature and trigger cooking timers. As the user follows each step of cooking on the platform, the connected kitchen appliances will also be adjusted automatically to the needed status.
GE Appliances, on the other side, will add SideChef into its Kitchen Hub, a 27-inch touchscreen device that takes voice and gesture commands. It is designed to sit at the center of the smart kitchen connecting with other kitchen appliances.
Homeowners may also use the big center screen in the kitchen, combined with SideChef features, to search recipes, plan meals, create digital cookbooks and have step-by-step cooking guidance.
For people who publish cooking videos on social media, the GE Kitchen Hub even features a camera that focuses on the stovetop. They can record the cooking process and upload the file directly to where they want, using the Kitchen Hub’s Wi-Fi connectivity. GE is expected to release the Kitchen Hub in 2019.
Smart kitchen devices are becoming more helpful. Amazon has also built a partnership with SideChef for its Echo Show and Echo Spot devices, the Alexa-powered speakers with a display.
Owners of the two devices can ask Alexa for SideChef recipe suggestions, and the device will present step-by-step cooking instructions using Alexa voices, photos and videos. They can also ask the assistant for “next steps” or to “repeat instructions.”