Guide to creating a smart kitchen

“Can you help me in the kitchen?" How many times have you posed that question to your kids, your spouse, even your mother-in-law? And how many times have you been left to chop the vegetables, do the dishes, or set the table on your own?

Here's an idea that might make your life easier: What if your oven, your fridge, and your dishwasher were smart enough to do their jobs without you?

With the right gadgets, it's possible. We'll help you choose what fits your needs. At Asurion, we fix and protect your favorite tech, including your smart home devices. Here's our guide for how to make a smart kitchen.

Boost your kitchen's brain power with a smart home hub

Most smart kitchens start with a central hub. This device connects to and directs all your other gadgets over the internet, letting you control them with an app or your voice.

Some smart appliances come with their own hubs, which might make a separate hub unnecessary. Just remember: Not all smart home tech works well together (at least not yet), so make sure your hub is compatible with any devices you already own.

Lighten your workload with smart kitchen appliances

Want to cut down on the time you spend behind the sink or at the stove? Here are smart appliances for the kitchen you'll find cool and convenient.

Get cooking with a smart range hood and oven

The GE® Profile Kitchen Hub Smart Range Hood is a combination ventilation system and smart hub with a built-in Google Assistant™. This device lets you dim your smart lights or turn on other smart GE appliances—like your coffee maker—via touch screen or with your voice. You can also access apps with recipes, send real-time cooking videos to your friends, play music, or automatically turn a smart range on or off.

Want to go low-tech with your range hood but cook with a smart oven? Check out models from the Bosch® Home Technology line or the Thermador® Pro Series line, which you can control from your smartphone or with your voice.

Talk to your smart microwave

Heating up food in your microwave is convenient. But what if you didn't even have to push a button? Smart microwaves, like the GE Smart Countertop Microwave Oven or the Amazon™ Basics Smart Microwave, respond to voice commands through your hub. All you need to say is, “Alexa, pop popcorn," and voila.

Chill out with a smart fridge

If you're at the grocery store and wondering whether you need carrots, a smart fridge with built-in cameras like the Samsung® 4-Door Refrigerator with Family Hub® can help. It lets you check what's inside your fridge from your phone. This model and others, like the LG® Electronics French Door Instaview® Refrigerator, let you use an app to set food and freezer temperatures from your smartphone.

Try a clever clean-up with a smart dishwasher

Dishes come out of the dishwasher perfectly clean with a model like the Miele® G7000 Dishwasher, which dispenses the correct amount of detergent for each cycle. Meanwhile, a smart dishwasher with a system like the Samsung Smart Dry with AutoRelease door, circulates air and adjusts its temperature to avoid wasting energy.

Get smart with connected kitchen gadgets

If you're looking to get even smarter about your kitchen chores, check out the latest in smart kitchen technology with these gadgets:

Wake up wiser with a smart coffee maker

Want to make your morning Joe even better? Try a smart coffee maker from Hamilton Beach® or Atomi®. Both work with your Alexa™ app or smart speaker. Program your machine to automatically start brewing at the same time every morning using Routines in the Alexa app, or you can simply say, “Alexa, turn on my coffee maker."

Perfect dinner with a smart sous vide

If you want to slow cook a perfect steak or piece of fish, try a machine like the Inkbird® Sous Vide Precision Cooker or the Anova® Culinary Wi-Fi Sous Vide Precision Cooker. When you connect it to the app, these devices will warm your water to a constant temperature and sound an alarm when your water drops too low.

Take the pressure off with a smart slow cooker

The kitchen gadget with the highest IQ may be a slow cooker like the Instant Pot® Pro 10-in-1. It has 10 functions that let you slow cook, steam, sauté, make yogurt, and more. Use one of 28, one-touch cooking programs, or set your cooking time and method from your smartphone. Another option: the June Oven, which functions as a convection oven, air fryer, dehydrator, broker, toaster, and warming drawer, just by tapping your smartphone.

Do the right math with a smart kitchen scale

Need help with math in the kitchen? A device like the Drop Connected Kitchen Scale makes it easy to substitute ingredients and change portion sizes by making calculations for you. Hundreds of recipes on the app for everything from cupcakes to appetizers make you an even more precise baker or chef. If calorie-counting is your focus, try a gadget like the Etekcity® Smart Nutrition Scale, which shows nutritional information, including calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, and fiber via the app, and also connects to your FitBit®.