Oven technology keeps getting better and better- I can now just tell my oven what I’m cooking and it optimizes temperature and time, preheat my oven on my way home from work and have my thermostat cool down my kitchen when my oven is on. New oven technology is creating better chefs, safer homes and adding convenience to everyday life.
Built-In Meat Thermometer
More and more ovens are being built with meat thermometers that can be plugged in to the oven chamber and monitored from the control panel. Home cooking, including my favorite prime rib, has never been easier to make. Simply plug the probe into the oven jack and insert the probe horizontally into the thickest part of your food. From the oven control panel you set your desired temperature, 145° for the perfect medium rare prime rib, and the oven will alarm when the temperature is reached.
Regular meat probes are a hassle to set up. Built-in meat thermometers on the other hand, don’t require you to open the oven door and they sync with your oven to let you know your food is cooked perfectly.
Some ovens, like Wolf’s M Series, take perfectly cooked meals one step further. You can use Gourmet mode to tell the oven what your cooking and how you want it cooked. For example, I can throw in a prime rib, insert the meat probe and tell the oven I want it done medium rare. The timer will go off when it’s perfectly cooked and I don’t have to worry about inputting temperature or time.
Clearly, I’m going to use the meat probe for mostly prime rib but you can get creative! Meat thermometers work with all cuts of meat and can be used with anything you put in the oven including breads, casseroles and pastries.
Preset Cooking Modes
Like Wolf’s Gourmet Mode, a few other ovens incorporate preset cooking modes to make creating delicious meals easy.
Miele calls their preset menu MasterChef, and for good reason. There are over 100 different programs to choose from. Meats, breads, cakes? No problem. It’s as easy as clicking a button to tell your oven your oven you’re cooking 4 chicken breasts and viola, your oven sets itself to the perfect temperature and time. A MasterChef bonus is that it works in several languages so if you parle françias or habla español, your oven does too.
You can save your go-to programs to your favorites and if you’re like me and have a couple recipes you know exactly how you like them cooked (Grandma & Grandpa’s sausage needs to cook in the oven for 18 minutes at 425 degrees) it’s easy to save custom recipes to MasterChef.
While we’re talking about Miele I should mention a couple other ways they go above and beyond to make you a better chef. The moisture plus setting releases steam during the cooking process so that your breads, roasts and baked goods don’t dry up. On the other side of the spectrum is the crisp function, which reduces the moisture for a perfect pizza crust or crispy French fries. Now that’s useful oven technology!
Connectivity
Making us all better chefs is just one part of oven technology, there are futuristic features being added in today’s ovens that connect us to our kitchens like never before.
Monogram ovens
are Wi-Fi connected and through their smartphone app you can easily preheat, change temperature and set timers from anywhere. That means you could start preheating your oven as you’re checking out at the grocery store, receive a notification when your oven is preheated as your relaxing poolside or set a timer to go off in 15 minutes without having to leave the couch.
Monogram ovens also connect with the Amazon Echo, allowing you to control your oven with a voice command. So while you’re somehow chopping vegetables, stirring sauce and getting the kids a snack from the refrigerator at the same time, all you have to say is “Alexa, tell Geneva to preheat the oven to 400” and your oven turns on just like that.
All this magic technology is built with safety in mind. Your oven needs to be in “remote enable” mode (so you don’t accidentally start up your oven) and you aren’t able to heat your oven if it’s been left open.
Thermostat Connectivity
New Jenn-Air ovens use their Wi-Fi connectivity to sync with your Nest thermostat. If your kitchen gets warm while the oven is on, your Nest can automatically drop the temperature when the oven starts. Nest can even turn your oven off if it recognizes that you’ve left the house with your oven on.
It’s A Wrap
Whether keeping us connected or helping us cook the perfect meal, oven technology has come a long way and continues to get better. Even the most timid cooks and newbie chefs can craft like the pros in a smart oven. All these smart oven features can easily seem overwhelming, but if you focus on your daily lifestyle and which features will provide the greatest benefit to you and your family’s cooking routine, you’ll find the right smart oven for your home.
If you still have questions, are ready to buy or just want to experience the latest oven technology first hand, stop by a Factory Builder Stores’ showroom or ask us a question online!
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