Weekend Open Forum: What's your favorite home gadget?

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,256   +192
Staff member

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in and around our homes with each passing day. From smart thermostats and cloud-based security cameras to virtual assistants and Bluetooth-enabled smart locks, technology is making even the most mundane of tasks easier and more convenient than ever.

One area of the home that I’ve recently infused with tech is the kitchen.

I’ll be frank – my culinary skills are severely lacking, an unfortunate realization considering my desire to experiment with new foods. I suppose I could do things the old fashioned way and simply learn how to cook but why bother when technology is on my side?

I recently hitched a ride on the hipster express and purchased a sous vide precision cooker, the ChefSteps Joule which is backed by Valve's Gabe Newell. Also known as an immersion circulator, sous vide involves cooking food in vacuum-sealed bags (or Ziplocs) submersed in water. That may not sound all that appealing but the method offers several benefits compared to traditional cooking techniques and has been used in the restaurant industry for years.

For starters, it’s virtually impossible to overcook food as it is kept at the same exact temperature throughout the process. Because food is vacuum-sealed, all of the seasoning and juices are locked in and can’t escape. What’s more, with a persistent cooking temperature, you get a perfectly uniform level of doneness throughout the dish that simply can't be achieved with other methods.

I’ve experimented with multiple cuts of steak as well as chicken and sausage in the few weeks since my purchase and am incredibly happy with the results thus far. There are a few shortcomings and some tips you'll want to know but by and large, I’m now able to cook dishes to perfection with very little effort.

With this week’s open forum, we’re curious to hear about the around-the-house tech you’ve tried and your experiences with them. What would you recommend and what should be avoided? Let us know in the comments section below.

PS – if a full review of the ChefSteps sous vide is something you’d be interested in, let us know as well!

Permalink to story.

 
Well, not quite home, exactly, but the LiOn-battery electric yard tools have surprised me -- small gas-engines have Always hated me, so I took a chance (not expecting much against the whoah, price). They've been very good and have lasted 3 years and counting.
 
Dishwasher. The amount of time I save by not washing the dishes is insane. The quality of the washing is also far superior to hand-washing. And I can honestly say that this machine saved my marriage, no more fights over whose turn it is to do the dishes, it's always mine.
 
PS – if a full review of the ChefSteps sous vide is something you’d be interested in, let us know as well!

YES PLEASE!
 
knowing anything about what you are commenting upon can be challenging..
especially when I used a direct quote from the article, champ... so what's your point???

I think you may have misunderstood me. You 'package' the food yourself by putting it in a Ziploc or vacuum-sealing it after you've seasoned it. The video embedded above should give you a better idea of how it all works :)
 
.. and I -could- have kinder in my response - superiority in "disedumacated" statements can cause me to react poorly.

Rephrase: are you sure that it is the Sous Vide method of cooking to which you are commenting?
 
"cooking food in vacuum-sealed bags (or Ziplocs) submersed in water"
Is that really cooking??? pre-packed, pre-washed, pre-soaked (in who knows what)... Perhaps preparing your food should be a primary concern. After all you are what you eat.

BTW I'm sure the kitchen appliances feed their makers (masters) all the data they harvest about their users (users, not owners anymore), while happily weakening the security of your home network (due to hard coded default passwords, lack of patches/updates etc). At least put these IOT nightmares on separate VLANs (Virtual LAN)

What??? Pre-everything-you-said is not mentioned in the article. You fill the ziploc or vacuum-sealed bag with your own ingredients.
 
My Perfect drink/bake scale. I'm all about having things turn out consistently. Whether it's a mixed drink or a cookie. I've switched to the method of weighing ingredients rather then measuring them. So very precise, If I add too much of one ingredient by accident the app will tell me how much more of the others I need to add to compensate. I may have to look into one of these sous vide precision cookers now. I have no problem with any devices being connected via Bluetooth. As for other "gadgets" everything else is Z-Wave controlled minus the hub being connected the my router. I have not ventured into any IOT devices yet. I haven't seen any that truly hold my interest. I'm still waiting for the fridge/infrastructure that will be able to recognize we are down to 1/2 gallon of milk, 1/4 loaf of bread, 2 eggs and be able to have your items ready for pick up or delivery from a local store. Wish full thinking... I hate grocery shopping.
 
Robo-Stir!!!

Possibly the most useless thing ever.... wait... this was for most useful... scratch that!

My toaster-oven... couldn't live without it...
 
Amazon Echo. Was pretty skeptical when I got it as a gift. But between being a nice way to play an unlimited amount of music and providing basic information ("Alexa, what's the forecast for tomorrow." "Alexa, set the timer for 24 minutes"), I use the Echo probably between 2-3 hours a day, closer to 4-5 hours a day on the weekends.
 
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