The Smart Kitchen Buying Guide
The Smart Kitchen
Smart kitchen technology can help you control, monitor, program, and get notified about the status of your major kitchen appliances – like ovens, fridges, and dishwashers.
This buying guide aims to help you understand whether investing in smart major appliances is right for you.
Last Updated August 27, 2022
In this guide
Imagine you’re at the store, figuring out what you want to make for dinner. You decide on something that can go right into the oven… but the oven has to preheat – it could do that by the time you get home. And you can turn the oven on from your phone!
Imagine you’re trying to eat healthier, you want to make rice, eggs, and vegetables for dinner – but you aren’t sure you can manage 3 pots on the stove at once, or time everything to be ready at the same time. You can cook it all in your steam oven, which will notify you when you add each component so they all finish, perfectly cooked at the same time. It will even adjust the cooking time to get carrots how you like them.
Imagine your dishwasher is running low on detergent. It orders more automatically. It even adds detergent for you.
Your coffee machine descales itself while you’re sleeping.
Your ventilation turns on automatically when your cooktop starts boiling water.
Your oven has a built-in camera that shows you how brown your bread is getting. You can see the picture and adjust the temperature right from your phone.
Your Apple Watch notifies you when the oven is pre-heated, when you need to add the eggs, when the dishes are clean, or when the laundry is done.
This is the Smart Kitchen.
It exists right now – and I have it in my home kitchen.
What is a smart kitchen?
A smart kitchen has internet connected major appliances, countertop appliances, as well as kitchen design features like lights, window coverings, and more.
For major kitchen appliances this can mean things like:
Programming your appliance, such as custom programs baking, or remotely turning on/off your appliance from your phone
Using smart recipes that come with the appliance
Notifying you when your oven is preheated, a timer is finished, or your laundry is done
Monitoring the program and appliance status from your phone or other connected devices
Monitoring the appliance through integrated video cameras, such as an in-oven camera
Using applications on the appliance
Voice control and audio notifications integrated into smart home hubs like Siri and Alexa
There is a slight distinction between a smart kitchen appliance and a connected kitchen appliance. A smart kitchen appliance does automatic programming and maintenance, in addition to everything else a connected kitchen appliance does. A connected kitchen appliance uses the internet to notify you about the appliance status, but is limited in what you can program or the appliance will do automatically.
I own Miele smart appliances for all of my major appliances and that experience has informed much of my point of view on the smart kitchen. I purchased these appliances with my own money after a lot of research, and none of this is sponsored or has been edited by Miele or any other brand.
Miele Combi-Steam Oven’s guided cooking program.
Should I buy smart appliances?
Smart kitchen technology is very new, so there is a lot to consider to determine if it’s worth investing in right now. I’ve written some questions to ask yourself and your appliance store to determine what’s right for you.
Smart major appliances are much more expensive than standard appliances. If you’re not currently replacing your appliances, it would be more cost effective to get a few smart countertop appliances instead (assuming you have the space).
The recommendations in this guide are geared towards people who love to cook or want to cook more, instead of technology for technologies sake. Meaning, fridge TVs need not apply – we all have enough screens.
Will smart appliances help me cook more, or cook healthier foods?
If you struggle to cook at home, it’s important to document and understand what holds you back from cooking the type of food you want to eat, and if the benefits of a smart kitchen help you overcome those barriers. Here are a few examples:
Are you not sure what to make? Smart appliances won’t help you with this directly. They may help, with automatic cooking programs and apps that help you find meal ideas, but it’s a lot more cost effective to get a subscription to NYT Cooking.
Are you too tired to wash, peel, and chop – and pizza is just easier? Smart appliances won’t help you. Meal prep, pre-washing, and pre-chopping your vegetables might help.
Are you too busy to cook? Smart appliances may help you with scheduling automatic start- and ready-at-times, as well as remote monitoring, and remote-control. Notifications are also super helpful, especially if you’re not home or on
Are you unsure how to cook specific foods, you get inconsistent results, or you frequently undercook and/or burn food? Smart appliances with automatic cooking programs will help you. Many smart features help you cook better and healthier food by taking the guess work out of cooking times and temperatures. This helps you get repeatable, predictable results. Notifications and automatic oven shut-off can help prevent you from overcooking food. Integrated thermometers can ensure perfect levels of done-ness.
If cooking is a source of stress and anxiety for you, automatic cooking programs can help minimize that.
Are you buying new major appliances or are you looking at countertop appliances?
For major appliances, if you’re investing in new appliances it’s worthwhile to evaluate if any smart features can fit into your budget. I strongly recommend you test things out at the store. Make them plug the appliance in. Download the apps and test them at the store. Ask questions. Many brands have “Demo Appliances” in their mobile apps, which you can download and try from home (whether they work the same way in reality is something you should test.) I did this before purchasing my appliances.
For countertop appliances, it’s important to look past the buzzwords and look at the features that matter to you. Countertop appliances are more affordable and change faster, so there’s more marketing noise.
Here’s an example of Anova vs Breville.
Sous-Vide: Anova’s Precision Cooker has on-device controls as well as an app on your phone to use predefined recipes and remotely control the sous-vide. Breville’s Joule Sous-Vide (which I own) has no on-device controls but does have a beautiful app filled with recipes and videos. In practice, I really dislike being forced to use an app to control a cooking appliance and wish I got the Anova.
Countertop Ovens: The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro (which I own, and for 9 months was my only oven) is not a smart oven as defined by this guide. It’s a a great countertop oven, my dad has it now and loves it. The Breville Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro is marginally more smart, in that you can connect it to the Joule app and get notifications. The Anova Precision Oven is another beast entirely, giving you complete program design, remote control, and notifications within the app – it’s also a Combi-Steam Oven. Another win for Anova, another regret for me.
Should I buy all my smart appliances from one brand?
If you want the maximum benefits, staying in one brand’s ecosystem so you don’t have to manage several apps is ideal. Miele, for example, has a feature called SuperVision that will show the status of one appliance on another. This means if you’re on another floor doing laundry and an oven timer goes off, it will show on the washing machine’s screen that your oven time is done. The reverse is also true. It’s pretty cool.
What should I ask at the store?
Smart appliances come with complex, touch screen interfaces that are highly variable in quality. Personally, I hated the idea – I wanted knobs. My old Fisher & Paykel oven had the best knobs. The touch screen appliances I have now are, for the most part, great. But I think they would do well to supplement them with knobs for increased accessibility.
In general, you’ll want to figure out if you can live with an interface before you spend thousands of dollars and months waiting for delivery. So when you go to the store, you’ll want to answer for yourself:
How does the interface work? Is it responsive or laggy?
How do you set a temperature? How do you set a timer? How do you cancel a cooking program? How do you modify a your current cooking program?
What happens to the touch screen your hands are wet or oily?
Can you connect it to your phone? What does the app look like? What can the app control?
Are the integrated sensors, like a moisture sensor or probe thermometer? Are these accessible to cooking programs?
Are there automatic cooking programs? Custom cooking programs? Can you remotely control them?
Can you use the device without the internet or without a phone?
Will I need to change my kitchen to support smart appliances?
Probably not, but it will depend.
If you’re replacing existing appliances without doing a major renovation, like replacing a fridge, a range, or a dishwasher, it’s unlikely you’ll need to make major changes. You’ll want to ensure that your new appliances match your existing wiring and plumbing specifications. For example most electric ranges in North America use 30A breakers, but some ranges (like Miele) may require 50A breakers and a fresh water connection. This isn’t as simple as changing a breaker, it like requires a different gauge of wire as well (which could be expensive and destructive to install). If you’re replacing built-in or integrated appliances, such as in-cabinet or in-counter appliances, you’ll need to ensure the dimensions fit or the cabinetry/countertops can be modified.
If you’re doing a major kitchen renovation, I strongly recommend you look at your appliances before your electrical, plumbing, and cabinet designs are complete as they may require changes.
What smart appliance features matter?
Below is my experience with notifications, status & maintenance, and programming & remote control.
Notifications
Most of my appliances have notifications that can come through on my iPhone or Apple Watch. I’ve come to rely on these quite a bit, such as:
The combi-steam oven and oven will alert me when the oven is pre-heated, a cooking timer has finished, or it’s time to add food to a Menu Cooking program
The dishwasher will alert me when the program is done or when supplies like rinse aid are running low or empty
The washing machine and dryer will alert me when the program is done, so I can transfer clothes right away instead of forgetting
The fridge and freezer will alert me if I forget to close the door, or if the water filter for the ice maker needs to be changed
I really like these features. These are really useful in daily life and I think all appliance makers should invest in these notifications instead marketing gimmicks.
There’s no reason this should only be available in luxury appliances and I really hope this comes to mainstream appliances over time.
Status & Maintenance
Miele appliances have status/inventory indicators that I can view in a one-stop-shop what I need to buy from each machine. This is really handy, for example, if you’re at the store and not sure what you’re low on.
I can see on one screen:
Does the fridge need a replacement charcoal filter?
Does the freezer need a replacement water filter?
Does the combi-steam oven need descaled?
Does the coffee machine need beans, need to be cleaned, or descaled?
Does the dishwasher need a new PowerDisk (detergent), rinse aid, or softening salt?
Does the washing machine need more laundry soap, or need to be cleaned?
I also get notifications for faults, which can include appliance errors or human error – like leaving the fridge door open. I also find these to be very useful.
Allegedly you can order these supplies right from within the app, but in practice it just redirects to you the awful Miele Canada website where you need to manually add them to your cart again. I don’t know why their e-commerce website was built in 1998 and never updated, but they really need to modernize this. This is specific to Miele Canada and really has no bearing on the quality of the application or the appliances. I just buy the supplies from Loblaws Marketplace now.
Programming
There’s a few considerations for programming smart appliances. Do you want to use automatic cooking programs, creating your own cooking programs, or remotely control the appliance?
Automatic Cooking & Recipes
Automatic cooking programs have a goal of helping you make better food – even if you don’t know how to cook. You select what you want to make from a menu, like carrots; the level of done-ness for your food, like al dente or soft; and the appliance tells you what cooking tools to use, when to add, and when to remove food.
With my Miele Oven and Miele Combi-Steam Oven, this uses custom set of programs called MChef. In the menu you select the food you’re making – like potatoes – then the variety, then whether they are peeled or sliced or whole, and the level of done-ness. When I was buying my appliances I rolled my eyes at this. “I know how to cook, I don’t need this!” But it turns out that reliable cooking you don’t need to think about is great and I use it every day.
My favourite part about this is called Menu Cooking, which enables you to stack several recipe elements together. Frequently I’ll do a steam cooking program where I’ll make:
steamed rice
soft boiled eggs (cooked by steam)
a steamed vegetable, like broccoli
You might think this would take 3 pots on a cooktop, or sequential use in a steam oven, but no. The program tells you when to add each element so they all finish at the same time.
This also works on the standard oven with an integrated temperature probe thermometer, which adjusts the cooking time to create perfect roast beef or whole roasted chicken.
You can also use automatic cooking programs for a “ready at” function that will automatically turn on the oven at a set time.
Many ovens, including the countertop Breville Joule Oven and Anova Precision Oven, have their own takes on menu cooking.
For my Joule sous-vide, this works in a similar way by selecting in their app what food you’re cooking and what your desired level of doneness is.
This appears to be coming to cooktops, but it’s not quite ready for prime time. In 2021, I was very excited to order a Thermador Freedom full-surface induction cooktop that had remote thermometers and a large touch screen, but after waiting a year for it, it being discontinued, I’ve come to learn that appliance is vaporware. I hope the technology comes to market one day. Miele appears to be working on one.
Custom Cooking Programs
Custom cooking programs enable you to pre-program specific actions you want to happen during a cooking cycle. This is really useful if you have a set recipe that requires changing the oven temperature. For example, I built a custom program for sourdough bread on my Miele combi-steam oven:
Pre-heat the oven to 450°F, which sends a notification to my Apple Watch
Once I put the bread in the oven, I press “Added Food” on the oven
The oven then switches to a 450°F convection + steam bake, with 85% moisture, for 20 minutes
After that 20 minutes it automatically switches to 400°F convection that evacuates steam for a dry bake, for 30 minutes, turns off the oven, and notifies me on my Apple Watch that the program is done
It’s the same every time. It’s automatic. It’s saved as a program called “Bread” on my ovens Home Screen.
Remote Control Programs
Remote control programs enable you to change the parameters of a cooking program from your phone. For example,
Remotely turn the appliance on or off
View and adjust the active program parameters
Create, modify, and save custom programs for future use
Miele enables you to remotely pre-heat or turn off an oven, change cooking program parameters, monitor program status – like when laundry will be done, and more. I think there is more than can be done here, for example with setting complex timers or building custom cooking, cleaning, or laundry programs. Currently those have to be done on the appliances.
Some cooktops and ventilation units are integrated – I thought mine was when purchasing, but it is not – where the cooktop can turn on and regulate the ventilation speed based on the current cooking program and measured temperature of the cooking surface.
Remote Monitoring
Probe thermometers
Ovens can have wireless or wired probe thermometers that enable you to monitor the real-time internal temperature of your food, estimate for when your food will reach the target temperature, or work backwards from you target “ready at” time to tell you when to start the program. Need your turkey ready for 6:30? The oven can tell you when to add it, or if you need to distract everyone for another hour.
Cameras
I am still waiting on delivery of a Miele H7880BP, which is a single oven with a built-in heat-proof camera. Allegedly it will produce time-lapse video and real-time preview of inside the oven. I am excited to see if it lives up to the marketing hype. I think this is only a useful upgrade for people creating food media, especially given the cost (it retailed for CAD$10,449 at time of purchase) but I’ll revise my point of view once I’ve lived with it.
Which features matter on each smart appliance?
Ovens, and Combi-Steam Ovens
Browse, select, and use guided cooking programs on the appliance or on your phone
Create your own custom cooking programs
Remotely start, stop, and modify programs – like pre-heating the oven, turning the oven off, changing the temperature, or setting timers
Use wired or wireless probe thermometers to remotely monitor target cooking temperatures
Get notifications, like when your oven has pre-heated, it’s time to add food, or your cooking program has finished
Automatically clean and descale the appliance
Verdict: High value upgrade
Cooktops & Ventilation
Cooktops are the least mature area of the smart kitchen, with large promise but little value at this point
Remotely monitor the status of your cooktop settings
Automatically start and stop ventilation from a connected overhead fan or downdraft based on the cooking temperatures
Verdict: Save your money, but if you’re anxious about whether you left the stove on this could be helpful (you can’t turn the stove off, you still need to go home)
Dishwashers
Track how much detergent, rinse aid, and water softener salt you have left
Automatically re-order supplies
Remotely start, stop, and modify programs
See program status, like time remaining
Get notifications, like when dishes are clean or the appliances has an error
View energy and water usage
Verdict: High value upgrade
Fridges & Freezers
Get notifications, like if the power goes out, you left the door open, or the charcoal filter or water filter need to be changed
Remotely monitor and modify the temperature, such as turning on rapid cool modes ahead of bringing home a large amount of groceries
Remotely monitor the status, such as how full the ice maker is
The main value here is in notifications when the power goes out or the door is left open. In the future, interior cameras would help when you need to figure out “Am I out of milk?” at the store.
Verdict: If you are frequently away from home, or you have a second fridge in the basement monitoring the fridge is closed is worth the cost. Otherwise this is a nice to have.
Laundry
Browse, select, and schedule laundry programs on the appliance or on your phone, such as putting dirty laundry in before bed and scheduling a wash to finish when you wake up (so laundry doesn’t sit wet all night)
Create your own saved custom laundry programs
Remotely start, stop, and modify the washing or drying program
Get notifications, like when your wash cycle or drying cycle have completed, or when you need to run a sanitation cycle on the appliance
Automatically dispense laundry detergent and alert you when you need to replace cartridges
Automatically order more laundry detergent when you’re running low
Verdict: High value upgrade
Coffee Machines
Automatically clean the machine’s pipework and automatically descale the machine
Remotely view supply status, like coffee bean and cleaning supplies, which is helpful if you’re at the store
Automatically re-order supplies
You can get features like remote control, but I find they are of little utility in practice. The coffee machine rinses itself when it turns on, and needs a mug underneath to make coffee – so you need to be physically present.
You can get features like notifications, but coffee takes 30 seconds, so what do you need to be notified about?
It would be of great utility if you could remotely program the coffee machine since there is a wide variety of minutia you need to program (like pre-infusion time, pre-infusion temperature, brew time, brew temperature, drink volume, coffee grind volume, etc) for each drink and bean combination, but I haven’t seen this yet.
Verdict: Automatic cleaning, yes. Everything else, not until you can create modify the program settings from your phone.
Is the smart kitchen worth the cost?
It depends on how much money you want to spend.
If you’re in the market for luxury appliances, the smart home is here. Right now. You can have it for $50,000+ in appliances.
Miele – Independent corporation, made in Germany
Miele has an excellent connected kitchen experience, the app is first class, and the integrations are highly stable. The app has seen numerous, high value upgrades since I’ve had my appliances. The app has a 3.5 Star Rating on the Canadian Apple App Store as of August 2022. My own experience would rate the at 4.5.Thermador/Gaggenau – Owned by Bosch, made in USA and Germany
I can’t speak to the lived experience with Thermador outside of their app’s demo mode, since they never shipped an appliance to me (after waiting a year it was discontinued). Their demo app was okay. I’m still mad at them for never shipping a cooktop to me. Allegedly they offer robust controls, but allegedly they also deliver appliances. Bosch Home Connect has a 4.3 star rating on the Canadian Apple App Store as of August 2022.Wolf/SubZero – Owned by Sub-Zero Group, an American conglomerate, made in USA
Sub Zero Groups’ app looks like it was designed by the intern tasked with “help us get this checkmark in our product marketing so we can compete with Miele on paper” and they should be embarrassed. My apologies to the intern. Sub-Zero Group Owner’s App (the title tells you all you need to know) has a 1 star rating on Canadian Apple App Store as of August 2022.Monogram – Owned by Haier, a Chinese conglomerate, made in China
Monogram appears to offer robust controls (they even list them on the website!) and a well designed app. Smart HQ by Haier (who also own GE, Fisher & Paykel, and Haier) has a 2.2 star rating on the Canadian Apple App Store as of August 2022.Bertazzoni – An Italian conglomerate that also owns Smeg, made in Italy
If you’re in the market for mid-tier appliances, you can get much of the same build quality and cooking quality, but you lose the convenience upgrades that may be important to you.
AEG, see Electrolux below.
Bosch, see Thermador above.
Dacor, which is Samsung’s “premium” brand. See Samsung below.
Fisher & Paykel, see Monogram above.
KitchenAid – Owned by Whirlpool Corp. and made in USA
Appears to offer robust controls and a well designed app. KitchenAid’s app has a 4.2 star rating on the Canadian Apple App Store as of August 2022.
For entry level appliances, like Samsung, LG, GE, and Electrolux, the level of refinement in the experience is missing. Many of the smarts are marketing gimmicks, like TVs on fridges, instead of useful features that improve daily life. The actual connected appliances experience, like LG Studio, are marketing announcements and not released products.
Electrolux, and Frigidaire, owned by Investor AB, a Swedish private equity firm and made in USA and China. Electrolux also owns AEG, Frigidaire, and Anova.
GE, see Monogram above.
Haier, see Monogram above.
LG, a large South Korean conglomerate, made in South Korea and China
Samsung, a large South Korean conglomerate, made in South Korea and China
Whirlpool, see KitchenAid above. Whirlpool Corp. also owns JennAir and Maytag.
For countertop appliances, the refinement is there – but so is the cost. The Anova Precision Oven and the Breville Joule Oven Pro, both countertop appliances, costs nearly as much as many people pay for an entry-level 30” range.
Anova (owned by Electrolux), made in China
Breville, a large Australian conglomerate, made in Australia
At the end of the day, this technology is still in an early adopter stage. You need to determine if this is where your budget should go. It is a nice to have, not a need to have.