Alexa gets to hang out with all the cool kids. Ford recently announced Amazon Alexa voice control system connectivity with three of its electric models. Now we learn that Alexa can take charge of ChefSteps‘ sous vide low-temperature water cooking appliance, Joule, according to Geek Wire.
The ChefSteps Joule sous vide appliance has an accompanying smartphone app. The app lets you set precise temperature settings, comes with recipes with instructions for cooking with the Joule.Cooking sous vide is a technique in which food in a vacuum bag is cooked in “precisely controlled, low-temperature water,” according to the ChefSteps website. There is also a “visual doneness” guide to help set the exact temperature for how you want your food cooked. In addition, the Joule app will notify you when the water is hot and when your food is ready. Now Alexa is in the pot, too.
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The initial Alexa implementation, approved this week and available now, lets you ask Alexa to turn the unit on or off , set the water temperature, and report the current water temperature. According to ChefSteps, the company will watch how its customers use the device with Alexa and expand skills and tasks from the feedback. They will be training the Alexa skill set how to cook steak and other specific foods.
According to ChefSteps writer Jessica Voelker, “We started thinking about voice control and it’s basically like having a second set of hands in the kitchen. Just the same way a chef could yell out ‘fire that dish’ at a line cook, you can do that with Alexa.”
ChefSteps software developer Huy Nguyen is a new father who likes to cook. “Being able to develop something like this that I found useful right away during development, I knew I hit something really useful in the kitchen, and I think other people would also find it super useful,” Nguyen said. “Our lives are super busy nowadays, our hands are full, my hands are full with a baby, it just fit well with my life.”
Joule and Alexa have individually been great successes. Now that they work together, their synergy is likely to have positive results for both as well as for people who use them.
So, smokeless smoked ribs cooked at 185 degrees for four hours. Got that, Alexa?
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