I've owned an Amazon Echo since December 2015. For almost three years, that black little smart speaker has changed the way I live in my apartment.
But while the Echo has tons of features and skills for all types of needs and situations, I'd argue that Amazon's line of smart speakers are actually best used in the kitchen.
Whether you treat meals like business or you love cooking, here are 5 ways Amazon Echo can make cooking better, easier, and more fun:
1. Amazon Echo can actually suggest recipes! Just say "What should I cook tonight?" or "What should I make with [insert your favorite foods here]?
If I say "What should I cook tonight?", Echo will start listing off names of dishes you can make. You can say "learn more" to get the full recipe, or say "next" to get another suggestion of what to cook.
In the past, Alexa has recommended all sorts of interesting dishes, including caramel corn, ham and potato soup, Dad's leftover turkey pot pie, sugarcoated pecans, scones, and more.
But if you have specific ingredients you want to cook with — like chicken, or potatoes — Alexa can offer specific "top" recipes with those ingredients. And you can also ask to get recipes that use multiple ingredients: If you want to cook with both chicken and ground beef, for example, just say, "Alexa, what should I cook with chicken and ground beef?" and your Echo might recommend a recipe for an Italian wedding soup.
2. Setting multiple timers and forgetting about them is the best.
If you're ever wondering how much time you have left, just say "Alexa, how much time is left on my timers?" and it will tell you the time that's left on all your various timers.
What makes setting timers superior on the Echo is that you can name them, which is incredibly helpful when you're multitasking — and in the kitchen, that's often the case.
For example, you can set different timers for foods that are cooking at different speeds: Just say "Alexa, set a broccoli timer for 10 minutes" and "Alexa, set a chicken timer for 25 minutes." When those timers go off, Alexa will say "your chicken timer is done" and "your broccoli timer is done." Being able to set and name your timers, all hands-free, makes it much easier to keep track of everything you're cooking.
3. Amazon Echo can also manage your shopping list.
Did you just run out of garlic? Maybe you need more butter? Just say, "Alexa, add [insert food here] to the shopping list" and Echo will add that item to your shopping list, which you can access in the Alexa app on your phone.
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