Video Transcript
Jeff: Sometimes, I think auto-correct does more harm than good. I was just trying to text my sister the word “twinkie,” which is a word, and it changes it to “twinkle,” and she says, “What is ‘twinkle’? What do you mean?”
Andrea: Isn’t it the same thing?
Jeff: I said, “I’m trying to say ‘twinkie,'” you know?
Ryan: Why are you texting your sister “twinkie”?
Jeff: About Twinkies?
Ryan: Yeah.
Jeff: That’s a private conversation…
Ryan: It’s a Denver thing.
Jeff: It’s a Denver thing.
Ryan: I got you.
Jeff: Exactly.
Ryan: Yeah, that makes sense.
Jeff: We’ve got Ryan Eldridge, his wife, Andrea, here with us, Squirrel Digital Marketing, and this time we’re talking about Thanksgiving tech and what you can do inside your kitchen. it’s very fitting.
Ryan: Yes. So let’s start with a… Let’s say you’re making something, right, and you need to set a timer or you need…
Jeff: Or a Twinkie.
Ryan: Yeah, or you need to look at a recipe. Well, yeah. You’re doing deep-fried Twinkies, whatever, right? We have an Amazon Echo in our kitchen, so we can set timers and all kind of stuff. It’s really cool.
Jeff: It’s great. I have one, too.
Ryan: And the Show, the new Amazon Show actually has a little screen on it so you can kinda, like, see recipes, watch a little YouTube-like stuff. The problem is it’s 230 bucks. It’s super-expensive. So…
Andrea: Well, and you can’t watch YouTube because they lost their YouTube contract. [crosstalk 00:00:57].
Ryan: Exactly. So here’s a cool alternative. This is called just the Amazon Fire Tablet and you can get it for 50 bucks. Wait for Black Friday, though, it’s gonna be 30 bucks. And we just put it in a little case here, and it’s by… What’s the name of that?
Andrea: Suplik.
Ryan: Suplik.
Andrea: It’s a $15 case. You can flip the bottom down so that it’s nice and squishy and you won’t damage your tablet, and it still stands up.
Ryan: Yeah.
Jeff: Nice.
Ryan: And this makes sense. So you can bring your recipes with you, you can still talk to Alexa and do all the things you wanna do, but you save so much money.
Jeff: Perfect.
Andrea: The main difference is it doesn’t have voice activation, so you do have to press the button to get Alexa to launch. The nice part, obviously, with, like, an Echo Dot is you can just say, “Alexa, set a timer for…” So you still get the Alexa capability, you just have to do that one little touch.
Jeff: Do you know what you just did?
Andrea: What?
Jeff: You made a lot of people at home have their Alexas perk up and set a timer.
Andrea: Sorry about that.
Ryan: This is the funnest gadget. This is the one everybody’s gonna want. This is called the Drop Scale, the connected scale for… You run it with an app. Now, it seems like… What’s the big deal about a little scale, right? You put a bowl on it and use the app for your recipe and you just put stuff in there until it tells you to stop. So no more measuring cups.
Andrea: So you don’t have to use measuring cups or measuring spoons at all, which is… It does both food and drinks, so you can make cocktails as well as your recipes, and its just super-exciting. It’s also… They’ve been working on some relationships, so they’ve got connections with GE appliances as well as Bosch. So the scale can actually communicate with your oven, tell your oven the temperature to preheat to at just the right time and also tell your oven how long it needs to cook for, so it’s pretty cool. It’s like kinda this little bridge to make everything in your kitchen work together.
Jeff: Well, for people like me who can’t cook, that is perfect. What is this?
Ryan: This is a Bluetooth-connected thermometer for if you’re cooking meat outside or on the grill or something like that.
Andrea: It works in your oven, as well, though. So it does work inside.
Ryan: That’s super-cool. And so this is by Inkbird, it’s only 29 bucks, so you give it to Dad as a present after you used it for Thanksgiving. Say, “It’s just slightly used, Dad.”
Andrea: The nice thing is, though, then you don’t have to keep opening your oven and re-measuring your temperature manually. It will send it to your phone or to your app, wherever you have that app running, and it will tell you when the meat reaches the right temperature so you don’t have to keep checking on the bird more often than necessary.
Ryan: And you can watch your football all day on Thanksgiving.
Jeff: There you go. There you go.
Ryan: You don’t have to worry about checking stuff.
Andrea: That’s really the key, yeah.
Ryan: So the last one is the iRobot.
Andrea: It’s got different kind of pads and the robot actually will determine what kind of cleaning it’s gonna do by the pad that you install. So it’s got wet mopping, it’s got dry…
Jeff: Oh, that’s smart. That’s smart.
Andrea: …and it does have some reusable ones, too, so if you don’t want to purchase these guys, the… The robot itself is $170. These guys, they’re 10 pads for $8, or you can get the reusable mopping pads and then throw them in the wash and that’s two for 20. So…
Jeff: It’s all stuff that can make your Thanksgiving a lot easier and a lot more stress-free. We have the information there on your screen. Guys, thank you for coming in. As always, good seeing you.
Andrea: Yeah.
Ryan: You’re welcome.
Jeff: And if I don’t see you before Thanksgiving, have a happy Thanksgiving.
Ryan: We’re coming to your house for Thanksgiving.
Jeff: Oh, you are?
Ryan: Oh, yeah.
Jeff: Oh, great. Okay.
Ryan: Yeah.
Jeff: Come on over and bring all the stuff. We’ll be right back after this.
Smart gadgets can make cooking and clean up in the kitchen a lot easier.
From having recipes and cooking videos at your beck and call to smart thermometers that alert you when the turkey’s done, make sure you spend more of this Thanksgiving with the family and less time in the kitchen with these connected gadgets.
1. Dedicated Tablet With Protective Case
When Amazon’s new Amazon Echo Show came out I was excited. Getting hands-free access to recipes and cooking shows in the kitchen seems like a perfect Alexa offering.
But then I discovered that the Show’s functionality is limited. Amazon recently had a falling out with YouTube, so no watching videos from the huge giant.
And you’re limited to those Alexa apps with integrated video (hint: there aren’t that many).
Instead, an Amazon Fire 7” Tablet with Alexa gives you more functionality for so much less.
You’ll be spending about$50. And on occasion, the price will drop even lower (it’s currently $40).
The only thing you miss out on is voice command – but you can launch Alexa by pressing the home button on the Fire 7.
Here’s why the Fire tablet is great for Thanksgiving:
- Expandable memory
Armed with 8GB memory, you can upgrade storage to 256GB+.
That means space for movies, music, and books alongside your cooking recipes.
- Have a kitchen helper at all times
Where this little guy shines is its ability to bring thousands of chefs straight to your kitchen.
Install the AllRecipes app and store your favorite Thanksgiving dishes.
The app can even prepare your grocery list for you and provide step-by-step directions so your dishes turn out delish.
Since it’s tablet, you can easily carry it around the store or to someone else’s house if you aren’t hosting this year’s shindig.
- Easy to watch cooking tutorials
Thinking of watching tutorials on YouTube on how to craft the perfect turkey?
Or do you want to keep tabs on the score without falling behind on the stuffing?
You can do both with the Fire 7 whereas watching video on the Echo Show is still very limited.
- Set reminders or be entertained
Have Alexa set reminders or keep you entertained with an eBook, news briefing, or family games while you wait for the sweet potatoes to roast.
If you’re keeping your tablet in the kitchen, you need to protect it from drops, splashes, and splatters.
The Suplik handle case with a screen protector is a great inexpensive solution for much-needed padding.
It’s your first line of defense against cooking mishaps.
The case also morphs into a stand which is pretty darn handy.
2. Food Prep Made Easy
Imagine concocting dishes and drinks with no measuring cups or spoons. Sound like a recipe for disaster?
Not with the Drop Connected Kitchen Scale and Step by Step Recipe App.
Simply set your bowl on the scale, pull up the recipe that you want to make in the Drop app, and the scale will communicate with your phone or tablet telling you when to stop pouring or adding based on weight.
For $79, you can do away with measuring cups forever.
You can measure ingredients down to the exact gram on an electronic scale as you follow along with recipes on the accompanying Recipe App.
The scale even connects wirelessly with Bosch and GE connected appliances, telling your smart oven when to turn on, what to pre-heat to and how long to cook.
This means you don’t have to worry about burnt or undercooked food.
The app is currently available for iOS and Android.
3. Wireless Bluetooth Digital Thermometer
Wouldn’t it be amazing to get a perfectly cooked bird or ham without having to run back and forth to the oven or smoker?
Well, dream no longer.
The Inkbird Wireless Bluetooth Meat Thermometer (for $29.99) is here to save the day.
The digital thermometer works whether you’re cooking, grilling, barbecuing, or putting meat in the oven.
The thermometer connects to your iPhone or Android device via bluetooth.
All you have to do is set the thermometer to a specific temperature and the app will notify you when the temperature is reached.
The build quality is durable with two food-grade stainless steel probes.
4. Leave The Floors To The Robot
Spills and splashes are inevitable on Thanksgiving.
Now you don’t have to worry about following your guests around with a shammy rag. Leave the floors to the mopping robot!
Jet sprays and vibrating cleaning heads loosen dirt as the iRobot’s Braava jet mopping robot cleans up goo and debris.
Designed to mop and sweep most floor types (hardwood, water-resistant laminate, tile, and stone), the robot recognizes the pad you’ve attached and customizes cleaning accordingly.
There are 3 cleaning pads to choose from for different types of cleaning:
- Wet mop to remove dirt and stains
- Damp sweeping for cleaning everyday dust and dirt
- Dry sweeping for collecting dust from hardwood floors
Replacement pads cost $7.99 for 10 disposable pads or $20 for 2 reusable mopping pads.
You can also download an app to your iPhone or Android to control the robot.
Enjoy Your Thanksgiving!
Let smart kitchen gadgets help with the cooking and cleaning so you can spend more of this Thanksgiving with family and friends.
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