Top smart-home kitchen appliances
Anova Precision Cooker Bluetooth + Wi-Fi involves submerging sealed meat or other food in a water bath to cook at a constant temperature. Credit: CBS Interactive
Your coffee maker might be smarter than you think. And don't underestimate the intelligence of that immersion circulator either. These are CNET's picks for four of the best small appliances that use connected capabilities to help out in the kitchen. Too bad they can't clean up.
Anova Precision Cooker Bluetooth + Wi-Fi
CNET rating (out of 5)
4 stars (excellent)
THE GOOD The sous vide cooker prepares food that retains its moisture and it keeps a steady water-bath temperature. The device is also poised to have expanded connectivity to Apple's HomeKit in the future.
THE BAD You still have to properly prep food in plastic bags before you place it in your water bath and sear some items at the end of your cooking time.
THE COST $126.96 to $179.99
BOTTOM LINE The Anova Wi-Fi makes it easy to sous vide from afar, thanks to the response app.
Joule Wi-Wi-enabled immersion circulator
CNET rating (out of 5)
4 stars (excellent)
THE GOOD The Joule has an app that will teach you a thing or two about sous vide cooking. It also works with Alexa, Amazon's digital assistant, to help connect your cooking to the rest of your smart home.
THE BAD The lack of controls is irritating if you want to glance at the immersion circulator to get an update on its status. The integration with Alexa has some kinks.
THE COST $199
BOTTOM LINE The perfect product for the ambitious chef who's also into smart-home technology.
Behmor Connected Coffee Brewer
CNET rating (out of 5)
3.5 stars (very good)
THE GOOD This device makes excellent coffee and keeps it hot for hours. The coffee maker links to a mobile app for an outstanding amount of control over the brewing process.
THE BAD Like other machines that heat their water first, it needs more time to brew than its competition. The coffee maker also lacks features found in its predecessor, such as tracking water temperature in real time and manual water release.
THE COST $169.99 to $199.99
BOTTOM LINE Great drip coffee and smart use of its app.
Crock-Pot WeMo Smart Slow Cooker
CNET rating (out of 5)
3.5 stars (very good)
THE GOOD You can monitor and adjust the Crock-Pot WeMo Smart Slow Cooker's timer and heat settings straight from the Belkin WeMo app. It makes a mean pot roast, too.
THE BAD This slow cooker can't tell the difference between a Wi-Fi outage and a power outage, so spotty home Wi-Fi might return error messages.
THE COST $112.35 to $146.52
BOTTOM LINE If you have a stable home Wi-Fi connection and want more control over your slow-cooked meals, this slow cooker can give you the on-the-go access you crave.
The following CNET staff contributed to this story: senior editors Brian Bennett and Laura K. Cucullu; associate editors Andrew Gebhart and Ashlee Clark Thompson, and senior associate editor Megan Wollerton. For more reviews of personal technology products, visit cnet.com.
Huntington station stabbing ... Cohen testifies in Trump trial ... Clean drinking water ... "Something's Gotta Give" house
Huntington station stabbing ... Cohen testifies in Trump trial ... Clean drinking water ... "Something's Gotta Give" house
