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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

June Oven

Podcast: The CES & Food Tech Live 2021 Review

On this week’s episode of Food Tech Show, the Spoon editorial team talks about what they found walking the virtual exhibit halls of CES 2021 (answer: not much).

The good news is we also had Food Tech Live, the Spoon’s annual food tech showcase that happens during CES week. Normally we’re in Vegas for FTL, eating cookies with our faces on it and checking out the latest in food tech gadgets, but this year we took things online and had a bunch of cool product demos, interviews and breakout sessions.

Finally, we also talk about the June oven acquisition by Weber and what that means for the smart oven space.

So listen in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, download direct to your computer or just click play below. And, if you’re a regular listener, we’d appreciate it if you throw us a review to start the year!

June’s Third-Gen Oven Goes on Pre-Sale with New Heat Controls and Premium Memberships

June announced today the third generation of its eponymous countertop smart oven. The latest version of the June Oven features more control over the heating elements, new cook modes, enhanced food detection and membership options.

One of the biggest changes June has made to its oven is that each of the six heating elements can now be controlled individually. This improves upon the second-gen version, where heat elements were controlled in three groups. The new individual controls allow for new types of automated cook programs like a virtual rotisserie. Instead of putting something like a whole chicken on a spit and rotating it, the heating elements alternate around the chicken. These more precise heating controls, in conjunction with an in-oven camera, also allow for zone cooking through focused heating elements.

Additional hardware improvements also include guard rails on the top heating elements and new convection fan motors that reduce vibration and sound. There’s also a new chipset to improve connectivity.

On the software side, June has added new cook programs like the aforementioned virtual rotisserie as well as a stone fired pizza setting (there’s an optional pizza and grill kit that can be purchased). The company now bills the device as a 12-in-1 appliance (up from a 7-in-1).

June is also adding membership options in 2021. The press release didn’t offer much detail, but various levels will include features like additional remote controls, exclusive recipes, live videos and more.

The new Junes are available for pre-sale today and will come in three packages that will begin shipping in late November:

  • June Smart Oven Bundle
    Price: $599
    Accessories: Food Thermometer, Nonstick Pan, Stainless Steel Crumb Tray, Wire ShelfOne Year Warranty
  • June Smart Oven Plus Bundle
    Price: $799
    Accessories: Food Thermometer, Nonstick Pan, Roasting Rack, Stainless Steel Crumb Tray, WireShelfTwo Years Warranty and One Year June App Premium Membership
  • June Smart Oven Premium Bundle
    Price: $999
    Accessories: Pizza and Grill Kit (​Enameled Cast Iron Grill/Griddle​ with Pizza Peel),​ Three AirBaskets, Stainless Steel Pro Food Thermometer, Silicone Food Thermometer, Two Nonstick Pans,Two Roasting Racks, Stainless Steel Crumb Tray, Wire Shelf
    Two Years Warranty and ​One Year June App Premium Membership

As I’ve written before, I’m a big fan of my June Oven and use it every day. Having said that, June is not the only smart oven player on the scene, and I’m intrigued by Anova’s countertop combi-oven that features steam cooking and costs $599.

Regardless, advances like the third-gen June continue to make cooking easier for non-cooks like myself.

Update to June Oven App Let’s You Check Cook Programs Remotely

June, makers of the eponymous connected countertop oven, released some new features to its mobile app last week that add remote functionality, including one to help you shop for June-ready food.

The new app features access to all of the June automated cook programs. So if you’re at the store and wondering if the June has an automated cook program for asparagus and/or frozen waffle fries, you can quickly check your phone (the answers are yes and no, respectively).

For a June owner (like myself), this is actually pretty useful. I’m not a great cook and am pretty reliant on the June for meal prep. For example, knowing what type of fish the June automatically cooks would definitely influence my buying decisions while standing in the seafood section of my store.

The other remote feature that June released that makes less sense to me is the ability to remotely start a cook program. The new functionality allows you to start a cook program from your phone, but it doesn’t work unless the food is in the June. This raises the question, why do you need to use your phone to start a cook program when you are standing in front of the oven putting your food in it? And why would I even want to start up my oven when I’m not around? I’m sure there are edge cases, but it still seems odd.

In a somewhat counter intuitive manner, the June has actually become more useful during this pandemic. You’d think being stuck at home would mean I have more time for cooking, but between working from home (i.e., office hours are kind of all hours) and nice weather, I don’t really want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. This will probably be doubly so once school and remote-learning for my son start up again next month and there are even fewer hours in the day.

Given all that, one feature request I would like June to fulfill is for the oven to automatically and frequently clean itself thoroughly.

June Adds Multi-Item Combo Cook Programs

June released new cook programs for its smart oven over the weekend that include cooking two different items at the same time.

The new “combo” programs arrived on the June on February 1 and include automated cooking of salmon and asparagus, sausage and broccoli, broccoli and cauliflower, nuggets and french fries, and tenders and french fries.

Previously, automated cook programs were just for single items, so you could cook tenders or french fries, but not both at the same time. According to a promotional email from June, the salmon and asparagus program be done with both in 15 minutes.

I have a June, but haven’t had the chance to try out the new combo cook programs yet. I’m curious to see how it works given that June only has the six heating elements, and doesn’t have something like Markov’s directional microwaving tech to steer heat in a particular direction. Additionally, the on-screen instructions for salmon and asparagus doesn’t provide any specific guidelines like putting the fish in one part of the pan and the asparagus in another.

The move seems to be a play by June to be more like the Brava (recently acquired by Middleby), or even the Suvie, both of which feature the ability to cook more than one thing at the same time. The looping movie on the June homepage now features someone cooking salmon and asparagus at the same time, so the new functionality is definitely something the company is pushing. At $499, the June isn’t cheap, but it’s way less expensive than the Brava and the Suvie, each of which are around $1,000.

Now we’ll have to see if June’s combo cooking provides the right combination of features to help separate it from the rest of the smart oven pack.

Been Waiting to Buy a Smart Oven? Black Friday Deals May Give You the Excuse You Need

Though she had encouraged me to buy one, my wife was not happy when she came home to find our new June Oven taking up countertop space. It was big, bulky and why did we need a fourth (counting the microwave) oven in the kitchen?

And then she tried leftover pizza re-heated in the June and all was immediately forgiven. Now the June is an integral part of our everyday cooking.

If you’ve wanted a smart oven, but have been reluctant because of the size, the perceived usage and most importantly the cost, then this Black Friday may bring you the excuse you’ve needed to finally buy one. Three of the big countertop, connected smart ovens go on sale this Black Friday, here’s what they are offering.

The Brava

BRAVA
The smart oven that cooks with light has a “VIP Pre-Black Friday Sale” going on right now, offering the Brava starter set for $845 (down from $1,095). It includes the oven, temperature sensor (which is dumb to list as an add-on because you definitely need it) a metal tray, a glass tray, and two year membership of its Brava Plus recipes and programmed cook functionalities.

I tested the Brava and it works well, but the small cooking cavity means it’s probably best for couples (or singles!) and not larger families. The good news though, is that Brava just got acquired by Middleby, a publicly traded company this week, and will continue as its own brand. So you don’t have to worry about the company going under and leaving you with a bricked oven.

TOVALA
Tovala has always been the least expensive option of the three main smart oven startups, and it’s also the only one (for now) that does steam cooking. Spoon Founder Mike Wolf liked the second-gen Tovala, and since he tried it both versions now have expanded scan-to-cook functionality so you can scan barcodes on products and the machine takes care of the rest.

For Black Friday, Tovala is dropping the price of the oven to $99 (retails at full price for $299), if you order a minimum of 6 of the Tovala meal deliveries. The company says the deal will run through next Friday and quantities are limited. If you miss that deal, Tovala will be on sale on Cyber Monday for $199.

JUNE OVEN
As noted above, I have a June Oven and use it all the time. The company is currently offering a deal on its second-gen oven that even beats the introductory price I bought it at. Technically, this doesn’t seem to be a specific Black Friday deal, but you can get a June Oven standard package (which, honestly is the basic stuff you actually need to use it) for $499, down from $699. Guess those tariffs weren’t that big a deal after all?

If you are feeling adventurous and can wait till Cyber Monday, you can pre-order the just-announced Weber SmokeFire connected grill that’s powered by the June OS.

Any of these are a worthy addition to your kitchen counter and worth the space you dedicate to them. And with these reduced prices, now is the best time to grab one.

June to Release Software Update to Prevent Accidental Oven Preheating

UPDATE: A little more than a week after we broke this story, The Verge wrote a story of its own which garnered a lot of attention. In the wake of increased press scrutiny, June sent us the following statement.

Safety of our product is June’s number one priority, and the company took a number of precautions in the production of the June oven. We have worked directly and quickly with the few June owners who have experienced accidental preheat. These instances are concerning for sure, and we have a team of engineers working to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future. We have had ovens deployed in the market for 4 years now and have a large passionate community. The best-case scenario is hearing from customers in real time, like June does, to address any issues as they arise.

OUR ORIGINAL POST:

One of the things I like about the June oven is that it shuts off when I’m done cooking, so an OCD-esque person like myself doesn’t have to worry about it being on when I leave my home. But evidently, a couple of June users discovered that their smart ovens were accidentally preheating on their own, without being turned on by a user.

Having an oven turn on and heat up all by itself without the user knowing — or being home — is obviously bad. So June Co-Founder and CEO, Matt Van Horn, took to Facebook this week to let owners know that a fix is on the way.

When you open the June mobile app, there is an option to preheat your oven with the tap of a button. This could be helpful if you’re busy outside or on your way home from work, so the oven is ready to go when you get home. But in both of these scenarios, the user understands what is happening, and is actively instructing the oven to turn on. “The majority of our customers really like this feature,” Van Horn told me in a phone interview this week.

However, two different June owners posted messages, one as recently as July 28, on the Official June Owners Facebook page about their ovens accidentally remote pre-heating on their own. On July 30, Van Horn posted the following message on Facebook to outline two forthcoming adjustments, writing:

All – I want you to know that we take accidental preheating seriously. We care about all of our owners and want you to be happy about your experience with June. The June team is actively working on a safeguard which includes two phases to prevent unintentional preheating from occurring. Phase one, which will be launched in a September software release, will include:

  • Owners will be able to disable remote preheat within their oven settings (below is a mockup of what this will look like)
  • The remote preheat option will default to On, but at any time you can choose to turn this off through Settings on your June
  • If you have turned remote preheat to Off and are cooking a recipe within the June Cookbook, you will get a notification that you need to change the setting on your oven to turn remote preheat back On to cook the recipe (this will allow the app to set the oven to the right cook mode and temperature for the recipe).

Phase two will include the ability for the June to recognize that there isn’t food inside the oven using our door and internal camera sensors when the oven is on. June will turn off the heating elements after a set amount of time if food isn’t detected inside the oven. This will be released early next year.

Van Horn told me that these features had been on the product roadmap for a while, but got prioritized because of the aforementioned user issues.

There are a lot of things wrong with social media, but situations like this show that it can be a powerful customer service and corporate communications tool. And speaking as a June owner, this fix will certainly ease my OCD.

June Raising Price of its Smart Oven $100 Because Tariffs

I am an unabashed fan of Kai Ryssdal, host of the public radio show Marketplace. If you’re a listener or follow him on Twitter, you know he’s been saying the trade war President Trump is engaged in with China is actually going to be paid for by American consumers. And this week, we got evidence of that when we learned the tariffs will soon impact the prices of connected kitchen appliances.

Today, June announced that starting July 1, it is raising the price of its smart oven to $699, a $100 increase. In a statement emailed to The Spoon, June CEO, Matt VanHorn said:

As you may have heard, the US recently increased tariffs on imported products manufactured in China. Unfortunately this affects us and we have had to raise our prices by $100, to $699 for the June Oven and $899 for the Gourmet Package. This will take effect on July 1, 2019. We absorbed the first tariff increase last year to minimize customer impact, but for this second increase, we have had to pass along some of this cost to customers.

June’s price increase comes just days after Corelle Brands said that tariffs would force it to raise the price of the wildly popular Instant Pot multi-cooker, from $38 to $187.44. (Though to be fair, I’m not sure there’s a person left in the U.S. who doesn’t have one.)

We had heard off-the-record talk of price increases from food tech execs last year. Now, with no end in site for the tariff tantrum, it looks like those high prices are now a reality.

In addition to established companies, one has to wonder how this could impact the fulfillment of Kickstarter projects, many of whom manufacture their goods in China. Crowdfunded hardware projects have a hard enough time getting to market, and this could be yet another hurdle for those that didn’t budget appropriately.

We’ll be on the lookout for more fallout from the trade war with food tech companies (when we aren’t listening to Marketplace). Drop us a line if you notice tariff-induced price increases, and if you were interested in a June oven, you, uhh, may want to get that order in this weekend.

Cooking Plant-Based Meat Gets Smart as June Oven Adds Beyond Meat Programs

As I’ve confessed before, there are two food tech-related things I absolutely adore: Beyond Burgers and my June oven. Now, thanks to a software update earlier this week, those two things are the peanut butter and chocolate in my connected kitchen world, as the June sports new automated cook programs for Beyond Meat burgers and sausages.

While the news isn’t earth-shattering, it’s a reflection of both how plant-based meats are becoming more mainstream, and how smart cooking appliances will need to get specific when presenting users with a touchscreen full of pre-programmed cooking options.

I haven’t had a chance to test out the new plant-based cooking June features yet, so I have some questions. For instance, regular beef burgers on the June are cooked on a grill that raises the burgers above the pan. Why are Beyond burgers cooked directly on the pan? FWIW, I’ve cooked Beyond patties in the June following the beef instructions, and they turn out just fine (though I’m excited to try out this new feature!).

Also, will the camera automatically tell the difference between a Beyond burger and a meat one? And as June rolls out more “meat” cooking options, will Beyond get its own button a la the Whole Foods option?

One has to wonder how far down the rabbit hole June will go. Beef is beef is beef, so you can pretty easily create universal cook programs for the different cuts of it. But Impossible’s plant-based burgers are coming to grocery stores this year, and June already told us that they will get their own cook program. What about Nestle’s Incredible burgers? Not to mention all the plant-based chicken and fish coming to market. And what will all these choices mean for June’s limited UI space? How many decision trees will a user have to cook what they want?

Phew! That’s a lot of questions. Thankfully, we reached out to June and will update this piece when we hear back.

But it’s not just June that will need to grapple with these issues. Any smart oven manufacturer, like Brava, Markov, or Whirlpool, will also have to figure out its strategy for dealing with the variety of new foods that are being created. Our choices, as it were, are just getting warmed up.

The Spoon’s 2018 Food Tech Holiday Gift Guide: Crickets, Coffee, Connected Ovens and More!

We at The Spoon write about food tech and food gadgets all year long. So when it comes time for the holidays, we want you to spend your money wisely, which is why we’ve put together our 2018 Food Tech Holiday Gift Guide. These are our staff recommendations for food tech products worth buying that people will love.

This year, we tried to break the list out in a realistic, real world manner. We’ve categorized our picks based on what you’d get for a co-worker (think: Secret Santa), a friend, a family member and finally, what you’d splurge on for a significant other/spouse/partner or even yourself.

If you wind up getting one of these items, drop us a line and let us know what you think!

Happy holidays (and holiday shopping) from all of us at The Spoon!

Co-worker


Foodie Dice
Everyone needs a little inspiration for meal planning, which makes Foodie Dice ($24) a good all-around gift most people will appreciate. The set comes with five wooden “primary” dice that have protein, grain, herb and cooking-method options, as well as a mysterious “bonus” option, engraved on their surfaces. Four more dice feature veggies. According to the product description, there are 186,000 possible combinations which, if nothing else, will give cooking dinner a little shot of excitement. -Jenn


Manatea Infuser
Do you have one co-worker who’s never without his/her steaming cup of tea? This adorable manatea (get it?) tea infuser ($8) will brighten up their day and add a little spirit to their mug. In addition to being really cute and reasonably priced (especially compared to some of the high-tech tea contraptions out there), the infuser is also reusable, which means no more throwing out tea bags on the daily. Pair with a box of high-quality loose leaf tea for a coworker gift that you’ll actually see them use around the office. -Catherine


TRUFF Hot Sauce
OK. Yes. Fine. This isn’t any “tech” in this food. But try this once and you’ll swear it was invented by alien scientists from the future who wanted to craft the perfect hot sauce. Even Oprah named it one of her favorite things (which is too bad because that will probably make it harder to get). Truff is “a curated blend of ripe chili peppers, organic agave nectar, black truffle, and savory spices” that I’ve been slathering all over my pizza, mac-n-cheese, and just about everything else I’m eating. At $15, it’s a little pricey for hot sauce, but a steal when it comes to flavor. -Chris


Chocolate Crickets
While alternameats get all the press, there’s no question that bugs are going to be a big part of our protein future. You can help your burger-loving coworker make the bugs go down a little easier by adding a little chocolate and coffee flavor. Pick up a snack bag of these crunchy insects for $17.95, or splurge on a full pound for the bug-lover for $39.95. -Mike

Friend


Sudden Coffee Subscription Pack
Think of Sudden Coffee as an instant version of pour-over craft coffee. The company uses ethically sourced, top 1 percent beans, a special freeze-drying process, and a “secret method” to place the kind of coffee you’d get in a cafe into single-serve packs with a six-month shelf life. While there are multiple product options from which to choose, an eight-pack starter kit ($20 for a one-time purchase; $16 for a subscription) is pretty much a guaranteed win for coffee-drinking friends. Even the coffee snobs can get into this one. -Jenn


Bee’s Wrap Cheese Saver
It’s no secret that cheese can cost some serious cheddar. What you might not know is that cheese breathes like a living thing, and storing it in plastic wrap not only suffocates it, it also makes it taste like, well, plastic. Ideally, cheese should be stored wrapped in breathable paper like Bee’s Wrap ($18). Made from organic cotton and beeswax, Bee’s Wrap can be used to store a lot more than just cheese, but that’s my favorite way to use it. It’s also washable, reusable and compostable, so it cuts down on both food and plastic waste. Pair a pack of Bee’s Wrap with a few local cheeses and any cheese-loving friend will be happy. -Catherine


Dash Egg Cooker
Outside of the microwave, there is no kitchen device we use in our house more than this cute li’l egg cooker ($30). It’s not smart, it’s not connected, but it is a dead simple way to make half a dozen perfect hard boiled eggs, every time. No pots of water to boil. No timing to get just right. Just fill the included cup to the right level with water and pour it into the machine. Pierce your eggs, cover and 15 minutes later, voila! -Chris


“MiCURA” Craft Sake brewing kit
You know that mildly annoying (but still much-loved) friend who shows off their knowledge of sake every time you’re out for sushi? Time to show how much you appreciate them with a home sake brew kit. The “MiCURA” Craft Sake brewing kit is shipped from Japan with all the necessary ingredients to make real sake at home, including rice, yeast, and dried koji, the mold that powers the fermentation for this magical elixir.  It’s a bit on the pricey side (remember, you love this friend) at $188, but this will make the industrious sake-lover in your life very happy. -Mike

Family


Ember Coffee Mug
Ember had us all buzzing (literally and figuratively) around this time last year for their high-tech coffee mug that lets you regulate your drink’s temperature using an app. Yes, $80 and up is a lot of money to spend on a drinking vessel. But if you know someone in the habit of microwaving their drink multiple times a day to keep it warm, Ember might just be the gift for them. Plus, the company recently moved into the Apple store with an update to its app that lets users track their caffeine intake. -Jenn


Great Jones Cookware
Cookware may seem like a gift more practical than thoughtful, but I’m here to say that it can be both. If you have a family member that’s stocking a new kitchen (maybe their first?) or wants to get better at cooking, turn to Great Jones ($395). The company has been making waves lately by disrupting the cookware industry like Warby Parker disrupted glasses. Their pots and pans use high-quality materials and typically cost less than half of the cookware “royalty,” like Le Creuset. Plus they look really cool. -Catherine


Anova Nano
If you haven’t introduced your carnivorous friends to the magic of sous vide cooking — shame on you! But, all can be forgiven with the gift of the Anova Nano sous vide wand. This small but powerful device turns just about any pot of water into an elegant way to cook steaks (or almost anything, really) to a precise temperature. It talks to your phone so you can go about your business and get an alert when your food’s done. If you are cooking steak, after you’re done with the sous vide, give it a quick sear on ripping hot pan or grill, and you have tender, juicy meat that will be the star of any meal. It’s also just $75, so it won’t break the bank. -Chris


Tovala Gen 2
One of the questions asked this year at SKS was whether, in a world where great food can be ordered with a click of a button, kitchens will even be necessary in the future? While some may see this choice between a kitchen/non-kitchen future as divergent, smart kitchen startup Tovala asks why we can’t live in a world where both food delivery and good home cooking coexists? We’ve tried the Tovala Gen 2, and found that for $349 (or $249 when you order 100 meals in advance), you get both an auto-piloted cooking appliance and a powerful steam oven for aspiring chefs in one tidy little package. -Mike

SO/Yourself/Partner


NutriMill Harvest Grain Mill
Baking bread may be a known stress reliever, but those of us who do it often come up against a couple frustrations: store-bought flour sucks, but versatile grain machines are expensive and hard to find. Enter the NutriMill Harvest Grain Mill, a countertop device that will grind soft or hard wheat, oats, rice, and just about any other grains, as well ad dry beans and lentils. So you can make bread to your heart’s content but also cereals and soup ingredients. Each machine is made from sustainably sourced bamboo, which makes it a nice-looking addition to the countertop, too. And at $229, it’s relatively affordable, depending on how avid you are about baking. Sure, bread has a lousy reputation nowadays, but a device that makes it easier to get your hands on fresh flour and other grains might just help change that. -Jenn

Joule + JouleReady bags
At $179, ChefStep’s Joule is not the cheapest sous vide on the market (that honor goes to the Anova Nano). However, it recently launched Joule Ready, a line of sous vide-ready bags filled with sauces like Thai Green Curry and Salsa Chamoy. Just scan the bag with your Joule app, fill with your choice of protein and cook for a pretty-finished meal, just add starch. Together, the Joule + Joule Ready combo would enable anyone — confident home cook or no — to make top-notch meals in under an hour. -Catherine


June Oven
Listen. The June Oven is big and it is not cheap ($600). But it’s actually seven appliances in one (oven, toaster oven, dehydrator, air fryer, etc.). To be honest, I don’t even use most of the functions because it’s become my primary oven. From salmon to chicken to leftover pizza, the June’s camera recognizes what you put in it and pre-set cook programs do the work for you (with no pre-heating!). It has changed my relationship to cooking, and by that I mean I actually cook now instead of ordering in. Plus, as the June becomes more of a platform (see: Whole Foods integration), it will only get smarter and more useful. -Chris


The Pizzaiolo Smart Pizza Oven
Ok, so it’s expensive ($800!). But if you really love that pizza lover (or yourself), you might want to sell that tanking Apple stock or Bitcoin and buy your loved one a Breville Pizzaiolo pizza oven. The new Breville Pizzaiolo can not only cook a pizza in as fast as 90 seconds using its three-element heating technology that can reach up to 750 degrees, but it can also emulate all your favorite pizza styles (wood-fired, Chicago style, pan and more). -Mike

Which Smart Appliances Will Survive the Kitchen Countertopacolypse?

You could see the growth of our Smart Kitchen Summit this year just by looking at the sponsor section. Back in 2015, the sponsor area was a few tabletops scattered around the back of the room. Four years later, we had an entire promenade featuring three demo kitchens with full appliances and a host of smaller startups.

Among those showing off their wares were: June, Brava, Markov and the Rotimatic. These are all sizeable countertop cooking devices that are too big and bulky to store in a pantry or shelf, so they have to be semi-permanent fixtures on your kitchen counter. Which got me thinking, how many appliances can one kitchen fit?

Because it’s not just those companies vying for your counter space. There’s also: Tovala, Suvie, Amazon’s Microwave, Bartesian, Picobrew U, and Breville’s new Pizzaiolo, not to mention whatever coffee maker you have, a stand mixer, and maybe a food processor or blender.

Phew!

That doesn’t even include the amount of counter space you need just to prepare food. A quick search shows that the average kitchen only has 26 to 30 square feet of workable countertop space. My June alone takes up 2.6 square feet, almost a tenth of the square footage for an average American countertop.

At least the June does multiple things (oven, toaster, heaven-sent re-heater of pizza). As much as I’d love a Rotimatic, I can’t quite justify the counter space (or the $1,000) for something that only makes flatbread. Same goes for the Pizzaiolo.

The Brava and the Markov are interesting because of the new technologies they bring to traditional devices (light and AI, respectively), so they at least have the potential to change how we cook and replace existing devices.

But will these new appliances attract sizeable enough audiences? Will they achieve such a level of permanence in our cooking life that we will change the way kitchens are architected?

I rarely use my traditional oven, but I can’t imagine a kitchen without one. Perhaps that’s just my age showing, but it seems like we’ll always have the big, bulky, cooktop + oven combo (if not two ovens) and a fridge, and work out from there. Then again, maybe countertop induction burners can replace a traditional cooktop as well, allowing you to cook anywhere in the kitchen (and freeing up counter space!).

But who knows, the kitchen as we know it may be dying. Perhaps between more on-demand delivery of groceries and restaurant food, and the potential rise of prepared meal kits in supermarkets, we just won’t need the traditional appliances that we grew up with. Maybe the space once reserved for our oven(s) can now be freed up for something else, something more unitasking like a Rotimatic or a dedicated pizza device.

The point of all this is, is that there are a lot of devices coming to market, and none of them are cheap. In the case of the kitchen, it is a zero sum game. The addition of one device means less room for another, so when the kitchen counteropocalypse comes, there will be winners and losers.

First Look: June’s Forthcoming UI with Expanded Instructions

The biggest complaint I had about my June Oven was the lack of instructions. At times they were so sparse and provided so little information that my smart oven left me dumbfounded, not sure what to do next.

June CEO Matt Van Horn had told me that updates to the UI and instruction set for the oven were in the works — and now we know a little bit more about what those changes will look like. June gave us the exclusive look at the forthcoming UI changes for us to share here with you. They didn’t provide any other details, but we can glean a few things from the image above.

  • Frontloading information. After selecting your food pre-set, the first screen displays all the items you need to cook (roasting pan/rack, food thermometers), as well as rack position and post-cooking needs.
  • Resting instructions. After cooking your meat, June will suggest resting time. It’s not clear if that will include more specific instructions like wrapping in foil, etc.
  • Steps are spelled out. Instead of just the progress bar at the bottom, it looks like June will explain what it is doing during each step (e.g. Step 1 – roasting at 500 degrees.)
  • Just a li’l bit. When food is done, it looks like there’s new messaging on the final screen giving users the option to tell the oven to “Cook a Little More.” I don’t know if this carries a specific time unit or internal temperature goal, but it replaces the “Continue Cooking” message that’s on that screen currently.

The update will be rolling out this fall. We’ll be sure to ask Van Horn all about it at our upcoming Smart Kitchen Summit in Seattle October 8 and 9th, where he’ll be on a panel about “The New Cooking Box: Ovens, Robots & More.” Get your tickets today to hear Van Horn and tons of other great food tech execs!

I Got the June Bug. Now I Want to Cook Everything with the Smart Oven

“This alone is worth the money.”

That was my wife sitting on our couch eating day old pizza she had reheated in our recently purchased (and now sold out) second-generation June Oven. Looking at the slice in her hand, she remarked “I can’t believe they have engineers working full time to algorithmically figure this out — but it is [expletive] amazing.”

She’s right. If there is a killer, groundbreaking feature of the June Oven, it’s reheating leftover pizza. This may sound like a small reason to pay a big price ($599) for what is essentially a second oven that takes up a lot of countertop space in your kitchen, but it is actually quite [expletive] amazing.

But let’s back up.

Since I write about food technology for a living, people often assume that I love to cook. I do not. It intimidates me, I’m not good at it, and the process gives me no cathartic joy. The June seems to be custom built for someone like me. It’s a connected countertop smart oven that recognizes your food and can cook it automatically using a variety of pre-set programs (or just be used as a regular oven, or air fryer, or toaster, or dehydrator, or slow cooker…).

After spending a week with my new June, I can say that now I actually like cooking! (Though to be fair, using June may not be considered “cooking” at all.) All I have to do is insert the meat thermometer, make a few taps on the touchscreen and June does the rest. I can check in on the dish via the live video feed on the June mobile app if I want, or just wait for the notification that everything is done.

In my first week using June, I made:

  • Salmon
  • Broccoli
  • Flank steak
  • A whole chicken
  • Re-heated pizza
  • Bacon
  • Toast
  • Chicken breast

The Good
The June immediately recognized almost all the above items, displaying a small picture and caption of the food you placed in it (it only missed the flank steak). I used the automatic pre-set cooking program that popped up for each food, and because of improvements made to the June, there was never any pre-heating necessary. This means that I cooked a salmon filet in 10 minutes and it was done to perfection.

When we first wrote about the new June, company CEO Matt Van Horn told us there were 64 pre-sets for bacon. While I didn’t put that full number to the test, the bacon I made was also cooked just right; as a bonus, I did not have to stand over a griddle, getting splattered in grease.

But it was the pizza re-heating that captured the hearts and minds of the Albrecht house. The problem with re-heating pizza is that if you do it in the microwave, the crust turns weird and there are still hot and cold spots. Putting it in a pan with a splash of water works a bit better, but requires more work and the results still aren’t that good. By contrast, the June, using whatever combination of underneath, overhead and convection heating magic it has crafted, creates a hot slice with just the right amount of crisp to the crust. It really is a revelation.

The Not So Good
Not everything went smoothly with the June, however. The directions are so sparse that it can actually make cooking with it harder in some instances.

In the case of the flank steak, June said the cooking was done, but gave me no indication as to whether or not the cooked meat needed to rest and for how long (something the Meater thermometer does expertly). There was no pre-set for flank steak, so I’m not sure if I should have used the generic “steak” cooking program or just tried it manually (I used the steak pre-set). Also, though it does have a broiling feature, steaks should be finished on a hot grill or pan for a nice sear on the outside to truly finish it. Honestly? For something like flank steak, I would just grill it, given how little time it takes to cook.

The idea of expanded instructions would have also come in handy when cooking the whole chicken. I thought I stuck the thermometer in properly, but the June said the cooking was done and the internal temperature of the chicken was still only 158 degrees. Safe cooking temp for chicken is 165. There was no indication as to whether thermal inertia would bring the chicken up to the right temp, how long I should wait for that to happen, or how to make it work best (wrapping in foil? Leaving it in the June? etc.).

Also, I naively assumed that since there was a broccoli setting, if I just put broccoli in the machine it would turn out as good as everything else I cooked. I was wrong (again, I’m not a great cook). I threw a bunch of raw broccoli florets on the pan threw some salt on there and hit the cook broccoli button. The result was severely burned and bitter broccoli that was inedible.

I tweeted out about these issues and Van Horn actually replied to me saying that the company is aware of the undercommunication issues and has an over-the-air update in the works that will address them. So there’s that to look forward to.

Unexpected Bonus
My seven year old actually loves cooking with the June. Though, if we’re being honest, it’s because it has a touch screen. Regardless! He can read and after a couple tutorials will be able to make a decent chicken breast on his own without my worrying about his burning either himself or the house down.

Overall
I recognize that $599 is not cheap for many people. For my personal situation as someone who doesn’t enjoy cooking, it’s worth every penny. Using it has a sense of practical permanence, it’s not fad-ish like the sous vide wands I rarely break out any more. Soon enough, June’s cooking smarts will be built directly into more traditional ovens eliminating any space issues. But until then, I’ll be to make some [expletive] amazing pizza, and pretty much anything else I want.