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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

smart ovens

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.

Tovala’s Scan-to-Cook Now Works with Breakfast Items From Pop-Tart, Eggo, Kashi and More

Tovala, creator of the eponymous smart oven, announced today that it has expanded the capabilities of its scan-to-cook feature to include packaged breakfast items from brands including Amy’s Kitchen, Eggo, Special K and more.

The update is being automatically sent out by Tovala and works with both gen-1 and gen-2 ovens. Tovala owners can go to https://www.tovala.com/scantocookgroceries to see the full list of nearly 400 compatible products. To cook, users simply scan the barcode of the item and the Tovala will run through a pre-programmed cooking sequence developed by the company’s chefs.

The move builds on earlier efforts by Tovala to broaden the usefulness of its device. Initially, the Tovala oven was primarily good for cooking Tovala meals, but the company has improved the flexibility of its product over the past year by releasing its second-gen oven, launching its scan-to-cook feature for Trader Joe’s frozen food, and releasing automatic cook programs for Beyond Meat products.

All of these moves help make the Tovala more versatile in the smart oven space, which is packed with the likes of June, Brava, Whirlpool and Suvie. By expanding beyond its vertically integrated beginnings, it can attract customers who want a smart oven, and want the flexibility to use it for more than Tovala meals.

Tovala has always been the least expensive smart oven option, and in addition to the breakfast products, Tovala also this week changed up its pricing structure. You can now pick up a Tovala for $49 up-front and pay the remainder in $3.99/week installments, with the option to return the oven at any time. Or you can pay $299 upfront to own the oven outright.

Of equal interest for Tovala with its scan-to-cook feature is the data that it can provide CPG companies. Tovala will know what brands and products people are cooking, when and how often. This data would provide insight for brands looking to develop new products or sell more in different regions. I spoke with Tovala Founder and CEO David Rabie yesterday about the prospect of prospecting its newfound data, but he said Tovala is not looking at sharing or monetizing it right now. “The goal is for us to make the Tovala more useful,” Rabie said, “and to make our partner’s products easier to consume in the way they intend.”

As Tovala continues to expand its scan-to-cook functionality, I asked Rabie whether at some point the company would give up on its own meal delivery service in favor of just automating the cooking of other people’s products. “We’re not going to get rid of meal delivery,” Rabie said, “It’s the core reason people are buying the oven.”

That may have been true when cooking its own meals was mostly what a Tovala oven did. But now there are nearly 400 more (scan-to-cook) reasons for people to check the Tovala out.

Will KitchenAid’s SmartOven+ with Steam and Grill Cooking Win with Consumers at $3,199?

When is an oven like a stand mixer? When it’s KitchenAid’s SmartOven+. Much like the company’s iconic mixer, KitchenAid’s new connected built-in oven, which the announced the availability of yesterday, will feature a number of attachments that enable different types of cooking. The question now is whether people will pay a premium ($3,199) for that flexibility.

As of now, the SmartOven+ has three attachments, all of which are powered via a plug inside the oven. The SmartOven+ comes with a powered grilling attachment, which the company says offers “true grilling year-round, minimizing smoke and eliminating flares common in outdoor grills.” There is also an integrated baking stone attachment and a steam cooking attachment. Oddly, neither the steam nor the stone attachments ship with the SmartOven+, but must be requested after purchase and are shipped out to the customer at no additional cost.

In addition to different types of cooking, the SmartOven+ also has connected features such as remote control via KitchenAid’s mobile app, as well as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa integration for voice control. Through a Nest integration, you can also be alerted if you accidentally leave the oven on.

All of this versatility in the SmartOven+ ain’t cheap. The 30-inch single configuration will set you back $3,199 and the 30-inch double is $4,799. (You can get a “regular” KitchenAid single oven for $1,700 and a double for $2,700.)

When the SmartOven+ was announced at CES earlier this year, we were intrigued by the device’s modular cooking capabilities. The steam function was of particular interest to Spoon Founder, Mike Wolf, who wrote, “While I’m not sure I’m ready for a baking stone, after trying out a countertop steam oven, I’m sold on that method as a superior way to prepare many types of food. With this new KitchenAid oven, I can add it in.”

The KitchenAid stand mixers became a countertop (and wedding registry) staple because of its versatility. It’s safe to bet that KitchenAid won’t stop at these three attachments and like its mixer, more functionality will be on the way. Depending on how many attachments the company makes, $3,199 might wind up being a bargain.

Announcing the Smart Kitchen Summit 2018 Program

Hard to believe, but we’re just six weeks away from the Smart Kitchen Summit, our flagship industry event that brings hundreds of executives, innovators, startups and media together in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall for two days to forge the future of food, cooking, and the kitchen.

It’s been three years since we held our first in an old cannery in 2015, and since that time we’ve become the hub across three continents for the world’s biggest brands in appliances, food, and tech to connect and discuss food tech.

And now, after lots of emails, planning meetings and Google sheet rejiggering, we’ve released our agenda for the Smart Kitchen Summit! We’ve got an incredible lineup with panels, TED-style talks and fireside chats featuring some of the most exciting people in the space. Check it out!

A few highlights:

  • The Wall Street Journal’s Wilson Rothman will sit down with the person who ran product on both the Amazon Echo and the Juicero –  Malachy Moynihan – to ask why kitchen products succeed or fail.
  • Dr. Karsten Ottenberg, the CEO of one of the world’s biggest appliance manufacturers, BSH Appliances, will talk about how his company is building its future around services.
  • Executives from Cafe X, Chowbotics and Zimplistic will talk about the future of food robotics
  • Walmart’s VP of Food Safety Frank Yiannas will speak on a panel with Raja Ramachandran of Ripe.io and Jasmine Crowe of Goodr about the potential for blockchain to increase transparency and reduce waste throughout the food system.
  • The CEOs of June, Brava, Tovala, and Suvie will talk about how cooking appliances will change over the next decade.
  • We’ll find out why Eli Holzman, the creator of Project Runway & Project Greenlight, has made the intersection of technology and cooking his next big project.
  • Tom Mastrobuoni of Tyson Ventures, Carmen Palafox of Make in L.A., and Brian Frank of FTW ventures will explore strategies for food tech investment, from hardware to CPG and beyond.

That’s just the start. We have sessions on personalized food, the future of restaurants, AI & food, cooking robots, food & cooking data, blockchain & food, IoT security in the smart kitchen, reinvention of the grocery store and much more.

Peppered throughout the day we’ll also have 12 new startups (companies to be announced soon!) pitching their companies before a panel of investors and executives. Our panel of judges will vote on the winner, who will get a $10,000 cash prize! You can view the new full conference schedule here.

Our last shows have all sold out, so make sure you grab your tickets now, and we’ll see you in October!