The 7 Best Appliances For High-Tech Kitchens

Beyond your basic blender, toaster and four-cup coffee maker, an array of high-tech kitchen gadgets create culinary masterpieces, often with little to no help from you. If you're looking to upgrade your appliances and your experience in the kitchen, try one of these high-tech, low maintenance options for making cooking one less thing you have to worry about.

Smart Ovens

You may think an oven's purpose is simple: heat up, cook food and be done, but new "smart ovens" are adding convenience, technology and a little education to the mix. Appliance maker LG unveiled a line of high-tech appliances, including smart ovens, incorporating wifi connections and self-diagnostic capabilities to help make your time in the kitchen easier. Smart ovens not only offer more space to bake (up to 6.7 cubic feet), but can also suggest cooking times and settings for various types of food, alert you when the appliance needs maintenance and what exactly is wrong, as well as vary its electrical intake to save money. Smart ovens in development are even planning to suggest recipes, guide you through the baking process and begin baking food on their own after receiving the go-ahead via text message from you.

Robot Mops

Never mop your kitchen floor again with the help of this automated floor scrubber. The iRobot Scooba not only washes, scrubs and wipes hard flooring, but can be programmed to turn on and work automatically. Set boundaries to alert the Scooba which rooms it is not allowed to cross into, use the remote for manual control when needed and enjoy the convenience of scheduled floor care whether you are home or not. For floor cleaning outside the kitchen, iRobot also makes a vacuum version, called the Roomba.

High-Tech Microwaves

Many smart phones now include code scanners, giving you the ability to view specific product details from the barcode you scan on just about anything you've purchased at a store. The Beyond Microwave also includes a barcode scanner, offering the ability to read what you plan to cook, and estimate the perfect cook time and temperature for you. The Beyond Microwave can also store up to 4,000 barcodes in its memory.

Another high-tech microwave option is the built-in pizza cooker. LG offers a model of microwave incorporating a 1400-watt pizza drawer, capable of baking a pizza separately from the main microwave chamber. Perfect for apartments, dorms or anywhere else you can't have or fit an oven, this kitchen gadget makes baking your favorite meal a little more convenient.

Bread Baker

Many people enjoy the taste and smell of fresh baked bread, but don't have the time or knowledge to create it themselves. New kitchen appliances, like the Panasonic Bread Maker, not only heat the dough, but actually mixes and kneads it as well. Simply pour in the ingredients, and let the bread maker take it from there. Make bread, pizza and pasta dough with nothing more than a few ingredients, and no experience necessary.

Internet Connected Refrigerators

Imagine being reminded it's time to buy more milk, from your refrigerator. Wifi enabled smart refrigerators like Samsung's LCD refrigerator now include a touch sensitive LCD screen in the door and internet connection. Surf the web, listen to music and browse the day's events, all without touching a computer. Food management programs built into the refrigerator allow your appliance to monitor foods' date of expiration, warning you when it's time to throw out that month old cheese or spoiled milk. Online recipes, calendars and weather reports are also downloaded to the touch screen to help you plan your day while you prep your meals.

Rapid Popsicle Makers

When the summer heat hits, you and your kids want popsicles, fast. While traditional methods of popsicles often took 45 minutes or longer to make and freeze. New kitchen gadgets allow for quicker than ever popsicle production. The Zoku Quick Pop Maker boasts a 10 minute popsicle freeze time, and is great for making fruit juice, smoothie and topping filled popsicles. Including reusable popsicle sticks with drip protection, this device makes summer desserts easier and more convenient than ever.

Beverage Carbonators

Home drink carbonations systems have been large, awkward or inconvenient to use, making the self-fizzle drink appliance uncommon in most homes. The iSi Twist 'n Sparkle presents a slim, portable option to carbonating drinks like water, juice or flat soda, and can easily be stored in the average utensil drawer. Create exotic sparkling drinks for parties or simply spice up your daily bottle of water, all without bulky compressed air canisters, tubes or large appliances.

If you're running out of time and energy to utilize your kitchen to the fullest, consider trying one of these amazing kitchen appliances to help you out. Internet connectivity, expedited cook times, barcode scanners and appliance memories let these new gadgets work harder than ever. So sit back, and let your new appliances cook, clean and monitor the kitchen for you.