In ancient times people were used fire to cook food whereas in some backward areas this method is still going on. Advancements in technology made a powerful impact on kitchen appliances. As of result, most appliances became smart and intelligent nowadays like Refrigerator, Microwave oven, and Induction stove. Today we are here to explain one more gadget that is unique. It is Smart Slow Cooker. Do you know about this? Probably you have listened about slow cookers those are completely different from pressure cookers. If don’t, keep reading to know more.

What is a Smart Slow Cooker?         

Slow cookers, as the name suggests, are a kind of cooking appliances that need more time to cook the food as compared to conventional cookers. These are the opposite of pressure cookers which are known for quick cooking. Depending on the type of food, a slow cooker can be used for a small duration (few hours) or even as long duration (approx. 10 hours).

Now, the smart slow cooker is quite interesting in function here you can control the cooking time and temperature via your smartphone-based application. Even you can connect to your smart slow cooker over the internet by using 3G/4G/Wi-Fi connectivity. How does it happen? Let’s find out.

Engineering Inside:

In a smart slow cooker below technical units are present to cook your food efficiently:

1. Heating element
2. Temperature sensor
3. Power and control board
4. Connectivity module
5. Control panel

Heating Element:

It is a common unit in every slow cooker either it is simple or smart. The heating element or coil is attached to the outer casing of the cooker. This is low wattage heating coil that is responsible for cooking the food, and these heating coils are completely encapsulated by the outer casing. When turns on the heating coil heat up and transfer heat indirectly from the outer casing to the space between the base wall and the stoneware container (here food is present for cooking). This indirect heating technique warms the stoneware container between 80 to 150 °C.

Temperature Sensor:

The main function of the temperature sensor unit is to check the heat of the food container and send this info to the control board. Based on temperature value control board decides the duration of cooking. This feature makes nutritious and tasty food. In general, user sets the cooking temperature value manually but the smart slow cooker provides remote connectivity to the user for the selection of correct temperature when the user is not present at home.

Power And Control Board:

Working of this unit is present in its name. Power and Control boards are generally integrated over a single PCB board. Powerboard provides AC and DC supply to control board and heating element as per requirement. And control board works as the brain of a smart slow cooker. It decides temperature and cooking duration as per user instructions. Here control board contains microcontroller or microprocessor based light operating system that processes the user commands.

Connectivity Module:

This is the main module of this gadget that makes it smart. The connectivity module provides a wireless connection between the user and the cooker. When the user wants to control the cooking temperature and duration, just open its smartphone, open an internet-based smart slow cooker control application (provided by the manufacturer), and select desired cooking values. But to achieve this it is important to connect your smart slow cooker to the internet via either Wi-Fi router or 3G/4G modem. Yes, 3G/4G modem and/or Wi-Fi are/is present on the control board to provide internet connectivity.

Control Panel:

If you are at home then you don’t need to connect your cooker over the internet just use the control panel to choose the desired cooking parameters. Once done, cooking will be started, there is no rocket science behind it J. The Control panel contains LED display and several push buttons to provide the user interface.

Working Procedure:

Once you connect this gadget to the internet you will be able to control it. Open the application and register yourself to the manufacturer’s website for safe and secure connectivity. After that, you can choose the cooking parameter (temperature and cooking duration) for your food remotely. Entered values for cooking will receive by the connectivity module and send to the control board, here values will process and heating will be set as per user requirement. That’s how it is working.

Benefits:

Using this gadget is a great way to save time and still prepare a healthy and nutritious meal. You can assemble a meal in the morning; place it into the cooker, and at the end of the day, dinner is ready. This gadget requires a very small amount of power that makes a difference. If you are thinking that microwave oven does the same then you are not correct. Microwave oven consumes a lot of power for cooking or heating your food whereas this gadget reduces your electricity bill. For cooking a tasty and nutritious meal smartly this gadget is a good option.

Thanks for reading. See you soon with another exploration!