Jan. 9 (UPI) — Computer powered grills, food printers and A.I.-infused smart appliances were just some of the eye-catching kitchen inventions that drew attention at CES 2024 in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
The first Consumer Electronics Show featured 250 exhibitors when it opened in 1967. This week, CES welcomed more than 4,000 exhibitors to the annual tech showcase in Las Vegas that runs Tuesday through Friday.
AI technology has spread across almost every industry, including food production, agriculture and restaurants, and in 2024, it’s continuing its march into the kitchen.
Revolution Cooking, which introduced it’s touchscreen toaster in 2020, unveiled its newest invention, the Macrowave, a high-powered oven that uses proprietary infrared heating technology, pairing it a combination of air-fry and microwave tech.
The device’s cooking programs let the user pick a food item and adjust the precise balance of infrared, microwave and convection air for each item.
Roasting coffee beans has become high-tech, too.
Three years after founding the company in Seattle, Bunafr CEO Anjani Annumalla unveiled its smoke-free home coffee bean roaster, set to release in March.
Annumalla told UPI the company’s business model focuses on connecting farmers with consumers, enhancing the freshness of coffee and reducing the environmental impact associated with traditional roasting and the roasted coffee supply chain.
“Eighty-five percent of coffee is consumed at home, but 80% of [the coffee lover’s wallet] gets spent at coffee retail shops, and 80% of coffee farmers in the world are below poverty line,” he said.
“This roaster is more than a breakthrough in home brewing because it represents a pivotal shift in empowering consumers to participate directly in a more ethical and sustainable coffee experience.”
Other food-centric companies highlighted at CES include a computerized nutrition assistant called NutriStation. The device is a smart home hub that analyzes a user’s daily activities to provide the optimized combination of nutrients to users.
Also on exhibit is IINK or Innovative Individualized Nutritional Kit, which prints tailored nutrition into composite food materials.
And SK Magic showed off its ECO Clean waste disposal unit, which uses dehumidification and dehydrating disposal methods.
Crowds also gathered to check out grilling options, including U.K.-based startup Seergrills newest invention, the Perfecta, the world’s first AI powered grill.
Looking like a large sideways toaster oven, the device uses the company’s NeuralFire technology to rapidly, automatically and perfectly cook foods at the touch of a button in 3 minutes or less
A Seergrills employee showed off the device Tuesday, highlighting its dual ceramic burners that move horizontally and pulse dynamically for high-speed grilling. According to the company, the smart grill can prepare a 1-inch ribeye steak in 90 seconds.
“Launching Perfecta at CES Unveiled was the perfect platform to show the world the biggest leap in cooking since the discovery of fire,” Suraj Sudea, CEO and founder of Seergrills told UPI.
Amsterdam-based company Sevvy took home a 2024 Innovation Award for its Smart Cooker, which uses pulsed electric field-based and Ohmic heating technology. Using integral heating at low temperatures, foods retain 40% more nutrients, less salt and sugars and no baking fats needed for tasty results.
According to the company, the device saves up to 90% of the energy of traditional cooking methods.
General Electric unveiled a new entry into the kitchen, a smart indoor smoker. According to GE, the Profile Smart Indoor Smoker uses an active smoke filtration system that converts the smoke before releasing it as warm air. Powered by a touch pad, users can easily switch between several different smoke and food presets.
Health tech company Waymed demonstrated an AI-based personalized digital oral immunotherapy solution for children with food allergies. The company says the technology can determine safe consumption levels and potential allergic reactions to allergy-inducing foods like peanuts, eggs and milk.
