Home Home and Kitchen

Keep your cool in the kitchen with Gourmia CoolCookers

NEWS – It doesn’t get much better than coming home to a freshly cooked meal.  Slow cookers have offered that convenience to home chefs for quite some time.  Toss in the good stuff, set it for low and slow, and come home to a house that smells amazing and fall-apart tender food. But, what about those meals that don’t need 8-10 hours?  Some cookers had timers that could start the cooking process several hours later, but your food would sit for hours at kitchen temperatures, just waiting to turn nasty. What if your schedule changes and you come home early or late?  You have undercooked food and spend some quality time with the microwave, or overcooked, mushy food that nobody wants to eat.

Gourmia has solved that problem with their new line of Internet of Things (IoT) CoolCookers. Gourmia is rolling out a new pressure cooker (GPCC1960) and multi cooker (GMCC1970) with built-in refrigeration to 35 degrees.  These units will keep your food fridge-fresh until cook time.  In addition to keeping your meal fresh and healthy, they also bring internet accessibility via WiFi and an IOS and Android app as well as integration with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.  I don’t think it quite gets to the dream of saying “Alexa – what’s for dinner?”, but it’s a start!  What the app does do is allow for remote changes if your schedule changes.  If you’re running late home from work, you can delay the cook time, right from your smart device.  Of course, you can’t tell it to cook more food, because your boss is now coming for dinner.

The pressure cookers offers Gourmia’s state-of-the-art automatic pressure release, an auto stir system to stir the food, and fully adjustable pressure settings.  Via the app, chefs can also remotely release the pressure, allowing for pressure cooking without having to be right at-hand at a specific time.

The multi cooker has a spacious 6.5 quart capacity and provides 11 different cooking functions including sauté, bake, roast, steam, sous vide, and stew. For those of us with limited kitchen cabinet space, having one device that can handle all of these cook methods is a great space saver.

Gourmia is ETL certified, meaning that their products have all undergone rigorous safety testing and meet Underwriters Laboratory (UL) standards for safety.

Both CoolCookers will be available later in 2019 at major retailers.  Pricing has not been announced.  For more information go to www.gourmia.com.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

Keep your cool in the kitchen with Gourmia CoolCookers originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 4, 2019 at 8:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Fromaggio Home Cheesemaker lets you get creative


NEWS – I don’t know about you, but I love cheese. Perhaps too regularly, we make a meal out of cheese, crackers, and wine. When I saw that the Fromaggio Home Cheesemaker is about to initiate their Kickstarter, it was very exciting to think I could make my cheese at home.


The appliance has an interactive phone app as well as a touch LED screen to guide you through the cheese making process. All you have to do is add the cheese and cultures/rennet and the machine takes care of every step along the way. It can make a variety of cheeses, yogurt and even tofu; additionally it can be used as a sous vide to prepare additional foods. Simple cheeses can take a little as 30 minutes, while more complex hard cheeses can take 48 hours. This product recently impressed attendees of the CES conference in Las Vegas and while we currently don’t have information on price point, the Kickstarter will begin March 6th. They are currently giving away three of these machines, so you can enter to win ahead of the start date.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: , ,

Fromaggio Home Cheesemaker lets you get creative originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 20, 2019 at 8:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Airthings Wave Plus indoor air quality monitor with radon detection review

REVIEW – I’m sure that you keep your house clean by sweeping the floors, dusting the furniture, and picking up clutter. But did you know that there could be serious threats to your health silently lurking in the air you breath while you’re relaxing in what you think is a safe environment? I’m talking about dangerous Radon gas, and TVOCs (total volatile organic compounds). The Airthings Wave Plus detector will let you know if there is an issue in your home so that you can keep you and your family protected. Let’s take a look.

What is it?

Airthings Wave Plus is a battery-powered sensor that detects Radon, CO2, TVOCs, humidity, temperature, and air pressure. Radon gas is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, so it’s very important to know if there are high levels of this invisible, odorless gas in your home. TVOCs are emitted gases from things like paint, cooking, cosmetics, and more. TVOCs can cause headaches, eye, and throat irritations, to serious respiratory and even liver problems. High CO2 levels can also cause headaches, brain fog, drowsiness, and more.

What’s in the box?

  • Airthings Wave Plus smart indoor air quality monitor with radon detection
  • 2 AA batteries
  • Mounting screw
  • Info sheet

Design and features

I reviewed the Airthings Wave last year and the newer Wave Plus looks very similar to that device, like a traditional smoke detector.

The bottom of the unit has a magnetic lid that has a hole in the center so you can mount it to a wall or ceiling using the screw that is included in the package.

Removing the lid will give you access to the battery compartments. The Airthings Wave Plus is powered by 2 AA batteries which are included with the unit and should last for up to 16 months before they need to be replaced.

As mentioned, you can mount the Airthings on a wall or ceiling, or you can set it on a shelf. The advantage of putting in on a shelf is that you can walk by it and just wave your hand over the unit to see a visual indication of the air quality status.

There’s a built-in LED on top that will glow green if all the levels are safe, yellow when there is a problem, and red when you should run screaming from your house. Just kidding, but not really. If you see red, the sensor is telling you that the levels for Radon or TVOCs are not safe. But how do you get more details? You can use the Airthings mobile app or web client.

Airthings mobile app




The app’s data syncs automatically when your mobile device is within range as it uses Bluetooth to communicate with the monitor. The app’s dashboard shows the current levels for radon, TVOCs, CO2, Humidity, Temperature, and Pressure. If you want more info on each reading, you can scroll for a 48 hr, week, month and yearly graph.




The provides easy to interpret data for current sensor levels, but to get more info, you can use the Airthings web client.

I do want to mention that I’ve had issues with the app losing data when adding a 2nd device and once when I hadn’t synced in over a week due to being away on vacation. Since the unit uses Bluetooth instead of WiFi to sync, this could be an ongoing problem, but I’ve not taken another extended vacation yet to find out.

Airthings web client

The web client provides a better interface for viewing the graphs for each sensor’s data. Like the mobile app, the web client has a dashboard view, but clicking on one of the sensors takes you into graph page that makes it easy to spot trends.

You can see graphs for the past 12 hours, 48 hours, week, month, and even the past year.

I’m still trying to figure out what is triggering the high TVOC readings that you can see in the graph.

Changing to an expanded view helps provide more details and hovering over any part of the graph will show the date, time and level for each sensor.

You have the data, now what?

I became a fan of Airthings when the original unit that I reviewed last spring started reporting high radon readings this past fall. Everytime I’d walk by the unit and wave my hand over it, it would show red so I kept an eye on the readings and they were high. I’m talking through the roof high readings of 11 pCi/L. I read the following info on Airthings site:

It is important to do a long-term measure in places where you normally spend a lot of hours like bedrooms or your office. Overall, if concentrations are:
0 – 49 Bq/m3  (0 – 1.3 pCi/L):  No action necessary.
49 – 99 Bq/m3 (1.4 – 2.6 pCi/L): Experiment with ventilation and sealing cracks to reduce levels.
100 Bq/m3 – 299 Bq/m3 (2.7 – 8 pCi/L): Keep measuring. If levels are maintained for more than 3 months, contact a professional radon mitigator.
300 Bq/m3 (8.1 pCi/L) and up: Keep measuring. If levels are maintained for more than 1 month, contact a professional radon mitigator.

After a month my radon levels were still too high, so I ended up having a mitigation system installed and within 6hrs the levels were down to 0.5 pCi/L and have remained that low. Whew! Crisis averted!

The high powered fan on the outside of my house isn’t the most attractive thing in the world but it sure helps relieve the anxiety of worrying that I (or Jeanne) might develop lung cancer from the radon gas. I’ve already had cancer once, and don’t want it again thank you very much. FYI, the smoke in the image above isn’t from the radon fan unit, it’s from the dryer vent and the fact that it was only 30 degrees outside when I took the pic.

What I like

  • Easy to use
  • Helps detect dangerous radon levels quickly
  • Battery powered

What needs to be improved

  • The app is buggy especially when used multiple Airthings devices
  • Needs a carbon monoxide sensor too

Final thoughts

Airthings sensors are just as important to me and my home as our smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and security system. I will admit that I mainly pay attention to the radon levels and haven’t really cared that much about the TVOC levels unless they remain in the yellow or red (haven’t seen red yet) level for any length of time. So far the TVOC levels have only spiked a couple times into the yellow levels, so I’m not too concerned (yet).

The Airthings Wave Plus indoor air quality monitor with radon detection is pricy at $269 and I do wish it included a carbon monoxide sensor, but when you consider that this monitor can help protect your health, it’s priceless. If there are known issues with radon gas in your area you should consider a sensor like the Wave Plus or the lower priced Wave.

Price: $269.00
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Airthings.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: ,

Airthings Wave Plus indoor air quality monitor with radon detection review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 18, 2019 at 11:05 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

The Air Doctor is a breath of fresh air


NEWS – Since most of my immediate family member face the challenges of allergies and the effects, I am always interested in products that can help to alleviate the horrible coughing, sneezing and runny nose and eyes which are some of the symptoms we experience. Over the past few years, I have been lucky enough to test a few air purifiers including some that are currently being used in my home every day.

During one of my notorious internet browsing sessions, I came across the Air Doctor. According to the manufacturer: “the AIR Doctor combines our UltraHEPA™ filter with our proprietary dual action Carbon/Gas Trap/VOC filter to remove or substantially reduce virtually all the particles, toxic ozone, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and gases from the air in your home.” Some of the features include professional WhisperJet fans which are 30% quieter than ordinary air purifiers, a built-in air quality monitor, their proprietary dual action Carbon/Gas Trap/VOC Filter, and a professional-grade air quality sensor to assess the air quality in the room and immediately adjust to the correct level of filtration. The AIR Doctor is a 100% sealed system to ensure all the air you breathe is pure and filtered.

If you would like to learn more about the Air Doctor or if you would like to purchase one, you can head over to the Air Doctor website. The Air Doctor can be purchased for $629.00, plus $29.95 S&P. When it is time to purchase additional filters, one year of the combo pack of filters can be purchased for $144.95, plus $9.95 S&P. You can also set up a recurring plan for a discount or purchase the filters separately.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

The Air Doctor is a breath of fresh air originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 18, 2019 at 8:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Xiaomi Roborock E20 robot vacuum cleaner review


REVIEW – The floors in my home are carpeted with Berber carpet with the exception of the kitchen and bathrooms which are tiled. We vacuum every day, and for the past few years, we have been using the Dyson V6. The Dyson works quite well, but over time I have grown tired of this chore which I usually do at night when I return home from work, and when the kids are in bed and can no longer make a mess, at least until they wake up next the next morning. Recently, I was offered the opportunity to test and review the Xiaomi Roborock E20 Vacuum Cleaner and I readily accepted. Here is my summary!!

What is it?

The Xiaomi Roborock E20 Vacuum Cleaner is an efficient vacuum with built-in Artificial Intelligence. It works quickly and efficiently with 1800Pa of suction power and uses a dual-gyro system, and motion tracking sensors to create a high-efficiency cleaning path for every room. There are 13 onboard sensors to provide drop avoidance, anti-collision, trap prevention, self-charging, and resumption. It is able to vacuum and mop and with the use of the relevant app it can be controlled to start, stop, schedule, customize, charge, spot clean, check accessory status, and control movement direction. It is able to switch/increase its suction power automatically when it transitions from wood floors to carpet, and if it runs low on power it returns to its dock to recharge then resumes where it left off. It communicates with the app via 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and has a 2600mAh lithium battery for a long-lasting charge.

What’s in the box


1 x Xiaomi Roborock E20 Vacuum Cleaner
1 x Dock Charger
1 x AC Power Cord
1 x Waterproof Docking Pad
2 x Mopping Pads
1 x Water Tank
1 x Brush Cleaning Tool
2 x Vacuum Filters
1 x Quick Start Guide

Design and features

Features
Methodical cleaning: Dual-gyroscopes and high-precision optical tracking sensors allow E20 to clean methodically around a room, starting around the edge then the areas in between.
Intelligent systems: A full suite of sensors gives E20 the intelligence to effectively tackle complicated environments without falling off ledges, getting stuck, or running out of power.
Tangle Free: All brushes and wheels are designed to be tangle free, eliminating the need to open E20 robotic mop for cleaning. An included cleaning accessory can be used to remove hair from the outside of the cleaner making it perfect for picking up after your pets.
Obstacle crossing: Able to clamber up over obstacles as high as 0.8in, E20 easily handles thresholds, thin carpets, and other low barriers.
Carpet boost: When a carpet is detected, suction is increased to maximum to pull up deeply lodged dirt. Once off the carpet, normal suction returns.
Washable Filter: A high-efficiency E11 filter captures 99.2% of dust and allergens, down to just 0.3 microns. Its washable design extends its life and reduces replacement frequency.
Holiday Mode: In this mode, the LED indicator will dim, functions that have nothing to do with charging such as cleaning, recharging and remote control via wifi will be disabled, and the cleaner will enter low power consumption mode to maintain optimal battery performance.



Specifications


When you open up the cover on the top of the vacuum, you find the removable dust canister.


On the removable dust canister, there is a removable filter that attaches to the canister and prevents dust and debris for entering the suction chamber of the vacuum. The filters are actually washable and they provide two so that you can use the second while the first dries.


On the surface of the vacuum, there are 3 touch buttons. From left to right they are the spot cleaning button, the clean/on/off button and the recharge button. To reset the WiFi, you press and hold the spot cleaning and recharge buttons simultaneously for 3 seconds. The knob that is seen above the 3 touch control buttons is the omnidirectional recharge sensor.


If you look carefully at the picture below, you will see a small LED in the upper right-hand corner of the canister compartment. This LED is the WIFI indicator.


On the circular sides of the vacuum, there are two visible grilles. In the picture shown below, the grille on the left is the speaker, and on the right is the air outlet.


Underneath the vacuum, there is the main brush and suction port in the center, an extended 3-prong brush off to the side that allows the vacuum to brush square corners and to move dust into the path of its suction port, and the 3 wheels that it uses to maneuver. The diagram below the photo shows the details.



The picture below shows the docking mat that attaches to the charging dock. The vacuum rests on this mat when charging and when docked. The second row of pictures below shows the charging dock and the AC port located on its side.


Performance

This vacuum was basically a plug and play exercise, and it works very well. Initially, I did not find any clear instructions regarding the app, but I soon figured that I needed to download the Xiaomi Mi Home app which seems to recognize and control all AI devices within the Xiaomi device family. The Vacuums mapping ability is great and I am pretty sure that it does a better job of coverage than I do when using a handheld vacuum. I  like the options to regulate the suctioning power and that even when it is at full power, its noise level is much lower than a conventional vacuum. Here is a short video of it performing. I included the ambient sounds for reference.

The following are some of the screens from the app:



For more information, click here to view the manual.

What I like

  • The size
  • The built-in technology
  • The overall vacuuming performance
  • Its ability to know when it has finished vacuuming or when it is low on power and automatically return to its base
  • The versatility that makes it adaptable to multiple surfaces
  • The app and its ability to control the vacuum for anywhere

What can be improved

  • Since there are no clear instructions regarding the app, maybe they can add QR Codes for IOS and Android to their manual
  • I don’t know. Maybe it can learn to bring me dinner?
  • Possibly makes me lazy? (lol)

Final thoughts

Initially, I was very excited to test and review this robot vacuum, but I was really not sure what to expect. I was unsure of its ability to really vacuum effectively in regards to sucking up dist and debris, and if it could do a good job of properly vacuuming the entire area. I have to say the I am more than pleased with this vacuum and so much so that my Dyson now resides in the closet and has been reassigned to cleaning furniture and other items/areas that the robot vacuum can’t. I give this vacuum two thumbs up and then some!!! Well done!!

Price: $329.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Sample: The sample for this review was provided by Roborock.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: , ,

Xiaomi Roborock E20 robot vacuum cleaner review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 16, 2019 at 9:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.