Home and Kitchen – Page 13

Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker review

REVIEW – I used to have an offset barrel smoker, and I just couldn’t get the hang of it. Managing the fuel was a pain, and temperature control was difficult. The Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker offers an experience for those who are new to the meat smoking game, or those (like me) who just want an easy plug-and-play solution. How did it do in my tests? Let’s cook!

What is it?

It’s a vertical smoker that uses an electric heating element. It also works nicely as an outdoor oven.

Hardware specs

22″ wide by 19″ deep by 37.5″ tall
51.5 pounds
584 square inches of cooking space
1500 watt heating element with a heat range from 100 to 400 degrees

What’s in the box?

The package contains the smoker, 3 cooking racks, a water pan, a drip pan, a wood chip box, and the power unit. Some assembly is required.

Design and features

The Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker utilizes a simple, no-fuss design that can not both smoke meats & vegetables and do double-duty as an outdoor oven. After several cooking sessions during my test, I can attest to the convenience and ease-of-use. Let’s explore the details.

Setup

Before we start, know that the Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker is a big beastie. Cuisinart claims to use some lightweight materials in the construction, but it still weighs about 50 pounds. You may want to recruit a friend to help with assembly if you’re not accustomed to maneuvering big items by yourself.

Cracking the box reveals all of the components needed for assembly. I had read some reviews that indicated problems with damage during shipping, but my box came in perfect shape, with everything well-packed:

There are a handful of parts that you need to install that take just a few minutes with a screwdriver. The door and heating element are already set up. You’ll attach the legs, the side handles, and the thermometer. Once that’s done, she’s all ready to go. Here are some shots of the finished assembly. Note that this will be the first and last time you’ll see this unit in shiny, pristine condition:

Before we start, it’s important to note that Cuisinart recommends that you season the unit before first cooking. You’ll want to give the interior (except the burner coil) a wipe down with oil, or a coating of cooking spray. You’ll then close the unit and crank the heat up to 275 degrees, and let it run for about three hours. That seasons the interior and burns off any oils or dust that could have accumulated in the manufacturing/shipping process.

Key features & design details

The Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker feels like a solid build for the price point. The walls of the unit are insulated and about 3/4″ thick, and all the hardware looks pretty durable. It’s nice and stable when set up, which is critical for safety.

The heating element is an electric element at the base of the box. Immediately above that burner is the rack for the wood chips and water pan, followed by three cooking racks spaced 5″ apart. You’ve got 10″ of space above the top rack for large hunks of protein (like a turkey), but you can certainly adjust or remove the middle rack if you were going big (like a couple of pork shoulders). Options for hooks at the top could be nice for hanging ribs, but I wouldn’t expect that in a basic unit like this.

Here’s a closeup of the lower pan rig. The pan on the left is for water, which is essential for long slow cooking. The pan on the right is for your wood chips, and sits *just* above the burner to get those chips roasting. It’s also got a lid, which can be used to control the flow of smoke. Both the pans are stainless steel, and look like they will Stan up to long-term use.

Speaking of smoke… see that tiny little port up in the corner? That’s your smoke exhaust. The unit is well-sealed, so this little port allows you to concentrate the smoke in the firebox. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.

Exterior hardware is all good. It’s got a nice burly grab handle for opening the unit, and the lock uses a clever reverse-pivot system that unlocks and opens (or closes) in one motion. This is very handy for keeping your fingers from getting singed when the unit heats up:

Side handles allow you to lift & move the unit about. They’re just fine given the weight of the smoker. It is 50 pounds, so keep that in mind if you have back issues. Wheels might be more convenient, but I’ll trade them for the stability the solid legs offer.

There’s a drip tray that slides under the unit in premade slots. It’s also a solid piece of metal, which I think will last a long time.

And last but not least, the power element and control. This plugs into the unit, allowing you to store it (and the chord) elsewhere. I like that quite a bit. You’ll set the coil to heat with a dial. That light-up arrow to the left is the measuring point. The light will be on when the burner is in operation.

How do you control the temperature, you ask? Well…

Performance

Let’s start by talking about temperature control. You’ll start by adjusting the burner to get the hot box to the desired temperature. Close the unit, fire up the burners, and let it run for 10 minutes or so (without opening the box!) to get it to temperature. Check the built-in thermometer to see where the heat is sitting, and adjust until you get it where you want it:

For my first cook, I was doing barbecue chicken rubbed with my own dry rub (salt, brown sugar, paprika, and spices). I set the internal temperature at 250 degrees, expecting a 2-3 hour roast time. Mesquite smoke was the wood chip choice, soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained prior to roasting. I also threw in a pan of salt to smoke while I was at it. Here’s all the product going in:

And here’s the cook at about the two hour mark:

I flipped the chicken at the 75 minute mark, and added another handful of chips to the smoker box. It does take a while to get the wood chips burning at low temperatures, so that extra round of wood chips was important to getting the smoke flavor. It also seems that the hotbox might run a bit hotter than the thermometer indicates, as I was done the whole cook in just over two hours. The finished results were amazing, however. Good smoke flavor, and a nice even cook. Check out the crust on these samples:

For my next cook I was going for a longer, slower cook time to smoke some fresh sausage. I set the hotbox to 225 degrees, and tested dry apple wood chips to see what the difference would be. I also added some chicken breasts done up with a dry cajun rub at the halfway point. Here’s a shot at the 90 minute point of cooking. Note that the sausage is just starting to brown up here:

At three hours of cooking all told, we’ve got nicely done sausage and chicken breasts. The smoke flavor was much less apparent in the final product, however. I suspect that the lower cooking temp has something to do with this. In future tests, I’ll probably start the unit at higher temperature for the first thirty minutes to get the smoke going, then dial it back for low & slow cooking. I’ll also test out some alternatives like smaller wood chips to see if that makes a difference.

In both cases, the smoker did a great job of maintaining a consistent temperature despite some cold, windy, and wet December days. Even if I wasn’t smoking my meats, I believe that the Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker is ideal for use as an outdoor oven given the consistency in heat control. I’d happily roast vegetables or just about anything else in this unit while hosting a deck party.

If there’s a downside to the design, it’s in cleanliness. There’s no mechanism in the design to collect drippings and/or fat runoff, so most of that stuff just splatters and collects wherever it falls. Check out the bottom of the unit after two cooking sessions:

With no system for collecting runoff, the drip pan underneath really doesn’t do much good. It does catch some drippings, but only once it gets past the water tray and smoker box. I’ve noticed that grease and oils collect all around the base, and even run down the legs. I’ll probably buy a pad to put under the smoker to avoid a greasy deck, and play around with some different tin foil options to solve the drip problem. Either way, cleaning will be a challenge in the long run.

So… would I recommend the Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker? It depends on what you’re looking for. Compared to my old barrel smoker, it’s far easier to use and manage. I do smoke meats on my trusty Weber charcoal kettle grill as well. And there are more expensive dedicated smokers out there that include more well-rounded designs, digital temperature management, and bonus items like feeder chutes for your wood chips or pellets. But if you’re new to smoking meats and/or want something a bit simpler to use that also offers some additional versatility, the Cuisinart offers a great option at a sub $200 price point. It also adds some great convenience for those with limited space who want to do outdoor cooking, but don’t want to have a propane tank or bags of charcoal lying around (you can buy a small bag of wood chips at most hardware stores). I’ll be putting this baby to good use over the next year, and I’ll keep you updated on my discoveries.

What I like

Easy to operate
Consistent heat control
Well built for a smoker at this price point

What needs to be improved

Smoker box not as effective at lower temperatures
A bit messy, and difficult to clean

Final thoughts

Smoking meats can be intimidating for those that are new to the process. The Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker offers a great & easy-to-use option for those that want to try smoking, but don’t want to invest in a more expensive piece of equipment. The additional versatility as an outdoor oven is an extra bonus. It’s also great for those that want an outdoor cooking solution but have limited space to work with or can’t have propane or charcoal grills (like apartment balconies). And at a price point under $200, I think it’s a good buy for the quality.

Price: $149.99
Where to buy: Available at multiple retailers. Visit the Cuisinart product page for a full list of buying options..
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Cuisinart.

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Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Cooking, Food, Grilling, Home and Kitchen

Cuisinart 30″ Electric Smoker review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 23, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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LuDela Candles Perfect Pillar Starter Set remote controlled candle review

REVIEWS – LuDela Candles aren’t your typical candles, and you know that because LuDela candles come with a remote control. It might better be called a lantern that looks like a candle, because the waxy pillar you see is merely a covering for the flame device inside. Unlike normal candles, the LuDela shell never melts, because you’re actually burning a liquid fuel. This pillar has electronic ignition, and it can even blow itself out at the end of the timer period or if it tips over. Unlike battery-powered flameless candles, LuDela candles look better because they have a real flame. The LuDela Perfect Pillar sounds like the perfect candle! How does it work?

What’s in the box?

Perfect Pillar candle device with Ivory shell
2 Caring Candle refills
2 SunScent Rings
Remote
Charging cable and power supply

You can see all of the contents of the kit in the top photo. This photo shows the contents of my box, minus the candle and remote.

The Thank You note seen here explains a little about their Better Light, Better Lives charity. “LuDela is a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation and pending B-Corp with the mission to deliver Better Light, Better Lives for our customers and the global community. For every innovative candle product sold LuDela donates a book to help bring libraries to underserved communities with their non-profit partner Books for Africa.”

The company was founded by Jamie Bianchini. “He was traveling by bike in Africa, when in Burkina Faso, Jamie spent the night at a rustic guesthouse where he was given a candle as a light source. He accidentally fell asleep with the candle burning and woke up to a room filled with thick smoke from a candle fire. Luckily, he was able to put the fire out with his boxer shorts. As he rode his bike onwards the next day the inspiration for the LuDela Perfect came to him. After helping his new Ugandan friend named Innocent realize his dream for the Good Hope School in Uganda, Jamie was inspired to use the patented LuDela innovation as a vehicle to illuminate the minds of more children around the world by giving the empowering gift of literacy.”

Design and features

Let’s look a little closer at the candle before moving on. I received the Perfect Pillar in ivory. This is the standard color used for all candle starter sets at this time. The metal piece you see extending above the pillar is the top of the device that houses and controls the flame. It normally rests below the level of the pillar, but I had released it for removal for this photo.

You’ll notice that there’s a sun logo embossed near the bottom of the candle. The remote control receiver is behind this logo. You need to have this side facing out to be able to control the candle with the remote. The logo isn’t as cleanly embossed on the candle I received as it is in the stock photo at the top of this review.

Here you’ll see the combustion device beside the wax shell. Those columns inside the shell ensure that the interior device is always oriented correctly for the remote receiver to work properly.

The bottom of the shell just has a label and three little feet. It also seems to have a limited-edition number on the bottom.

The top of the interior device is metal. You can see two wires in the center of the opening. Those wires apparently spark the flame when you turn the candle on with the remote.

The open sunburst design can be left open as you see above, or you can insert a fragrance ring, as seen here. The starter kit comes with two rings of the same color/fragrance. If you want to use fragrance with your candles, you can purchase additional rings in six other color/fragrance combinations for $10 for a set of two, or you can get a complete set of 12 rings (2 of each fragrance) for $40.00.

I won’t be using the fragrance rings because everyone in my family has a lot of allergies. They add a nice color, but I just can’t risk the fragrance around my asthmatic daughter. I wish you could get some unscented color rings.

Setup

There’s not a lot involved in setting up the Perfect Pillar candle. The manual is pretty comprehensive, but you’ll also want to watch the video here to learn how to open your Perfect Pillar device, charge it, and insert the fuel before you’re ready to light it. I charged my Perfect Pillar overnight before loading up the fuel cartridge.

You get two Caring Candle refills in the starter kit. Each cartridge burns for about 20 hours. They come sealed inside a plastic bag that has the zipper-opening equivalent of a child-proof bottle cap.

Each cartridge has a double cap on it to be sure there are no leaks. Once you take these caps off, you need to keep the cartridge upright to prevent spills.

The cartridge slides up into the bottom of the interior flame device. I didn’t remove the caps before I took the picture you see here; I didn’t have anyone to hold the device upright at the time. After I got the pictures, I removed both caps, inserted the cartridge in my fully charged combustion device, then inserted it into the candle shell.

Performance

You need the remote control to light up and control the Perfect Pillar. (Just a note here: You can actually light the candle with a match or a lighter, but none of the smart functions will be operational. It will not extinguish the flame if the candle tips nor will it blow out the flame automatically unless you have first ignited the candle with the remote.) To prevent children from playing with the candle, you need a security code to use the remote. There’s a label on the back of the remote control with the unlock code. Once you’ve remembered the keypress sequence, remove the label to prevent children from lighting the candle.

The remote control has a mounting plate that can be attached to the wall with either the supplied screws or double-sided mounting tape. Put it beside your room’s light switch so you can quickly make the decision for candles or light bulbs as you enter the room. The same remote can operate all the candles in your room, but you will have to point the remote at each candle or grouping to light them. Also remember that you must have the sun logo on the candle facing into the room to receive the remote signals.

I did the unlock sequence on the remote and chose a time for the candle to burn, and the candle immediate lit up! That was so cool to see, because it means I could put my candle anywhere without having to worry that short me would be able to reach it later when I wanted to use it. After it burned for a while, I decided to try out the tipping function. I just tilted the candle with my hands instead of knocking it over – because I’m overly cautious – and the flame was puffed out before the candle was tiled more than 10 degrees (estimation). I heard a little puff of air before the flame was extinguished. There’s a little fan inside that blows the flame out.

I lit the candle again and set it for a one hour timer. The flame burned steadily for a full hour, then I heard the puff again and the flame was out. The flame never guttered nor flared up during the hour it burned in my first test. It hasn’t done so any other time I’ve used it, either.

The center of the cartridge has the wick you see burning here. After I’ve used it for a while, it is just the slightest bit blackened on the very tip of the wick, but it isn’t being consumed by the fire like the wick in a normal candle. It’s not burned away because it’s simply the substrate for the liquid fuel to burn on. You won’t have to worry about adjusting or trimming wicks with the Perfect Pillar.

What I like

You can change the appearance of this candle by swapping the flame device into new, colorful, relatively inexpensive Flex Shells (currently $20 each).
I like the safety of a candle that can put itself out if it tips.
I like the timers for burn times. I’d still never leave a live flame unattended, but it’s still comforting to know the candle will extinguish itself, if necessary.
The candle is very attractive.
It looks like a normal pillar candle unless you are looking down into the combustion device.
It always looks new, because the waxy shell is never consumed.

What needs to be improved

Nothing really, but I wish I could get unscented color sunburst rings for the top. (Somebody send me one of those blue fruit cobbler-scented rings after the scent is gone, please! )

Final thoughts

I love the safety features built into the LuDela smart candles. It’s nice to know I won’t set something on fire if I tip over the candle, because it will put itself out. I like the remote lighting function because I’ll be able to set the candle someplace without worrying if I can reach it later – plus it’s just darn cool to light a candle with a remote control! It’s a little expensive to get the starter kit, but you’ll be able to change the color of the wax shell or change the fragrance for a reasonable price. And refill cartridges are reasonably priced at $10/pair , too, especially when you consider how expensive normal wax candles are. The LuDela Perfect Pillar always looks nice and new, because the outside never gets burned away.

Price: $129.00
Where to buy: LuDela Candles; accessories here
Source: The sample of this product was provided by LuDela Candles

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Home and Kitchen

LuDela Candles Perfect Pillar Starter Set remote controlled candle review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 15, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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Roborock S5 Robotic Vacuum and Mop cleaner review

REVIEW – When you have had two total knee replacements and you have a weak back, you could use some help with the housework. I have a lot of trouble wrangling the upright Dyson we have, but I hadn’t really thought about trying a robot vacuum again because of a bad experience I had with one a few years ago. It could get lost in my 80 sqft bathroom. And when it wasn’t stuck in the bathroom, it wandered aimlessly around the house, never completing a room before meandering off to another room. That was a long time ago, and a lot of progress has been made since then. When I read that the Roborock S5 Robot Vacuum Cleaner has high-precision LDS laser distance sensors that can do five 360°-scans of your room per second so it can map out the best pathway for cleaning, I was hoping I’d find a useful partner for cleaning my floors without breaking my back and knees.

Hardware specs

Main unit

Size: 13.9″ x 13.8″ x 3.8″
Lithium ion battery; 14.4V, 5200mAh
Weight 7.7 pounds
Wireless, smart contact charging
Rated voltage: 14.4V
Rated power: 58W
Suction power: 2000Pa
Obstacle crossing: 2cm
E11 filter is Teflon-coated for easy washing; reusable for about a year
Smart laser navigation
13 sensors to avoid obstacles and falls
Laser range sensor scans the room quickly for distance information and planning cleaning route

Charging dock

Size: 5.1″ x 5.9″ x 3.9″
Rated power: 42W
Rated input: 100-240V
Rated output: 20V, 1.8A
Rated frequency: 50/60Hz
Protective floor mat when using the mop function (seen in above photo)

What’s in the box?

Roborock S5 robotic vacuum
Dock charger with US plug
Beak-like cleaning tool
Washable filter
2 Pairs of replacement water tank filters
Water tank and waterproof pad
2 Mopping cloths
User manual

Design and features

In addition to the LDS laser sensors to map your room mentioned above, the Roborock S5 has other sensors to help it navigate your house and individual rooms.

There’s a collision sensor, which is the band around the front of the vacuum (seen in the following photo), that moves to indicate the vacuum has bumped something. The S5 will change its path when a bump is felt to prevent damage to the object blocking it.
The little tower on the top of the vacuum is the bumper sensor that feels even the slightest brush against the top. This prevents your vacuum from getting stuck under something.
Four cliff sensors on the bottom of the machine prevents it from going off an edge that’s too high for it to navigate.
An STMicroelectronics laser TOF range-finding module precise to millimeters helps the vacuum maintain a distance of about 10mm from the wall. This close distance and the rotating side brush means the floor is cleaned all the way up to the wall.
A fall sensor can detect whether the wheels are in a pressed-in state on the floor. When the wheels are off the floor, the cleaner will stop working immediately, significantly increasing the safety during handling.
An odometer measures the number of wheel rotations and calculates the mileage it travels in your house as it cleans.
A tri-axial gyro can detect angular changes in the yaw/pitch/roll directions to determine the orientation of the cleaner, while the tri-axial accelerometer can detect the acceleration of the cleaner in three axes X/Y/Z to determine whether the cleaner tilts or collides with any obstacle.
Dual electronic compass sensors can detected “virtual walls” by sensing magnetic fields. Virtual walls are created by laying magnetic tape down to create the “wall”. The cleaner will automatically avoid the area defined by virtual walls. Use these walls to keep the vacuum away from areas you don’t want disturbed, like around the Christmas tree or a room where it may get stuck or damaged, like a craft room. The magnetic tape is an optional purchase.
The dust bin sensor prevents damage to the motor by preventing using the vacuum when the dust bin or its filter aren’t in place.
The fan speed sensor accurately measures the speed to determine whether the filter is clogged and to keep a record of the fan speed.
A recharge sensor that allows the S5 to quickly locate and return to the charging dock when it needs recharging.

Setup

To get started with the Roborock S5 vacuum, you’ll need to set up the charging dock and put the vacuum on it to charge up the battery. There are a lot of videos on the Roborock website that guide you through setting up, using, and maintaining the vacuum. I found them very helpful in getting to know the Roborock S5.

You’ll also need to download an app to your mobile device that can be found here. This iOS version of this app is somewhat confusing to use, but you’ll need it to connect to your home WiFi, which your vacuum will need to create a cleaning map of your home. This app apparently is also used by another company to control their many types of speakers and home automation devices, including robot vacuums. There is not much information to be found about using this app, so I wasted a lot of time trying to define the rooms in my house, only to learn later that this information is only used by devices from the other company. The Roborock S5 vacuum creates its own map of the house and doesn’t use these room definitions. It would be very nice if Roborock could create their own app, or at least create a video or text document explaining how to use the current app. I found that it does have a few functions for the Roborock vacuum, but they aren’t “inherently obvious to the user”, as I say.

Once you’re connected to the WiFi and your Roborock S5 is charged, you’re ready to start cleaning and letting the vacuum map out your house. I started my first cleaning by pressing the power button on top of the S5. As soon as I did, the vacuum moved off the charging dock and starting moving around in my hallway.

The above image from the Roborock website shows you the information you can use in the app. You can see the progress your vacuum makes by watching the little green light. You can send commands from the app to start a timer cleaning, or use the app as a remote control to start it cleaning or have it return to the charging base. There’s another function for zone cleaning that we’ll discuss more later in the review.

Performance

The Roborock S5 is supposed to be good for homes with pets. My house put it to the ultimate test, because I have a Shiba Inu who sheds huge amounts of hair 365-days a year. It’s like living in the Wild West, what with the tumbleweeds of dog hair that can accumulate overnight. The Roborock sucked up all the dog hair it encountered without a problem.

The Roborock is very quiet. It’s not noiseless, but I could certainly continue with what I was doing without being disturbed by the noise. I live in a high-rise building, with neighbors on three sides of me. I feel I could use the vacuum without them hearing it through the cement walls of the building. Because of the layout of the building, I feel I could even vacuum my living room, dining room, foyer, kitchen, or hall bathroom on a timer overnight without them hearing anything.

After that first pass through my hallway, I was quite pleased with how clean the floor was. The little side brush swept up the dust and dog hair that gathers against the wall without bumping into the wall. In my kitchen, it could navigate around the legs on my work table, and it easily climbed up on and cleaned the two anti-fatigue floor mats in there. It could switch from my hardwoods to my area rugs without problem in the living and dining rooms. It did push my little door mat at the front door out of place, but I need to buy some anti-slip tape for that rug anyway.

It did have a bit of trouble climbing over the marble thresholds for my bathrooms, so I just need to put the S5 into the bathrooms and shut the door while it vacuums so it won’t try to go back out of the bathrooms after it has cleaned. The bathrooms are the only place it can’t reach parts of the room to clean. It’s big enough that it can’t fit between the toilet and wall in one and the toilet and the shower in the other bathroom.

When the Roborock S5 starts working, it wants to do your entire house. I had hoped that I’d be able to tell it to vacuum a specific room and have it go clean that then return to the charging dock. That’s why I was trying to define the rooms of my house in the app. Well, you can’t do it that way – or at least I can’t figure out how to do it that way. But I don’t have to always have the vacuum clean the entire house. Once the Roborock has defined the entire house, I can go into the app and select Zone Cleaning. With this option, you just draw a square around the area of the house you want cleaned, and the vacuum will go clean that area and return to the dock when it’s finished. I have long had a zone approach to cleaning my house – Mondays are for the living room, dining room, and foyer; Tuesdays are the kitchen; etc. Because I can set up a zone for vacuuming, I can start the Roborock S5 cleaning the room I’ll be working on that day while I run my early morning errands, then I’m ready to dust and straighten that zone when I get back. I LOVE the zone cleaning function!

The Roborock S5 can also wet mop. It has two microfiber cleaning cloths and a water reservoir that attaches to the bottom. It can do zone cleaning with the mop, too. I haven’t used the mop function because I have hardwoods everywhere except the kitchen and bathrooms, and I clean the floors in those rooms with a steam cleaner.

What I like

Quiet
Vacuums efficiently and thoroughly
Can “measure” the room’s shape and size and eventually produce a map of your entire house
Can use timers to start cleaning
Can set zones for cleaning
Will return to the charging dock when it needs recharging
Can wet-mop as well as vacuum

What needs to be improved

Could use more documentation about using the current app – OR –
An app just for the Roborock S5 would be perfect

Final thoughts

The Roborock S5 robot vacuum is a great addition to my cleaning arsenal. It’s quiet enough that I don’t have to worry about bothering the neighbors or waking up my daughter whenever I decide to vacuum a room. I could even have it run overnight without worrying about noise. It picks up dust and dirt and the rolling tumbleweeds of dog hair without a problem. And I love that I can draw a zone on my home’s map and have the Roborock S5 clean that area immediately or on a timer. The Roborock S5 is a great value for the price.

Price: $565, as reviewed
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Roborock

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Home and Kitchen, Vacuum

Roborock S5 Robotic Vacuum and Mop cleaner review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 13, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Now you can have a conversation with your trash can because why not?

NEWS – Because it’s high time that trash receptacles should not only hold our garbage but should also open the lid when we ask, I give you the Sensor Can by Simplehuman. The Sensor Can is a 15.3 gallon (58L) trashcan that has two different ways that it can be opened without having to touch the lid. You can wave your hand over the lid to open it with motion, or you can just ask nicely by saying “Open Can” with your voice.

The ultra quiet motor will lift the lid and keep it open as long as you’re standing in front of the trashcan. It will then close it automatically.

Inside the Sensor Can are two separate compartments. The larger 34L side is for your trash and the 24L side has a lift out bucket for recyclables. This trash can from the future even has a handy holder for your trash bags. You can buy a Sensor Can from Simplehuman from Amazon for $249. I bet Oprah has one!

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Home and Kitchen

Now you can have a conversation with your trash can because why not? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 8, 2018 at 9:23 am.

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Neato Botvac D7 software update adds zone cleaning feature

NEWS – I am a huge fan of Neato’s Botvac robot vacuums. I have two of them in my home. One for the main floor and one for the basement. They are both scheduled to automatically run 3 times a week, but now that we’re replacing the carpet on our main floor with luxury vinyl planks that look like barn wood, we’ve found that we need to keep those areas vacuumed more often due to Max tracking his cat litter. Luck for me and you if you own a Neato Botvac D7 Connected, there’s a software update which adds a new zone cleaning feature.

With zone cleaning, users can add extra cleaning for specific rooms or custom areas of a home that require additional cleaning and schedule the work to happen in addition to Neato’s regular household routine. The feature allows you to:

Create zones on your floor that make the most sense for your life, be it an entire room or just a trouble area.
Name zones using a list of pre-determined labels or create custom zone names.
Make multiple, overlapping zones in a single floor plan. Zones can be placed in any way that works for your lifestyle and your home.
Add No-Go Lines to any zone, creating off-limits areas in any area or room of your home
Deploy Zone Cleaning across multiple floorplans, pinpointing zones for a more efficient clean, controlled on-demand or scheduled via the Neato app.

When my D7 gets the update, I’ll be able to have it vacuum the areas of my main floor that no longer has carpet each day so that I don’t have to see little cat litter granules or cat fur tumbleweeds flying around.

This new feature will begin rolling out to users of the Botvac D7 Connected via a software update today on Tuesday, December 4th, and the rollout is expected to be complete by the weekend. For more info about Neato Botvacs, you can visit Neatorobotics.com and their Amazon page. I love love love mine!

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Home and Kitchen, Vacuum

Neato Botvac D7 software update adds zone cleaning feature originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 4, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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