Scoring an invitation to the World of Whirlpool in Chicago was a pretty nifty thing. Being able to tour the home of Whirlpool and their brands – KitchenAid, Whirlpool, Maytag, Affresh, and many more – was a unique opportunity. While the KitchenAid team was not there, I was still excited to see where all the stand mixer magic happens!
As you know, I am a huge KitchenAid fan, so it was fun to see everything at the World of Whirlpool, including the history of the stand mixer, and of course – adorable stand mixer cookies (not gluten-free, but still adorable).
I did, however, get to experience the Maytag, Whirlpool and affresh brands at this media breakfast.
Maytag
I love that the Maytag man is back in all of the tv advertisements. We had a chance to see the top load washer and dryer in action. While washers and dryers aren’t really the typical thing I write about – or really talk about in my daily conversations – I was excited about the ability to wash up to 22 towels in one load, for all of my mom friends out there.
Affresh
I had a chance to meet with the affresh specialized cleaning team. These cleaning products are meant to assist cleaning in the kitchen for these machines. I was impressed with the laundry machine cleaners, as we’re having a hell of a time with our front-load washer. It’s always getting moldy and leaving a bad smell – which is what these two products – the wipes and the cleaner – are supposed to solve.
They also have a new stainless steel cleaner coming out that’s going to be pretty exciting. I mean, exciting for those of us who love new cleaning products. And yes, it cleaned the heck out of that fridge that was full of lotion-handed smudges.
Whirlpool
The coolest thing I saw at the World of Whirlpool, and possibly the coolest thing at the show, is how Whirlpool is using the “Internet of Things.” Everything is now connected to the cloud, your smart phone, your wi-fi. Everything is connected, even in your house – even in your kitchen. Whirlpools new “Scan-to-Cook” technology debuted at CES to rave reviews. It uses this Scan-to-Cook technology, scanning a barcode of a product, like this Amy’s Pizza, and the oven will automatically set-up the best cooking time/setting for the product. If a product needs to pre-heat, bake, broil, and then keep warm – the oven will do that all for you. It can even keep cookies warm after they cook, or shut the oven off after a certain cook time. If you’re making something from scratch without a UPC code, you can scroll through a menu featured on the oven itself for something like “cookies” or “roast” and select a setting specific for what you’re cooking from the oven. And of course, you can always cook without the oven’s assistance too!
I may not be explaining it as impressive as it really is, but this technology is pretty mind-blowing. This is a truly smart oven. Look for this oven this summer, available in electric or gas. Learn more about it here. Thanks to the Whirpool team for letting me check this out!
How do you feel about the Internet of Things? Too much? Will robots rise up and not only eat our pizza but take down society? Let me know what you think!