• Miele presents Smart Food ID, Smart Browning Control and CookAssist

• New assistance systems to be added via remote update

The camera in the oven identifies the food and controls the cooking process, while another digital aid provides step-by-step assistance when frying: with new intelligent assistance systems, Miele is launching a holistic digital cooking experience. The control centre for cooking and many other applications is the Miele App. Featuring a modern design and new content, it really makes the smart home fun!

Smart Food ID – facial recognition for food

Flashback: in 2019, Miele uses an oven camera to provide images to smartphones for the very first time – monitoring the cooking process from outside the kitchen and adjusting settings while on the go proves to be very convenient. Now, the system is becoming truly smart thanks to the new Smart Food ID feature. The oven camera identifies which food the user has placed in the oven: potato wedges, Mediterranean roasted vegetables, streusel cake… the dish is indicated on the oven display, so all the user has to do is confirm that it is correct and the respective automatic programme will start. Not only is this feature super convenient, it is also versatile – initially, the camera is able to identify over 20 dishes, with many more to be added later on.

Smart Browning Control – pizza’s ready!

A second oven innovation is dedicated to an international favourite – pizza! This special application is called Smart Browning Control and works in a different way to Smart Food ID. In this case, the user selects whether the pizza is frozen or fresh and then starts the cooking programme. The camera monitors how the pizza browns to identify when it is done. If necessary, Smart Browning Control (just like Smart Food ID) can be combined with
TasteControl, which prevents the dish from drying out. With this feature, the oven door opens slightly at the end of the programme, the appliance cools to a preselected temperature and then keeps the food warm.

Miele will initially be testing Smart Food ID and Smart Browning Control in Denmark from the end of 2020.

CookAssist – unparalleled simplicity and safety when frying

Cooking the perfect steak – rare, medium or well done – isn’t an easy skill for every amateur cook to master. Yet at the last IFA trade show, Miele demonstrated that it can be! The cook simply needs the new induction hobs with TempControl from Miele and CookAssist. CookAssist is an app-based feature. It guides the user through the frying process step by step – starting with heating up the pan, the temperature can be monitored precisely on a smartphone. Once the required temperature for searing has been reached, the user is prompted to place the meat in the pan. For the next steps, such as when to turn the steak, you simply follow the app. And the application can do much more than steaks! Ready for the market launch in September 2020, 14 further recipes have been integrated, including chicken curry, rösti and pancakes. Working together with start-up KptnCook, in which Miele holds a stake, further recipes are being developed apace and will gradually be made available in upcoming app releases. CookAssist and the new TempControl hobs are available now.

Smart Food ID and CookAssist are based on artificial intelligence. Smart Food ID draws on the concept of computer vision: the image recorded by the oven camera is analysed and interpreted for cooking product recognition. Smart Food ID thus considerably simplifies preparation as there is no longer any need to search for suitable settings or programmes and Miele is gradually expanding the number of dishes detected. The application is also a learning system, meaning that newly taken photos of customer recipes constantly improve recognition. Evaluation of these photos is of course anonymous and only if the customer agrees to the terms of use.

For CookAssist, the ideal temperature for the respective dish is not simply measured at the base of the pan, but calculated using a complex algorithm and transmitted to the smartphone so that the cooking process can be controlled precisely.

The Miele App – smart aid optimised with significant advances and additional content

After over ten years on the market, the time has come for a makeover: the Miele@mobile App is being transformed into the Miele App. And it’s not just the name that’s new – the app will be completely redesigned to provide even more smart convenience features and improved user navigation. For example, the new dashboard displays all networked appliances and their statuses at a glance. The app will be upgraded in terms of content and offers new features including the new BaristaAssistant. This feature guides coffee connoisseurs through a tasting session in which appliance settings are gradually refined via smartphone. This results in a personal taste profile for espresso, which can be stored as a favourite. In addition to built-in coffee machines, the BaristaAssistant is now also available for the new flagship model from the CM6 (countertop) series. The Miele App will replace the Miele@mobile App in the second quarter of 2021.

Remote update – always up to date

Miele is continually developing its appliances, and in many cases customers benefit from the latest applications. For example, the Smart Food ID and Smart Browning Control assistance systems can be retrofitted for the 60 cm ovens with an integrated camera, including for appliances which were purchased in the past year. The functional enhancement is added to the appliances via remote update, ensuring that they are always up to date.
 

Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. This line-up is augmented by dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Miele Professional). The Miele company, founded in 1899, has eight production plants in Germany as well as one plant each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Romania and Poland. These are joined by the two plants belonging to Miele's Italian medical technology subsidiary Steelco. Turnover in the 2018/19 business year was around € 4.16 bn, with a share of business outside Germany of approx. 71%. Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries/regions. Throughout the world, the family-run enterprise, now in its fourth generation, employs a workforce of around 20,500, whereof 11,050 are employed in Germany. The company has its headquarters in Gütersloh in Westphalia.