SmartyPans is a lineup of smart cookware introduced at CES 2017. Find out how these unique pots and pans work today in our SmartyPans review.
What is SmartyPans?
SmartyPans is a smart cookware company founded by. One is a nutritionist and the other is an engineer. Together, they created smart cookware that can help you eat smarter and healthier.
Some of the key features in SmartyPans include:
- Step-by-step cooking instructions
- Computes calories in real time
- Documents recipes in real time
- Shares your recipes in real time
The cookware consists of a temperature sensor (in the pan), a weight sensor (which tracks the additional weight of all ingredients you place in the pan), along with a Li-Po battery and a Bluetooth chip in the handle.
Using SmartyPans, according to the founders, you can “cook the perfect recipe every single time.”
The cookware is priced at around $200 per pan.
How Does SmartyPans Work?
SmartyPans comes with all of the smart features mentioned above – including food tracking, weight tracking, calorie counting, and live recipe tracking.
You start by selecting a recipe from the SmartyPans app. Then, you’ll see step-by-step cooking instructions based on real-time feedback from the SmartyPans sensors.
The temperature trackers prevent you from ever burning or over-cooking your meals. You also know when to add ingredients at the perfect time.
How does SmartyPans know which ingredients you’re putting into the pan? You have to tell the cookware by giving it a voice command. As you’re adding an ingredient, you tell the app about that ingredient, then the SmartyPans pan will monitor the weight and temperature of each ingredient.
Meanwhile, as you’re busy cooking your meal, the SmartyPans app is working hard to compute the nutritional value of your food. It’s tracking the calories of your meal based on the weight and type of every ingredient you’re adding.
The SmartyPans app also links up with third-party apps like FitBit so you can integrate your calorie counting wherever you go.
The app itself contains over 1000 recipes.
SmartyPans Features
- Cooking instructions, helping you make the perfect recipe every time you cook
- Real time nutrition calculation, giving you a detailed nutrition profile in real time
- Syncs with fitness trackers, so you never have to maintain a food diary ever again
- Temperature sensor (using monitors in the pan) so you never burn or overcook your food
- Weight sensor so you can get rid of your kitchen scale and measuring cups; the weight sensor can detect changes as low as 0.5 grams
- Dishwasher safe (remove the handle before washing)
- App comes with 1000+ built-in recipes
- SmartyPans comes with two parts, including the bottom part (with the handle and scale) and the top part (can be removed to be used as a baking dish or serving dish)
- Black, red, and orange colors available
- Ceramic non-stick coating or stainless steel top available
How Does SmartyPans Work?
SmartyPans works in a straightforward way. Here’s the basic process you’re going to use while cooking:
Step 1) Tell the app which ingredient you’re adding. If you’re adding chicken, you just say the word “chicken”
Step 2) The app tracks your progress, weighing the ingredients and tracking their temperature, all while tracking the ingredients in real time
Step 3) The app guides you with step-by-step cooking instructions; if you need to add 12 ounces of onions to the pan, for example, then you can watch the app track the weight of the onions in real time as you scrape the onions from the cutting board into the pan
Step 4) The app will track the temperature of the pan, and tell you when to adjust the temperature
Step 5) Monitor cooking time down to the second; SmartyPans will track the temperature of your food to ensure it’s safe and ready-to-eat
SmartyPans Tech Specs
- Bluetooth LE 4.2
- 800 mAh battery (rechargeable, capable of lasting 751 hours on a single charge)
- Atmel M4 microcontroller
- Industry grade bakelite handle
- 12” diameter
- Temperature sensor measures up to 1250 degrees Fahrenheit
- Bakelite support handle
- Die-cast aluminum bottom pan
- Weight sensor capable of withstanding 1112 degrees Fahrenheit
- Top pan is detachable and oven-safe, although the handle is not oven-safe or dishwasher safe (you can remove the handle for the oven or dishwasher)
- Integrates with MyFitnessPal, FitBit, and Google Fit (more integrations will be added in the future)
SmartyPans Pricing
SmartyPans is priced at $299 USD.
SmartyPans debuted on Indiegogo in summer 2016. The company raised just over $31,000 of its $30,000 fixed goal with support from 122 backers. Early bird pricing through Indiegogo dropped the pan’s price to as low as $170 USD.
For comparison, SmartyPans’ closest competitor is Pantelligent, a $200 smart frying pan that is purportedly very good at helping you fry steaks, salmon, and grilled cheese sandwiches, according to this reviewer at CNET.
Who Makes SmartyPans?
SmartyPans was created by sibling co-founders Prachi Baxi (a nutritionist by trade) and Rahul Baxi (an engineer by trade).
They produce SmartyPans in upstate New York. You can get in touch with the company by email at [email protected].
SmartyPans Review Summary
SmartyPans will be probably be the most expensive frying pan you’ll ever buy. However, it’s not like an ordinary frying pan. It tracks the ingredients, the weight of those ingredients, and the temperature of those ingredients to help you become a better cook.
SmartyPans markets itself to both ordinary household consumers as well as professional chefs. The pan has received good reviews online so far, with most reviewers indicating the pan works as advertised to make them a more conscious cook.
Ultimately, the main question you have to ask yourself with SmartyPans is whether or not you’re willing to spend $299 USD on a single piece of cookware.
