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Kitchen Timers: Which One Do You Like?


Okanagancook

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Another dang kitchen timer has gone to 'kitchen gadget heaven'.  The buzzer lost it's 'buzz'.  What use is a timer without an alarm to tell you when time is up?  Then I got to thinking of all the timers I have had just since moving into this house 15 years ago.

 

The latest one had four timers in one.  It was working well. 

The one before had two timers.

The one before had four timers.

I even had a Thermapen Timer and I broke that!

Sheesh.

 

Help!

What should I buy next?

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It can keep multiple timers at the same time and you can name them.  Like Alexa set a cookie timer for five minutes.   And it plays music.   And keeps shopping lists.   And my kids think it’s funny when I yell at it

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Sounds like I need to get with the program rather than handling little timers with greasy buttons and splattered screens.😃

If I may, what other kitchen related functions do you use Alexa for?

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Alexa how many cups in a quart?   How many Celsius is 450 Fahrenheit.   What’s in a gimlet?  Alexa set a reminder to take the garbage out on Wednesday.   It’s kinda transformative

Edited by Dr. Teeth (log)
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Alexa keeps me company in the kitchen.  And she doesn't drink that much.  Sometimes I ask her to time things for me.  More often I use this:

 

http://amzn.com/B009EJE8TM

 

 

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Alexa or Google Home (one full size and two minis)

Timers

Reminders

Weather

etc. etc. etc.

Alexa User Guide: Learn What Alexa Can Do

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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I have an Echo Dot in the room next to my kitchen and use it primarily as a timer.  I like that I can state the time any way I like and Alexa confirms.  Egg timer for six minutes and thirty seconds, Washing machine timer for 112 minutes (she confirms this as 1 hour, fifty two minutes), bread proof timer for one hour, etc.  There's no visual display but you can ask to check any timer to find out how much time is left.  I really don't like speaking to inanimate objects but I'm sold on this function.  The Dots and other Echo speakers are often heavily discounted for Prime Day  (will that happen this year), Black Friday and the like. 

 

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Alexa keeps me company in the kitchen.  And she doesn't drink that much.  Sometimes I ask her to time things for me.  More often I use this:

http://amzn.com/B009EJE8TM

 

 

The timer that @JoNorvelleWalker mentioned above was always my go-to timer in the lab and I was quite fond of it. They are sturdy but don't last forever. I always had a backup or two.  The Amazon price seems rather more than what I used to pay for them, but it's been a while 🙃.  They do indicate which channel is ringing but it's up to you to remember whether that's an egg, bread proof or the laundry while Alexa will announce that, assuming you remembered to tell her when you set the timer.  Even though it's a 4-channel timer, you can't see all 4 at once.  However, for the channel you are viewing, the numbers are nice and big and can be read easily at some distance.

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I have hearing loss so the adjustable volume is a blessing for me. I actually own two.

 

This is it.

 

When Thermoworks came out with their TimeStack I bought one for my ren faire kitchens.

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

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TimeStack and Google Home. The TimeStack has the four timers set to 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes, but any can be reprogrammed quickly and easily. The Google Home Mini lives in a DockSocket, it uses a recessed light fixture, so on the ceiling and out of the way, it’s available on Etsy, but I can’t get a clickable link that will work.

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1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

I have an Echo Dot in the room next to my kitchen and use it primarily as a timer.  I like that I can state the time any way I like and Alexa confirms.  Egg timer for six minutes and thirty seconds, Washing machine timer for 112 minutes (she confirms this as 1 hour, fifty two minutes), bread proof timer for one hour, etc.  There's no visual display but you can ask to check any timer to find out how much time is left.  I really don't like speaking to inanimate objects but I'm sold on this function.  The Dots and other Echo speakers are often heavily discounted for Prime Day  (will that happen this year), Black Friday and the like. 

 

 

The timer that @JoNorvelleWalker mentioned above was always my go-to timer in the lab and I was quite fond of it. They are sturdy but don't last forever. I always had a backup or two.  The Amazon price seems rather more than what I used to pay for them, but it's been a while 🙃.  They do indicate which channel is ringing but it's up to you to remember whether that's an egg, bread proof or the laundry while Alexa will announce that, assuming you remembered to tell her when you set the timer.  Even though it's a 4-channel timer, you can't see all 4 at once.  However, for the channel you are viewing, the numbers are nice and big and can be read easily at some distance.

 

The echo clock will give a visual countdown timer display, sort of.  But I don't have one.  Yet.  I'm waiting for version two or three.

 

Problem with echo timers:  I have at least seven echo devices.  (Don't judge, it is for safety in case I fall.)  Any echo is happy to set a timer.  But if you interrogate the wrong device Alexa will cheerily inform you you have no timers set.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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For what it's worth, I have wall mounts for the Google Home minis.

 

minimount.jpg

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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9 hours ago, DesertTinker said:

The Google Home Mini lives in a DockSocket, it uses a recessed light fixture, so on the ceiling and out of the way, it’s available on Etsy, but I can’t get a clickable link that will work.

 

This? Dock Socket for Google Nest Mini

 

 

DockSocket.JPG

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Problem with echo timers:  I have at least seven echo devices.  (Don't judge, it is for safety in case I fall.)  Any echo is happy to set a timer.  But if you interrogate the wrong device Alexa will cheerily inform you you have no timers set.

 

Yeah, placement is key.

That can be an issue in this tiny house.

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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I love my Echo dots. They play my music and NPR for me (particularly important now there are no sports on TV except old games). But I use my phone for my timer.

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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5 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

Yeah, placement is key.

That can be an issue in this tiny house.

 

Alexa can now play the same music over all your echo devices.  I would not be surprised if eventually timers can work over all your echo devices.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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My wife uses a google home for the purposes. I prefer the Thermoworks Extra Big and Loud. I might be tempted to get the Timestack if I were looking for one now but with multiple Extra Big and Louds I can position next to the thing that I am timing so that I don't forget which timer is which.

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I just bought a new timer, not a fancy AI assistant, but an old-school one with a magnetic back. I wanted one a clock which showed the time with seconds, as I often just want to stir or blend something for 20 or 30 seconds and it would be overkill to set up an actually timer. The timer itself can count up or down, it's quite loud, and has a good backlight. I bought the TM01 which only has a single timer, but they also offer another model, the larger TM02 with two.

 

image.jpeg.dc8ddd9fb7d6e55555a625293eaf3e23.jpeg

TM01: https://buythermopro.com/product/thermopro-tm01-digital-timer-countdown-touchable-backlit/

 

 

 

 

image.jpeg.c65dc2246cd381b76007aedbc918ea49.jpeg

TM02: https://buythermopro.com/product/thermopro-tm02-dual-digital-kitchen-timer/

Edited by chord (log)
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On 5/2/2020 at 7:27 PM, Dr. Teeth said:

It can keep multiple timers at the same time and you can name them.  Like Alexa set a cookie timer for five minutes.   And it plays music.   And keeps shopping lists.   And my kids think it’s funny when I yell at it

But North Korea knows what you cook.

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