Orange Chef introduces Countertop, a platform for connecting kitchen appliances together

by Joe White

April 7, 2015

Orange Chef, maker of a number of popular kitchen-related iOS accessories (including, among others, the successful “Chef Sleeve” for iPad) is today announcing a brand new product. Called Countertop, this new product is in fact a “smart kitchen system” that promises to connect multiple appliances together in order to allow for easier, and healthier, cooking.

Countertop works across a number of different fronts. There’s an iOS application, a station to prepare meals, and, finally, optional adapters which connect your kitchen appliances with Orange Chef’s Countertop platform. The adapters allow your appliances to communicate with your iOS device, and two initial products are partnering with Countertop: Vitamix blenders, and Crock-Pot slow cookers. Through installing one of Countertop’s dishwasher-safe adapters, users can have their appliances recommend and follow along with recipes; you won’t even need to measure out ingredients, either – “Countertop will notify the user once the correct amounts are reached,” Orange Chef notes.

Usefully, Countertop syncs with wearable devices – including Apple’s Health app – in order to incorporate personal health and fitness data into its meal recommendations. “This enables the Countertop app to suggest the right meal for optimal nutrition, in the moment,” Orange Chef adds. Countertop will also be available on Apple Watch, allowing for two-handed cooking (with recipe notifications pushed over to the user’s wrist).

The press release continues:

Personalized meal suggestions. Countertop takes into account each user’s physical activity, food preferences and sleep patterns to provide snack and meal suggestions based on time of day, nutritional requirements and personal goals. Once a meal is suggested a user can swipe-left to see additional options or swipe-right to select a meal. Countertop learns meal likes and dislikes based on user selections, and as the app learns, it gets smarter and the meal recommendations become more precise.

Easily track food intake. Countertop is the most precise way to track food intake. It makes it easy to swap ingredients in and out based on preference, goals and convenience. As meals are prepared, Countertop automatically logs exactly which ingredients are used, quantifying nutrition in real-time with easy-to-read graphs.

Of course, with Apple Watch and the Health app, iOS fans are entering an age where technology really is helping us to keep fit and stay healthy. Orange Chef’s Countertop, however, hopes to bring this kind of support into the kitchen.

If you’re interested in taking Countertop for a spin, you can preorder a Countertop of your own for the promotional price of $99.95 (this is half the product’s usual price of $199.95). Adapters for your Vitamix blenders and Crock-Pot slow cookers are available for $9.95 and $4.95 respectively, and these prices are also promotional. The first Countertops are expected to reach customers in fall 2015.