Alexa: 5 helpful voice commands to use in the kitchen

When you're baking and cooking, your smartphone can quickly turn into a pane of glass you can't operate. To scroll down the recipe, you have to press around on the screen with greasy fingers. In this case, voice assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri can help. In our latest coffee break, we show you five voice commands for Alexa for the kitchen.

As a prerequisite, you do not even need an Echo speaker, even if the voice control and the comfort are particularly good or high here. If you've always wanted to try out an Echo speaker, you can find all current models via the deal element just above this paragraph. Alternatively, you can simply set up Alexa on your cell phone and use it without additional hardware.

Setting and operating the timer

Let's start with the simplest and possibly most intuitive voice command for your Alexa device. At any time, you can activate up-to-the-second timers to let you know when your pasta is cooked to perfection, for example. To do so, simply say:

• "Alexa, set a timer to XY minutes and XY seconds."
• "Alexa, set a timer for the oven / pasta / etc. for XY minutes and XY seconds."
• "Alexa, how much time is left?"
• "Alexa, add XY minutes to my timer."

After the mentioned time expires, your Echo device or cell phone will play an alarm sound. However, especially with longer timers, it can be handy to ask for the remaining time in between. Therefore, I added some extended commands for the control of timers.

Create shopping lists

Once you get used to Alexa as your smart kitchen assistant, creating shopping lists quickly becomes second nature. For example, if you are running low on butter, you simply shout the appropriate voice command through the kitchen and the butter is added to the list. With the right preparation, the butter is also ordered right away - natively, this is done via an Alexa command, but as a tip, you can also control the popular shopping list app "Bring" via Alexa Skill.

• "Alexa, add XY to my list."
• "Alexa, add XY to my Prime Now shopping cart."
• "Alexa, add XY to my Amazon Fresh shopping cart."

You can then view the shopping lists in the Alexa app on your phone or have them read to you again. With a pen and paper in hand, you can then write them down and never forget an item that has run out in the last few days.

Ordering groceries via Alexa

Shopping via Alexa is possible, but in my opinion it is anything but practical. Alexa always adds products that you have already ordered from the mail-order giant. In addition, the voice assistant does not ask for quantities, colors or sizes, and when used without a screen.

• "Alexa, add XY to my Prime Now cart."
• "Alexa, add XY to my Amazon Fresh shopping cart."

If you want to try out the shopping feature, you'll need to enable it again in the Alexa app. To do so, head to Settings, then go to Account Settings, select Voice Shopping and activate it.

Get info on groceries

What else is in mayonnaise and can I eat eggplant raw? Alexa will be happy to find out such information for you via Google search or via the integrated answer function. Of course, you can let your creativity run wild here and simply try it out.

With skills from the "Cooking and recipes" category, you can also expand Alexa's range of functions for the kitchen. For example, with the core temperature skill, which can be wonderfully combined with a smart meat thermometer. In the linked category on Amazon you will find all available skills from the category.

Automation in the kitchen

In the linked article, we already gave you tips for automating your morning routine. You can apply the same tips to your work in the kitchen. For example, you can automate rice cooking with a traditional rice stove and the right 5-minute timer.

• Related: How to turn your coffee maker into a smart device

Again, you can use smart sockets or even smart switches that do the button pushing for you.

And what about recipes?

Smart food processors like the Thermomix or Monsieur Cuisine are very popular. Among other things, because they guide novice cooks step by step through recipes. With an Echo speaker, this was also possible for a long time via Chef Style. Unfortunately, however, this has been removed from the library, and the alternatives in the Skill Catalog are not particularly recommendable.

What are your tips for using Amazon Alexa in the kitchen? Write us your uses in the comments!