At CES 2019 Whirlpool introduced smart ovens that integrated the appliance company’s Yummly recipe app for meals that almost cook themselves. For home cooks who want to perfect their own mad skills in the kitchen, Whirlpool also announced Yummly Pro, a new platform with cooking classes from celebrity chefs.
Following a concept Whirlpool calls “Guided Cooking,” Yummly Pro will recommend recipes and cooking classes based on user profiles. To make it even easier for consumers who want to cook along with the chefs, the app will also include pre-populated shopping lists with one-button ordering from the app. The shopping lists will account for ingredients the user already has.
So whether your preference for a given meal is Korean tacos or perfect Italian meatballs, Yummly Pro will help you learn the necessary cooking skills while preparing a delicious meal for your table. The chefs appear in videos that run within the Yummly app.
“We know home cooks turn to streaming platforms, television shows and social channels of their favorite food publications and influencers to learn how and what to cook,” said Adam Soldinger, Yummly’s head of digital strategy. “Yummly Pro takes learning one step further by serving up cooking content from popular chefs and influencers. The exclusive experience takes users on a cooking journey, from beginner to advance skills and recipes, improving their cooking skills and overall confidence in the kitchen.”
Whirlpool announced four celebrity chefs on board for the platform launch:
- Carla Hall, the former co-host on ABC’s Emmy Award-winning popular lifestyle series “The Chew,” will introduce users to southern cuisine.
- Richard Blais, an American chef who won “Top Chef: All-Stars,” will teach viewers easy-to-cook people-pleasing recipes.
- Jet Tila, a versatile chef, and a frequent television cooking competition judge, will show users how to prepare Asian dishes from Thailand, China, Japan, and Korea.
- Daniel Holzman, recognized as a talented chef since he was working at cooking at Le Bernardin when he as 15. Holzman, chef and co-founder of The Meatball Shop in New York City will teach Italian cooking techniques culminating in his recipe for “the perfect Italian meatball.”
Guided Cooking also includes timers and select recipes connected via smartphone to specified Whirlpool smart ovens. Identified by a Connected Fork icon that represents the home chef and the smart appliance working together, the smart oven takes care of time and temperature settings, following the recipe requirements.