Control Your WeMo Crock-Pot with Your Phone

When most people first hear about controlling a Crock-Pot with your phone, they are amazed and quick to say, “I want one!”  But with further thought, would you really need to access your Crock-Pot from your smartphone?  I set out to find out whether remotely controlling your smartphone was a convenience or just a cool feature.

The Control Crock-Pot Smart Slow Cooker features WeMo, a technology compatible with your existing Wi-Fi router, used to control WeMo objects, like lights, coffee-makers, and more.  WeMo is a technology owned by Belkin to help automate your home in an easy, at-your-own-pace fashion.

Setting Up the WeMo Crock-Pot

To set up the WeMo Crock-Pot to my WiFi network, I turned on the Crock-Pot and waited about a minute or so.  When the light flashed in a green than orange pattern, I looked on my smartphone to see if the WeMo Crock-Pot showed up on my WiFi networks.  After it did, I clicked on it.  I then downloaded the WeMo app from the Android Google Play store (also available in iTunes) and I could see my WeMo Crock-Pot had connected with the app.  The next step was to enter the password of my WiFi network in the app and I was on my way.

It  can be a bit tricky if you don’t know your Wi-Fi router’s password.  If it hasn’t been changed, often times it’s printed on a sticker on the bottom of your router, take a look and see if you can find it.  If not, you may be able to call your Internet carrier for help.  This password is usually made up of alpha-numerical characters.

I decided to make some Asian pork chops, a recipe I found on my favorite, AllRecipes.com site.  I placed the pork chops in, added the ingredients, and at this point I have two choices.

1. I could press the button on the WeMo Crock-Pot to High, Low, or Warm OR
2. I could use the WeMo app to start the cooking process.

Well, of course I used the app!

As it was already 2:30pm in the afternoon, I set the WeMo Crock-Pot on High and scheduled a 3 1/2 hour cook time.  My meal should be ready at 6:05 pm.  Now, if later I’m running late, and I have more time, I might adjust it to 6:30 pm.

I was planning on going shopping later that day, so this app could help if I was running late.  Sure wish I could control my rice cooker too!

Here’s a picture of my pork chops and apples before they began cooking.  Notice the green WiFi signal, showing that it is connected to my WiFi system.

Here are my pork chops after the cooking time.  I shredded them before I took this picture.  You can see the WeMo Crock-Pot indicator is on Warm, which it turned to automatically after the cook time was complete.

Another time, I decided to see if I could cook ground turkey in the WeMo Crock-Pot, without browning it first on the stove.  I have never done it this way before, but someone had told me that he had done it with ground beef and it worked out great.

I placed my ground turkey in the Crock-Pot, turned it on High with my phone app (though I could have done it right on the Crock-Pot too).  And I set the timer for 4 hours, which would be 5:35pm.

Later, at my desk, I decided to Google it, to see if I needed to add anything else besides the meat, so I looked up “cooking ground turkey in a crockpot.”  I found that I should add salt, pepper, and other spices.  I also noticed that I should slow cook it on Low, not High.  Since it was only 1:30 pm in the afternoon, I knew I had time.  But I didn’t feel like getting back up to go to the kitchen from my office.  No problem, I just pulled up my app and adjusted the temperature to Low.  I added the salt and pepper next time I got up.  I’m beginning to get used to this remote control Crock-Pot business!

By the way, to my delight, the ground turkey turned out great.  About an hour before it was done cooking, I scooped out any fat and poured a jar of spaghetti sauce over it.  Dinner was great.  I’m so excited that I don’t have to brown the meet first!  This will save a lot of time.

WeMo CrockPot

Features:

• You can remotely access your WeMo Crock-Pot functions from anywhere – inside the house or at the mall!
• Receive notifications when your WeMo Crock-Pot meal is complete
• Washable removable stoneware
• Large 6 quart capacity
• Handy cord storage

Pros:

• Nice stainless steel design
• Turn your Crock-Pot to High, Low, or Warm or even on or off if you find you won’t be at home on time
• Both the lid and the stoneware are dishwasher safe
• When your cooking time is complete, the WeMo Crock-Pot automatically turns to the Warm setting
• You can expand control to lights, video cameras, and more using WeMo technology

Cons:

• You must use smartphones and tablets running Apple iOS 6 and/or Android 4.0 and higher to control WeMo
• In order to ensure your WeMo Crock-Pot is talking to your WeMo app, you need to know your WiFi’s password
• It’s pricier than other Crock-Pots