Control Kitchen Chaos With Alexa Named Timers
Alexa and Google Home let you set multiple named timers and they’ll keep Thanksgiving.
You just have to say:
Alexa, set the timer [thing] to [time]
… and it will start this timer. ( Google Home works the same way , but my own kitchen is the Alexa store.) “Alexa, set the turkey timer to four hours,” you might say. “Alexa, set the potato timer for 20 minutes.” Then you can ask:
Alexa, how much time is left?
… and he will helpfully say, “You have 15 minutes left on the potato timer and three hours and 55 minutes on the turkey timer.”
When the time is up, Alexa will sound the alarm with the words: “The timer for potatoes is ready.” He will keep calling and setting the timer until you shout through the noise of the kitchen: “Alexa, STOP!”
You can also cancel or pause timers by name. If you’re looking for a short, polite reminder instead of an alarm clock, you can say:
Alexa, remind me to put the bread in the oven at 3:45 pm.
or
Alexa, remind me to water the turkey in an hour.
Despite all of the quirky Alexa features, all I ever do with my Echo Dot is play the music when I just submerged my hands in the utensil water and set timer after timer when I cook a multi-piece meal. Both of these features save you Thanksgiving, so play the holiday melody if you’re ready and start cooking.