Many popular kitchen timers are digital, including the majority of the picks in this guide. Plus, keep in mind that the longer your timer is running, the more battery it will use. This does become an important consideration if you're planning to use your kitchen timer mainly for long-term tasks like yogurt-making, kombucha-brewing, or curing meats. For regular dinnertime needs, any of the kitchen timers in this guide should be able to handle the job at hand without an issue. Most kitchen timers have a limitation on their highest possible set time. Also, the unique VOCOO Digital Magnetic Kitchen Timer works like a dial, so a quick turn of the wrist gets you to your particular countdown time. Some kitchen timers do make this a little easier: The OXO Good Grips Triple Kitchen Timer and the ThermoWorks TimeStick Trio have keypads that allow you to easily punch in the numbers. When your hands are covered in sauce, and you need to get 5 minutes on the clock, the last thing you want to do is spend one of those minutes pressing tiny buttons. Some of the simplest, most pared-down designs we've found in our research were, unfortunately, very annoying to program. It goes without saying, but you'll want to consider how easy it is to set the time of your chosen device. Play around with Alexa and learn all the ways that your Amazon Echo can fit into your day.Kitchen timers may be small, relatively affordable gadgets, but we still think there are important factors to keep in mind before you buy one: Programming the time

Being able to keep track of your tasks and making sure you're on time can really change your days for the better. Integrating Alexa into your everyday life is easy, and you'll be surprised to find just how convenient the smart assistant can be when handling seemingly simple tasks like setting a timer or alarm. Just say, 'Alexa, how much time is left on the timer?' If you have multiple timers running, you can specify which timer you are asking about and Alexa will let you know how long you have until the buzzer goes off. But if you're using a smart speaker without any display, Alexa's got your back. If you have an Amazon Echo Show or an Echo Dot with Clock, you'll be able to do a quick visual check. Here's a common problem that you'll run into when setting a timer with Alexa: somewhere between setting the timer and waiting for it to go off, you completely lose track of time. Find out how much time is left on a timer ' Alexa will play exactly what you specify when the time comes. To set an alarm with a specific song or style of music, just set an alarm like you normally would, but specify what you want to hear. The whole world of music is available to you. Whether you're choosing what you'd like to wake up to or you'd just like a little variety, you can get it by setting up a custom alarm sound. Sometimes a standard alarm just won't do. Chris Monroe/CNET Set an alarm to specific music You can even use your Echo to time the temperature settings in your house, if you have a connected thermostat. Simply say, 'Alexa, set a timer,' and after the set time elapses, you'll get both a chime and a verbal reminder of which particular timer has gone off. You can further simplify this by naming your timers as you set them. This will help you keep track of what is happening and what you're supposed to be doing. Just say, 'Alexa, tell me my timers.' Alexa will list all the timers you set, including how many minutes are left and how many minutes it was initially set to run for. If you have multiple projects going - say, a meal with several different dishes that you're cooking - you may have multiple timers running parallel to one another. This causes a slight problem: setting too many timers. Once you figure out that you can set up timers with Alexa, it can become easy to rely on the voice assistant to keep track of just about everything for you.

These are some of the best tips and tricks that you can use when setting a timer with Alexa so you can get the most out of the voice assistant's capabilities. Alternatively, you can set alarms for specific times, whether you want them to wake you up, or you just want to be reminded when the kids are almost ready to be picked up from school.īut there is way more that you can do with Alexa's timer and alarm feature than just setting a basic reminder. ' At the end, an alarm will alert you that the allotted time has passed. All you have to do is tell your Amazon Echo smart speaker or smart display, 'Alexa, set a timer for. One of the simplest but handiest things Alexa can do is set a timer - in fact, Amazon says it's one of the most-used features on Alexa. Amazon's voice assistant Alexa is capable of doing all sorts of things for you, but it really is most helpful when tackling the tasks you might lose track of without the extra help.

Kitchen timer multiple alarms