This is the third of a four-part series on smart houses. Next week: the home office by Gretchen McKay.

	Part One: Keeping up with technology demands new approaches when building homes Part Two: Home theater buyers need sound advice

Anita Perricelli wasn't looking for a "smart" oven when she went appliance shopping last fall. All that really mattered to the serious cook was that she find a good-looking high-performance product that would fit into her redesigned kitchen's sophisticated English country look.

In fact, when she first saw Miele's MasterChef wall oven, she rejected it as too contemporary-looking. But Matt Hillebrand, sales manager of Don's Appliances in Canonsburg, went on to explain its features, including a microprocessor that automatically selects the right temperature and cooking mode based on the type of food.

"I thought, 'I already know how to cook so I don't need that,' " said the Monroeville woman. But when she found that she could replace the standard handles with curved "Profi" handles, she decided to buy the unit, since it was one of the few top-drawer products on the market with completely concealed elements.

"I didn't think that was a feature I'd even use," she said. "All I cared about was the look."

Perricelli was wrong. She was mildly impressed the first time she made a nut roll using the MasterChef's intensive bake function, which combines conventional and convection cooking. But after she'd reheated a couple of apple pies she'd frozen a few weeks earlier, she was a convert.

Whirlpool Polara Refrigerated Range. Click photo for larger image.

"With a conventional oven, it's always a problem how to defrost them," she said. "The top gets burned and the bottom gets soggy. But with intensive bake, it came out better than ever."

Most "smart house" technology aims to automate our lives, making everything from climate control to home entertainment easier and more accessible. In the kitchen, smart technology usually boils down to one thing: simplifying everyday tasks by doing the thinking, or at least a portion of it, for you. Most people are busier than ever, with competing work schedules, play dates, school activities and chores. So the time is ripe for products that save time and increase efficiency.

Some believe that in the very near future, appliances with networking abilities -- ones that can communicate with one another and even the Internet -- will be as indispensable as a cookbook or a dishwasher after a late-night dinner party. With a networking infrastructure in place, your stove someday might be able to check with your fridge and your cupboards for ingredients and offer alternative recipes, downloaded from the Internet, for that boring meatloaf you were about to make......

"The kitchen has a lot of growth potential because more and more people are putting wireless networks in their homes," says Rajeev Kapur, vice president of sales and marketing for Smarthome Inc., one of the world's leading providers of automated products.

"It's really about the convenience factor," says Kapur. "People want to save time."

So what's available today for those looking to build an intelligent kitchen? Several new appliances are giving consumers a taste of smart technology, though many are fairly expensive.

Smarthome, for instance, has recently started distributing several smart appliances from the Salton product line. The Beyond Microwave Oven ($150) is programmed to read more than 4,000 UPC bar codes, so it knows whether it's cooking a Lean Cuisine rosemary chicken or a bag of Orville Redenbacher popcorn. Salton also offers the Beyond Bread Maker ($150), which prepares bread and cake mixes according to package instructions simply by scanning the bar code.

LG Electronics' TV refrigerator, available nationwide, brings style, design and functionality to any kitchen of the 21st century. Click photo for larger image. Smart kitchen sources Counter Intelligence Group at MIT: www.media.mit.edu/ci General Electric Appliances: www.geappliances.com LG Electronics: www.lgappliances.com Maytag: www.maytag.com Miele: www.miele.com Smarthome Inc.: www.smarthome.com Whirlpool: www.whirlpool.com

"It's a home run," says Kapur. "You just scan it, pop it in the oven and it automatically cooks it."

The company's undercabinet iCEBOX flipscreen Internet appliance, meanwhile, allows cooks to watch television, browse the Internet, play DVDs or CDs, check e-mail or even order groceries online. You can also attach a video camera to the device and use it to monitor other areas of the home. Cost: $2,299, or $1,799 for the countertop version. And when you add a Beyond Smart Appliance Network Interface card ($50) to the microwave or breadmaker, the iCEBOX will automatically update those appliances so they have the latest recipes and UPC codes.

Those who like to watch TV while cooking or cleaning up may appreciate LG Electronics' side-by-side television refrigerator, which retails at Best Buy for $3,500. It features a 13-inch LCD monitor on the freezer door with FM radio, stereo speakers and cable-ready TV tuner.

For those who can plan ahead but are short on time in the evening, there's Whirlpool's Polara refrigerated range. Simply pop your casserole in the oven before you leave for work, and the oven will keep it cool until it's time to start cooking. Price: $1,399 to $1,599.

GE's Profile Arctica refrigerator, meanwhile, features an exclusive "Custom Cool" express setting that lets you chill beverages and foods in minutes instead of hours and safely thaw meat in hours instead of days. It is priced at about $2,000.

Miele isn't the only manufacturer selling ovens that are smarter and faster than ever before. GE's Profile Ultimate Advantium oven cooks food up to eight times faster without preheating, and converts to a microwave at the touch of a button (strawberry shortcake takes just 5 to 7 minutes). It also comes preprogrammed with more than 100 recipes and allows you to add your own favorites into the memory program.

Maytag's Gemini series of ranges, priced from $1,699 to $2,249, can simultaneously cook two different foods at two different temperatures; the "Keep Warm" feature automatically sets the upper oven at 170 degrees to keep food safely hot for late-night meals or snacks.

Can't figure out how to cook the Thanksgiving turkey? Miele's MasterChef oven boasts an auto roast function designed specifically for poultry and roasts. The Sabbath mode allows people of the Jewish faith to program their oven to stay on for up to 72 hours without adjusting.

And this is just the beginning; as technology improves, appliances will get even more adept at anticipating our daily needs and doing our work for us.

The Counter Intelligence group at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is working on several projects aimed at bringing technology into the kitchen. Mr. Java, an intelligent coffee machine, can identify the user's cup and prepare coffee to each person's liking. The oven mitt-like Talking Trivet, meanwhile, informs you that a food "needs rewarming" or that the meal is "hot and ready to eat."

One of the group's most ambitious projects is "Kitchen Sync." In this kitchen of the future, everything will be connected: The fridge, the counter, the microwave, the dishwasher and even the kitchen sink will all know their contents and be able to act on objects both physically and digitally. So, for example, if you're thinking of making a cake, the refrigerator and cupboards will check to see if you have all the ingredients, the oven will preheat and the counter will know how much flour you've poured into your mixing bowl without you measuring.

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