There’s nothing quite so annoying as being halfway through kneading sticky dough or stirring a pot that can’t be left and realising that you need to check the recipe. Thanks to Google Home you can keep your hands where you need (or knead) them and get answers to any question you have without having to stop what you’re doing.

Google Home launches in Australia today and is a stylish, voice-activated assistant that can sit on your kitchen bench. With a simple: “Hey Google,” you can pose a question about what comes next in a recipe, convert measurements or set the timer while you’re baking. And the information you receive will be in a true blue, dinky-di Aussie accent.

If you could do with another set of hands in the kitchen, here are four of the best ways Google Home can help keen cooks.

1. Access to five million recipes

You read right. Google Home can pull up any one of five million recipes you desire. With recipes from Bon Appetit, The New York Times and Food Network, you’re sure to find something delicious to cook. You simply find a recipe on your phone and send it to Google Home.

What’s great about Google Home is that it takes you through the recipe step-by-step and will only move on when you’ve completed the step and tell it to go on. You can even ask questions about what comes next or go back to check you’ve completed a step correctly.

Google Home also has some third-party services that can give you access to over 12,000 cocktail recipes.

2. Convert units

If you’re going to be accessing recipes from around the globe, it’s likely you’ll need to convert measurements. Want to know how many grams make up an ounce or switch between cups and litres? Simply say: “Ok Google, how many grams in an ounce?” or “Hey Google, convert 2 cups to millilitres”.

3. Add to your shopping list

Do away with scraps of paper or having to type lists into your phone. If you’ve just used up the last of your cinnamon and need to add more to your shopping list, let Google know. Saying: “Ok Google, add cinnamon to my shopping list,” will do the trick. Think you may already have it on your list? Ask and find out. If you accidentally delete your list, you can easily recover it when you start a new list.

4. Set timers

The beauty of Google Home is that you can set a timer for as many minutes as you need, but you can also check the number of minutes left, cancel, pause or reset the timer and even run multiple timers at the same time. You just need to be clear which timer is which! Saying: “Hey Google, set a 45-minute timer for my cake,” and, “Hey Google, set a 30-minute timer for my pizza,” will sort it out.