
A Kitchen That Cooks by Itself - prostoalex
http://www.wired.com/2015/11/innit-future-kitchen/
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compumike
For the practical version of this type of technology that you can order today
and can actually be sitting under your Christmas tree in a few weeks, take a
look at [https://www.pantelligent.com/](https://www.pantelligent.com/) (full
disclosure: I'm an engineer at Pantelligent).

The reason you're seeing lots and lots of new entrants in the "smart cooking"
space is because engineers are trying it and _the results are really really
delicious_. When you can use sensors to accurately cook the exterior of foods
to the right properties, and use thermodynamics to accurately cook the
interior to the right properties, it brings restaurant-quality food to the
hands of a novice chef.

~~~
devit
Seems awesome!

But how can it possibly work if it only has a surface temperature sensor and
no way to know either internal temperature or both the weight of the food and
area of the food-pan contact surface of the food? (or even better, a full 3D
model of the food)

I mean, an extremely thin but large steak will likely need a different cooking
time that a more "spherical" steak (even if they weight the same).

Otherwise it seems an amazing product.

~~~
compumike
Great question! The app asks you for thickness, so you say "I'm cooking a
1-inch thick ribeye steak", and the rest is pretty much math :) (And a lot of
trial runs in our test kitchen to get everything working perfectly!)

The steak software also asks you for desired doneness. Then it adjusts the
cooking time on-the-fly based on the real data coming back from the pan, so it
knows that if the temperature is X degrees too low, it's going to extend the
time a little bit to compensate. But that's all done behind-the-scenes in
software.

~~~
zappo2938
I made a big response to someone else's comment. I just don't believe that
final food temperature is function of temperature where the food touches the
pan. However, where your product might shine is where water content determines
one very, very important aspect of a finished product, the sear or crispiness.

Let's take the mushroom for example. If the pan's surface temperature is too
low or their are too many mushrooms in the pan the water comes out of the
mushroom and prevents it from being caramelized and browned. Yes, there is a
lot more than just the negligible about of sugar in a mushroom when it browns
and I would have been more accurate to use an onion to describe this but I'm
sticking with the mushroom. What is caramelization? It is cooked sugars.
Caramelization starts at 320 degrees F so if the pan doesn't get past 212
degrees F because water is being released from the mushroom.

There are two ways to brown a mushroom. One, start with very, very high heat,
brown the mushroom's surface, then lower the heat so the inside cooks. Or,
second, use low heat, let the mushroom release all its water, then after the
water evaporates raise the heat. This is the same for caramelized onions. One
way is to use high heat which even leaves the inside of the onion crispy[1],
and the other is to use low heat for a long time until the water is
evaporated[2]. Also, most recipes for ground beef in pasta sauce say to brown
the meat on med-high before the moisture comes out, however, adding water
initially, and then cook it until the water evaporates before browning it is a
valid approach also.

I'm not sure the usefulness of this app in determining the proper final
temperature. Plus, anyone can stick a $7 thermometer into a piece of meat.
However, many people and professional chefs make the mistake of putting way
too much food into a pan. Your app might be a ton more useful warning cooks
that their pan is below or above the proper cooking heat. Sea scollaps are the
worst for this. There is a huge difference between cooking 4 u-10s or 8 in the
pan at the same time because the water being released cools down the cooking
surface temp to the point that they are boiled instead of pan fried. However,
with sea scallops raising the heat to the pan or changing the cooking duration
isn't a solution. The solution is have the right amount of scallops, in a
right sized pan, at the right cooking temp.

I think this app can be much more useful in helping cooks learn to maintain
the proper surface temp of a pan for wilting spinach, cooking mushrooms,
making fried rice, searing scallops, ect. than telling when the food is done.
Perhaps, telling when food is done can easily be done with a cheap thermometer
but using the right surface temperature is the hard part of cooking.

[1]: [http://www.lemonythyme.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/07/Carame...](http://www.lemonythyme.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/07/Caramelized-Onion31.jpg)

[2]: [https://corkandspoon.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/crock-
pot-c...](https://corkandspoon.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/crock-pot-
caramelized-onions-6-hours-and-done.jpg)

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pjc50
Food automation, like a lot of home automation, seems a questionable concept.
You could buy a lot of ready meals (which are just food that's been prepared
offsite in bulk) for the cost of a smart kitchen.

Low-hassle domestic stock control / inventory maangement though, that would be
genuinely useful.

~~~
ska

       You could buy a lot of ready meals (which are just food that's been prepared offsite in bulk)
    

You can't buy a really good meal this way though, for love or money.

So, to the degree that technology can help average people do more in the
kitchen it could be genuinely useful. I have no opinion on how likely the tech
in the article is to actually do that.

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nfriedly
They should try to combine this with Chef Watson, that would probably make
some interesting results.

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hellbanner
Has anyone had success with slow-cooking? I've heard people say they can cook
meat at low temps for 8 hours and it tastes better than usual.

~~~
kizz246
Yes, it's amazing. Better than usual is an understatement. There are 3 main
points to get right before you throw everything in the slow cooker.

1\. The liquid must be delicious (ie. not water) and almost covering or just
barely covering your meat. It must also fill the crock pot at least half way.
Think tomato sauce or stock.

2\. The meat must be browned well before throwing it in the slow cooker. Fry
the outside edges at high temp first.

3\. Using well used muscles results in far better flavour -- rump, blade
roast, flank, shank, and chicken thighs. Fat (but not toooo much) is your
friend. It will dissolve over time and add flavour.

*. If you throw in a parmesan rind all your dreams will come true.

~~~
Jemmeh
That's why I haven't won the lottery! I haven't been putting parmesan rinds in
my slow cooker!

Slow cookers on top of being tasty are also super convenient. You don't really
have to pay attention to it and it's a large batch so you can store it in the
fridge and eat it through the week.

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ZeroFries
Has anyone tried any automated vegetable/meat choppers they've liked? Chopping
is my least favourite part of cooking.

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fweespeech
Yeah, I can't wait for food automation where I can get things sliced -> mixed
-> cooked automatically.

