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Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

cookmellow.com

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Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#41

Post by WiseWeasel »

zemvpferreira wrote: post #30
andrewljohnson wrote: post #8

For some definition of robotic... I guess networked crockpot doesn't have the same ring.

Hey andrew, It fits! I think defining robot as an anthropomorphic thing that moves around is too constricting. Mellow is an electromechanical machine that performs complex actions, based on natural language requests, taking into account its environment and context. I think that's pretty robotic, but I welcome the debate. Didn't mean to be at all misleading, sorry if it seemed so.

I expect a "robotic sous-chef" to clean and chop ingredients for me, then prepare the food. This is much better described as a smart sous-vide cooker.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#42

Post by joezydeco »

tptacek wrote: post #38
joezydeco wrote: post #35

10 years ago Whirlpool introduced the Polara, a range that could also refrigerate the oven cavity until a timer expired or it was commanded to cook over the internet. It was a huge flop. http://insights-2-ignite.com/2013/05/06/3-appliance-flops/ Obviously a refrigerated oven is a pretty complicated device - more than a cooled/heated water bath. The Polara had it's share of technical problems, but Whirlpool thought th…

Being able to come home from work with a protein ready to sear (Polyscience and hopefully soon Searzall represent) is definitely helpful. Also, have you held an egg overnight at 144f? That works well?

Yeah, bad example. Eggs may not work that well at that duration.

(and the Searzall is pretty damn sexy)

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#44

Post by zemvpferreira »

joezydeco wrote: post #35

10 years ago Whirlpool introduced the Polara, a range that could also refrigerate the oven cavity until a timer expired or it was commanded to cook over the internet. It was a huge flop. http://insights-2-ignite.com/2013/05/06/3-appliance-flops/ Obviously a refrigerated oven is a pretty complicated device - more than a cooled/heated water bath. The Polara had it's share of technical problems, but Whirlpool thought th…

Hey joezdeco,

I'm one of Mellow's founders/designers.

I'd debate that "the end doesn't matter"; I've eaten a lot of drastically overcooked sous-vide over the past years. But still, overcooking is not the point, peace of mind is the point.

Take 10 seconds to put something in a bag and plop it inside Mellow. Act on the notification when you want to, tell Mellow to have it ready whenever's convenient, and you're sure to com back to very well cooked ingredients. It's not prep, it's 10 seconds.

It's a shift from the regular way you cook dinner, and it's not ready for middle america yet. But we're getting there. We need the help of guys like you to try it out and call out the bullshit, and help us make it better.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#45

Post by alexnking »

zemvpferreira wrote: post #37
alexnking wrote: post #3

This is exciting - I think the fact that it has cooling built in easily puts it apart from crock pots for convenience - allowing you to go from the fridge to the stove is really cool. Now I just have to resist getting a peltier module and making one of these before 2015...

Hey Alex, I'd encourage you to! Can I help in any way? (Mellow's designer)

Thanks! I'll just try to be patient though :) Good luck with the product :D

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#46

Post by tptacek »

zemvpferreira wrote: post #44
joezydeco wrote: post #35

10 years ago Whirlpool introduced the Polara, a range that could also refrigerate the oven cavity until a timer expired or it was commanded to cook over the internet. It was a huge flop. http://insights-2-ignite.com/2013/05/06/3-appliance-flops/ Obviously a refrigerated oven is a pretty complicated device - more than a cooled/heated water bath. The Polara had it's share of technical problems, but Whirlpool thought th…

Hey joezdeco, I'm one of Mellow's founders/designers. I'd debate that "the end doesn't matter"; I've eaten a lot of drastically overcooked sous-vide over the past years. But still, overcooking is not the point, peace of mind is the point. Take 10 seconds to put something in a bag and plop it inside Mellow. Act on the notification when you want to, tell Mellow to have it ready whenever's convenient, and you're sure to…

I'm still not following. It's definitely still prep. You're just doing the prep a day or two earlier. But you can do that with any water bath by prepping, stashing in zips, and sticking them in the fridge.

I think I see the value of being able to start a cook at 2PM as opposed to sticking to things that can run all day.

Most of the things that work really well in a water bath also hold really well for a day at temperature. I think you're right to feature white meat chicken in your marketing copy, because that's one protein that is iffy at long temps, but I can't think of much besides that (and eggs) that I'd worry about holding at temp a few extra hours.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#47

Post by jadence »

What temperature-safe bags are out there?

I did some digging into this a few months ago and couldn't find anything conclusive. All I found were blogs, quotes, etc by wannabe scientists.

Of note:

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/

Nearly all plastics (even the BPA-free ones) leach estrogenic activity chemicals

• http://pprc.org/index.php/2013/networking/p2-rapid/do-plasti...

Basically said that there is little evidence in either direction

• http://www.codlo.com/faq.html#.Ux5Ly-ddWlg and http://www.chow.com/food-news/107898/cooking-sous-vide-in-pl... and http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Author-says-use-of-plasti...

Says that bags made from polyethylene (PE) are safe while bags made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are not.

• http://www.beyondsalmon.com/2010/08/cooking-in-plastic-how-s...

SC Johnson (Ziplock manufacturer) themselves do not recommend cooking w/ their bags. Note their bags are made w/ the supposedly safe (per the links in the previous bullet) polyethylene (PE)

Right now I'm very intrigued by sous-vide but am too paranoid about the plastics to make the jump.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#48

Post by zemvpferreira »

tptacek wrote: post #27
zemvpferreira wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey tptacek, A lot of our copy is directed at people who're not that familiar with sous-vide and might have very basic questions when browsing. Let me clarify further: -$400 is expensive, you're right. And we're not making that much of a margin on these right now. That's because Mellow does so much more than just warming water. Whether those features are valuable is another question. -On the bags, we're probably the…

Help me understand how the unsealed bag thing works, again? What kinds of bags are we talking about for what kinds of prep? (Sorry that I sound ready to debate; I shouldn't be. This is a neat looking device and you should be commended for bringing it to market.)

Please don't apologize, I'm happy to be challenged on these things. It's the way I learn to explain them.

Look at the part in our video where Catarina (catv here) walks you through the use-case:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiNmTI51GPw&t=1m17s

If you notice, the bag she puts inside Mellow is a HDPE bag for vacuum sealing, unsealed. There's a jump cut or whatchamacallit, but that's how we cook using Mellow. Regular non-ziploc sous-vide bags, open.

Did that help at all?

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#49

Post by tptacek »

zemvpferreira wrote: post #48
tptacek wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Help me understand how the unsealed bag thing works, again? What kinds of bags are we talking about for what kinds of prep? (Sorry that I sound ready to debate; I shouldn't be. This is a neat looking device and you should be commended for bringing it to market.)

Please don't apologize, I'm happy to be challenged on these things. It's the way I learn to explain them. Look at the part in our video where Catarina (catv here) walks you through the use-case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiNmTI51GPw&t=1m17s If you notice, the bag she puts inside Mellow is a HDPE bag for vacuum sealing, unsealed. There's a jump cut or whatchamacallit, but that's how we cook using Mellow. Regular…

Yep, that makes sense.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#50

Post by eyeballtrees »

tptacek wrote: post #31
polemic wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAchef but the video has the user selecting a "medium rare chicken breast". Is that a thing? =D

Yes. Longer consistent cook times allow you to pasteurize at lower temperatures, so you can serve chicken at a lower temperature than you would in a conventional oven. (I'm not saying you'd want to do that; I don't like pink chicken.) Chicken is unfortunately one of the less effective things to cook this way. At the times/temps I'm comfortable with, breasts get mushy. Legs, on the other hand, "pink out"; the proteins…

Mushy breasts?
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