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Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

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Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#81

Post by tptacek »

jadence wrote: post #76
tptacek wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dave Arnold talked to (IIRC) someone from SCJ and below boiling, the Ziplock freezer bags supposedly won't leach plasticizers or anything like that.

Thanks for the reply tptacek! I tracked down Dave Arnold's report to 9:28 here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cooking-issues-episode-1... In summary: SC Johnson (SJC) told Grant Achatz and others chefs not to use their bags for sous-vide so Dave Arnold contacted SJC and asked specifically about using the bags for sous-vide and explained why he believes the practice is safe. The SJC representative replied with "…

Cooking Issues is so great. If any of this thread interests any of you, you should be listening to Cooking Issues.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#82

Post by zemvpferreira »

tptacek wrote: post #71
zemvpferreira wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Proteins aside, auto retrograding potatoes is really nice. It's one of those techniques that makes a huge difference, but you'd never use on a regular day.

Starch retrogradation is neat, but you can do it with a normal circulator really easily. (I'm partial to the IiF 7 minute risotto trick). What's the win with potatoes while I'm at work? I haven't done potatoes in the circulator successfully yet.

The win is doing it automatically. Maybe you use a technique I'm not privy to, but having to cook the potatoes, then cool them, then cook them again isn't a weekday activity for me.

Being able to go 'beep-boop' and having the cycle done for me makes a big difference; I just grab them out of the bag, toss them into a sauté or blender afterwards and I'm done in 5.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#83

Post by zemvpferreira »

tptacek wrote: post #71
zemvpferreira wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Proteins aside, auto retrograding potatoes is really nice. It's one of those techniques that makes a huge difference, but you'd never use on a regular day.

Starch retrogradation is neat, but you can do it with a normal circulator really easily. (I'm partial to the IiF 7 minute risotto trick). What's the win with potatoes while I'm at work? I haven't done potatoes in the circulator successfully yet.

One more thing: have you read about the 6-minute risotto? It's up there with the 5-minute abs:

http://blog.ideasinfood.com/ideas_in_food/2010/12/6-minute-r...

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#84

Post by bullfight »

I think this is the first internet connected kitchen device that I have seen actually make it's use case for having an app or being connected.

I'm really impressed and while not having any prior experience with sous-vide I can really see making it part of my cooking process.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#85

Post by dang »

All: For some reason, more than one user went through this thread downvoting everything. Abuses like that cause accounts to lose voting privileges.

When you notice substantive and civil comments which have been unfairly faded out by downvotes, please give them a corrective upvote. This doesn't mean you agree with the comment, only that it didn't deserve to be faded. Usually, one or two upvotes is all it takes to get back to par, so each user can make a big difference here. For example, all of the abusively downvoted comments in this thread have now been restored by corrective upvotes. (I just contributed a few, but most were already there.)

HN has long had this self-correcting mechanism, but it's more important since we recently made some downvotes more powerful (cf. sama's recent post about this), so we're asking everyone to do it consciously when they see a need.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#87

Post by jadence »

pcl wrote: post #62
jadence wrote: post #47

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 the…

Right now I'm very intrigued by sous-vide but am too paranoid about the plastics to make the jump. FYI, immersion circulators are fairly common in restaurant kitchens, since it's so much easier to get predictable results with them compared to traditional means of cooking meat. So if you dine out, it wouldn't be surprising if you're already unwittingly exposing yourself to the plastics risk.

Thanks for the heads up, pcl.

I was already aware but it's a great point and one of the many reasons I try to limit how often I dine out.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#88

Post by zemvpferreira »

jadence wrote: post #80
zemvpferreira wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey jadence, The bottom line: No one knows how safe HDPE sous-vide is in the long run. There's nothing conclusive out there, though what little evidence there is points to it being safe. Nathan seems so think so, too: http://modernistcuisine.com/2013/01/why-cook-sous-vide/ In the end you have to make a personal call. For me, the risk of undiscovered effects is vastly outweighed by the awesome food I serve. I respect…

Thanks for the reply zemvpferreira. How are you planning to solve the concern of plastic leaching while maintaining the benefits of sous-vide?

Ah, there's a question I'm going to sneak away from. I shouldn't have hinted, sorry for being a tease, but it's just not ready for show-and-tell yet :)

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#89

Post by zemvpferreira »

bullfight wrote: post #77
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…

I just wanted to point out on the prep part and American families. The time invested in prep for a device like this is hardly different that prepping a meal and throwing it in a crock pot before work. Crock pots are fantastically popular cooking devices found in almost every American's (middle america especially) kitchen and used on a regular basis. Personally I have no experience with sous-vide nor am I very familia…

Thank you bullfight, the comparison between sous-vide and crockpots is very adequate. I'd say sous-vide is crock-potting taken to the extreme.

Sorry if the video wasn't very friendly for people unfamiliar with sous-vide.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#90

Post by zemvpferreira »

hanley wrote: post #68
WiseWeasel wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I clicked the link imaging a moving robot that chopped/prepped food. It was the sous-chef part that made me think that. I don't think I would have interpreted robotic sous-vide cooker the same way. That being said, I definitely think 'smart sous-vide cooker' is a better description and more useful tag-line.

I understand that, and I'll admit I didn't mind the ambiguity when I was choosing headlines.

Ultimately,what made me choose the "robotic" one was that we're not trying to build a smart sous-vide device, sous-vide is just technology. We're trying to build a quiet servant. And that won out.

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