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Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

cookmellow.com

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Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#31

Post by tptacek »

polemic wrote: post #29
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…

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 from inside the bones leach into the flesh and give a bloody appearance which I can't get past.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#32

Post by zemvpferreira »

mattmaroon wrote: post #12

I've been debating trying to make a sous vide machine that can chill and uses a smartphone/tablet for control for two years. I ultimately decided it just wasn't worth it because the only application I could think of for the chilling was egg poaching, and even sous vide I prefer to gradient poach rather than equilibrium. (75C for 12 mins gets a firmer white with a runny yolk than I could at equilibrium). But I can't w…

Hey matt,

I knew other smart people out there had the same idea, great to meet you. Mellow comes out of the frustrations of having the knowledge and equipment to cook great food, and never using it because of lack of energy. We started with the problem and ended up with this technology.

Feel free to reach out to ze@fnvlabs.com, or even preorder a unit and join the gang. (shameless)

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#34

Post by zemvpferreira »

GregorStocks wrote: post #9

What's this cost? The pre-order button doesn't actually bring up a pre-order screen for me.

Crap, that's happened for some people and we can't find out why. Could I ask you to try out the direct link? Sorry about that:

https://www.trycelery.com/shop/mellow

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#35

Post by joezydeco »

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 they were on to a new trend with this "smart" oven.

I'm a sous-vide enthusiast myself (Dorkfood DSV FTW), but by no means do I consider SV cooking a time saver. It's not going to make my day any more easy by kicking off a cook cycle from the office before I head home. In fact, part of the point of SV prep is that you can hold the cooked food for hours before finishing. Why do I need to precisely time the start if the end doesn't matter? Okay, perhaps eggs ready when I wake would be nice. But I could also kick it off before I go to bed and they would still be at a creamy 144F when morning comes.

The other problem is that you still need to prep ahead of time. Is a busy family going to handle breakfast and dinner prep before going off to work and school? American families barely make it through breakfast as it is.

It's a nice looking product and I wish them well. But the use cases escape me a little.

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#37

Post by zemvpferreira »

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)

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#38

Post by tptacek »

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?

Re: Mellow, the robotic sous-chef

#39

Post by polemic »

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…

Thanks! I think most people equate "medium rare chicken" with food poisoning, so it was interesting to see that used in the video. Never knew that you could actually cook it safely that way.
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