Say what you will about the quality of coffee that comes out of pod-based machines like the Keurig, the machines have caught on like wildfire. They’re fast, they’re easy to use, and you can instantly brew up almost flavour or type of coffee you like. And soon, dinner prep might be just as easy as using a Keurig machine, if the ambitious creators of the Cooki are able to make their machine a reality.
Launched on Indiegogo during CES 2015, the Cooki is designed to be a counter-top machine that can do most of your cooking for you. You’ll still need to buy the ingredients and pre-chop your veggies and meats, but this the first appliance that promises to take care of all the remaining work when it comes to getting dinner ready.
To avoid having to place the Cooki on your stove, which creates a host of fire hazards, the all-in-one machine has its own heating element built in. Compatible with everything from frying pans to pots, the Cooki’s articulated robot arm is able to stir, turn, and do everything needed to ensure your food cooks properly and doesn’t burn.
Once a recipe is found and downloaded using an accompanying app, the user is given a list of ingredients they need to buy at the grocery store, and the necessary prep work they will need to do so the Cooki can do its own thing. Once the ingredients are ready, they can be loaded into trays which are then fed into the machine in a specific order depending on what the recipe calls for.
Then, at least in theory, once the machine is loaded and you’ve chosen your recipe, the should take care of everything else. From controlling the temperature of the frying pan or pot, to stirring, to flipping the ingredients, to even seasoning.
Admittedly, the Cooki prototype looks a little rough around the edges. But that’s why its creators have turned to Indiegogo to help raise $US100,000 that will ensure they can refine, advance, and perfect the design before it’s made available to consumers. A donation of just $US400 will secure you one of the first Cooki units to roll off the production line, but that’s not until October of this year at the earliest. And even that is probably an over-optimistic goal given the complexity of a machine that cooks for you. It’s not just squirting water into a small plastic cup, remember.
But if the Cooki’s creators are successful in bringing this machine to market, it could spell the end of the dreaded microwave dinner. And restaurants could even sell the recipes to some of their more popular dishes, letting Cooki owners enjoy the same fare in the comfort of their own home. And the Food Network would most certainly have a field day selling recipes seen in their shows that anyone could finally cook at home, even if they struggle with something as simple as microwave popcorn. [Indiegogo – Cooki]