What if you could cook meat to precise temperatures? What if you could perfectly stir-fry, caramelize or confit vegetables without having to keep an eye on the cooking time? This Jetsons-style fantasy just became reality with the Cinder Sensing Cooker, a new appliance and app that will turn your kitchen into a time machine. Call it a futuristic hot plate or the smartest George Foreman grill you've ever seen. The Cinder Sensing Cooker allows you to nail your recipes every time, no experience required.
The appliance is the brainchild of tech wizards Eric Norman, who worked in product development for Toyota Japan, and Jim Reich, who has worked on space-launch vehicles. These guys aren't just bringing scientific precision to your cooking -- they're using rocket science.
The Cinder is sort of like sous-vide in the way that it allows you to bring food to exact temperatures. The difference is that you're not cooking in water, so you don't need plastic bags to encase your food. The Cinder also has the added capability to sear and char. You simply place your food between two non-stick aluminum plates and program the heat and time directly on the device or on the app. You can either manually select your desired temperature, or, if you don't know what temperature you're looking for, the app can help. You simply select the type of meat, the cut and then the level of doneness. When you press start, the grill automatically measures the thickness of your food to determine how long it needs to cook. You can leave your food unattended and you'll be notified when it's ready.
Not only is prior culinary experience not required, thinking isn't either. Or feeling. And that's just the thing. As awesome as the Cinder is, it eliminates some of the fun of cooking. If you don't find cooking fun in the first place, then the Cinder probably sounds ideal. If you love to cook, however, you might feel differently. If you like to experiment and enjoy the satisfaction of learning through experience, if you like interacting with your food and other people, and if you value skills and technique, the Cinder may, in fact, sound like the end of days.
Available now for pre-sale at $499, the Cinder isn't cheap, but with the cutting-edge technology it employs, that's not surprising. If you think of it as a way to make restaurant-quality food at home, it could pay for itself. On the other hand, you'd be missing out on all the wonderful parts of dining out, in addition to missing out on some of the joys of cooking at home. Whether the Cinder is your dream chef come true or one too many cooks in the kitchen is up to you.
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