Sous-vide is a French style of cooking that involves using water to precisely heat food sealed in plastic bags, for long periods of time – the resulting dishes are said to be very tender, not to mention delicious. While it has previously been the exclusive domain of top chefs in restaurant kitchens, recently devices such as the SousVide Supreme Demi and the Nomiku have been developed for home users. The Codlo is another such gadget, although it lets you use your existing water-filled slow cooker or rice cooker.
Developed by London-based entrepreneurs Grace Lee and Xi-Yen Tan, the Codlo unit itself plugs directly into a mains power outlet. The slow (or rice) cooker is in turn plugged into it, receiving its power through the Codlo. The device also features a hard-wired temperature probe, which is run into the water within the cooker.
Utilizing the electronic interface, users then set cooking times and temperatures. As long as the cooker has an analogue, mechanical switch, the Codlo proceeds to let it heat the water to the given temperature, and then maintain that temperature for as long as is required.
Users drop their plastic-bag-encased meat or other food items into the water, then wait for the Codlo to notify them when the time is up – with sous-vide, this could be up to several hours.
Lee, Tan and their team are currently raising production funds for their device, on Kickstarter. A pledge of £89 (US$133) will get you one, with recipes included, when and if they reach production. A “Full Monty” package, which includes a rice cooker, is additionally available for £129 ($193) – which is also the estimated retail price for a stand-alone Codlo.
More information is available in the pitch video below.
Sources: Codlo, Kickstarter
