With the popularity of meal delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats, and meal kit delivery companies like Blue Apron and HelloFresh, it’s obvious we’re looking for a quicker way to get dinner on the table.
One cooking machine company new to the U.S., based in the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick, is making it easier than ever – no delivery required.
RoboSousChef manufactures two automated cooking machines that can cook five pounds of food in 3-5 minutes or 55 pounds of food in 10 minutes.
The touch-screen machines are sleek, self-cleaning, odorless, grease-free and are designed to withstand daily use for 10-15 years. Since they’re ventless, they can be placed anywhere.
“The best solution to health truly is good food − it’s not a pill,” said Princeton resident Aamir Shakir, CEO of Soyea USA, which manufactures RoboSousChef machines. “Cook with good things, serve the right portions and feed yourself to health. These machines have the ability to do that.”
RoboSousChef automated cooking machines.
But it’ll cost you. RoboSousChef’s smaller model, the Cheetah, fits within the same sized space as a dishwasher and costs $40,000. The larger model, called the Panda, is $90,000.
The Panda is ideal for catering/restaurant use, while the Cheetah is ideal for residential or catering/restaurant use. An even smaller model more ideal for residential use, with a price around $10,000, will be launched next year.
Shakir said the types of companies who have shown interest in these products are cruise lines, retirement communities, stadiums, resorts and casinos.
Potential customers can see the machines, launched in China at the beginning of the century, in action at RoboSousChef’s showroom in the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick. Other showrooms are across the United States and the world.
Ingredients to go in RoboSousChef machines.
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However, there won’t be much to see, as the cooking process is as simple as it gets.
The machines have food trays with sections labeled A, B and C – one section for meat, another for vegetables, etc. Liquid ingredients can be added to the machines in another area. All you have to do is put the ingredients in their respective trays and press “start.”
Recipe steps are saved into the machine so they can be repeated seamlessly, so no training is required, for example, at a restaurant when a new line cook is hired. Small changes – like making something saltier or spicier − can be added on-the-fly.
Unlike an appliance such as an instapot, the machines don’t dump all the ingredients in at once. They will, for example, in an Asian stir fry dish, start stir-frying a meat, then add vegetables, then add soy sauce. That makes it so stir-frying, which requires the most hands-on work in a pan on the stove, isn’t hands-on.
“This handles the most difficult style of cooking,” said Shakir. “If you have a party, this is the last type of food you would want at your party because you would have to prepare it as the guests are arriving. But with these machines, it’s simple.”
Food made by RoboSousChef machines.
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That means dishes such as beef and broccoli, lo mein, fried rice, curries and pad Thai can be cooked with ease. Besides Asian dishes, the machines are also great for cooking Italian, French and other cuisines, as well as jams and gravies, Shakir said.
“Anything you put in a pot and cook yourself, you can replicate with this,” he continued.
It makes life easier for line cooks, who have notoriously difficult, stressful and underappreciated jobs. The machines offer a quality control that doesn’t exist with high-turnover line cook gigs.
“When you go to places that have big menus, constant turnover makes it impossible for food to be standard quality,” Shakir said. “One Panda Express might have 3.5 stars and another might have 2.1 stars. What’s the difference? The cooks.”
Learn more: 3530 Route 27, Kendall Park section of South Brunswick; 908-866-8056, robosouschef.com.
Jenna Intersimone.
Contact: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com
Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, although she’s a lifetime Jersey girl who considers herself an expert in everything from the Jersey Shore to the Garden State’s buzzing downtowns. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: South Brunswick-based RoboSousChef makes machines that cook in minutes
