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Smart oven wants to do for cookies what Nespresso did for coffee

CHiP Smart Cookie Oven—Fresh Cookies in Under 10 Minutes
You know those world-changing breakthroughs that make you glad that technology exists? Well, CHiP — also known as SideChef’s new “smart cookie oven,” currently raising funds on Kickstarter — may just be one. For our tastebuds’ sake, at least!

Promising to let us create fresh-baked cookies with no mess, it’s a smart tabletop kitchen device that will “intelligently bake” everyone’s favorite chocolate chip-filled snacks — courtesy of a Wi-Fi connection to your mobile device, and a range of smart sensors.

“Different flavors go through different chemical reactions as they bake, so we’ve programmed [CHiP] to sense the cookie temperature throughout the baking process, ensuring each cookie is perfectly baked,” the company’s Kickstarter campaign notes.

The cutting-edge cookie oven promises to be more energy-efficient than traditional electric elements. It heats up instantly, and even allows users to delay baking time so that the cookies can be ready when you most want them.

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Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Building the world’s first smart device to bake fresh cookies under 10 minutes took quite a bit of engineering ingenuity,” SideChef CEO Kevin Yu told Digital Trends. “We also incorporated a scan and bake function, and no clean up, for the easiest batch of cookies to bake on the market. Beyond that, we really wanted to reinvent a common kitchen appliance to fit the modern consumer, who has less time to cook, high standards of quality around food, and often [eats] outside of just the kitchen and dining room.”

Much as you would with a Nespresso machine, to use SideChef’s smart cookie oven you’ll need to order the company’s proprietary pods, which contain all the ingredients you need. Then, simply choose a flavor — which range from sea salt chocolate chip to oatmeal raisin — and pop the corresponding gourmet cookie dough into the machine. Then wait for the connected mobile app to send a “ready” alert to your smartphone or tablet.

There’s even a smart messaging app built in for communicating with friends and family.

If you want to get your hands on a CHiP machine, you can pre-order one on Kickstarter, where a unit will cost you $99+. Shipping will take place roughly a year from now in October 2017.

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Luke Dormehl
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
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