Philips has made the lazy-man’s dream come true with a gadget that does all the cooking for you. From slicing, to boiling, braising, steaming or frying, the Home Cook will apparently do it all, stirring as it goes.
The idea is you set it and forget it, which, frankly, is my kind of cooking. The Home Cook controls the temperature for you, all on an automated timer, and keeps it stirring while you’re away watching Midsomer Murders re-runs, slouched in front of the TV. Once it’s done you can even whack it straight into the dishwasher for cleaning-free cooking. Jamie Oliver’s apparently had a hand in this too, but whether that makes you want to buy this thing more or less, well, that’s up to you.
This kind of convenience won’t come cheap though, as the Home Cook will set you back a whopping £300, and that’s without the add-on thing that slices and dices too. Still, if you want the ultimate in lazy cooking, it’ll be available from September 14th exclusively in John Lewis.

















I’m sure it’s great but you still have to clean the entire thing afterwards. Although not as mobile, I’d rather have a self cleaning combi steam oven.
Dishwasher(?)
A dishwasher is not an oven.
Oh, I dunno,. ours gets hot enough to do a bit of steaming!
This conversation has just reminded me to see if my seldom used dishwasher is still working, and then to figure out how to make it clean itself. *grumble*
There are recipes to cook fish in dishwashers, wrapped in tinfoil obviously. They are also good for speeding up the Skittle Vodka process..
Seems that it can do all the cooking for you if all you ever eat is soup and stew.
Oliver did a curry and chilli in it right in front of us at the press conference — think it’s pretty versatile as these automated cooker things go.
Let’s see it make a beef Wellington. THEN I’d be impressed
But surely it can only do one thing at once, like meat OR veg? Or do you whack it all in and hope for the best?
If there is not some system for both then there’s a problem, because veg alone does not a meal make.
Unless you’re a vegetarian…
“veg alone does not a meal make.”
You didn’t need the amendment
Not according to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage Veg series. The meatiness is all in the legumes apparently.
As scintillating as that series sounds, I don’t think I’ll be knocking together a legume and mushroom pie any time soon.
I’m with Will.i.King here, these things take up loads of cupboard space, get used twice a year and end up in boot sales, due to the fact it’s easier just to cook the fricking Curry yourself.
It’ll need scrubbing for hours before you feel like putting it back into the huge cupboard too…
Christ, cooking is so easy, move the TV so you can cook’n watch. Oh hang on, isn’t that what HD recorders are for!?
Personally I’ve got one of these and it is brilliant, use it 2-3 times per week.
http://www.woolworths.co.uk/jml-starchef-deluxe-5-in-1-cooker/694154626.prd
but it cant make chip buttys or bacon sarnies from scratch………..next