5 thoughts on “Computer driven custom cookie machine”

1. Very cool machine, but not really a “Rube Goldberg” machine.

2. Also, there is a very significant difference between the results of using melted butter vs properly creaming butter & sugar together before adding anything else. This machine is a cute novelty item, but not useful for its stated purpose, unless the inventor is satisfied with getting the best mediocre cookie he can get, rather than the best cookie, period.

3. I agree. There is a very distinct difference between a cookie that has the wet ingredients (butter, flavors, egg) creamed to fluffiness before the dry ingredients are incorporated, and mixing all ingredients together at once. Unless you want a flat cookie never use melted butter. Moisture holding properties are increased and a light, tenderness is achieved by gently handling those steps.
   But he will get to that, hopefully, after the machine is perfected. Dammit, Jim, he’s a mechanical engineer, not a chemist!

   Nevertheless, I want one.

4. I love the machine but agree that it’s not going to make the best cookies. I’ve been working on my perfect cookie for years. And recently read this article which shed a lot of light on the science behind what the ingredients provide.

   http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/12/the-food-lab-the-best-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

5. I was going to link to that same article. I just made that cookie last weekend. They are the best-tasting chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. I think the biggest factors were browning the butter (it took me about ten minutes, not the five specified in the recipe) and whisking the egg mixture for five minutes in the stand mixer. My only issue was that they didn’t come out soft and flaky but I think that’s because I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour. (I was already half way through when I realized I didn’t have the right flour.) Next time I will try it with the right flour. But they still taste fantastic.