The Multo, made by Cooking Pal, looks like a giant mixer that connects to your Wi-Fi network and is controlled by an 8.9-inch touchscreen tablet. The tablet has a front-mounted jog wheel for navigation, and a rear camera snaps pictures of the meals you’ve cooked for future reference. I was excited to try out the Multo because I’ve done a lot of cooking this pandemic year, and I needed to mix up my repertoire. The robot offered 100 available recipes when the product launched in May, and the company says it will add five more each week.
Dinner Is Served?
The Multo is surprisingly elegant for a kitchen robot, which is good because it takes up a fair amount of counter space. The main cooking unit comes in stainless steel. The tablet is separate from the mixing and cooking container, but neatly matches it with black trim. The display also guides you through recipes. Connectivity is at the heart of Multo. There’s Wi-Fi to let you seek out new recipes, and you also can download an iOS app to use most of the robot’s functions. I was able to browse a wide range of recipes, including Indian, Mexican, and Italian options. The app also allows you to get real-time notifications of the status of your meal, which was kind of a neat thing when it popped up on my phone. I also was able to save my favorite recipes and track my cooking history through the app. Feeling a little hungry after setting up the Multo, I downloaded one of the online recipes. Since it was dinner for one, it was a good thing I could decide how many servings I wanted to prepare by navigating the tablet menu. The tablet is easy to use and lets you control the steel blade at the bottom of Multo’s large stainless steel bowl. It can cook, weigh, chop, sauté, knead, steam, boil, whisk, mix, emulsify, grate, and grind. I started by washing broccoli and potatoes and tossed them into the bowl. The Multo can cook ingredients together or separately in a simmering basket. When I put the ingredients into the machine, a built-in scale weighed how much I included. The tablet guided me through the process of making a recipe, and it was easy to follow along with its bright screen and control wheel. Fortunately, I was mostly just able to sit back and watch the Multo go to work. A motor inside the unit spins up the ingredients for mixing at 5,200 rpm, making a gentle whirring noise. Once all my ingredients were in the bowl, it was time to press the start button, which is clearly marked on the tablet. The Multo’s heating system can cook at up to 265 degrees. There’s also a warming function for those times when you aren’t ready for dinner.
It Even Cleans Up
The dishes I cooked in the Multo turned out to be delicious. But the best part was that the robot did most of the cleaning up, thanks to its two self-cleaning modes. I was able to add some soap and water, and with the press of a button the Multo got rid of the debris on crusted surfaces that make cleaning up after cooking so difficult. Most of the machine is also dishwasher safe. With a list price of $999, but available now for pre-orders at $799, the Multo isn’t a snap purchase for most people. But considering that pre-pandemic, Americans ate out 5.9 times a week on average having your own robot chef could end up saving you money. After all, the average person spends about $3,000 a year dining out. It’s not just a matter of cash. The dishes you can make in the Multo are much healthier than in restaurants. Personally, I’m ready to embrace the robot cooking future.
