How you could have automated your xmas dinner
Can lab automation technology make the perfect Christmas dinner? We investigate how scientists could use robotics and lab gear to tackle turkey time.
Christmas dinner can be a logistical nightmare. But what if you could automate it?
Christmas dinner can be a logistical nightmare. But what if you could automate it? A robotic arm, like the Mitsubishi Electric RV-2AJ, could handle much of the heavy lifting, ensuring precision in the kitchen. Imagine using the same robotic precision that normally pipettes liquid for ELISA assays to carefully baste your turkey. Mitsubishi’s arm is equipped with six degrees of freedom, allowing it to apply the perfect amount of butter at each step—no dry patches, no uneven distribution. It could even rotate the bird on a spit for even cooking. It’s someway from moving reagents in an assay but arguably a better use.
The RV-2AJ is not only good for basting but could also help with tasks like turning and checking the doneness of the turkey. A temperature probe attached to the robotic arm could relay precise readings to a connected device, ensuring that the bird reaches the ideal temperature without any risk of overcooking or undercooking. This robotic attention to detail could save cooks from having to hover anxiously over the oven, giving them more time to relax and enjoy the festive day.
The RV-2AJ costs ~£10,000 but worth every penny.
Temperature Control With Sous Vide Laboratory Baths
Ensuring each element of the meal is cooked to perfection requires consistent temperatures. The Julabo CORIO CD sous vide bath [source: Julabo] could provide the answer. Originally designed for laboratory temperature control, this bath could be repurposed to make sure your vegetables are tender but not mushy. Carrots, parsnips, and even Brussels sprouts could be placed in vacuum-sealed bags and dropped in the temperature-regulated bath, guaranteeing ideal texture without the risk of overboiling—a common risk on Christmas Day when several pots jostle for space on the stove/hot plate.
The Julabo CORIO CD is also great for maintaining the temperature of sauces and gravies. One of the biggest challenges in Christmas cooking is keeping everything warm at the right time. The sous vide bath can be set to a precise temperature to hold gravy without letting it split or thicken too much. This ensures that each plate gets a serving of hot, smooth gravy, eliminating the last-minute panic of reheating or whisking out lumps.
The CORIO CD costs a bargin ~£2,000 but you can’t put a price on prioperly cooked carrots.
Plate Assembly with Liquid Handling Platforms
No Christmas meal is complete without precise timing and plating. A Tecan Freedom EVO liquid-handling robot could be tasked with plating your carefully prepared side dishes and turkey slices. Usually employed for transferring microlitres of reagents, it could be reprogrammed to arrange servings meticulously on each plate—and even measure the exact amount of gravy to distribute! Unlike a rushed cook, this machine won’t crack under pressure, keeping every plate consistent while you focus on uncorking the sherry.
The Tecan Freedom EVO could also be used to create picture-perfect desserts. For example, a trifle could be assembled layer by layer, with the robot distributing the right amount of custard, sponge, and cream to achieve a professional finish. The robot’s precision in layering would make sure that every portion looks as beautiful as the last—a nice way to impress guests with both taste and presentation.
The Tecan Freedom EVO starts at £20,000 and that doesn’t include the time spent customising it and writing plating code.
Lab automation might not quite have us ready to outsource Christmas entirely, but it certainly demonstrates that nothing is impossible when it comes to reducing stress through technology. And for those working in labs year-round, perhaps Christmas dinner could be just another experiment—albeit one with tastier results… although if actually prepared in the lab then deadlier ones.
