Are Cookie Pods the Slice-and-Bake of the Future?

A new Kickstarter campaign may signal the death knell for baking as we know it. The Cookie Pod, which has already raised more than $16,000 on the crowdfunding site, is essentially the Keurig of cookies: Utilizing “dough pods,” the device allows users to bake a batch of cookies without measuring or mixing a single ingredient.

Here’s how it works: Users scan their pod container (which comes in a variety of flavors) using the CHiP app, which senses the proper temperature and baking time. Then, they drop the dough into the device, which functions like a convection oven and handles all the cooking.

According to its Kickstarter page, the CHiP Cookie Pod utilizes environmentally-friendly packaging for its dough pods and the company is currently experimenting with biodegradable parchment paper wrappers. The device also has a manual mode, which allows users to customize the time and temperature and use their own recipes.

CHiP Facebook

As The Verge notes, the CHiP is just the latest appliance to join the pod economy. Nespresso and Keurig coffee makers pioneered the industry, and devices like the Juicero (which makes pressed juice from fruit packets) have followed suit.

The dish is touted as the ultimate in convenience, though it seems to require as many steps (and as much time) as cutting a package of slice-and-bake cookies. It also takes up more counter space than the average cookie sheet.

And then there’s the price: On Kickstarter, the CHiP starts at $99, but it will eventually retail for $249. And that’s not including the cost of the cookies. The dough pods, of course, are extra and will range from $1.25 to $2.25 each — for one measly cookie. In other words, making your first dozen cookies using the CHiP could cost as much as $276 including the cost of the machine.

Pod-based cooking devices are taking Kickstarter by storm as of late: Last year the so-called “Keurig of tortillas,” which utilizes pods to make fresh corn or flour tortillas in 90 seconds, raised more than $130,000.

• CHiP Smart Cookie Oven—Fresh Cookies in Under 10 Minutes [Kickstarter]
• Do Cookie Pods Mark the Decline of Society? [The Verge]