The Zega Digital cooking pot promises hands-off, energy-saving cooking and smart-app enabled walkaway technology. Pop the ingredients in, heat it up, then turn the stove off and leave the Zega to 'self-cook.'
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"There's just one problem with the Zega Digital pot: it doesn't deliver," says CHOICE kitchen expert, Chantelle Dart.
"The Zega Digital pot really disappointed us. When our experts cooked chicken according to the Zega app recipe, the chicken was partially raw, the sauce was watery and the vegetables were undercooked."
More concerningly, the meat was only 66°C in the centre – far below the recommended 75°C required to kill illness-causing microbes.
"To make the dish edible we had to cook it for a further 90 minutes than the Zega app recipe dictated, costing more time and money and defeating the entire purpose of this self-cooking pot," says Dart.
Another feature spruiked by Zega in this pot is its Bluetooth technology, which lets consumers walk away once it's in the self-cooking phase.
"Unfortunately, this Bluetooth technology is not as smart as Zega claims. If you leave the house or even just move to another room that puts you out of Bluetooth range, you won't get the alert on your phone to let you know the meal is done," says Dart.
The Zega also has a pretty hefty price tag, coming in at $299.
"The Zega pot actually doesn't do anything you can't already do with a quality, slow cooker — and a slow cooker will actually cook your food properly. You can pick up a digital slow cooker we've recommended in our reviews for under $150 that will do a much better job," says Dart.
"You could pick up a good-quality stainless steel or cast-iron pot for the same price and get better results – plus it would be more versatile."
"At CHOICE we love a good time-saving appliance like a self-cleaning oven or a food processor, but this self-cooking pot is not one we'd recommend."
The 2022 CHOICE Shonkys are:
Qantas - for being the Spirit of Disappointment
VetPay - for a finance product targeting distressed pet owners
Steggles Chicken Nuggets Boosted with Veggies - for hiding veggies so well that we could barely find them
Bloomex - for flowers that don't deliver
Zega Digital cookware - for an expensive "self-cooking" smart pot that doesn't properly cook
