Kim, S., & Wansink, B. (2012). "How do consumers use digital timers? Implications for kitchen appliance design." Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 11(4), 282-290.
The digital timer allows us to manipulate the variable of time. We can program a "low and slow" cycle for tough cuts of meat like brisket or pork shoulder, allowing the tough connective tissues to dissolve into gelatin, creating that velvety mouthfeel that high heat cannot replicate. Then, the device’s auto-shift to "warm" acts as a holding pattern, a temperature-controlled limbo that keeps food safe without continuing the aggressive cooking process. digital slow cooker with timer
There is an irony that we use silicon chips—the very symbol of the accelerated digital age—to preserve the ancient art of slow food. The digital slow cooker with a timer represents a treaty between the analog past and the digital present. It acknowledges that we cannot always be in the kitchen, stirring a pot for hours like our ancestors, yet it refuses to let us abandon the nourishment of a home-cooked meal. Kim, S