https://www.wired.com/review/vermicular-musui-kamado/

Review you might find interesting.

Interesting device. Interesting review. From the name, I thought it was going to be some kind of worm composter, or maybe a device for growing worms for protein.

I like the idea of a device that transforms a pot into an oven, especially considering space issues in a typical Japanese kitchen. That's also one of the big reasons rice cookers exist--like the air fryer in Europe, it puts the mindless cooking of a starch off to the side. But it costs a lot more than a rice cooker or air fryer. Like those appliances, if it gains in popularity, surely users will find all kinds of ways to use it for other things. The top temperature is limiting. Yeah, it does it without water, but the review mentions sous vide and plastic--you can use your sous vide circulator with a vessel inside your bath, rather than plastic.

To me, as someone with a well appointed kitchen, and many choices of how to cook anything I find the magnetic trivet more interesting than the pot heater. For a heck of a lot less money and a similar amount of storage space, you can have a roaster oven, which also heats from the sides, or an immersion circulator to use with your dutch oven in a dishpan, bucket, or bigger pot.

It's beautifully styled, though.

HA! I too though of worms. I liked the idea of a magnetic trivet, but I can’t see me buying one even if it were significantly less expensive.

Ha! I was thinking of worms, too, figured I had the wrong word and didn’t bother to look it up. Looks really nice but doesn’t seem to do anything overly exciting for the price.

Do you think the name comes from Fermi? Not that induction is anything like nuclear...

Translation between languages is always weird. I found the name odd myself. I am more interested in the pot than the whole gadget but like I said a second hand le Creuset is more likely.

But "vermicular", the name of the company, is English. It means "wormy".

The $300 for the pot itself is in line with Le Creuset or Staub. A little less than the official retail on those, and similar to street price. Of course, there won't be a second hand one. :)

Interesting! And yeah, I thought was a worm breeding machine for composting or something along those lines. We're clearly a weird bunch!

Or just up on our Latin roots. :)

I agree about the vermi = worm. I just meant I have no idea what wormlike symbolizes in Japan. Or did someone just think it was a cool word.

My nephew is fluent in Japanese. He said it is not a Japanese word. Not only that, it doesn’t conform to Japanese word structure.

i also asked him if worms were symbolic in Japan. He is unaware of any symbolism connected to worms.

He's right. It's an English word with Latin roots.

I think Agmss has the right of it. That it just sounded like a cool word, so they named their company with it. That makes sense. I didn't think of it, but I know people do that. There might even be a wormy looking thing in the internal design of the device or something, though I think they also have other products.

Wow! Thanks, @Ethan Cook, for the excellent sleuthing!

@Ethan

Thank you. I am interested in if you think it cooks particularly well or differently than a Le Creuset. I am having a mini crush on them right now. Imaginary shopping in a pandemic.

I believe I have inherited my fine woodworker father’s affection and belief in Japanese tool making and to some degree aesthetic.

Thanks for the FAQ link, Ethan, it clarified a question I had about temp. It doesn’t top out at 200F, that’s just the top of the precision range.

I take it you did not get the kamado? Tempted?

This kind of makes sense to me, but not well enough to explain my thoughts. :)

End result, you basically have a combo of precision cooker and slow cooker that's a lot prettier than an Instant Pot. :)

@agmss15 Well, Le Creusets are great too but I noticed that the biggest difference is the seal. It keeps juices from the ingredients so I've been using less broth/seasoning when making soup. You might like it if you're into healthy cooking. The pot came with a cookbook which was a plus.

@foodonastump Yes, I've been thinking about ordering the Kamado for a while. It's a cool concept. I might get one with my stimulus check:)