Technabob » cooking

Red Hot Trivet Won’t Burn You

Technabob — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:00:25 +0000

Whenever I’m cooking, I find myself with at least one pot, pan or plate which is too hot to handle, and needs to go on top of a trivet to keep it from burning the place down. But trivets are usually pretty boring things, so it’s nice to see something with a bit more style and humor like this “Red Hot” trivet.

Artist Marcia Stuermer and the guys at Fossil Faux Studios make these transluscent hot pink resin trivets which are very reminiscent of the heat coming off an electric cook top. Each one measures about 8.25″ in diameter and 3/4″ thick, and is ready to handle the heat of any pot or pan you throw on top of it.

The only odd thing about these is that I think the cooking element part should be the glowing red/pink bit, and the other areas should be black. But somehow the illusion is still quite effective as-is. At $50 (USD) each, they’re not exactly the world’s cheapest trivets, but they are quite possibly the coolest. You can grab a Red Hot trivet over on Etsy now.

I think it would be fun to put four of these out on the dinner table before guests arrive and mess with their heads when you place the pots on top of them.

Time Me: The Integrated Pot Timer So You Won’t Forget Dinner’s on the Stove

Hazel Chua — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:00:40 +0000

Because of two things, I consider myself to be a disaster in the kitchen: 1) I get absent-minded sometimes and think about other things (like work, stuff I need to buy, etc.) when I should be focusing on the task at hand (like minding the carrots); and 2) I always end up leaving the pot because of something I also need to do (answer the phone, get the door, help my nephew go potty – that sort of stuff.)

Eeven with all the other kitchen timers I have, I still forget to set them when I leave the room. Hence, a lot of burnt and wasted food, and a whole lot of Chinese takeout. So I definitely see the need for the Time Me, which is simply a pot lid with a timer built in.

I mean, I think a lot of forgetful people in the kitchen would be bound to remember to set it, now that it’s literally right under their noses (and on top of the pot!) Plus, the design is simple enough that it could be sold as a replacement knob for the top of your already existing pots. About the only challenge with this thing is how it could be built to be dishwasher safe, since you shouldn’t have to remove it every time you wash your pots.

The Time Me is a design by Wu Yi-chen , Wan Ru-yi, Liu Xiaoming, Xie Yan-cong and Zhou Zhou.

[via Yanko Design]

PiepEgg Cooks Eggs with the Power of Disco

Conner Flynn — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:00:25 +0000

Boiled eggs are tricky to cook. You have to time them just right. That’s hard because it’s not as if you can peek inside the shell and check on them. There must be an easier way to boil an egg. If only it involved disco. There is – and it does.

PiepEgg will cook eggs right every time as it sings different songs depending on how done you want your egg. If you want it soft boiled, it will play “Celebration”, medium will get you “That’s the Way(I like it)”, and hard-boiled eggs will play “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life.”

The battery is good for two years, so you should cook many eggs with it until you get sick of disco. It sells for about $25(USD) over at design3000.

Scale Gas Range Lets You Cook By Weight

Hazel Chua — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:00:45 +0000

I don’t cook a lot. And when I do, it usually ends up in disaster: either it ends up getting undercooked (because I have no patience and think it’s done when it’s really not) or overcooked (because I forgot all about it and left the stove on without switching the timer on.)

This means a lot of wasted food, a lot of frustration, and many more minutes where me (and my family) go hungry while I fix up some instant noodles or call for delivery.

If sometimes, you get a little bit absent minded in the kitchen like me, then you’ll definitely find the Scale Gas Range concept useful. It’s also a lifesaver, both figuratively and literally.

The Scale Gas Range is a cooking range with an integrated weighing scale, designed by Naeun Kang of SADI. The concept works on the assumption that as food is cooked, water is gradually evaporated. When the weight of whatever it is you’re cooking decreased by 30%, the gas valve is shut off automatically.

Of course, not all food would cook properly on the basis of this assumption, but it should at least prevent you from overcooking.

[via Yanko Design]

Minikitchen Is as Compact as Kitchens Get

Hazel Chua — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:00:59 +0000

The world’s population continues to grow exponentially. It seems that pretty soon, earth is going to run out of land for us humans to live in. More and more residential buildings and condominiums are being built so the places where houses used to (or should be) can be used for shopping malls, amusement parks, and commercial centers.

As a result, residential units are also getting smaller and smaller. I think that’s one of the things designers Adriano Conti, Corrado Galzio and Alex Innamorati considered when they designed the Minikitchen, which is roughly the size of a washing machine.

The Minikitchen concept has everything that you’d need to cook, prepare, and store your food. Specifically, it has a vegetable washer, dishwasher, refrigerator, prep surface, small pantry, oven, and two other cooking systems so you can cook up most of your food without taking a lot of space at all. It’s perfect for a bachelor pad and would fit into tiny apartments with ease so you could have more space for all of your other stuff.

It’s a very neat idea, although I think the hard part lies in implementation, of course. It’s hard to imagine how the plumbing, refrigeration, food storage and heating systems could possibly fit into such a small container.

[via Yanko Design]

Microwave + Projector = Proinjector

Technabob — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:40:32 +0000

If you’re ever on the other side of the room while you’ve got food cooking in the microwave, you know it can be difficult to see how things are doing in there. Here’s a quirky concept that’s designed to help with that relatively minor inconvenience.

Designers Hwang Jungjoon and Lee Jaeryong created the Proinjector, a combination microwave oven/projector which lets you see what’s going on inside your microwave from across the room.

They claim the design is specifically to reduce the exposure risks to microwave radiation for the elderly, pregnant women and young children, but I could see it being handy if you’re just too lazy to get up from the couch and check that your baked potato hasn’t exploded yet. That said, I think I’d rather just have a tiny wireless camera inside the microwave (or my regular oven for that matter), which just lets me check on things from my smartphone. I’m sure somebody out there is already working on that. If not, I claim that patent in the name of Technabob!

If nothing else, I like the cylindrical design of the Proinjector, which is definitely unique amongst microwave ovens, if not the most practical in terms of conserving counter space.

Robots Pop Popcorn and Fix a Sandwich

Technabob — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 20:00:21 +0000

You know, there might be a day sometime in my life where robots performing mundane tasks will no longer be a novelty, and they’ll just be part of our everyday lives. But until that day, I’m still going to find things like robots popping popcorn and making sandwiches to be at least mildly amusing.

You might recall a while back that we featured robots TUM-James and TUM-Rosie cooking up some breakfast sausages and baguettes. Now, the robotic duo from the Technical University in Munich are back, with snack foods and lunch on the menu this time. James cooks his popcorn on the stovetop using a pot and hot cooking oil, and inspired by this xkcd comic, Rosie does her best to compose a salami and cheese sandwich on toast (with mayo.) Not that he quite gets how to use a toaster. Here’s a video clip showing of the ‘bots prepping some grub for onlookers:

You’ll notice that video was sped up by a 10x factor, as it apparently takes the robots a bit more time to perform their cooking tasks than we humans have the patience to watch. That said, here’s a version at normal speed which explains a bit more about what James and Rosie are up to in the kitchen:

Wow, there sure is a lot for those robots to think about. Makes our puny human brains seem so much more impressive. I love how Rosie has to stab the cheese and bread with a fork to make her sammie. If I had my own robot servant, I think I’d just have him put a bag of Orville Redenbacher’s in the microwave and press the “Popcorn” button, then send him out to Subway for sandwiches.

[via Tasteologie]

BGH Quick Chef Music Makes the Microwave Beep a Tune of the Past

Lambert Varias — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:00:06 +0000

Like many ubiquitous tools and appliances, it’s kind of hard to think of ways to improve the microwave oven. But Brazilian cooking appliance manufacturer BGH has done just that by adding one simple feature: audio playback. Instead of the default beeping sound, the BGH Quick Chef Music plays music when it’s done heating your food.

The Quick Chef Music has a USB port so users can easily swap the music. I don’t have the exact details about this function though, such as the length of the playback or volume control. Below is a commercial for the BGH Quick Chef Music:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you found that last bit funny, there are a couple more here. I think BGH should add an alarm clock feature to the microwave oven as well, so you can wake up to both good music and good food. While they’re at it, adding a coffee pot and a mini-fridge would be a good idea. And a toaster. And the kitchen sink. Innovation is easy.

[via Breno Costa's Vimeo channel via Notcot]

Cookup Solar Barbecue: Like Cooking With Your Satellite Dish

Lambert Varias — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:00:37 +0000

Have plenty of sunlight and money to spare? Check out the Cookup, a neat-looking solar grill from French company ID Cook. As you may have guessed, instead of using traditional fuel like coal or gas, the Cookup concentrates the power of the sun to heat food up to 200°C. The Cookup can be assembled without the need for any tool, and can be adjusted so it can catch the optimum amount of sunlight.

Unfortunately I don’t know exactly how fast it cooks food. In fact, I don’t know how fast food is cooked in general. I just wait until my sister says it’s time to eat. Anyway, ID Cook does say this on its product page: “Cooking time: 60 minutes Chicken.” So yeah. No idea.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wonder how one goes about retrieving food off of a 200°C surface. I’m sure it’s in the manual, because the Cookup is undoubtedly a long-term investment. You’ll get savings from not having to buy fuel for it, but you’ll have to burn a lot of money upfront – the stainless steel and plastic Cookup INOX sells for about $429 (USD), while the wood and aluminum Cookup200 sells for about $715. You can order both from ID Cook’s website.

[via Notcot]

Belkin Cooks Up New iPad Dock for… Chefs?!

Shane McGlaun — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:00:05 +0000

I never really thought there was a huge demand for specialized docks for chefs and other folks that like to cook. My grandmother loved to cook and she didn’t need a recipe at all, she just knew what to do. I thought all chefs were the same way. I try to keep my iPad out of the kitchen so it doesn’t get spilled on so this is a bit strange to me.

Belkin has a new iPad 2 stand that is specifically made for the kitchen. The case has a shiny hand washable surface and is kitchen safe. The stand is called the Chef Stand + Stylus, and it sells for $39.99 (USD). The cute little stylus looks like some sort of kitchen utensil minus the utensil part and it has a magnetic tip.

The magnet in the tip is the key to using the stylus and allows the navigation of the tablet with dirty hands. The stand also has a non-slip base to help keep your tablet from sliding around. The stand will work with a case on your iPad 2 and it should also work with most other tablets.

Along with the Chef Stand, Belkin also announced two other special kitchen accessories, including an under-cabinet mount as well as a refrigerator mount for the iPad.

Electrolux Mobile Kitchen Concept: Think Your Laptop Gets Hot?

Hazel Chua — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:11:03 +0000

People use laptops to run businesses, do their work, play games, watch movies, communicate with loved ones, and so on and so forth. But have you ever heard of people using their laptops in the kitchen – to actually cook a meal? And no, this doesn’t count.

Okay, so you can’t exactly bake a cake or roast a chicken with designer Dragan Trenchevski’s Electrolux Mobile Kitchen, but you can cook up a storm, chop your ingredients on the side, and grate stuff while you’re at it. Oh, and you can also use the touchscreen to flip the virtual pages of your cookbook to check if you’re doing everything right if you’re still trying out a new dish.

The whole mobile kitchen notebook is still a concept for now, although I wish they can work out the kinks (oil spattering on the screen, for one) on this one to actually turn it into a reality, because I know a lot of people (myself included) who’d kill to have one of these.

[via Yanko Design]

Automatic Mini Donut Factory Brings Out the Homer in Us All

Shane McGlaun — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 11:00:08 +0000

We really like donuts around here. My daughter has to have a pink donut with sprinkles several times a week, or she gets mad. My son likes the glazed and I generally eat any kind of donut you put in front of me. If you are a fan of donuts, this sweet Automatic Donut Factory will save you some trips to the donut shop – and you can pretend to be Gulliver and Homer Simpson at the same time.

The donut batter goes in one side of the machine, and it automatically pours and cooks perfectly round, tiny donuts for you. The finished donuts drop out the back into a small bin. You can then take the donuts, frost them, and decorate as you see fit.

The donut maker also has a see through window so your kids can watch the donuts cook all they want. Each batch of mix is able to make 30 mini donuts. It takes 90 seconds to make a batch and the thing uses hot oil to boil the donuts. The machine costs $179.99 (USD), but is available here for about $150.

Scientists Create Stainless Steel That Resists Bacteria and Lasts Longer

Shane McGlaun — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:38:17 +0000

Today stainless steel is everywhere from the kitchens in restaurants and at home to the doctor’s office. The reason stainless steel is everywhere is that the material is easy to clean and lasts a long time too. Scientists at the University of Birmingham have figured out a way to make stainless steel harder and more durable and antibacterial at the same time.

The team introduces silver or copper into the steel surface using Active Screen Plasma or ASP to create a hybrid metal. The process also introduces nitrogen and carbon to the stainless steel. The silver is a bacterial killing agent and the nitrogen and carbon harden the steel making it more resistant to cleaning and use.

The net result is that germs are less likely to affect you in the kitchen and make you sick and the harder steel makes the material last longer between cleanings. The team tested the material in medical instruments and found that after 120 cleanings, the antibacterial properties were still there and the metal was still resistant to wear.

[via PhysOrg]

Breakfast-Making Robots: Short Circuit Cooks

Range — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:22:50 +0000

If you’re like me, you’d love some robot to prepare your breakfast, kind of like those crazy machines from Back to the Future. While today’s robots are certainly smarter than Doc Brown’s jury-rigged breakfast maker, you might wonder how good the robot breakfast will be. From what I can see, robot butlers and maids aren’t too far off.

This project was led by Dr. Michael Beets and Dr. Bernd Radig, part of a team or researchers in the IAS group at Germany’s Technical University in Munich. The robots they created actually go shopping and prepare a traditional Bavarian breakfast. Two robots were created for this project, TUM-James and TUM-Rosie. TUM-James takes care of the shopping while TUM-Rosie does the cooking. TUM-Rosie can boil sausages, skim them out and serve them. TUM-James can cut some baguettes for you. These ‘bots learn from doing, so sure enough, we’ll have Skynet (or a robotic Denny’s) on our hands soon.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The ‘bots use MS Kinect sensors as their vision, and the robots can make logical decisions when handling materials that they are unfamiliar with. Hopefully, at some point, they’ll be making a fruit salad or some eggs to go with the sausages.

[IEEE Spectrum via Designboom]

Vulcan Oven Mitt: Live Long and Potholder

Technabob — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:51:34 +0000

Boy, this must be a record – two posts about oven mitts on Technabob in a single day. I know that it seems weird for a techy geek blog, but this one was just too good to pass up.

The guys at Meninos have created the Salute Oven Mitt, which, as you can see is perfect for Trekkies everywhere. Spock would be so proud to see you wearing these the next time you synthesize a batch of cookies in your replicator. Though I’m not sure having your fingers splayed out like that while you’re pulling a pan out of the oven. Maybe this will convince you: here’s the most overly-dramatic video about Star Trek oven mitts you’ll see today…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You definitely you want one now. Grab one now over at Meninos for $29.99 (USD).

Shark Bite Oven Mitt is Way Cooler Than My Crab Claw Mitt

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:11:29 +0000

I don’t know if you have noticed, but I get up to a lot of mischief at my house. My kids sort of expect it now. We have this oven mitt that looks like a crab claw. As soon as I put it on my daughter screams like the little girls she is and starts running. She knows that crabby claw is going to get her. I thought my trusty crab claw oven mitt was really cool, but now I feel all bad about it after seeing this Shark Bite Mitt.

I mean, having a baby shark swallow your hand is much better than having a crab claw for a hand. The shark is made out of polyester/neoprene/nylon blend material, which presumably will keep your fingers from being burnt off on the cookie pan.

It measures in at 15.75″ x 9.25″ and it looks like the shark is eating your arm. It would have been cool if your hand went up the shark’s rump too so I could chase the kids with chompy the shark rather than crabby claws. I guess I am going to have to drop the $18 the thing costs overt at FredFlare.

[via LikeCool]

Retro Arcade Cake: Baked Invaders

Technabob — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:10:30 +0000

Looking for a tasty treat, retro game fans? How about a Space Invader cake. Well, you can’t have one, but you can have this pixelated alien cake who looks sort of like the long-lost cousin of a Space Invader, and I bet it’ll taste just as good as a real Invader.

Spinning Hat’s Retro Arcade Cake Mold (or Mould for you Brits) is the perfect way to serve up your baked goods. With just the tiniest bit of baking skillz, you could even make a layered alien like the one shown above.

I want to make a ten-layer alien cake now, and fill it with bright green icing that can ooze out of its eyes and mouth. Yum. Oozy alien eyeball cake. Perhaps even better than the silicone cake mold is the packaging. “Bake Me to Your Leader!” Who comes up with this stuff?

Grab one (or ten) yourself over at Spinning Hat for £9.99 (appx. $16 USD). I wonder if you can take this thing out of the oven using a Pac-Man oven mitt?

Wavebox Portable Microwave: for Lazy Campers

Lambert Varias — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:35:52 +0000

I’m not much of an outdoors guy, but I’m pretty sure that a lot of campers think that preparing and cooking food is part of the experience. If you’re not in that camp though, you might want to take a look at the WaveBox, a portable microwave oven.

The WaveBox weighs 14lbs, and its cooking cavity measures 10″ (w) x 7″ (d) x 6″ (h), so it should handle most pre-packaged meals without a problem. It has a luggage handle, ABS casing, and rubberized legs. But its most important feature is that the WaveBox can be powered in three ways.

The WaveBox has a detachable AC cord, so you can use it at home just like any other microwave. If you’re outdoors, you have two options – it comes with a 9ft. DC cable that you can clamp directly on to a 12v car or boat battery, and it also has a DC 12v cigarette lighter adapter. The third option though seems to have caused trouble for other users. The WaveBox needs a power outlet with a current of at least 20amps for it to work, and even then it’ll only be good for heating food, and not for cooking. Several people have complained that the outlets in most vehicles only have 15amps. You still have the option of plugging it directly into a 12v battery, but if you’re planning on using your vehicle’s lighter outlet, you should check if its outlet/s are rated at least 20amps.

If you just live without TV dinner and microwave pizza, then get a WaveBox. You can get one at Amazon for $203 (USD). Check out its official website for more info.

[via InventorSpot]

Mario and Luigi Aprons: Iron Chef Batali Should have the Red One

Lambert Varias — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:34:36 +0000

Sprite Stitch forum member Jessil and friend Terry made these sweet Mario and Luigi aprons for Jessil’s twin brothers, who are obsessed with all things Nintendo and also love to barbecue. You think this is sweet Jessil? Well it’s not! Now they’ll be fighting over who gets the Mario apron.

Or will they be fighting over who gets the Luigi one? By the way, the dude in the picture above is Terry, and not Jessil’s twin brothers.

Both of them are awesome, so I think each of the twins will want to have both for himself. Bad move Jessil, bad move. You should just send these aprons to me.

[via Sprite Stitch]

Wow Epic Cooking Apron: Obtained Through Hours of Grinding, Chopping, Boiling, Baking…

Lambert Varias — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:17:06 +0000

…and other culinary activities that I know nothing about. I’m not even worthy of wearing a gray apron, if you know what I mean.

In any case the World of Warcraft epic cooking apron is the perfect gift for skillful cooks who are also WoW fans (wonder how large the intersection is in that Venn diagram?). Mama from Cooking Mama should also have one. And all the Iron Chefs should have at least three each.

Go buy a WoW Epic Cooking Apron for Rokusaburo Michiba! It’s only $22 (USD) at CafePress. Or you could try and hunt Chairman Kaga; maybe the epic apron is one of his drops.

[via Forever Geek]