What's the Next Magic Box?

[kaleokahu]

It's been kinda slow here lately, so let me pose a question having to do with the future of cooking appliances and cookware. I've lived through the commercialization of the microwave oven, convection ovens, induction cooktops, sous vide baths, hypocolloids, protein "glues", multi-layer clads, hard anodizing, the list goes on and on.

What do the CH futurists see on the horizon? Is it, as Politeness hints, insulated-sidewall pans? Is it all-metal induction? Is it some targeted beam energy source, or a completely new material based on nanotechnology switchable-property molecules, or heliostats? Fuel cell ranges with oxygen accumulators for hotter, cheaper flames? Is it home protein generators that will "grow" us a tenderloin or foie gras while we're looking for jobs or learning Cantonese? Will we be seeing a Jetsonian box anytime soon that can be programmed to prep and cook complex, multi-task dishes and/or clean up afterward? Will any of it be branded "Le Creuset"?

Knock yourselves out.

[scubadoo97]

Counter top home food irradiation unit

[hobbybaker]

Cheaper version of those would be nice. I am moving to the area where no gas is my option. But it is definitely not "multi-purpose" .

http://www.us-appliance.com/ewi4571m....

[I used to know how to cook...]

Oh, but Hobbybaker, just think, you get free shipping during the month of February! :)

Lucy

[kaleokahu]

hobbybaker: That's nice. It makes me wonder if a future step might be a semi-viscous "cooktop" into which you can sink your pans. When you remove them, it "self-heals" and returns to flat.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I have seen those induction wok cooktop too. I actually stir fry often, and have entertained the idea if I want one in the future, but decided not.

They look very awesome at first, but it also seems limiting. I don't mean it is limited to wok cooking. I mean it is limited to a particular wok (manufactured by this company). Different woks have different curvature. Some are more shallow, while other are steeper. This induction wok stovetop can only support woks with a specific curvature. Very manufacturer specific. Kind of like my idea of brand specific microwave dinner. Stouffer microwaves for Stouffer frozen dinners.

Now, I think there are versions of induction wok where the curvature is flexible.

[hobbybaker]

guys. I saw a similar one made by Miele in Europe. it was great but it works only with wok made by Miele as CK pointed out. And I don't know the stainless wok is that great even with this induction one, either, but yes, it would be nice it is flexible and when you want to have it flat, it is flat. when you want to let your pan sink, it fit and sink....

Lucy, Free shipping doesnot help. I will be in the other side of Atlantic Ocean! Hopefully from the second half of this year :) Also, let's see if Chinese will come up with a knock-offs soon :) They must be the best country to make those things for a wok, I guess :)

[Chemicalkinetics]

I just realize a typo. When I wrote "there are versions of induction wok where the curvature is flexible", I really mean "there are versions of induction wok STOVETOPS where the curvature is flexible" I know you know, but I just want to clarify for others. Thanks.

P.S.: When did you move to Europe? I thought you live in US.

[hobbybaker]

Not yet CK but most of my LCs made it already there. I am still back and forth between two continents :) enjoy travelling but I cannot cook much. So I am frustrated !! : )

[cutipie721]

That sounds like a mattress, hehe.

[kaleokahu]

Dang. Part of getting old seems to be inventing things that already exist. I have this dear uncle who was honored with a lifetime achievement award recently, and in his acceptance speech he sagely predicted that--before long--we would have picture phones available to us!

I shouldn't have laughed. Meet the Thermomix, http://www.thermomix.com.au/ It's apparently not available in the US, but is in Canada and Australia. 230V, and around $2K, but what it can do! Chop, beat, mix, whip, grind, knead, mince, grate, juice, blend, heat, stir, and steam food. It even has a scale built in to weigh ingredients as you add them.

Thanks to The Huntress for letting us know about this on a different thread. Now, on to inventing the internal combustion engine.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I hope you didn't laugh at the acceptance speech.

[kaleokahu]

Chem: Not outwardly, of course.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Good. As long as no one heard you, then it is fine. Conversely, did you hear anyone giggle?

[kaleokahu]

Chem: There was a collective sharp intake of breath and a lot of smiles, but everyone was polite. What do you think of the Thermomix?

[Chemicalkinetics]

I don't know about Thermomix as of now, but that concept has potentional in the future. A "one stop" cookware .

[petek]

I love the thermomix!

[kaleokahu]

petek: Do you have one?

[petek]

I wish! 2 grand is way outta my leage.But I love the concept. Maybe one day i'll get that and the anti-griddle.

[kaleokahu]

petek: I agree that $2K is a LOT for another countertop appliance, but if the Thermomix really does replace 10 others (and does a decent job at those things), then it's not that bad.

I wonder, though about how much muscle it has (Huntress, please?). It's only a 1000W heat appliance and 500W motor, but then it's also 230V.

[petek]

kaleokahu: I guess when you look at it that way,replacing up to 10 appliances,it doesn't sound that expensive. I wonder why it isn't available in the U.S? They're missing out on a huge market.

[kaleokahu]

petek: I do not know why it's not available in the US. The nice poster who has one has said that they WERE available here for some time, and now not. Perhaps it has something to do with it being a 230VAC appliance, or UL listing.

I bet they count "oven" in the 10-count. Still, if it replaces blender, juicer, mixer, grinder, processor, scale, and crockpot, the price isn't all that steep.

[smkit]

How about the anti-griddle?

http://www.cuisinetechnology.com/the-...

[kaleokahu]

smkit: The Anti-Griddle is here now. Perhaps hot+cold technology in the same "hob", or in the pan itself?

[smkit]

Sorry, I misunderstood. I was thinking about items that haven't been mass commercialized yet. With that said a dual hob would be cool. Also I think centrifuge appliance adaptations are on the horizon.

[kaleokahu]

smkit: Sorry, my fault. Help me understand about the applications of centrifuges?

[smkit]

Several months back I was reading in FoodArts about that whole Modernist Cuisine project/tome and when asked what equipment is essential in a kitchen one of the authors said something to the effect that every commercial kitchen should have at least one centrifuge. That made me chuckle, but since then I have been thinking about all the times when a centrifuge might help out.

Dairies use centrifuges to separate cream from milk, and you could take it a step further and separate the butter milk and butter in cream.

It could be used to extract juice from pulp, concentrate purees, remove water from tomatoes. Anything you would need to set over a cheese cloth could be done very quickly with a centrifuge. You'd also have the ability to concentrate sauces without needing to heat them.

I also read that in the Modernist Cuisine kitchen they separated peas into three parts: pea juice, pea fat (yes peas have some fat), and starch. They then used the pea fat to make a flavored butter.

That sounds interesting, but any time you have solids suspended in liquids, a centrifuge can help out.

Of course they are also expensive and can be dangerous...maybe I will stick to my salad spinner.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Do you mean the high end cookware or mass consumer based cookware? In term of the real drive force, I think it will be the mass consumer based cookware and that the driving force is to produce more affordable and faster cooking methods. Look at the trend in the last 50 years if not 100 years. Microwave does not cook better than oven. It cooks faster. Triply cookware does not cook better than aluminum, it is more convenient. So I see a improvement of microwavable foods, making them tastes better.

That said, I can see an alternative driving force for cool and green, like the success of Toyoto Prius. Is it really more green when the manufacturing cost in included -- debatable, but it is definitely cool and fun.

[kaleokahu]

Chem: Either one, actually. Your convenience helps me imagine single-serving machine "pods" (think coffee), except for sauces.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Cool. I have a Tassimo Coffee machine (got it for free as an evaluation effort). Each of its pod has a bar code which dictates the brewing temperature and speed... etc. Maybe we can have that for microwave. There will be a barcode on the microwave package. You scan it and then you pop it in, then the microwave will cook at various power over a predetermined program time. Of course, these microwave package will be brand specific, so a Stouffer microwave dinner only works with a Stouffer microwave oven (just like a Tassimo pod only work on a Tassimo machine). It will be so cool and so stupid at the same time.

[kaleokahu]

Chem: ...and have really garish blue lights all over it.

[tanuki soup]

Put food in box --> push button --> It's FROZEN!!!

[Cinnamon]

Waiting for lasers.

[kaleokahu]

Cinnamon: I hope "Laser Flay" is as good as "Laser Floyd". ;)