Category: Appliances

The inventor of the personal microwave is… Heinz?

Heinz Beanzawave

There are portable microwaves already on the market, but those suck up a lot of juice. Since these contraptions require a lot of power, you see them designed for cars, boats and the like. The Beanzawave changes all that and brings microwaveability to the desktop, powered only by a USB connection.

The mini-mic is only a prototype for now, but apparently Heinz and partners claim the technology is ready. Heinz says they will usher in production dependent on consumer feedback. C’mon, who wouldn’t want a low-powered microwave (that works)? Adapting it for battery use (also in the plans) would unleash the microwave and bring true portability to the market. I’ll believe it when I see it. Chances are it will turn out to be a glorified Easy Bake Oven.

***UPDATE 7/2/15***
Try this one on for size.
RoadPro Electric Lunch Box Oven
Not a microwave, but highly rated and most importantly, real!

The $200 Heineken

Krups BeerTender

This thing drives me crazy. Or rather it would drive me crazy if I were crazy enough to own one. But then I guess the point would be moot, due to double craziness or something and I would be content owning the thing… see what I mean?

It’s not like the Krups BeerTender is a bad idea, it’s just that it does one thing and one thing only: pour Heineken beer. The countertop machine can be set to your choice of three temperatures, and along with its internal carbonation delivers draft style beer Heineken right from their compact 5-liter Draught Kegs. The issue isn’t really if one prefers Heineken or not, it’s that there is no options for anything else. It seems to me with such exclusivity Heineken should be paying you to use this machine. Asking the consumer to pay $200 seems a bit much. (Down from a suggested price of $400.)

Rotisserie in the woods

Auspit Australian Rotisserie BBQ

Getting away from the city is always a recipe for a good time. Part of that fun usually includes ‘camping food’. Bearing a resemblance to ‘rood food’, camping grub usually includes things you wouldn’t normally eat. At the very least, any meal you prepare is most likely going to differ from how you make it at home. That’s part of the fun; an open fire and coolers full of rapidly melting ice lead to food that must be eaten— no matter how.

Continue reading Rotisserie in the woods

Your favorite toppings mixed right into your ice cream

Cuisinart Mix It In Soft-Serve Ice Cream Maker

Hey, you like ice cream, doncha? And you like toppings on your ice cream right? Sure you do — whether they be jimmies or sprinkles these little extras add crunch and texture to ice cream dishes. But wouldn’t those toppings be better mixed in with the ice cream?

The Cuisinart Mix It In Soft-Serve Ice Cream Maker is specifically designed to add to the ice cream experience. The 1.5-quart capacity maker is capable of creating soft ice cream, yogurt, sorbet or sherbet. When ready, up to three toppings can be selected to dispense along with the ice cream. The end result is a delicious frozen treat, with toppings throughout.

Pasta Pasta Play-Doh Pasta (but better tasting)

Pasta Pasta Maker from Takara Tomy

It’s no secret that cooking can be fun, but when it comes to making pasta, the Pasta Pasta Maker from Takara Tomy takes fun to a whole new level. Reminiscent of the Play-Doh Fun Factory (as is this), the machine uses a set of stamps and molds for creating eight different types of Italian pasta. This pasta-making machine may come to us from Japan, and the manual is in Japanese, but considering all the practice you probably put into making inedible Play-Doh patties and the such, I think you will be able to figure it out.

(Via Random Good Stuff)

Spin me a (half-baked) pizza

Presto Pizzazz Pizza Oven

A buddy of mine at one time owned an old ‘portable’ CD player in name only. Smaller than the actual CD, the payer operated by spinning the disk in the open air. As the disc passed the enclosed portion the laser read the CD and sent the music to attached speakers or headphones. Of course, the fact that the CD was spinning furiously meant you could not move it while it was playing. Yes, it may have been as small as an iPod, and yes, it did actually play CD’s, but it may as well have been a stationary player.

Despite instantly reminding me about a ridiculous concept for a portable CD player, the Presto Pizzazz Pizza Oven, rates surprisingly high in customer reviews at Amazon. The rotating pizza oven (with ‘RotaBake(TM) technology’) has top and bottom heating elements for precision baking control. Self-rising pizzas can be baked by running the bottom element first before turning on the top element. If you like your pizza with a crispy crust, that can be achieved by letting the bottom element run for a little longer. Clearly designed for the frozen pizza market, the oven looks like it might be able to step up to the task – like a half-useful portable CD player.

(Via Boing Boing)