Cooking Appliance Design For School

[parkerdaudt]

A partner and I are designing a new product for an Engineering class. The product is designed to stir soups, sauces or stews. The basis behind this is to alllow chefs and home cooks the ability to divert attenion away from liquids that require constant stirring and supervision and focus on working on other tasks at hand. The base would sit on the rim of the pot and drive around the rim of the pot while a paddle would extend into the liquid and provide a stirring motion over the horizontal axis. We would greatly appreciate and feedback that you guys may have on what cooks and chefs would expect a product like this to do.

 

[Addie]

They already have a product like that on the market. It is called StirChef.

http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/L949475.jpg

A very good product if you want to be able to multi task. Great for stirring cooked pudding, lemon curd, etc.

 

[Andy M.]

Not many dishes require constant stirring.

Maybe when I'm old and feeble...

 

[parkerdaudt]

The idea is that you could use it with soups of stews. That you can be making another dish while prodiding an agitation to the other dish. Our product would also allowl for lower portions of liquid to be circulated to the top providing an even cooking.

 

[Andy M.]

The idea is that you could use it with soups of stews. That you can be making another dish while prodiding an agitation to the other dish. Our product would also allowl for lower portions of liquid to be circulated to the top providing an even cooking.

We understand what stirring does. My point is soups and stews need only occasional stirring as do most dishes. Convection currents within the liquid serve to distribute the heated liquid. If I'm cooking multiple dishes, I'm right there at the stove so stirring a pot or two is not an issue.

 

[parkerdaudt]

We are attempting to ease the demand on the typical home cook. I am interested in learning if this type of device would be something the typical cook, as well as commercial chefs would ever use.

 

[Andy M.]

We are attempting to ease the demand on the typical home cook. I am interested in learning if this type of device would be something the typical cook, as well as commercial chefs would ever use.

As Addie and I have explained, a.) it's not a big burden and b.) there's already such a tool.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I voted "no", as I probably wouldn't use it myself. I'm not really a gadget guy. But in all honesty I could see situations where a commercial chef might use such a device, provided it was sturdy and reliable.

 

[Addie]

We are attempting to ease the demand on the typical home cook. I am interested in learning if this type of device would be something the typical cook, as well as commercial chefs would ever use.

For commercial chefs in a restaurant it would have to be very big. And that would make it very heavy. It has to be able to reach the bottom of their pots. And the shaft would have to be heavy metal, not to count the weight of the motor. The motor for the home one weighs about 2.5 pounds. And that one can handle a three quart pan providing it has a wide mouth.

Because I have difficulty standing for any length of time, I have had a StirChef since they first came out on the market. It was touted by a lot of folks. Still it has not been a big seller. I find it useful only because of my inability to stand stirring for a long time when I make a lemon curd or anything with chocolate. BB&B used to sell them. They stopped because they were taking up shelf space.

Overstock.com has them. I suggest you and your partner do more research. One con is that you can not put a lid on the pot if you use this product. Thus it is useless for pasta or any tomato sauce. So even if you have the heat on low simmer, little blips of sauce are being spit out all over you stove. In saving your energy using this product you end up with more work cleaning your stove.

You wanted feedback. Now you have some straight from one who uses such a product. Good luck in your endeavor. And I hope the both of you graduate with top honors.

 

[no mayonnaise]

Sorry but I wouldn't use such a device. I can't think of a dish that would need constant stirring that should even be left alone.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Take a look at this thread, it may help.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forum...-82070.html?highlight=people+who+are+involved

For me a machine that will only stir the pot has little value.

I would be interested in a temperature controlled saucepan that stirred the contents and would alert me at certain times. Alerts as the mixture thickened or reached a certain temperature such as soft ball stage, hard ball etc. also it would be helpful if the speed of the stirring controls could be adjusted from slow to whip. That would be handy in making some types of frosting and desserts. All this for only $29.95 please!

 

[justplainbill]

While you're inventing and designing things, consider designing an apparatus (preferably an attachment) that permits foot operated / actuated opening and closing of oven doors. Some early 20th century residential stoves actually had such a feature.
That's progress for a ya.

 

[jennyema]

No, I'd never use that.

Like Andy and Addie have explained, very few things need constant stirring.

But those that do -- like risotto -- need to be stirred using a particular technique that your contraption could not mimic.

Stirring even things like sauce and stew need to be done using a method that both stirs and scrapes and reaches the corners or the pot as well as the middle.

So, no. I can't see how it would be useful at all.

If you are set on designing a kitchen appliance, you might consider starting with a focus group of experienced cooks to generate useful ideas.

Maybe something that makes molecular gastronomy more approachable for the home cook?

 

[Dawgluver]

Not for me, I wouldn't buy it.

 

[chopper]

That's what husbands are for. Or kids, or grandkids........

 

[Bigjim68]

Another problem I see with these gadgets is that many dishes are best cooked with lids. None of the auto stirrers address this.

I would not buy one, or even use one if someone gave it to me.

 

[Addie]

While you're inventing and designing things, consider designing an apparatus (preferably an attachment) that permits foot operated / actuated opening and closing of oven doors. Some early 20th century residential stoves actually had such a feature.
That's progress for a ya.

My mother's wood burning stove had a pedal that opened the oven door. You still had to close it by hand.

 

[MrsLMB]

That would be a waste of my money and storage space as well as just another thing to clean.