It might look like a souped-up toaster you would find in a school canteen, but this radiant heat oven was designed by a Purdue University food researcher to fry up foods without requiring them to swim in a vat of fatty oil. Which means healthier fried foods with less calories, fat and cooking times.
Professor Kevin M. Keener’s fryer actually uses the same principles as the toaster sitting on your kitchen counter, but on a larger and faster scale. It blasts partially cooked frozen foods, like burgers and hashbrowns, with intense radiant heat that finishes the frying process without requiring them to be immersed in hot oil.
Because the giant conveyor-fed machine cooks faster with considerably less fat, it’s easy to understand why it’s unfortunately only being targeted for use at fast food restaurants instead of homes across the country. But here’s to hoping an ageing sports personality will one day hawk a smaller version designed for every day use.
[Purdue University via Gizmag]