Rocket scientist reinvents the sauce pan: maybe cooking is rocket science after all!
This week's Monday poll showed general consensus that scientists should be focusing on energy technology. Looks like some of them are doing just that, and who better to deal with heat and huge flames than a rocket scientist?The Telegraph reports that a rocket scientist from Oxford University has reinvented the saucepan. The new design, developed by Dr. Thomas Povey, has regular channels incorporated into the pan's sides which allows heat delivered to the base to be captured more efficiently as it moves upwards around the pan's sides and testing indicates that it requires forty percent less energy to achieve equivalent cooking results compared with previous saucepan designs. According to the article, Dr. Povey originally hoped to improve the efficiency of cooking in the outdoors, but decided to develop his new Flare Pan design when he realized that the domestic market could also benefit.
A short summary video on the development and testing of Dr. Povey's new Flare Pan design is available on the Oxford University website.
[ed. note: the appropriate way to test this pan is with some good bacon, and as mentioned here, with a case of beer, for science.]
More seriously, I went through the links and video and I STILL can't tell what the inside of the darned pot looks like! I want to be sure it's smooth and NOT saddled with those deep channels on the interior, because man would that be a pain to clean.
And speaking of cleaning, I see they've done nothing about the rivets, which are the one spot that gets permanently spotty/stained no matter how one scrubs. I would love to see some kind of redesign of that, maybe an integrally cast handle.
Still, this certainly seems like a cute idea that may get adopted by other companies. I wonder if it changes cooking style, requiring more careful stirring now that the sides are piping hot.