Kitchen Remodeling - New Materials, New Ideas

Due to the extremely vast amount of different available materials, you will have to be a bit more specific to your design requirements. What is the function of the material in question? You mention conductivity, do you want it to be electrically conductive, or electrically insulating? Do you want it to transfer heat, or insulate from heat? What do you mean by durable, scratch resistance? How flexible, do you need to be able to tie it in a knot?

These are only a small sample of questions that need to be addressed before any material can be selected.

Yeah, you are right. I need to describe more details. Sorry. I am going to design a stovetop that is thin as the paper, which means it can rolls up. Also, when I put a pot on the top, it will sink down a little bit (if that possible). Durable means scratch resistance and no wrinkle. For the conductivity, I am looking for something that can transfer heat and electricity, not to insulate (be able to heat the pot and then cook).

Thank you

What are the Unobtanium 256 and Cargonite 31??

Wouldn't Dilithium crystals be more durable?

What you are describing is induction cooking using magnetic fields, however paper thin and flexible is going to be a problem, a big one. I am not aware of any material that is paper thin AND can produce enough heat in a pot or pan to be useful as a stove top appliance (coils large enough to heat a pot and its contents are large and bulky). Also some form of high temperature insulation sheet is required to insulate the coil element from the pot (difficult but not impossible, a problem if you want it to be flexible to allow you to roll up the stove top)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooker

http://theinductionsite.com/moreinfo.shtml

I think your idea is ahead of its time. You may have better luck when room temperature superconductor film is perfected which would allow a thin flexible coil element.

Anyone here aware of any recent materials developments I am not aware of that could overcome some of the above-mentioned problems? Perhaps a half-way-there principle solution could be found (ie- works in principle with really small metal pots or cups but is not that practical as a commercial product for the home).

joat,

Thanks for giving the OP a serious answer.

LL

Yes, that's what I think. I don't think we have the new tech now, but I want to fine similar materials or possible to achieve my goal. I know is hard to find something that is paper thin and flexible and be able to heat conduct heat or electricity, but if anyone know any possibilities, please tell me~

Thank you for answer this illogical question.

I appreciate!

I did come across this a while ago, its a flexible conductive plastic polymer with 20 the weight of copper but the same conductivity.

http://www.planetanalog.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=R5TNRMSSCQOTSQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=212001174

http://www.itkg.net/index.php?page=182

I think it is only suitable or signal transfer (like antennas) rather than power transfer (such as making a light weight flexible induction coil).

Nothing on room temp superconductors (yet).

Wow! This is helpful!! Thanks a lot!

I have an unobtainium mine right next to an upsydasium mine.

You may be able to do it with RF.

You could perhaps do it with piezo ceramics. Set up a very high-frequency vibration by bending the ceramic with hi-cycle DC pulses. It would take at least several hundred thousand hertz to make it work. Some one smart will need to figure out the arithmetic.

The composite could be kept cool by mounting it on Kevlar.

If you figure it out, my name goes on the patent!

Cheers,

Bloefeld

You are awesome! I were thinking about Kevlar and ceramic, too!! I just not sure how to apply into what I need.

That my friend is going to be the tricky bit.

Carbon fibre is highly conductive but it will not work simply on this basis.

I think the key is in high frequency and very low amplitude vibration. This should cause the food in the container to heat and while the container itself will remain cool (well the food will heat the container).

Kevlar is probably not the answer, but more likely fibreglass or perhaps quartz fibre reinforced with Novolac resins to give heat resistance in the 550F range.

Cheers,

Bloefeld

Haha, a tricky bit! I researched a little bit about Kevlar. It seams like for the protective products, but I think is good to consider its functions. I'll research about fibreglass, quartz fibre with Novolac resins and see how it works!

Thanks a lot!

Hello Kinki --!

Can you consider using some hybrid of the systems available now.

For instance, if you could create a portable microwave heating system using the principles of a microwave oven. Assuming safety is top on your list then address the other challenges.

Image that you could prepare your finished meal and put it on the plate on the table where minutes before you are set to eat it it will begin too cook automatically.

You could have a small camera or just type in the food type that is being added to the plate. An inbuilt weighing scale programmed into the plate would weigh and calculate the energy required to cook each item as it is added to the plate. It would total the time needed to cook everything. When having family dinner mom can still prep the meal but each individual could choose the cooking duration.

You would have to capture the vapor etc and supply an energy source for the portable microwave devices. You would also have to isolate veggies and other items that you do not want cooked. If you develop the concept you may be able to spot cook items by activating a specific zone on the plate under each item. With a "beginning where you want to finish" preset, all zones on the plate can activate at different times so as to finish at the right time to sit down together to eat.

Imagine everybody sitting down for a meal at a large family gathering where everyone's meal is cooked as they like it and all are ready at the same time.

Each plate can connect remotely to a central computer, and if the meal is to be ready at a set time, the computer can calculate when to turn on each plate and each zone of each plate, so that all will finish at the same time.

Wow! I didn't think about the meals finish at the same time, but I did think about identify the weight scale. Microwave this idea is great, too, but I prefer to design a stove top. I really really appreciate these great ideas!!

This sounds like a cool idea but what about Microwave shielding?

Cheers,

Tony

If you mount the microwave into the dinner table it is unlikely anyone will be near it until the meal has finished cooking and is ready, at least that's how I understand dinner tables working.

What do you mean by shielding?

Straight from Wikipedia

"The cooking chamber itself is a Faraday cage enclosure which prevents the microwaves from escaping into the environment" and cooking both your dinner and anyone close. This is why when you look thru the microwave door it looks like it has a metal mesh over it (it does).

Imagine everybody sitting down for a meal at a large family gathering where everyone's meal is cooked as they like it and all are ready at the same time.

Going one step further (and one leap back in time), how about a futuristic version of the stone grill concept where each person cooks their meal (or the majority of it) themselves at the dinner table.

http://www.stonegrill.co.nz/start.htm

The concept works well and cooks surprisingly fast (and makes cooking your own meal interactive and rather fun).

The preheated stone could be replaced by an electronic dinner plate that acts as both the cooking and serving dish (taking the original posters idea one step further). For vegetables and salad, the dinner table's centre piece (commonly flowers) could be a small garden of quick growing genetically engineered plants that people could pick and add to their meal.

As an added bonus the art of pre-dinner conversation could finally be brought back, and table manners would improve (kids would never pick up the hot dinner plate and lick it clean again).

Stone girll is interesting, but another problem for stone girll is too heavy. It's ponderous (I am focus on portable) for outdoor. I also concern about our environment, which is recycling the materials.

A lot of great suggestions going on!

If anyone has more suggestions, please tell me. Thank you for everyone!

The stone grill was only proposed as a concept, I was talking of replacing the stone (heat storage device) with an electrical element (rapid heat on demand device) suspended inside some sheets of electrically non-conductive material (with a thermally insulating layer on the bottom). Instead of a big stone you have something as thin and (almost as) flexible as a hand towel.

why not a chemical reaction like an MRE (meal ready to eat)? it could be thin enough to roll up, just add water or moisture? I am thinking of this as an outdoor cooking surface or envelope while sitting in the woods camping or hunting. Survival food?

regards

Ahh yes MRE's. I dont miss them, although they can be the best thing you have eaten in some situations. I actually consumed one two years ago when fighting fire in northern California, that was dated from the 70's, and i'm still alive and wellÊ.

On the topic of the heating element (if you can call it that) in the MRE's, They have a rapid reaction with water creating a rather large amount of heat energy. During the chemical reaction, Hydrogen gas escapes the bag... Unless you seal it off and trap the gas in the bag... Then light a corner and watch those around you crap themselfs as the explosion ensues.

Haha~ MRE, it sounds not tasty... I like the idea! Cooking in the bags, but what kind of materials can be possible? I was thinking fiberglass, optical fiber or maybe something like plastic fiber (something that can bend and restore to original shape).