With the technology of “toasterization,” we can bring the convenience of “pop-up toast” to ALL your kitchen appliances! Why is the toaster the only appliance with such a theatrical task-completion behavior?

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Background:

One traditional type of electric toaster is a rectangular enclosure with slots at the top for two slices of bread (Figure 1). Once the bread is sufficiently toasted, the slices of toast pop out of the toaster, visually making it obvious that the toast is ready.

Fig. 1: To operate this toaster, the user puts two slices of bread in the slots at the top, then presses down a lever.

The Issue:

Strangely, no other appliances operate in this manner! Other kitchen appliances (microwave, oven, stove, etc…) may, at best, beep a few times once they’re done. But for some reason, no other appliance is capable of flinging a scorching-hot piece of food out into the kitchen!

Proposal:

Let’s bring this toaster technology to other kitchen appliances as well (this process is henceforth known as “toasterization”). Figure 2 shows a possible method of implementing the toasterization process for an oven.

Fig. 2: In this “toasterized” oven, the turkey being cooked (left, #1) sits on a spring-loaded metal rack. Once the turkey is ready, the top of the oven (with the stovetop burners) flips open (right, #2), and the spring-loaded metal rack quickly raises up, ejecting the finished turkey into the kitchen.

Replacing an entire stove / oven is a fairly major commitment, so people might want to investigate the merits of toasterization on a smaller scale first. In Figure 3, we show a possible way that stovetop noodle cooking could be made easier with a pop-up mechanism.

Fig. 3: Here, ramen noodles are cooking in a pot of boiling water. Once the noodles are ready, a metal mesh basket raises itself out of the pot, letting the noodles automatically drain (and preventing them from overcooking). Note that this is similar to how deep fryers already operate (where a metal mesh basket holds the food in a vat of hot oil).

Conclusion:

This technology could also be applied to rice cookers, instant pots, pressure cookers, and more!

PROS: Pop-up technology will help prevent food from over-cooking, thus reducing food waste and bringing eco-friendliness to the modern kitchen.

CONS: Theoretically some downsides may exist to having a boiling-hot turkey automatically catapulted across a kitchen. People will just have to be careful, is all!!!

Originally published 2025-01-20.