Bring the power of the “chocolate fountain” to other food types!

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Background:

A “chocolate fountain” is a food-serving item that a person might see at a wedding or fancy party: it’s just a device that recirculates melted chocolate so that you can dip strawberries or marshmallows in it before chomping them (Figure 1). Fancy!

Fig. 1: The humble chocolate fountain. 

The Issue:

Strangely, this type of device is almost never seen recirculating any other liquids. This is clearly an oversight.

Proposal:

Lots of dippable liquids could theoretically be recirculated in the same manner. For example:

  • Ranch dressing (for dipping lettuce / salad components)
  • Soy sauce (for dipping sushi rolls)
  • Melted ice cream (for dipping slices of cake)

In Figure 2, we imagine how the variety of “food fountains” could be expanded.

Fig. 2: The soy sauce fountain is self-explanatory. The “diet” fountain is a bit non-obvious: the idea is that a person who was trying to eat less could buy a “diet fountain” and then continue to buy all the snacks they want, BUT the person has to dip the food into the acid waterfall of the “diet fountain” first. This will dissolve much / all of the food, as shown on the right side, which is a great way to accomplish portion control. 

Conclusion:

The sky’s the limit when it comes to edible-liquid-recirculating fountains! Other options include caramel, taffy (which may require special engineering due to their high viscosity), milk (for dipping cookies), steak sauce (for dipping steak), ketchup (for french fries, and more), mustard, etc. The only limit is the user’s culinary creativity!

PROS: Opens up new and exciting ways of consuming food. May help with weight loss (applies to diet fountain only).

CONS: The corrosive acid of the “diet” fountain poses certain inherent dangers, but surely no more than a hot stove or sharp kitchen knives!

P.S. Credit to Ethan S. for the soy sauce fountain idea, and Jessica for the diet fountain idea.

Originally published 2025-09-01.