This idea originally was primarily discussing K-cups, but
apparently it's
baked with those[1], so I'm expanding it to other brands
and according-to-the-menu options as well.
When preparing instant noodles that come in a cup with the soup stock just in there with
the noodles, it's
pretty
simple. Just open the cup and pour in boiling
water from
whatever source (instant coffee machine, water cooler
with a hot tap, kettle, etc.) and wait a couple of
minutes.[2] Or, if
you only have cold water, put that in and microwave it.
But those instant noodles are not what this idea is about.
When preparing instant noodles that come in a plastic
film packet or a cup but have the stock in a separate packet in there, there are a lot of
steps.
You have to
manually
add boiling water or manually add cold
water and then microwave the vessel. Also, you have to
add the noodles to the vessel. And
they usually come with a packet of soup stock that you
also have to tear open and shake and squeeze the
contents of into
the vessel. Then you have to stir the whole thing.
I can see a way to reduce the number of steps, or at
least make them a bit less fiddly and
tedious: the manufacturers should just put the soup
stock in an instant coffee machine-style "pod" instead of
a plastic film packet.
Then all you do is put the noodles in the vessel,
put the vessel under the coffee machine's spout, put the
pod in the machine, activate the
machine to run hot water through the pod and into the
vessel, and stir the noodles.
Also, and this is the more original bit in light of the
above being baked by Keurig & Campbell's, they could
sell
said pods of soup
stock separately, for when you want non-noodle
soup. Or they could sell the noodles on their own,
without the soup stock, for when you want
coffee with noodles in it. (Somehow, I'm not the first
person to think of mixing coffee and noodles.[3])
Of course, the kind of instant noodles described in the second paragraph, where the stock is just in there with the noodles, is still easier to
prepare. But there must be a reason to not do that, or they'd all do that.
n/a [2019-03-12]