Imagine the smell of hot, freshly baked donuts drifting lightly through the air from a vending machine whirring away in the corner. Once this idea is implemented, you'd be able to satisfy your craving for a fresh donut 24 hours a day.

The customer just puts their money in, types in the code for their favorite donut, and voila! Out pops a plain donut and single serve topping packages. (sprinkles, frosting, chocolate ect.) Pre-formed dough rings would be refrigerated internally, and fried in a small amount of pressurized cooking oil when ordered. The only matinence required would be occasional restocking. All the classic toppings will be provided and the customer can stack up as many toppings as they want. (for a small fee, of course)

The product could be placed in malls, offices, apartments, hotels, tourist attractions, convenience stores ect. How's that for a first idea?
-- plasticornflake, Feb 03 2003

(?) French fry vending machine http://www.patatachef.com
Other fry-on-demand technology at work. [waugsqueke, Oct 04 2004]

Deep fry vending machines http://www.halfbake...20Vending_20Machine
All the pros and cons [Mayfly, Oct 04 2004]

(?) The Economics of Doughnuts (M$ Word .doc) http://courses.smsu...s/ECOlessonplan.doc
Based on a fictitious instance of a self-contained donut machine, but with humyns dispensing the product. [LoriZ, Oct 04 2004]

MONO Equipment fresh donut vending machine http://www.monoequip.com/news/nr7342.htm
Looks like a company has made this one a reality. Now if they could only get it to my office... [dan1123, Oct 27 2005]

I'm not a doughnut eater, but that idea rocks! Ask the Police Force to fund it for you.
-- howwwwdy!, Feb 03 2003


Nice concept. The biggest problem I can see is that while frying time for an individual donut is pretty short (making fry-on-demand possible), I think that for best results the dough has to be raised for a certain controlled length of time (which is much longer than the time to cook the donut).
-- supercat, Feb 03 2003


Three positive annos, and not a croissant from any of 'em! Take one of mine.

All I'm worried about is this hot, pressurised cooking oil - is it used to discourage pilfering, as well?
-- yamahito, Feb 03 2003


Sounds good to me. You might keep the oil warm (hot?) all the time to keep cooking time short. In little-used machines, replace the oil periodically. I hate rancid donuts.

Have a fried-on-demand croissant.
-- galukalock, Feb 03 2003


Mmmmmm donut. *salivates*
-- RoboBust, Feb 03 2003


[DO NOT TILT THE MACHINE]
-- FloridaManatee, Feb 03 2003


Why do I get the impression that this was boned merely because someone wished their first idea was this good. (+)
-- reap, Feb 04 2003


<drool> Krispy Kreme vending machine... yumm! </drool> (+)
-- Cedar Park, Feb 04 2003


We covered this idea last year. See link...
-- Mayfly, Feb 04 2003


<Homer>mmmm... halfbaked</Homer>
-- thumbwax, Feb 04 2003


Yes, but that was essentially for savoury foods. Donuts aren't explictly mentioned. Ok, this isn't that different - the technical issues are the same - but I think there's some extra mileage in this idea.

I've seen a semi-automatic donut fryer in action in a baker's shop in Jasper, Alberta. It was quite hypnotic.
-- 8th of 7, Feb 04 2003


Since you know the holes are cut out on a lathe.
-- FarmerJohn, Feb 04 2003


I'd put Dunkin Donuts outta business permanently
-- Girlkicksboy, Feb 25 2003


Ahh, I *still* want a doughnut venging machine.

If they install one at my office, they'd find my bloated sinking body next to the machine in the morning, a quarter-full $500 bag of coins in my lap and a big smile on my face.

I've already voted... can anyone lend me a croissant?
-- FloridaManatee, Feb 26 2003


GREAT IDEA BUILD ONE AND GIVE ME ONE PLEASE I LOVE DONUTS *PANT DROOL SLOBBER*
-- paperclip987, Jun 17 2004


A correspondent asked me to pass this on:

This is so silly, they had a Donut making and vending coin op machine at the entrance of Publix Drug store in Johannesburg, South Africa back in 1946 / 47 that I used to get my "American" Donut fix.
I wonder who made it. Likely came from the USA.

[and later]

BTW this unit had a transparent front glass / plexiglas ? not sure, but one could watch the whole process.
If anyone is really serious about this a search of patents at about that time would likely turn it up.
-- jutta, Jul 14 2014


We saw such a machine in a bakery in Jasper, Alberta in your Earth year 1975 CE. It wasn't coin-operated, but it did have a conveyor of steel rods that carried a ring of donut dough (extruded and cut from a large tank) through hot oil, and then under a sugar shaker, at the press of a button. If someone ordered 6 donuts, the assistant would press a button and pretty soon six freshly cooked donuts were handed over.
-- 8th of 7, Jul 14 2014


//Krispy Kreme// oh ick, why don't you just put sugar in grease and drink it: save chewing. _Real_ donuts are light and airy and fresh out of the frybasket.
-- FlyingToaster, Jul 14 2014


//why don't you just put sugar in grease and drink it //

Because McDonalds already have the copyright on their "milkshake" concept ?
-- 8th of 7, Jul 14 2014


One of my life goals is now to own a Mono Donut Robot® Mark II with Roto-Cooler, even though they can't spell "doughnut".

Re. Krispy Kreme - I'm with [FT], they are pretty gross.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 14 2014


You're not going to believe this, but I've got my eyes on a Lil Orbits 1200 that I saw demonstrated at a swap meet I took my family to.

Stood there munchy-wunching on fresh lil' donuts while mesmerized by this thing, chatting with the old timer running it. He does all the high tech company events in the area, Google, Apple, you name it. Doing the math while these little buggers floated by I calculated that he made an ok living.

Might have just been the hydrogenated oil fumes, but I had this sudden epiphany that I could have taken a very different path in life and sold little donuts without going through all the shit I've had to endure with the blood thirsty competitive businesses I chose to get into in my youth. Just me and my donuts. No contracts, no lawyers, no partners, just me and my Lil' Orbits donut maker on a sunny day passing out smiles.

Anyway, the Lil Orbits unit was invented by a very successful former aerospace engineer (really) who decided to go rogue I guess. I think I understand where he was coming from.

I long to have one. It speaks to me.
-- doctorremulac3, Jul 14 2014


Google "Homer Price donut" for what happens when doughnut machines go bad. Ain't pretty.
-- popbottle, Jul 14 2014


connect it to a soft serve ice cream machine and you can have all of my money
-- Kumawktopus, Jul 15 2014



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