As an engineer and a color-blind person, I'm often perplexed by the baking instructions for my cake/pie/bun. The directions say something like "bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown" or something similar. So, what is it? Do I set the timer for 27.5 minutes and hope for the best? What's "golden brown"? Is George Hamilton considered "golden brown"? What if I'm baking chocolate cake? Some directions call for poking the cake with a toothpick "until it comes out clean". Obviously, clinging batter is underdone, but how many sticking crumbs make a toothpick clean? I propose the following three part doneness tester. The first part is an in-oven video camera to measure color. The second part is a extendable in-oven probe used to measure temperature, consistancy, texture, and resistance. The video camera could also capture images of the probe for crumb content. The third part is a computer/controller to run the whole thing. The baker would input the parameters for his or her preferences. The controller would also maintain a database for repeat bakings and some AI for experimentatal baking. The whole thing could be mounted inside at the top, with the interface mounted separately on top or next to the oven on the counter.-- Coal Drag, Feb 24 2005 Inspired by this idea. Oven_20Video_20Camera [Coal Drag, Feb 24 2005] For an extra charge you can get a live video feed to a professional baker for their advice.-- Worldgineer, Feb 24 2005 Don’t forget the altimeter.-- Shz, Feb 24 2005 Good one [Shz]. [Worldgineer], good one also. Now we've got a business proposition with an extra source of revenue. Excellent.-- Coal Drag, Feb 24 2005 I was sort of going for the all-inclusive all-purpose oven tester. This would work if you use boxed mixes, recipe book concoctions, or ad-libbed creations. By extension, the unit could be programmed for roasts, other meats, casseroles, side dishes, and the like.-- Coal Drag, Feb 24 2005 I think a bit of adaptive learing capability would be good too. Perhaps a voting keypad whereon the consumer of the baked goody can indicate satisfaction level with cooking algorithm for that item just consumed.
E.g.: 0 = perfect, done to a turn, yummy; -1 = a touch too soft and gooey; +1 = a bit on the overdone side, really; +5 = incinerated and good for spreading in the bottom of the birdcage; -5 = did I plug you in to start with?
The machine can therefore learn iteratively to bake to the perfection so clearly desired. 0 from me for the idea.-- phlogiston, Feb 24 2005 Yes, there definitely needs to be feedback from the user. Maybe even based upon different users. There could be a consensus mode and/or an individual mode.-- Coal Drag, Feb 25 2005 I've been considering a similar idea for a toaster. Problem is, this has already been baked in theory with the toaster dial - my idea is more like "make a toaster dial that behaves consistently over time" or "make a toaster dial that works properly". It would get [m-f-d]: rant straight away.
[Coal-Drag] - Cakes 'sound' done if they make a hollow noise when tapped on top. Really.-- wagster, Feb 25 2005 random, halfbakery