<Sequential description> A handful or two of strawberries is dumped into the glass trough, and the black metal door of the device is slid closed. A camera therein detects their presence, and circulates the water chilled by the device beforehand with a system of bottom jets and surface pickups. The strawberries begin to tumble, washing them. The camera previously mentioned feeds it's high frame rate data into a CPU, which aims a laser (through mirror actuation) at the center of the offending green leaves at the top of each. A short burst is fired, separating the top, and this floats off to be picked up by the grate at the entry point to the water circulating system. A grate raises the strawberries above the water's surface, a motor opens the door, and a buzzer sounds, signaling the readiness of the berries for consumption.
Washes them too...-- my-nep, Mar 21 2005 Waiter, why is your cheesecake so expensive?-- krelnik, Mar 22 2005 I eat the leaves and all. Of course, I eat apple cores as well. Sea urchin roe is best and freshest when consumed underwater.-- normzone, Mar 22 2005 Mmmm. Why I swim like a duck.-- reensure, Mar 22 2005 Can you burn off those annoying little seeds while you're at it?-- Worldgineer, Mar 22 2005 An HB idea if ever there was one.-- Soterios, Mar 22 2005 Eewww! I can't believe that you left the white bit in the middle!-- gnomethang, Mar 22 2005 <drums fingers> What is TAKING so long?</df>
I'm berry impatient. : )-- k_sra, Mar 22 2005 My 4 year old neice bit into a strawberry at a party, and asked me "why is it red inside?" (The poor girl never had a ripe strawberry before.)
Normzone: Have you ever gone for the "ultimate freshness experience" and grazed on produce while it's still connected to the soil? (You don't have to eat the soil.)-- sophocles, Mar 23 2005 It would be even better if you could figure out a way to make it screen for those strawberries that look ok on the outside, but have that horrible, nasty, rotten flavor that doesn't even remotely resemble the flavor of a strawberry. If you throw a handful of berries into the blender to make strawberry margaritas, and it has even one of the nasty berries in it, it ruins the whole batch. Yuck.-- tchaikovsky, Mar 23 2005 I belive fruits get a alchohol content as they rot. How quickly can an alchohol test be done? Get a small pricking device, and have an alchohol test device on the end. Give it limmeted freedom, mounted to the ceiling of the device and have it stab each berry with it's needle sized test device. To make sure you stab each one, have the computer keep track of the stabed berries, and the un-stabed berries. Yes, you'll have tiny pinpricks, but mostlikly you'll never notice them. It will also take a bit longer...not too much longer, because you can test and seperate at the same time... but the berries won't be hurt by a bit more washing.-- my-nep, Mar 23 2005 I want it to burn my monogram into each strawberry. And can they be washed in champagne?-- wagster, Mar 23 2005 random, halfbakery