A simple matter of…

Each time I cook, I wonder about a few things. Firstly, the oven - it’s a fan assisted oven and air is also blown through the front of the over to keep it cool (in case there are kids in the house). Why isn’t it just done in a similar way to Thermos flasks - keeping the oven hot for a few hours (if I’m doing a roast) uses a huge amount of electricity.

The hob isn’t much better - I remember a long time ago on Tomorrows World (before they lost all the harder science) where someone had a gas how where the gas came out in a spiral - to keep it in contact with the pan for longer. All gas hobs I’ve seen just force the gas out radially - it’s as if they are trying to be inefficient.

Anyhow, this is tagged “idea” so, what’s my novel idea? Well if I’m cooking say some vegetables on the hob, I often put the water in, then turn the gas to max and wait for it to boil. Some minutes later I then turn it down a bit and put the vegetables in. Then a bit later I realise I’ve turned it down a bit too much and turn it back up again. I wondered if the cooker could detect how hot the pan was and automatically control the gas so that it’s just boiling (and perhaps beep when it starts to boil). Obviously the idea could be extended so that if you want to heat something slowly you can just set it appropriately.