Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Barilla passive cooker

barilla.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 528 posts

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#151

Post by dkjaudyeqooe »

theCrowing wrote: post #95
paxys wrote: post #30

A 145 year old pasta company just published open-source 3D printing models, Arduino circuit layouts & code and a bluetooth-enabled smartphone app on its website, that too with a decent sized marketing push. All so that you can build an overengineered kitchen timer from scratch in your bedroom. This is exactly the wild future I imagined as a tech enthusiast building cheap PCs two decades ago.

It wasn't Barillas idea. Looking at the quality and stuff used it was most likely thought up by a "Creative Technologist" in an ad agency with the sole purpose to win awards.(...and some PR but trust me it was done for the awards.)

Barilla is a corporation. It's unable to do anything by itself since it's a legal construction and not sentient. Instead it bribes humans into doing its bidding for it.

I don't think it matters which humans are paid and how, does it? Only that it did actually pay for this stuff.

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#152

Post by vel0city »

BurningFrog wrote: post #145
fuckstick wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do they use the kettles for? For most non tea drinking households in the US there is no essential use for a kettle. They do sell them here, people buy them, they are usually tea drinkers.

To perhaps state the obvious, I use mine mainly for coffee. And the occasional tea cup.

Honestly it seems more likely for an American household to have a Keurig machine (or hell, even multiple Keurigs) than to have any kind of kettle.

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#153

Post by habnds »

sltkr wrote: post #144
jiggawatts wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better way to save energy is to use an electric kettle to get the water up to boiling. This is about three times as energy-efficient as a gas hob. Combined with passive cooking it could save real money… Technology Connections on YouTube has a good video about how electric kettles are the superior way to boil water: https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c

> This is about three times as energy-efficient as a gas hob. I sincerely doubt this figure in cases where electricity is generated from fossil fuels in the first place. For example, I lived in the Netherlands where 80% of electricity is still produced by fossil fuels, mostly in gas-fired power plants. As I understand it, generating electricity from gas has an efficiency of only about 50%. That means you lose a lot o…

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/5/7/21247602...

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#154

Post by [deleted] »

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #89
ericmcer wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always wondered if you could just put spaghetti in your Nalgene while backpacking and it would be ready by the end of your hike. People always look at me weird when I suggest it but I am down to drink starchy water all day and then eat spaghetti when I get there haha.

Having had to rehydrate pasta while hiking to save on fuel as a beginner backpacker, I can confirm it does work. Still, I now only bring semolina and polenta on multiple days hike. Both can be eaten fine after an hour of soaking in cold water.

[deleted]

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#155

Post by jeffbee »

AaronFriel wrote: post #111
askvictor wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans don't really do electric kettles, largely on account of using 110V mains, which limits power to around 1100W, making it a lot slower than ~2000W electric kettles in the 200+V world.

I'd be very surprised to see a standard US gas range capable of boiling water faster than an electric kettle.

Yeah it's just not. I have one of those ridiculous bazillion-BTU gas burners and I still prefer to boil water using a combination of a 120V tea kettle (1L) and an 120V portable induction cooker. An installed 240V range is even faster, but I don't have one of those.

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#156

Post by sltkr »

vel0city wrote: post #113
askvictor wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans don't really do electric kettles, largely on account of using 110V mains, which limits power to around 1100W, making it a lot slower than ~2000W electric kettles in the 200+V world.

Americans largely don't use electric kettles because Americans largely don't drink tea at home and thus don't use kettles as often as the rest of the world. Most households I know don't even own a kettle. Not a stovetop one, not an electric one. If you were to ask most Americans why they don't have an electric kettle at home they won't say "because I only have 120V outlets in the kitchen." They'll say it is because t…

I know it's heresy to the British, but you can heat water for tea in the microwave just fine. And at least in my European imagination, every American has a microwave in their home.

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#157

Post by mikestew »

jamincan wrote: post #103
ericmcer wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always wondered if you could just put spaghetti in your Nalgene while backpacking and it would be ready by the end of your hike. People always look at me weird when I suggest it but I am down to drink starchy water all day and then eat spaghetti when I get there haha.

I once had a pasta salad backpacker meal (forget which brand) that was pretty much this method exactly (except we rehydrated it in its original bag). Some of the freeze-dried veggies still had a little bit of crunch, but the pasta was good and it was quite enjoyable for camping food. I haven't seen it available since, though.

Huh, I guess Backpacker’s Pantry quit making it. I still have one on the shelf I should probably check the expiration date on.

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#158

Post by rando14775 »

oliwary wrote: post #92

I do something similar to boil eggs: 1) Put eggs in pot, cover with water. 2) Put pot with lid on stove on full heat. 3) Wait for the water to boil, then turn off the heat. 4) Wait 6 minutes (for eggs with slightly soft interior) 5) Cover eggs with cold water, wait one minute, peel. Perfect eggs every time, and I am sure this saves a bunch of energy. They peel really well too.

You can save more energy probably if you only put a little bit of water, and then steam the eggs in the pot (no need for a steamer basket, just put the eggs in the shallow water). Also, apparently, peeling is easier when the eggs are placed in hot water vs cold. Look up Kenji's egg boiling experiment stuff.

Re: Barilla passive cooker

#159

Post by bombolo »

bravura wrote: post #20

According to Kenji, you don't even need boiling water to cook pasta: https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-cook-pasta-salt-water-boi... https://www.seriouseats.com/tips-for-better-easier-pasta "Want to get even more crazy efficient? Try soaking pasta in water as your prep your other ingredients. By the time your sauce is ready, you can just add the pasta (along with some of its soaking liquid) to the pan and, with a min…

You can just eat dry pasta like chips and save a lot more energy!
Post reply on HN