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Fries of the Future

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Re: Fries of the Future

#11

Post by kc0bfv »

a_c wrote: post #10

Can someone be kind enough to provide a TL;DR

Planet Money is a fantastic podcast that covers a huge variety of interesting topics, and only takes about 20 minutes. I highly recommend it as one of the most informative fun podcasts I've ever heard.

But here goes...

Fries don't stay delicious very long. You get a couple minutes then they're blech. They don't work great out of drive-throughs, where you might take them home before eating, and now we have food delivery services where fries might sit 40 minutes before being eaten! Double blech.

This company made a coating for fries that makes them stay fresh for drive through service. That is old news. If you've had fries from fast food you've probably had these coated fries. People like them and don't know they're coated.

But that just covers a couple minutes... Could that company make a coating that keeps fries good for 40 minutes?

Awesome lady scientist says yes! Other people say no. Awesome lady scientist says, let's do it anyway!

They succeed. NPR Journalist does the Pepsi challenge on them - the fries are good. They're in the process of selling them to companies now.

Re: Fries of the Future

#12

Post by nlh »

This is super cool! I’d never considered literally changing the fry formula to keep them crispy - that’s clever.

Years ago I daydreamed about this problem (it was never a serious endeavor but fun to think about). I’d thought the key would be to make a cheap container that optimized for crispness. Maybe something that absorbed moisture but had a reflective inner coating to insulate and keep the heat.

Anyway, it’s always fun to read about more-serious folks who tackle the same problems and find good solutions!

Re: Fries of the Future

#14

Post by johnday »

nlh wrote: post #12

This is super cool! I’d never considered literally changing the fry formula to keep them crispy - that’s clever. Years ago I daydreamed about this problem (it was never a serious endeavor but fun to think about). I’d thought the key would be to make a cheap container that optimized for crispness. Maybe something that absorbed moisture but had a reflective inner coating to insulate and keep the heat. Anyway, it’s alwa…

Aren't you describing the "pocket" of a hot pocket?

Re: Fries of the Future

#15

Post by maxerickson »

nlh wrote: post #12

This is super cool! I’d never considered literally changing the fry formula to keep them crispy - that’s clever. Years ago I daydreamed about this problem (it was never a serious endeavor but fun to think about). I’d thought the key would be to make a cheap container that optimized for crispness. Maybe something that absorbed moisture but had a reflective inner coating to insulate and keep the heat. Anyway, it’s alwa…

By the time the moisture is available to the container, it's soaked the (formerly) crispy outside of the fry.

Re: Fries of the Future

#16

Post by Chris_Chambers »

kc0bfv wrote: post #11
a_c wrote: post #10

Can someone be kind enough to provide a TL;DR

Planet Money is a fantastic podcast that covers a huge variety of interesting topics, and only takes about 20 minutes. I highly recommend it as one of the most informative fun podcasts I've ever heard. But here goes... Fries don't stay delicious very long. You get a couple minutes then they're blech . They don't work great out of drive-throughs, where you might take them home before eating, and now we have food deliv…

Great, now we can get turbo double cancer from already carcinogenic fries cooked in carcinogenic oil now being coated in some brand new carcinogenic mystery substance that no one will know the dangers of for another 10 years. Thanks awesome lady scientist.
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