Wolfgang Puck's Pressure Oven

[takadi]

Has anyone seen this informercial?

 

 

All cheesiness aside, it actually seems like an interesting product. What's the science behind dry heat pressure cooking?

[ElsieD]

I just watched it and then I went to Amazon and read the reviews of this product. Looks like a good thing to stay away from.

[dcarch]

Ridiculous appliance backed up by outrageous claims.

 

Pressure oven! What is the pressure supposed to do? Seal in flavor? Give me a break. In a pressure cooker, 15 PSI is to raise the cooking temperature. The pressure oven is already at high temperature with the electric heating elements, the pressure is not to raise the temperature.

 

What kind of pressure? 19” x 12” door = 228 sq. in. x 5 lbs = 1140 lbs, x 10 lbs = 2280 lbs of pressure pushing the door out. I don’t think the oven is pressurized.

 

3 hour turkey in 55 minutes! Wow! We need new laws of physics.

 

The water in food will prevent the temperature from getting higher then 212F, once 212F is reached, the thermal conductivity of the food, which is a constant and can’t be changed, takes over, and cannot go faster.

 

A Dutch oven in your regular oven will do the same thing as this “revolutionary” appliance which will “Change your life” forever.

 

dcarch

[paulraphael]

Could it be a mis-named steam oven (like a cheap-o combi)?

[lordratner]

Ridiculous appliance backed up by outrageous claims.

Pressure oven! What is the pressure supposed to do? Seal in flavor? Give me a break. In a pressure cooker, 15 PSI is to raise the cooking temperature. The pressure oven is already at high temperature with the electric heating elements, the pressure is not to raise the temperature.

What kind of pressure? 19” x 12” door = 228 sq. in. x 5 lbs = 1140 lbs, x 10 lbs = 2280 lbs of pressure pushing the door out. I don’t think the oven is pressurized.

3 hour turkey in 55 minutes! Wow! We need new laws of physics.

The water in food will prevent the temperature from getting higher then 212F, once 212F is reached, the thermal conductivity of the food, which is a constant and can’t be changed, takes over, and cannot go faster.

A Dutch oven in your regular oven will do the same thing as this “revolutionary” appliance which will “Change your life” forever.

dcarch

I think you're wrong on this one. I won't dispute the unlikely nature of the claims, since that's a lot of pressure for a microwave shaped appliance to deal with, but...

Assuming the device is able to pressurize, the same cooking advantages that a traditional pressure cooker experiences would happen here. Increase the pressure, and the boiling temp of water increases. This should be no different than using a rack or jar in the pressure cooker. Now, if it doesn't use boiling water to build the pressure, I have no idea how it works. But if it can in fact hold pressure, food should cook faster in it.

[Duvel]

I don't think that the claims are outrageous. Its basically a small autoclave with two heating coils in it. In the CNET review the closing mechanism is described and it seems feasible to me that the chamber is in fact pressurized, giving you the same cooking advantages as in a pressure cooker (cf. the overpressure valve).

So, as Dcarch has pointed out, as the cooking time of the food will depend on the internal temperature, which in turn is determined by the boiling point of the water in your food and the latter is raised due to the pressurized chamber, it will in fact cook your turkey much faster. Since you have two additional sources of heat/IR radiation (the coils) that will create higher temperatures on the surface than a pressure cooker alone would permit. I do think the turkey story seems feasible.

Its a nifty idea ...

[dcarch]

Have you ever cooked meat in a pressure cooker? What is the texture of chicken or turkey of the meat cooked in a pressure cooker? Do they look anything like what the video shows? Almost like from a sous vide cooker?

 

Based on the gasket design, I am sure there is some degree of pressure build up. How much is the question. In order for a true pressure cooker to work, the shape of the vessel almost has to be round, otherwise the thickness of the metal will have to be extremely thick (1/8"?) to avoid buckling. Flat surface of that size cannot work. Also, every seam must be welded and no holes permitted. For the rotisserie model there are at least 10 points of entry for the heating elements, pressure gauge, thermostat, pressure relieve valve, safety valve etc. as well as the connection of the rotating spit. How do you absolutely seal all these perforations?

 

A true pressurized steam oven will have very sophisticated safety design to prevent serious injuries.

 

There are some advantages of this appliance, about the same as a Dutch oven or as a steam oven.

 

Have you seen this cooking tip of using a Dutch oven? Using a thick roll of dough to seal the cover to trap steam and to build up pressure? If you calculate the surface area of the cover, you will find out that the weight of the cover and the dough seal can do practically nothing.

 

dcarch

[paulraphael]

We can assume by looking at it that if it's indeed a pressure oven, it won't achieve anything like the pressures of a pressure cooker. A door the size of a microwave's would have to hold back more than a ton of force if you pressurized it to 1 bar. That door isn't burly enough.

 

But even at some fraction of 1 bar, you would see a couple of advantages. First, the oven would be venting much less of the moisture released from the food. This, combined with the small volume of the oven, would lead to a very humid cooking environment. Second, the increase in boiling point of water would reduce the evaporative cooling at the surface of the food, at least somewhat.

 

Both of these factors would lead to a wet-bulb temperature that's much closer to the dry-bulb temperature, when compared with a conventional oven. This would make most things cook  faster and more predictably. 

 

I don't know about a 1-hour turkey. My closest frame of reference is poaching turkeys (I poach in court bouillon, then roast at high temperature). In 90 minutes a 16 pound turkey is about 90% cooked. That size bird would probably not fit in this oven. Poaching happens at a lower temperature but at 100% humidity, so it may be somewhat analogous to what goes on in a pressure oven.

[dcarch]

I am not sure I would cook a turkey in that oven.

 

It has such a small interior, the electric heating elements will be right next to the skin, making very uneven cooking. You can't turn the turkey frequently because it is "pressurized".

 

Cooking a turkey in a pan in that oven will have 1/2 of the turkey boiled with soggy skin.

 

dcarch

[takadi]

So we are not disputing the fact that dry-heat pressure cooking can cook foods faster, just that this product can do the job?

[rotuts]

here is a review:

 

http://www.cnet.com/products/wolfgang-puck-pressure-oven/

 

read down one reviewer called it junk.

'

there does not seem to be a water reservoir  

 

so  probably not a good investment.

 

if there is anything here at all

 

its probably just a sealed oven :  the little steam that vents out the top comes from the food.

 

so once the container is close to saturated from steam from the food, food might stay moist

 

or not ....

 

Edited August 7, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[dcarch]

What turns me off are the lies and claims.

 

Pressure steam oven is nothing new. To say this is “Breakthrough Innovation”, “revolutionary”, !!!! is not acceptable to me.

 

dcarch

Edited August 7, 2014 by dcarch (log)

[nickrey]

What turns me off are the lies and claims.

 

Isn't that called advertising?

[ElsieD]

This is a response by the Wolfgang Puck folks to one irate purchaser on Amazon.com:

Wolfgang Puck's Pressure Oven says:

The Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven utilizes a low pressure environment, only reaching only 1 PSI, much lower than an traditional pressure cooker, as you stated above.

It's easy to clean your oven. The interior of the oven can be cleaned with a damp soapy cloth. For stubborn stains, apply a small amount of oven cleaner to a damp sponge or cloth.

The following parts are dishwasher safe:

* Baking/Drip Pan

* Baking/Broil Rack

* Rotisserie Rod

* Roasting Pan

* Crumb Tray

* Rotisserie Removal Tool

* Rack Removal Tool

If we can address any of your concerns or answer any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

KitchenTek Customer Service

E-mail: wolfgangpuckoven@kitchentek.com

Phone: 877-359-9747

Website: www.puckoven.com

[GlorifiedRice]

Im just watching this demoed on HSN2. Everythings coming out BLACK on the outside, undercooked on the inside.

They are selling it for $269

[pazzaglia]

After reading this discussion, I contacted KitchenTek and asked at what pressure the  Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven operates and how long it takes for the oven to get there.  This is what they told me:.

 

"It uses 1 PSi of pressure and takes approximately 5-10 minutes for that pressure to build."

 

To me, this "pressure oven" is more gimmick than actually useful - it's just a toaster oven that seals. Although 1psi is faster than 0psi the difference in cooking time is negligible.

 

If you're really interested in a pressure oven Miele and Kuhn Rikon make them - they're kind of like a horizontal pressure cooker with super-powers (electric pressure controls and automatic steam injection).  Unfortunately, as far as I know, they are only being sold in Germany.

 

 

Now, if they could only make it brown too!

Ciao,

 

L

Edited September 5, 2014 by pazzaglia (log)

[Joe Blowe]

Looks like that Miele pressure oven sold for close to $4,900 U.S.  It also appears to have been discontinued.

 

Like most built-in Miele products, the prospective buyers have more money than common sense.

[Smithy]

I can't believe that 1psi (they must mean 'differential' or 'additional' psi, else it's a vacuum oven) would make much difference. The boiling point wouldn't change appreciably. The trapped steam might help prevent food drying out, as rotuts and others noted above.

[rotuts]

they must mean :  1 atm  ( your area ) + 1psi from the steam

[pazzaglia]

I can't believe that 1psi (they must mean 'differential' or 'additional' psi, else it's a vacuum oven) would make much difference. The boiling point wouldn't change appreciably. The trapped steam might help prevent food drying out, as rotuts and others noted above.

 

Generally, when referring to pressure in vessels (pressure cookers, autoclave, pressure canners and.. I guess now pressure ovens) it is the pressure in addition to atmospheric pressure.

 

If you want to know more about cooking with pressure, history, international differences, standards, altitude and more I wrote an article...

 

Pressure Cooker PSI FAQ: The stuff you didn't think to ask

http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-psi-faq-the-stuff-you-didnt-think-to-ask/

 

Ciao,

 

L

Edited September 5, 2014 by pazzaglia (log)

[Lisa Shock]

If you want to see one of these in action, Sur La Table stores are doing live demos of it tomorrow, Sunday, morning. If you miss it, some stores will schedule a demo for you.

[Smithy]

I'd love to read someone's report on a demo, if anyone reading this goes.