Innovative appliance for nuts seeds and spices!

[Galamba]

Dear community,

I am currently studying for my PhD on product design, and thought it was a good idea to come up with something useful and innovative on the field of small kitchen appliances.

I am seeking some feedback and have an opinion from others that love food! While i do enjoy having a good conversation about food and cooking, let this be a honest disclaimer that i am indeed doing this for the purpose of enriching my research!

 

To thank you I'd like to give something back: should you have any Portuguese recipe that needs translation, I'd be glad to help and translate that for you!

 

I am a daily consumer of roasted nuts and seeds, and when i use spices i normally roast them just a little before grinding.

I do dislike having to turn an oven on or using one of the stove's discs just for that... also no one likes charred nuts.

 

Do you share this experience?

 

My idea was to have some sort of stand-alone small heating device that would ensure continuous motion and, along with a timer, one could toast nuts or seeds without constant supervision (and maybe get to answer to that email or get the coffee going..)

 

I for myself find this useful but I am really interested in knowing what you think about it! - please give me any kind of critique, all is valuable to me!

 

Thank you all!

Galamba from Portugal

[liuzhou]

I have such a device. I call it a small skillet or frying pan. I don't char them. And the last thing I need is another "appliance".

Edited April 13, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[rotuts]

I roast coffee.   I have a 

 

https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/behmor-1600-plus

 

roaster I use for 3/4 lbs batches for my sister.   Friends of mine also roast coffee with this model and they have used it for doing nuts.

 

the drum comes out and is easily cleaned they say.  they do have to watch the nuts carefully.

 

and I doubt anyone would get this just for nuts !

 

but that should give you and idea of what a drum roaster is that already exists.

 

good luck !

 

BTW  since a sheet pan in the oven also works great, you've got a steep hill to climb to beat that 

Edited April 12, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[Galamba]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

I have such a device. I call it a small skillet or frying pan. I don't char them. And the last thing I need is another "device".

 

 

Thanks liuzhou for your feedback! So I take it that simplicity is a big plus for you correct?

 

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

I roast coffee.   I have a 

 

https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/behmor-1600-plus

 

roaster I use for 3/4 lbs batches for my sister.   Friends of mine also roast coffee with this model and they have used it for doing nuts.

 

the drum comes out and is easily cleaned they say.  they do have to watch the nuts carefully.

 

and I doubt anyone would get this just for nuts !

 

but that should give you and idea of what a drum roaster is that already exists.

 

good luck !

 

BTW  since a sheet pan in the oven also works great, you've got a steep hill to climb to beat that 

 

 

Ok great feedback thank you so what I'm thinking is that for this to be a good idea it would to serve for more than just nuts (seeds and spices as well and maybe others?) and also easiness when it comes to cleaning is naturally desirable.

And i take it that at least it should be cheaper than a more capable appliance. Agree?

Well i do have to say that if this fits into a niche - you yourself have a coffee roaster so that gives me a little perspective - it is worth looking at.

Thanks!

[liuzhou]

18 minutes ago, Galamba said:

Thanks liuzhou for your feedback! So I take it that simplicity is a big plus for you correct?

 

Not necessarily. I just don't see the point of buying another device to do something I can already do easily. It just seems to me like a solution looking for a problem.

[HungryChris]

Many years ago, I would have to go to New Haven, Connecticut to buy coffee for the restaurant that I worked for. I would get in the door and never knew what aromas I would encounter. Sometimes peanuts roasting, sometimes coffee and sometimes discernable spices. It occurred to me that it would be interesting to have an appliance that you could just tell it what you were about to put in it and it would roast it accordingly. If this device also were to grind coffee, make peanut butter, grind mustard or grind spices into a find powder it would need to be easily cleaned so the peanut butter did not taste like mustard or coffee.

Just my $.02.

HC

[rotuts]

a ThermoMix ?

[andiesenji]

There have been times when all the burners on my stove top, the oven, my secondary oven were in use and I needed to toast some spices or seeds or whatever for a recipe.

 

I have a little six-inch square electric skillet that is the perfect size for toasting spices.  It was cheap, I don't think I spent more that twelve or fifteen dollars for it and that is the only thing it does.  

And sometimes I take it out on the deck to toast some very strong spices so I don't have the intense aroma in the house.  

 

I used to have a coffee roaster.  It died and I did not replace it.  I used it a lot for toasting cacao nibs - now I use the Thermomix for that chore.  

 

Some friends who are coffee fanatics recently got a new electric coffee roaster, I think it is a Burman or Berman, and it has a vertical chamber instead of horizontal.  It is small, only holds small batches.  Cute. I'm not sure of the cost.

[DianaB]

I do wonder if perhaps the market for one task devices, however nicely designed, is perhaps saturated. I have lost count of the number of one task tools we have enthusiastically bought over the years, only to pass them on to friends or charity shops after they have spent some months/years/decades at the back of a cupboard. 

 

The kitchen tools we have kept are mostly those that can do several things: a stand mixer; a magimix; a grinder suitable for nuts, seeds and whatever else you want to pulverise. In fact the most used item in all our arsenal of devices is a bottom of the range immersion blender purchased around 15 years ago with several 'add-on' tools. This will chop or grind (with add-on) nuts and seeds ad infinitum.  Others swear by their Thermomix, there are cheaper but similar products now on the market; the unifying factor, no doubt the reason other firms have 'copied' the Thermomix, is their multi-tasking ability. 

 

Many people live in small places with tiny kitchens, they might resist a product only capable of one process.  As others have already said, it is not difficult to roast nuts or seeds in a conventional oven or on a stove top.  There are any number of spice or nut grinders to be had for very little money. If you own a Magimix or similar you can grind the roasted nuts into a paste with ease. 

 

Apologies, Galamba, if this seems to be a very negative response to your post. I do recall the difficulties in finding just the right direction for a post-graduate project and I don't criticise your ideas.   If your device would be programmable, perhaps able to detect the moisture content of the items to be ground and so able to offer a tailored roast after grinding, perhaps that would have some scope. No doubt the professionals and those better informed on modernist cuisine on this forum will advise you further. 

 

Good luck with your project, however you decide to progress it! One thing I retain from my own post-grad study is that getting results you didn't expect or want can be enriching. A means to challenge yourself to explore different ideas. You might decide that your direction won't change but at least you will have questioned yourself in reaching that decision.  You will be better prepared for the questions that will inevitably be put when you are examined on your thesis. 

[kayb]

I tend to side with those who dislike owning single-purpose devices, although I do own a few. That said, a combo spice toaster-grinder that could also toast nuts  would seem to me to have some potential. I have a distressing tendency to over-toast nuts, in particular.

 

My concern would be how to allow for the different volumes. Spice toasting is typically in small quantities, measured in tablespoons, while when I toast nuts, it is often a cup or two or three at a time. Spices need to be ground; nuts typically do not, at least in the applications for which I toast them. Also, I often like to coat nuts with spices and oils, or sugars, and toast them, so the device would need to accommodate that. Separate, interchangeable chambers? 

 

It's an intriguing prospect.

 

[blue_dolphin]

I've burned more nuts in the oven and stovetop than I care to admit but I would still be reluctant to invest in a dedicated appliance for that purpose alone. Maybe I'd consider if it could also be used for coffee beans or spices, as @kayb suggests, or something else.... 

[Chris Hennes]

I've started toasting nuts in the microwave, which works very well, doesn't require babysitting, and only takes a couple minutes. I haven't tried it with spices.

[Lisa Shock]

Even mixers now have heating elements and can do this task.

I agree, though, that a spice grinding device with toasting capability would be useful. Forget the nuts, they are too dissimilar. I'd look into putting an induction hob under the container in a spice grinder.

[rotuts]

what sorts of time do you use, say for a cup of coarsely chopped walnuts ?

[Galamba]

8 hours ago, rotuts said:

a ThermoMix ?

 

Thanks!

Well kind of, but it would have a lot simpler and cheaper as well! I read that mixers that have rotating elements would fail to move nuts and seeds enough that would roast on all sides; maybe this device has the same flaws for that purpose?

 

8 hours ago, HungryChris said:

Many years ago, I would have to go to New Haven, Connecticut to buy coffee for the restaurant that I worked for. I would get in the door and never knew what aromas I would encounter. Sometimes peanuts roasting, sometimes coffee and sometimes discernable spices. It occurred to me that it would be interesting to have an appliance that you could just tell it what you were about to put in it and it would roast it accordingly. If this device also were to grind coffee, make peanut butter, grind mustard or grind spices into a find powder it would need to be easily cleaned so the peanut butter did not taste like mustard or coffee.

Just my $.02.

HC

 

Thanks!

To have a higher degree of control you would need a link to an app. That is feasible though. And it would function for just the adequate amount of time!

A way to make it easily washable would be to not have any rotating elements on the heating place and have that plate shake a little just for the sake of moving nuts seeds and spices around!

Multi functional integration (like grinding) would be a BIG challenge..

 

5 hours ago, andiesenji said:

There have been times when all the burners on my stove top, the oven, my secondary oven were in use and I needed to toast some spices or seeds or whatever for a recipe.

 

I have a little six-inch square electric skillet that is the perfect size for toasting spices.  It was cheap, I don't think I spent more that twelve or fifteen dollars for it and that is the only thing it does.  

And sometimes I take it out on the deck to toast some very strong spices so I don't have the intense aroma in the house.  

 

I used to have a coffee roaster.  It died and I did not replace it.  I used it a lot for toasting cacao nibs - now I use the Thermomix for that chore.  

 

Some friends who are coffee fanatics recently got a new electric coffee roaster, I think it is a Burman or Berman, and it has a vertical chamber instead of horizontal.  It is small, only holds small batches.  Cute. I'm not sure of the cost.

 

Thank you andiesenji! I do have in mind that this could be useful for someone that has no more room in the stove top; it could be interesting on a brunch place, where every table could have this so costumers could toast their lets say granola or muesli mix at the time of consumption.

That skillet sounds very very interesting. Would you say that an automated motion capability would be a good plus for that?

I find that most coffee roasters are very expensive; i may want to keep my product project under that cost, but i still may be competing with that (lets see..).

 

1 hour ago, DianaB said:

I do wonder if perhaps the market for one task devices, however nicely designed, is perhaps saturated. I have lost count of the number of one task tools we have enthusiastically bought over the years, only to pass them on to friends or charity shops after they have spent some months/years/decades at the back of a cupboard. 

 

The kitchen tools we have kept are mostly those that can do several things: a stand mixer; a magimix; a grinder suitable for nuts, seeds and whatever else you want to pulverise. In fact the most used item in all our arsenal of devices is a bottom of the range immersion blender purchased around 15 years ago with several 'add-on' tools. This will chop or grind (with add-on) nuts and seeds ad infinitum.  Others swear by their Thermomix, there are cheaper but similar products now on the market; the unifying factor, no doubt the reason other firms have 'copied' the Thermomix, is their multi-tasking ability. 

 

Many people live in small places with tiny kitchens, they might resist a product only capable of one process.  As others have already said, it is not difficult to roast nuts or seeds in a conventional oven or on a stove top.  There are any number of spice or nut grinders to be had for very little money. If you own a Magimix or similar you can grind the roasted nuts into a paste with ease. 

 

Apologies, Galamba, if this seems to be a very negative response to your post. I do recall the difficulties in finding just the right direction for a post-graduate project and I don't criticise your ideas.   If your device would be programmable, perhaps able to detect the moisture content of the items to be ground and so able to offer a tailored roast after grinding, perhaps that would have some scope. No doubt the professionals and those better informed on modernist cuisine on this forum will advise you further. 

 

Good luck with your project, however you decide to progress it! One thing I retain from my own post-grad study is that getting results you didn't expect or want can be enriching. A means to challenge yourself to explore different ideas. You might decide that your direction won't change but at least you will have questioned yourself in reaching that decision.  You will be better prepared for the questions that will inevitably be put when you are examined on your thesis. 

 

Thank you Diana! No negative feedback is truly negative At this point i should also state that this class is also about the process of gathering various opinions and to be able to engage others for valuable feedback, so there's no way i can't succeed! Me and my team may actually build a prototype, but I'm actually more concerned about learning at this stage In any case you are telling me about things that i need to hear: flaws!

Would you say that, in your opinion, specificity with a probable better performance rate is second to multi functionality, that could come, let's say, as an add-on to a bigger and more capable piece of equipment?

 

1 hour ago, kayb said:

I tend to side with those who dislike owning single-purpose devices, although I do own a few. That said, a combo spice toaster-grinder that could also toast nuts  would seem to me to have some potential. I have a distressing tendency to over-toast nuts, in particular.

 

My concern would be how to allow for the different volumes. Spice toasting is typically in small quantities, measured in tablespoons, while when I toast nuts, it is often a cup or two or three at a time. Spices need to be ground; nuts typically do not, at least in the applications for which I toast them. Also, I often like to coat nuts with spices and oils, or sugars, and toast them, so the device would need to accommodate that. Separate, interchangeable chambers? 

 

It's an intriguing prospect.

 

 

Thanks kayb! Well in my initial concept, size would be about 100 mm (4'') in diameter for around 60 mm (about 2,5'') in height. But heating plates could come in more sizes as to allow for more quantities.

Could you please guide me through that process of coating them with oils and sugars? I'd really like to know more about that!

 

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

I've burned more nuts in the oven and stovetop than I care to admit but I would still be reluctant to invest in a dedicated appliance for that purpose alone. Maybe I'd consider if it could also be used for coffee beans or spices, as @kayb suggests, or something else.... 

 

Thanks blue_dolphin! Yes well me too. And some times it happened and later i realized i had no more.

It's funny that I had no idea so many people in the US roasted their own coffee beans! So this would be a plus, correct?

(in Portugal we just drink expressos at the nearest shady coffee place)

 

1 hour ago, Chris Hennes said:

I've started toasting nuts in the microwave, which works very well, doesn't require babysitting, and only takes a couple minutes. I haven't tried it with spices.

 

Thank you Chris ah-a new information. Never did that myself - will do it immediately! Do they get crunchy and evenly roasted as would they if were roasted in let's say a dedicated appliance?

 

1 hour ago, Lisa Shock said:

Even mixers now have heating elements and can do this task.

I agree, though, that a spice grinding device with toasting capability would be useful. Forget the nuts, they are too dissimilar. I'd look into putting an induction hob under the container in a spice grinder.

 

Thanks Lisa! Hmhm yes they do.

That is a good point. (about the heater and the grinder)

Would you grind spices before or after toasting them? I usually grind them after toasting.

 

Guys you are great! I am learning SO MUCH Thank you all!

 

[Slick]

Galamba, DianaB said it well:

2 hours ago, DianaB said:

Good luck with your project, however you decide to progress it! One thing I retain from my own post-grad study is that getting results you didn't expect or want can be enriching. A means to challenge yourself to explore different ideas. You might decide that your direction won't change but at least you will have questioned yourself in reaching that decision.  You will be better prepared for the questions that will inevitably be put when you are examined on your thesis. 

I had the same experience with my dissertation. At the time, it helped me better frame the question and seek answers.

Begin with your idea and expand on what type of other jobs in the kitchen it can do to save space, time or do something nothing else will do as well. You might also contact small appliance stores to discover if they have any information of value to your idea. Maybe using induction for heating the entire container? What you are considering is not in my domain of experience. Hopefully some of the Modernist folks here will offer you some value too.

Meus cumprimentos para seu sucesso!

[gfron1]

Yes, I too only toast nuts in the micro. I'm wondering if there is a cultural difference between the OP and the majority of eGullet participants. When I get in an Indian cooking spree, I am much more likely to go through a lot of seeds and nuts, and thus want to toast them. Day to day, not so much in my American diet. So a device like this feels unnecessary to me.

 

As a way of helping...what if it wasn't a new device but an attachment to an existing device. Kind of like the pasta add on for a Kitchenaid.

Edited April 13, 2016 by gfron1 (log)

[Lisa Shock]

I'd say toast before grinding, at least to make this economically viable in the US. Most grinders have the ground product leave the machine or fall into a small bin -which would be too fussy to then move to a heating element. That all said, I do often just toast ground spices in the pan I am about to cook in, so, it's no bother.

[Deryn]

Please, no apps. Make this as manual a product as you can. From a prospective purchaser viewpoint, I think that, while these days it seems that we may get more and more 'automated' and wired to our 'devices' via wifi, I believe that we may see a reversal of that trend down the line, strange as that may seem to those wedded to the idea of 'remote control'. You also limit your customer base if it relies on an app (to those who have whatever device can house it) - and you bind yourself into having to maintain, improve, protect, etc. that app as well as the hardware. I think the KISS principle should apply.

 

I can envision a small batch nut roaster (perhaps 1 or 2 cup capacity) 'cage rotisserie' that could be slid down cylindrical sides of maybe a stainless container to a height appropriate for the particular contents (perhaps several different settings) with a heating element in the bottom and some sort of mechanism that turns the 'rotisserie' cage at a steady rate. Constant heat and turning speed is probably all that is needed if one can adjust the distance from the 'flame'. Add a timer and a way to mechanically turn the cage (a small externally mounted motor of some kind should work). The cage could have several 'liners' to ensure that both small seeds and larger nuts could be roasted without falling out. Not sure that is a good description of what I can envision but I see this as larger than a spice grinder but much smaller than a Thermomix.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[Smithy]

How hot does an air popper (for air popped popcorn) get?  If it gets hot enough to pop popcorn, would it get hot enough to toast seeds and nuts - and would it also provide the agitation needed to get even toasting?  

 

In case the air popper is an American thing, here are a couple of examples (chosen at random because I've no experience with them):

Presto 04821 Orville Reddenbacher's Hot Air Popper

Cuisinart CPM-100 EasyPop Hot Air Popcorn Maker

 

Incidentally, here's a popcorn popper with a stirring mechanism that might inspire you, if air agitation isn't practical:

West Bend Stir Crazy Electric Popcorn Popper

 

You've selected an interesting project.  I probably wouldn't buy a dedicated toaster/grinder for reasons others have mentioned already, but that says more about my demographic than about its potential market niche: if it were inexpensive enough I'd buy it as a toy, but probably give it away after the novelty wore off. As I think about a hot air popper, I confess I'm tempted to scour the thrift stores for one to test the nut-toasting idea!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'd buy an appliance that would roast and grind nuts and spices really, really fine.  I mean Jif peanut butter fine...not what most nut butter vendors call "creamy", which is what I'd call coarse and gritty.

[Lisa Shock]

I'm imagining a separate device for nuts. They are so much larger, and one generally processes a much larger volume of them.

 

I just see the standard type electric coffee/spice grinder with an induction plate under the area where the spices first sit before grinding. If you want to be fancy, have removable cups.

[DianaB]

4 hours ago, Smithy said:

How hot does an air popper (for air popped popcorn) get?  If it gets hot enough to pop popcorn, would it get hot enough to toast seeds and nuts - and would it also provide the agitation needed to get even toasting?  

 

In case the air popper is an American thing, here are a couple of examples (chosen at random because I've no experience with them):

Presto 04821 Orville Reddenbacher's Hot Air Popper

Cuisinart CPM-100 EasyPop Hot Air Popcorn Maker

 

Incidentally, here's a popcorn popper with a stirring mechanism that might inspire you, if air agitation isn't practical:

West Bend Stir Crazy Electric Popcorn Popper

 

You've selected an interesting project.  I probably wouldn't buy a dedicated toaster/grinder for reasons others have mentioned already, but that says more about my demographic than about its potential market niche: if it were inexpensive enough I'd buy it as a toy, but probably give it away after the novelty wore off. As I think about a hot air popper, I confess I'm tempted to scour the thrift stores for one to test the nut-toasting idea!

 

We do have popcorn machines in Europe, hadn't seen one for a while so checked on Amazon, amongst many others was one that uses a halogen heating process.  Is this a possible heat source for a grinder/roaster? I've never owned a halogen oven but they are to be had for very little money these days.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Halogen-Popcorn-Maker-Seasoning-Shaker/dp/B007N0LQSA/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1460540966&sr=1-3-spons&keywords=popcorn+maker&psc=1

Space might be an issue, as others have said, if the final device is to accommodate nuts or spices. Perhaps there could be a smaller container to fit within the larger unit so that the user can select that appropriate to the quantity of product to be processed.

 

I realise I might be a long way off the mark here as I don't know if the halogen type devices would produce the right heat for roasting. Just a thought!  

[dcarch]

Here is an idea that can be unique.

 

One problem I have in trying to make nut powder is that you end up with nut butter, such as grinding peanuts.

But if you have a grinder that can keep the nuts frozen you can in fact make nice nut powder.

 

dcarch

 

[DianaB]

11 minutes ago, dcarch said:

Here is an idea that can be unique.

 

One problem I have in trying to make nut powder is that you end up with nut butter, such as grinding peanuts.

But if you have a grinder that can keep the nuts frozen you can in fact make nice nut powder.

 

dcarch

 

 

Thar's perhaps the most imovative thing I've read in a long time dcarch!