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Monday, April 11, 2005
 
Cooking is not one of my areas of
expertise. Even though my son is a chef/restaurant owner and
my wife is an excellent cook, it was just not a skill I ever
developed. However, when a gadget is involved, I'll take an
interest.
I've been playing with a couple of neat
products for the kitchen that perform opposite functions. One
heats and the other cools.
The first product is the Capresso
FrothXpress ($69-$79 at www.capresso.com), a compact device
that steams milk quickly and effectively for cappuccinos and
lattes. Most of the cappuccino makers I've tried do a mediocre
job of frothing milk. Many use the same boiler that's used for
making the espresso and require a long wait between the two
while the boiler heats up or cools down. Even some of the more
expensive super automatics, which do everything from grinding
the beans to emptying the grounds, grind to a halt when it
comes to steaming milk. In fact, I've been using the expensive
($1,800) Capresso F9, and it does a superb job at everything
but frothing.
On the other hand, Capresso's FrothXpress
works like a charm. It's able to produce an endless supply of
steamed milk without pausing. It's about the size of a can
opener and sits on the counter. Turn it on and in about two
minutes a light goes on and it's ready to go to work. The
frother consists of a heating unit with small water tank,
nozzle and separate plastic container for cold milk. The
container snaps onto the nozzle with a rubber coupling, and is
removed and stored in the refrigerator between uses.
Push the button on top of the FrothXpress
and milk is siphoned through the nozzle, mixed with hot steam,
and then flows into the cup. A simple valve varies the mixture
of the milk and steam for making lattes or cappuccinos. The
temperature of the froth is about 130 degrees Fahrenheit --
not super hot, but fine for most needs.
The second product is the
Cooper Cooler,
an electric gizmo that's designed to rapidly cool bottles of
wine, beer and other drinks. It was invented by a student at
Cooper Union School of Engineering in New York, Greg
Loibl.
While some students lament at running out of cold beverages at
their parties, Greg decided to do something about it. The
solution he came up became his master's thesis and the basis
for this product.
Modestly called the Revolutionary Cooling
System (RCS), it's available from Amazon for $60, as well as
from other retailers. I've been using it to cool white wine
and it's worked well. I recently brought it to a party and it
created a lot of interest. It took a bottle of wine from room
temperature to 42 degrees in about five minutes.
The
RCS is about the size of a loaf of
bread with a large cover on top. You simply open the cover,
place the bottle or can into it so it lies horizontally, add a
cup of ice cubes and a glass of water, close the door, and
push a button on the control panel on the front of the unit.
It cools a 12-ounce can of soda or beer from room temperature
of 77 degrees to refrigerator temperature of 43 degrees in one
minute, or a bottled beverage in 3.5 minutes. It automatically
turns off when done. This is 40 times faster than using a
freezer and 90 times faster than a refrigerator.
The
RCS works by rotating the can or
bottle while spraying it with ice water. Because the rotation
creates a smooth motion, it doesn't upset the carbonated gas
bubbles, so the can or bottle will not "explode" when opened.
It doesn't alter any of the beverage properties, according to
the company. You can opt to not rotate the bottle and just
spray it when cooling bottles of wine with sedimentation. It
then takes a few minutes longer to cool it. I used it with a
number of bottles of white wine and it worked really well.
Champagne bottles and an occasional chardonnay bottle fit
tightly and will not rotate. Overall, it's practical and a lot
of fun to use.
High-tech in the news
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) rolled out a
beta of its new map software, and it's creating quite a buzz.
You just type in an address or location and it shows an aerial
view of the location using satellite maps. You can zoom in to
see more detail.
A San Diego city block at maximum
magnification is about the size of a postage stamp on a
15-inch monitor. You can enter two addresses to obtain
directions between them; not only will you get written
instructions, but you'll see the routing superimposed on the
actual satellite photo. It's pretty amazing and worth trying
out.
Go to www.maps.google.com. Be sure to
click the word "satellite" at the upper right to display. It's
still somewhat buggy, but it's free.
San Diego startup Streamload
(www.streamload.com) received another award for its highly
regarded online storage service, this time from Mobile
magazine. Streamload provides a place to store and share
large files, including large media files. You can transfer and
stockpile personal entertainment files such as digital video
recordings, MP3 and photo collections into a centralized
library and allow others to share or access it from another
location.
Streamload recently began offering free
10 GB storage accounts (with limits on the download use). I've
tried it and found it to be intuitive to use with its many
tools for music, photos and e-mail. Highly recommended.
Baker has developed and marketed
consumer and computer products for Polaroid, Apple, Seiko and
others. He is the holder of 30 patents and was named San
Diego's Ernst & Young Consumer Products Entrepreneur of
the Year in 2000. He can be reached at phil.baker@sddt.com.
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