We recently had a feature from Jode on everyday equipment that you can use in the lab, but what about the other way around?
Do you ever take a look at what you’re doing in the lab and think, “Wow, this would really come in handy at home?” Here are a few of the things I use in the lab that I would love to have in my kitchen:
1. Stir plates and stir bars would be incredibly useful for cooking those dishes that need to be stirred constantly. Can you imagine making risotto on a stir plate? Just start up the spin function, and you won’t have to stand over a hot pot for 30 minutes just to make a tasty dinner.
2. Parafilm works so much better than saran wrap, I’ve often been tempted to “borrow” a roll for sealing food containers to store in my fridge at home.
3. Liquid nitrogen would be invaluable for flash-freezing veggies and meats to store in the freezer. Imagine making popsicles instantly, and never having to wait for the ice cube tray to freeze!
4. De-ionized water from a tap in my kitchen would seriously decrease the number of times I have to run vinegar through the coffee maker to keep it flowing smoothly.
5. Freezer labels that stay stuck in extreme temperature conditions could eliminate the “mystery meal” phenomenon of pulling an unlabeled tupperware out of the freezer and hoping it’s soup.
6. A vortexer would be an essential party asset for mixing drinks, especially if you could also find conical cocktail glasses!
7. Lab timers can time multiple procedures and have louder buzzers than any kitchen timer I’ve found; they would be perfect for busy cooking days.
8. Freezer racks and boxes would make much better use of freezer storage space at home. What if you could get tupperware containers the same size and shape as freezer boxes, and organize them in those vertical metal racks just like in the -80°C freezer in the lab?
9. A 30°C incubator is the ideal tool for making bread. No more guesswork when it comes to rising times for bread; at the optimal temperature for yeast growth, you know exactly what the doubling time is, and thus exactly when the bread is ready to bake.
10. A desktop autoclave could be really handy for sterilizing baby bottles. I’d also use it to sterilize glasses and flatware after an illness, to make sure the same bug doesn’t make an unwelcome reappearance.
What lab items do you wish you could use in “real life”?
The centrifuge of course to concentrate (and resuspend), well, anything.
99,9% pure ethanol ;)
Nice and clean proteases to soften meat
We brew beer at my house, so I’d love a home autoclave for sterilizing beer bottles. That way we could pre-sterilize everything and not have to worry about sterilizing them with iodine directly before filling them. I’d probably also do a lot more canning if I had an autoclave.
When I left lab work a decade ago, I promptly started shopping for kitchen gear that could replicate some of the functions of my – ahem – borrowed lab tools. I haven’t gotten a stir plate or incubator yet, but here are some options for a few of the other items:
2. Parafilm: Just buy the brand-name plastic wrap instead of the generic stuff. It sticks much better. If you really want Parafilm, though, you can check model-building stores for it. People use it in place of masking tape, apparently.
3. LN2: This is very hard for “civilians” to get, but a pretty good substitute is dry ice plus denatured alcohol. Big supermarkets often carry dry ice, or you can call local gas/welding supply houses to see if they stock it. Denatured alcohol comes from the hardware store. Mix them, and you’re down to -80C, which is plenty cold for quick-freezing in the kitchen. If you’re willing to settle for -20C, just mix rock salt and regular ice, the way Grandma did to make ice cream.
4. ddH2O: Available by the gallon in the bottled water aisle of your supermarket.
5. Freezer labels: Duck tape.
6. Vortexer: Splurge on a good martini shaker, and make like James Bond.
7. Lab timers: Good kitchen supply stores carry multi-timer electronic units that you can hear at the other end of the house.
8. Freezer boxes: Amazon.com. $30 for a box of 12.
10. Autoclave: Pressure cooker. Two notes, though: some baby bottles won’t survive autoclaving, and it’s way, way beyond overkill for post-illness cleanup. If you just got over something, you’re immune to it and everyone else in your house has already been exposed, so don’t worry about it.
And now a lab tool I wish I still had: a pipet pump with a supply of 25-mL pipets. Basting a bird or a roast is so much easier with that, but I felt compelled to return it to the lab.
I thought about the stir plate idea back in the ’80′s. Can you imagine how cool it would be to have an electric stove with a stirrer on each burner? You couldn’t patent it, though, so other companies could do it too. I am surprised that this was never developed!
Come to think of it, autoclave gloves would be a great replacement for hot mitts!
I’d use that autoclave to sterilize preserves, tomato sauce, etc etc :-)
Oh, I almost forgot: some years back, I got a ceramic mortar & pestle set from a scientific supply company. Way cheaper than any I could find at a kitchen gadget store and it works very well to crush spices, and/or grind a small quantity of crackers into crumbs for recipes!!
I wish all cooking/recipes/’kitchen traditions’ had the precision and accuracy of science. You know, what if we all used accurate electronic scales, volumetric flasks, pipettes etc to make food – I would be a better cook me thinks
Call Ron Popeil!
If there are some things that you really want to use in your kitchen, such as the stir plate, you can buy brand new lab equipment on Amazon. For example:
http://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Stirrer-with-Hot-Plate/dp/B0026KHYFQ
You can also buy used lab equipment on eBay, but who wants used equipment in their kitchen?
Water baths have moved in to the professional kitchens for sous-vide cooking, it might still take some time before they move in to everyday households though.
With a 9-months baby at home, I found that wash bottle of water is a perfect device to wet cotton batting. And it is almost impossible to find them in a store ! But a problem is arising because baby want to grab it now ;-)
Another useful device is Falcon 50 mL to keep cotton swabs dry (when you go to swimming pool, for example).
I totally agree with the first 6 things on the list. I day dream about having some of those things in my kitchen. And while I considered swiping the parafilm for home use when I was in the lab, it couldn’t in good conscience use products that at some point probably came into contact with biological samples. But speaking of things from the lab that are extremely useful at home, nitrile gloves are awesome! They sell them in bulk at COSTCO and they are WONDERFUL for cleaning. Beakers would also come in handy for making the perfect 10% bleach sol’n.
I’ve been pretty tempted a few times to use the lyophilizer to freeze-dry food for backpacking. It would save a lot of money on dehydrated foods, and you could make whatever you wanted.
The Soxhlet extractor. Not exactly a thing for the molecular folks,but it enchanted me since I stepped into the school lab. Imagine making coffee or green tea that could (literally) kill you, storing the concentrate in an ice tray a freezer (let´s say..uh… – 80°C B-) and then just dissolving one cube in a jar of hot water anytime you wish :-P
Hi everyone,
I was very interested to find this thread as I am currently working on a product that is similar to a lab quality stir plate, for home use in the kitchen. It will be called the StirMaster. These items are very expensive to produce, and I haven’t been able to get the retail price down lower than $299. Does anyone have any feedback on this, any comments about how well it might work, etc? Is that price point way too high? I’m concerned about having to use only glass cookware as well, does the stir plate work with stainless steele cookware I wonder? All things to be tested.
I’m interested in any feedback at all.
Parafilm and Liquid Nitrogen have been on my list WAY long. What a way to freeze leftovers and pack lunch!