Food: Vending Machine
Deep Fry Vending Machine   (+7, -6)  [vote for, against]
Would you like fries with that?

French fries, onion rings, chicken, turkey, veggies, and fish (well maybe not fish) are just a few of the many foods that could be deep fried in minutes while you wait...Food could be stored and refridgerated in the top half of the machine like one of those ice cream vending machines...The mid section could perhaps contain a couple of differant batters and spices where the food of your choice can be seasoned to your liking...Your food item then drops into one of two vats of oil and it's deep fried before your eyes...

now the only problem here is that once in the vat it's tough to get the food back out without straining the entire thing everytime...but that's where vending machine technology comes into play...Instead of straining the vat you'll use one of those mechanical skill cranes that you use to try and win stuffed animals...just lower the crane in the vat and hope the mechanical arm doesn't drop it...

The reason i mentioned fish not being such a great idea is strickly for buisness reasons...I figure fish dangling in a vending machine for days may be a bit much for some...but i guess any meat dangling in a vending machine for days would be...i guess the whole idea stinks
-- gniterobot, Aug 23 2002

Vending fries http://www.patatachef.com/
[namaste, Aug 23 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Methods to produce oil droplets http://www.steamest.../index.html?burners
These are for the purpose of burning oil, so modifications may be preferred. [reensure, Aug 24 2002]

oreida frenchfry machine http://www.hanna-ve...oreidafrenchfry.htm
Used french fry vending machines for sale [cloudface, Oct 04 2004]

Tasty Fries http://www.tastyfries.com/
Upstart french fry vending machine [youngbuyer, Oct 04 2004]

Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedi...fry_vending_machine
So baked (or fried?) that Wikipedia has an article about it (only for French fries so far though) [notexactly, Mar 14 2019]

I dunno, I like this idea, although my heart attack is pending and I wonder how much money will have to be blown to get a damn french fry.
-- polartomato, Aug 23 2002


In a parallel universe I once owned several tens of thousands of food and beverage vending machines. Hot Fry Fat Vats would have been an incomprehensible nightmare from the liability, maintenance, and public safety standpoints. While they may not be as scrumptious, there's more than one reason why most vending operators use microwave ovens for the on-site preparation of heated foods.
-- jurist, Aug 23 2002


whoever said fried foods were safe? there is a certain understood risk inherent in deep frying food...perhaps a disclaimer on the side of the machine will do...

CAUTION: HOT OIL YIELDS HOT FOOD
-- gniterobot, Aug 23 2002


Vending machine deep friers are baked. See link.
-- namaste, Aug 23 2002


How about battering machine, with a user input slot (no! not a customer-battering machine I hear you cry!) What I mean is, certain northern (UK) fried food establishments have gotten good sales, and publicity, out of battering mars bars and the like. Well, how about allowing customers to put the confection (or other foodstuff of their choice) in at the top, and having the battered version exit at the bottom.

Personally, I want to try this on some gateaux.
-- Zircon, Aug 23 2002


What happens if the mechanical crane drops the food? Does it just sit there burning?
-- Mayfly, Aug 23 2002


// well maybe not fish //

Ever been to a fish and chip shop?
-- sild, Aug 23 2002


This is essentially an unmanned version of the stir-fry food carts you find in Hong Kong etc.

I can't vote for this because I need the cringing embarrasment and humiliation factor that comes of buying deep fried food from a real person (Who is n doubt thinking, "What does that fat b@st@rd need another bag of chips for ?") to keep my intake under control.
-- 8th of 7, Aug 23 2002


//now the only problem here// hahahahaha
-- thumbwax, Aug 23 2002


Even more likely to kill persons who try to tip vending machines, and if you use a skill-crane bucket, you know that number is going to go way up. Just in case the crushing weight doesn't kill you off, the boiling oil pouring out will help finish the job.

Overheard from break area: "god damn thing dropped my eggroll in the fryer AGAIN!" ..(tip)..CRUNCH!! PSSSHHHH...."My eyes! The goggles do nothing!! AAAHH! I'm melting! I'm melting!!"
-- Mr Burns, Aug 23 2002


Comprehensive Insurance would be exorbitantly expensive.
Oil requires changing.
This is after pre-existing oil has been cleaned for re-use numerous times.
Commercial fryers require time to heat oil to proper level.
Commercial fryers also need the oil circulated from the bottom and sides during warm-up - this is done manually, using a long wire & artificial material brush.
You see, cool oil does not cook, constantly heated oil burns, and acquires a rancid taste.
Commercial fryers also require ventilation and filtering in order to meet local, state and federal guidelines.
These units would have to be bolted down, using non-reversible mounts, due, at the very least, to the reason brought forth by our now sightless thcgenius.
Safety and maintenance issues aside, with oil needing time to heat to proper levels, use automation to retrieve/immerse/remove/drip-dry/serve fried food product it would take longer than getting stuck in traffic en route to a fat-food place, standing in line behind imbecile chatting on cell-phone/deciding at last second what to order/fishing for change, while being waited upon by non-english speaking first-day-on-the-job zitface having a maalox moment.
-- thumbwax, Aug 23 2002


Who knew that working at McD's could be so complicated?

Sounds like the oil pan should have some sort of quick-release system for an 'oil change.' I think the thing would stink up the entire room, though.
-- RayfordSteele, Aug 23 2002


its just upside down thats all. the refrigerated part should be at the bottom. some sort of anti-gravity /weightlessness gadget (that costs the earth - no pun intended) moves the food up to the batter compartment where it's moved up into the next section by trained voles i.e. the hot fat section at the top - no that cant' be right? back to the drawing board.
-- po, Aug 23 2002


Maybe if you sprayed the food with heated and atomized cooking oil it would warm up nicely as well crisply?? Possible ways to atomize oil are linked to.
-- reensure, Aug 24 2002


If you sit and watch some fry crooks, I mean cooks, they have deep-frying cages that dip into the oil and then automatically pop up again. Which is somewhat similar to the skill crane. There are indeed huge cleanliness issues here, yet a high fun potential. My suggestion: pre-cooked crap.

How about having pre-cooked fried chicken, okra, mozzerella sticks, buscuits, and all that other crap inside; and then you use the skill crane to select your food? It'd be SKFC: Skill Crane Fried Chicken!

This might also make a kewl ice or vegetable dispenser... or something like this for a self-made snow cone? Or just serve candy bars this way? Or use a scoop instead of a claw and select M&M's or something- the Skill Scoop? Almost anything is easier to maintain than a deep fryer. On the other hand, if there were a dedicated janitorial staff, or if this was for special occasions and parties only, this might work as written.
-- polartomato, Aug 25 2002


Mmmm. Fresh snow cones … just the thing after some SKFC habanero-enriched spicy chicken nuggets.
-- reensure, Aug 25 2002


Dear Sir,

We like to import fry snack food machinery and packing machin. Therefore we requiet you please guide us with providing catalog of your machinery.

Looking forward to herring from you soon

Thank you for your kind Attention

Beast Regards, Hatem Sikder ======================= Amin Court (8 Th Floor) 62/63 Motijheel Commercial Area Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh Phone: 880-2-9555732 H/P: 88-0171-534264 Fax: 880-2-9555636
-- sikder, Mar 05 2004


Somewhere out there someone has been working at this concept (french fries from a vending machine) for years. It is the ultima thule of the automatic food vendors. Really. See link for someone trying to unload a few machines that vend hot french fries. In the end, weirdly, they seem to be about as popular as fried egg vending machines. I'm not sure why. If you can get it to work right, you're rich. Now, an egg mcmuffin vending machine, on the other hand...
-- cloudface, Mar 05 2004


//Looking forward to herring from you soon //

Fried fish? Not a bad idea, but how would you keep it fresh? Seriously, we don't sell anything here - try one of the links.
-- Worldgineer, May 13 2004


//buisness reason// sp
-- xenzag, Mar 14 2019


Rancid fish can get a bit buisny.
-- pocmloc, Mar 14 2019


This idea is insufficiently complicated. It needs a centrifuge to remove excess oil from the cooked food item, similar to the George Foreman Lean Mean Spin Frying Machine.
-- goldbb, Mar 23 2019


This idea is insufficiently complicated. It needs a centrifuge to remove excess oil from the cooked food item, similar to the George Foreman Lean Mean Spin Frying Machine.
-- goldbb, Mar 23 2019



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