Home: Dishes
Vacuum insulated dishware   (+5)  [vote for, against]
Mugs, bowls and plates in double-walled, vacuum insulated stainless steel

I recently picked up a vacuum insulated stainless steel flask and I'm very impressed with how well it keeps its contents insulated. Hot stays hot and cold stays cold but it has another great property that occurred to me while carrying a bowl of hot soup from the microwave over to my desk and nearly burning my fingers off in the process - the vacuum flask really protects your fingers from whatever molten hot is contained within. Why not apply this technology to all our dishes and never get burned again by a hot plate, bowl, etc.
-- gordy, Sep 02 2012

HydroFlask http://www.hydroflask.com/
inspiration [gordy, Sep 02 2012]

Vacuum mug http://www.globalma...fee-cup-401953.html
[pocmloc, Sep 02 2012]

Vacuum soup pot http://sell.lulusos...acuum-soup-pot.html
[pocmloc, Sep 02 2012]

Bodum Midoria Therma Bowl http://www.amazon.c...-Bowl/dp/B0000A8VV2
Stainless steel, double-walled bowl. [prufrax, Nov 23 2012]

Hollow stainless dishes would weigh considerably less than their stone and ceramic counterparts.
-- gordy, Sep 02 2012


Size and weight should not be an issue judging by the weight of my stainless flask compared to a similarly sized glass water bottle. The thickness is similar despite the two layers of stainless steel with a layer of vacuum in-between.

Being made of stainless steel will not necessarily make them unsafe for microwaves or unsightly. I think they could be coated with a thin layer of something that does not absorb microwaves and provides a more traditional look and feel.
-- gordy, Sep 02 2012


Why not use the rising heat to raise a small hot air balloon and simply navigate it back to your desk?
-- rcarty, Sep 02 2012


//absorbs microwaves// the problem with metal is that it *doesn't* absorb microwaves.
-- FlyingToaster, Sep 02 2012


/// the problem with metal is that it *doesn't* absorb microwaves.// Say that again slowly.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 02 2012


Well, if you're talking about waveguides, then …

<realises that audience have that glazed, bunny-in-the-headlights look again>

Oh, what's the use?

<drops whiteboard marker, wanders off to get coffee>
-- 8th of 7, Sep 02 2012


// coated with a thin layer of something that does not absorb microwaves //

You could use the tinfoil from your hat …
-- 8th of 7, Sep 02 2012


Fine, whatever: metal in a microwave generally either causes a fire or shorts out the microwave or something. If nothing else it will keep the food from being heated properly.

[+] the idea though: lightweight, non-breakable, shiny.
-- FlyingToaster, Sep 02 2012


// lightweight, non breakable, shiny //

… Paul Ryan … ?
-- 8th of 7, Sep 02 2012


The shape is also an issue. Vacuum flasks are almost always some approximation of spherical, for strength---at worst they are cylindrical. A vacuum plate would be two flattish plates supported at their rims, with the centers under great strain.

Just an idle question: Have you ever dropped and broken a vacuum tube of any size?

You'd be better off getting some structural insulation in there. Aerogel, maybe, or just some styrofoam.
-- baconbrain, Sep 03 2012


...or, you could use a normal ceramic dish which has handles.
-- hippo, Sep 03 2012


It would be possible to place a thin alumina ceramic spacer, having a profile that had a large number of point contacts distributed ove a wide area, between the two planar surfaces. Atmospheric compressive forces would keep it trapped in position, and it would have minimal conductivity.
-- 8th of 7, Sep 03 2012


If only there were some kind of flexible padding that could be used to carry hot dishes around---washable fabric would be nice---we could call it a pad-for-hot, maybe.
-- baconbrain, Sep 03 2012


Righto.

Some time ago a mate and I discovered, while beachcombing a very remote part of the northern Australian coastline, what appeared to be a vacuum insulated noodle bowl, with Chineese markings on it.

Further research revealed the markings to be Chinese military (PLA), we now presume this item to be issued kit.

Thing is, the bowl was maybe 750ml capacity, total thickness was say 8 or 10mm, and it was much lighter than an equivalent ceramic bowl - in fact a similar capacity enamelled steel bowl I had on hand was about the same weight. It had survived however long floating around the ocean and then being washed up ashore, etc - it seemed pretty robust to me. Hot soup stays that way in this bowl for a very long time. It's great, and I want one for myself.

Sadly, it was my mate who spotted it first (and risked his skin tromping through crocodile infested mangroves to fetch it) and so it's his, and I don't have it now. I have looked and looked for something like this on the internet and so far bubkis.

Claims by others that this would be heavy, large, expensive or fragile are uninformed.

Bun, 'cause I want one.
-- Custardguts, Nov 23 2012


// 2 layers of steel would likely not weigh less than one layer of ceramic //

Actually, they can be made to weigh considerably less and be far more durable. That's one of the remarkable things about steel, you see: it's very strong for its weight.

The strength of an engineered (i.e. shaped) steel structure comes not from mass so much as surface area. A double- layered structure has a lot of surface area. If you consider a steel pipe and a steel bar of the same material mass, the pipe will be stronger (in this case meaning more rigid). Steel, being more ductile than ceramic, has the advantage in resilience as well.
-- Alterother, Nov 23 2012


Lots of microwave misconceptions up there ^. There are 3 broad categories of materials:

1) Good insulators, such as glass and plastic. These are highly transparent to microwaves, and are not heated.

2) Intermediate conductors and polar substances, such as water and very fine wire. These absob microwaves, and are heated.

3) Excellent conductors, such as large, smooth metal objects. These reflect microwaves (for exactly the same reason that they reflect visible light) and are not heated. They are microwave safe, unless they surround the food (like a Faraday cage) and prevent the food from absorbing the microwaves or create sparks by contacting other metal objects; even then, the result is more interesting than dangerous.

Honestly, those who insist that metal objects are not microwave safe have clearly never really understood how microwaves work. (Hint: what is a microwave oven made of?)
-- spidermother, Nov 23 2012


[Custardguts] It seems more likely that the bowl is gas- rather than vacuum-filled. Nonetheless, I understand why you would covet such a precious. I want gas/vacuum insulated stainless steel *everything*.
-- spidermother, Nov 23 2012


//I want gas/vacuum insulated stainless steel *everything*.//

it would make a durable, efficient and cripplingly expensive roof
-- bs0u0155, Nov 23 2012


[Spider] - you may be right, (I may be crazy.. doo de doo), but I don't want to beleive that. Either way, the bowl is excellently insulated.
-- Custardguts, Nov 26 2012



random, halfbakery