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Self-Heating Coffee Hacking

Posted by timothy on from the missing-the-mre-packs-with-heaters dept.

ptorrone writes "Awhile back I wrote about the new Wolfgang Puck self-heating coffee containers that took 10 years and $24 mil to develop. Well, I managed to find them in a local store and bought them to take apart to see how they work. Once activated, they reach 145 degrees in about 6 minutes. This isn't a review of the beverage, it's all about the stuff that makes the liquid hot, how it works, pictures and links to patents. I am looking in to how these could be recycled too."

10 of 377 comments (clear)

  1. Waste? by Mattwolf7 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Those seem like such a waste (on top of the $25 million)

    Why did this take so long to figure out? MRE's have been self-heating for a long time and the heater in them gets really hot in less time...

    1. Re:Waste? by prockcore · · Score: 2, Interesting

      MRE's have been self-heating for a long time and the heater in them gets really hot in less time...

      Oh man, I can't wait until some lawyer gets sue-happy and sues the military for patent infringement.

      Then a bunch of marines will issue their response by rapelling down from the skylight and dropping their papers on the CEO's desk.

    2. Re:Waste? by name773 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      at the very most they could put a tax on things like this if they really really really felt the need, e.g. if it was starting to be a problem or something. at that point someone could air statements against the use of such items during prime time commercials or something. get some media coverage

      the most ideal solution to me would be other people demonstrating to users of this product what a waste it is and maybe teaching them of the wonderful thermos (those things are sooo cool (or hot, depending)). this is something for society to correct, not the government (i think of them as separate but coexisting entities)

  2. American Coffee by nihilogos · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Pulling it apart is probably the best thing you could do with it.

    You see, the thing that many people in the US completely miss is that the breweing of coffee was perfected in 1855 and it is senseless to mess with it. A shot of espresso made with freshly roasted / ground beans and on a well maintained machine by a well trained barrista is the apex of coffee perfection and cannot be improved upon. There is no substitute, and it cannot be put in an can.

    Why the hell such abominations as the Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Latte and just about everything they serve at Starbacks are permitted to exist is beyond me.

    --
    :wq
    1. Re:American Coffee by pintomp3 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      i've tried non-oiled ones, but my gf kicked me out of bed for doing it.

  3. Re:Soup by ocelotbob · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Better to get some of the self-heating pads from army MREs. They're a lot smaller, they get hotter, and they're not designed to be idiot-proof. Much more fun, and better all the way around, plus easier to pack out.

    --

    Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses

  4. ho hum... nothing new here. by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The military has been doing this for YEARS.
    MRE heaters.. No big deal. You can buy them by the crateloads at gun shows for 50 cents each, will heat a meal in a few minutes, just add water. Stores forever.
    Must have items if you live on the coast where you may lose power from hurricanes, etc..

    (one of MANY places to get the things..)
    http://militarysurplusdepot.com/m_r_e_heater.html

  5. Re:ditto... by n0-0p · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I realize this is offtopic and will risk getting modded down, but why are you duping my post word for word an hour later? Is this karma theft instead of karma whoring? It actually seems to work because you got modded up and I got modded down "redundant."

    I assume that you just wait for a higher rated post to scroll off the first page and then repost at the top. I am curious on why you'd even bother though. Are you just trying to game the mods and see if they're paying attention? It seems like an odd hobby.

  6. Altitude problems? by zetetikos · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've tried these. They are not too great tasting, but handy. However I dragged some along on a camping trip in Colorado, thinking how great it would be to have hot coffee first thing in the morning. Well they don't seem to work at 9,000 feet above sea level. It was also about 60(f) degrees out. Didn't even get warm. Buzz kill - literally. They heat up OK in Denver - 5,000 feet - starting from room temperature. There is no warning about altitude issues on the containers that I could find, so maybe it was the starting temperature, but if it reaches 140 degrees from 70, I would think it would still become reasonably warm from 60.

  7. Re:ditto... by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Most of the money went to research legal defences in case someone ignites one of these in their lap then sues.

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.