Cooking. IN SPAAACE!

[ikrase]

Assuming we get to the point where, when in zero G, we have raw food and means and a need to cook it (Belters maybe, or very slow liners/explorers), what might Zero G cooking be like?

I remember a Freefall comic where the childish robot made "spherecakes" in the oven because pancakes are impossible, but i wonder what might really exist? What would cooking equipment be like? To me it seems like curries would help solve the "crumbs getting in the control panels" problem and the "Zero G means messed up sense of taste" problem.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Assuming you'd need a rotating artificial-G habitation in long flights that require cooking from raw food anyway, I believe that most of traditional cooking techniques would be fine. The less they consume water, the better.

 

[ikrase]

I was kind of assuming zero g. Antiatrophy drugs might be better than overcomplicated despun engines and stuff the way biotech is coming, but people will still want actual food out of the hydroponics deck.

 

[Sar]

I ain't cookin' there before they make me a zero G coffee maker.

Isn't there a prize for one that invents that? That's what I recall, but I might be wrong.

 

[Tommy]

I suspect a pressure cooker will come in handy, likely the ship will have less static pressure than the Earth surface so the boiling point will be lower in a non-pressurized pot, resulting in much longer cooking times. Baking will also be problematic, and require techniques normally use in high altitude cooking.If you don't have artificial gravity of some sort, something like the "steam in bag" used for frozen vegetables in a microwave will help eliminate food floating around and getting into places it shouldn't.

 

[Izack]

Don't even think about a gas fire...
Even if it doesn't ignite the cabin, flames are spherical in zero-G.

 

[ar81]

I ain't cookin' there before they make me a zero G coffee maker. Isn't there a prize for one that invents that? That's what I recall, but I might be wrong.

Students solve space coffee problem :thumbup:

 

[Bj]

Students solve space coffee problem :thumbup:

"Also, in zero gravity, the application of heat causes water to evaporate instantly."

that's interesting, wonder why?

I would guess the machine to do that would be some kind of pressurized hot water chambers that would push water from one chamber to the other. First chamber is the pressurized water heater, second chamber is the beans, third is the coffee. The pressure from the water would press on itself and push through the beans.

My guess anyway

 

[T.Neo]

Artificial gravity makes far more sense.

Using relatively simple mechanical systems is far less complex and expensive than tinkering with the human body, and has virtually no ethical concerns.

It depends on how you do it. For example, if a large enough cabin was built, a spinning centrifuge section could be located within it. Thus, all problems relating to "despun" sections and rotating seals are avoided. The ship could also be tumbled in a number of axes, producing artificial gravity with no moving parts. This, however, comes with entirely new problems.

If the technology exists to accelerate at 1g (or at least a fraction of a g) for extended periods, no rotation is needed- the acceleration and deceleration of the ship provides the gravity, and it also allows for rather rapid travel times (depending on acceleration).

As for food in deep space, I think a lot of it might be related to some form of alga that can be grown to provide both oxygen replenishment and food for the crew and passengers. These foodstuffs may be prepared in several different ways (concentrated in a sort of "soup", compressed and seasoned into moist cake-like foods, etc) but I don't see how microgravity would negatively affect them.

Some live food plants might be carried aboard the ship (as novelty and a break from algae cakes) and I would imagine they could be eaten raw.

If growth of animal tissue can be done at an acceptable scale (even without infusing muscle grain into it) it would also provide a break from algae or plant based foods.

At least some dehydrated, preserved foods should also be brought along, but they will probably not be consumed on a regular manner as mass limitations will be in effect.

We already do an amount of "food preparation" in space, but it isn't like astronauts prepare four course meals entirely from scratch...

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus' Space Station Journals:

Food and Cooking in Space, Part 1.

Food and Cooking in Space, Part 2.

 

[ikrase]

Not meaning to start a war about artificial G. Torchships are VERY difficult even for fractional G. Exercise, or anti-atrophy drugs, or electrical stimulation seem MUCH more realistic, biotech a bit questionable but it should be possible. Meanwhile, in-pressure centrifuges are heavy, any centrifugal zero G is humongous (probably), and limit application of thrust. They also take a lot of fuel to spin up and down, and despun engines are difficult especially if electric. Despun docking ports or pressurized tunnels sound like an unholy terror of engineering, and docking to a rotating port is also a problem. So yeah, I think that zero G is probably the best option if endurable.

Anyway, my real question is what sorts of styles of food might develop.

 

[Izack]

Artificial gravity makes far more sense.

Using relatively simple mechanical systems is far less complex and expensive than tinkering with the human body, and has virtually no ethical concerns.

It depends on how you do it. For example, if a large enough cabin was built, a spinning centrifuge section could be located within it. Thus, all problems relating to "despun" sections and rotating seals are avoided. The ship could also be tumbled in a number of axes, producing artificial gravity with no moving parts. This, however, comes with entirely new problems.

If the technology exists to accelerate at 1g (or at least a fraction of a g) for extended periods, no rotation is needed- the acceleration and deceleration of the ship provides the gravity, and it also allows for rather rapid travel times (depending on acceleration).

The ISS was originally supposed to have a centrifuge, wasn't it? NASA even built one, and now it's displayed in Japan or something. (Don't quote me...I'm very likely to be partially or totally wrong.)

EDIT:
Yeah, here it is. I was partially wrong; it wasn't fully built.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifuge_Accommodations_Module

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

The ISS was originally supposed to have a centrifuge, wasn't it? NASA even built one, and now it's displayed in Japan or something. (Don't quote me...I'm very likely to be partially or totally wrong.)

EDIT:
Yeah, here it is. I was partially wrong; it wasn't fully built.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifuge_Accommodations_Module

Yep, it was partially built, and it's empty shell is now on display in the parking lot of the Tskuba Space Center in Japan.
It was originally sent to Japan to be used as a trainer for the JPM/"Kibo".

 

[ikrase]

Yes, but not a full cabin. It was medium experiment centrifuges, probably horrible nausea problems.

It occurs to me that the main utensils might consist of several gigantic syringe-like mixing and measuring devices.

 

[eveningsky339]

"Also, in zero gravity, the application of heat causes water to evaporate instantly."

that's interesting, wonder why?

I would guess the machine to do that would be some kind of pressurized hot water chambers that would push water from one chamber to the other. First chamber is the pressurized water heater, second chamber is the beans, third is the coffee. The pressure from the water would press on itself and push through the beans.

My guess anyway

Makes you wonder why they don't just use Instant Coffee.

We already do an amount of "food preparation" in space, but it isn't like astronauts prepare four course meals entirely from scratch...

Making a pizza from scratch... IN SPAAAAAACE!

 

[adamb193]

Just use a centrifugal oven. Gravity for cooking.

 

[ikrase]

That sounds incredibly difficult for several reasons.

I wonder if you can fry with radiant heat. Seems like zero G might make it possible to avoid a lot of dish washingl.