Ladies and gentlemen, we can all go home now, as technology has officially reached its peak in innovation. Combining years of testing and development with our natural glutinous tendencies, the digital age has now become both our best friend and our worst enemy because there now exists — prepare yourselves — a vending machine that dispenses freshly prepared french fries and condiments at the push of a button. The sound you’re hearing right now is a million buttons popping as waistlines everywhere grow.
HEBBEN. Op de @WageningenUR staat de eerste volautomatische #frietpatat-machine. Heb je in 120 sec. je friet/patat.https://t.co/FhO3cBL9Xw
— NOS op 3 (@nosop3) September 2, 2015
Developed by the insatiable and incomparable scientists at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands, this machine is capable of deep frying frozen strips of everyone’s favorite starch, then pairing them alongside the traditional Dutch condiments of mayonnaise, ketchup, or curry. By combining what feels like the country’s national snack with some serious technological prowess, the Wageningen team has certainly made the people of the Netherlands very, very happy.
The process is so simple that it seems a wonder no one has developed it before. Frozen spuds are simply kept inside the vending machine at temperatures of minus 18 degrees Celsius. When you feed the vending machine your money, it feeds you fries, dropping a preset batch of potatoes into 180 degree Celsius oil, where it is cooked to golden brown perfection. When they’re finally deposited to you after what must feel like the longest two minutes of your life, they’re literally hot from the frier.
Matthew Humphries of Geek.com does point out one potential logistical error in the setup, however. Because cooking oil can only be used to fry ingredients so many times before it needs changing, Humphries is a bit skeptical of how how often the oil would be switched out (and by extension, how safe it would be to consume during each cooking cycle). But, he concludes, “At least it’s a sealed unit meaning it should remain relatively clean inside.”
Regardless, the team has plenty of time to work these kinks out, as the vending machine is still just a prototype. As of today, there’s only one of these babies available, and it lives in Wageningen University. But in the future, its developers hope to bring it to more campuses and locations across the country, and if we’re lucky, around the world.
