Remember when Popular Science was filled with stories about flying cars and jet packs that later showed up in James Bond movies?

Today the magazine has a more down-to-earth look at new technology and recently gave the nod to a new oven as one of the hottest new technological advancements -- and the three-way baking machine isn't connected to the Internet.

It remains to be seen, however, if what sounds like a complicated new kitchen appliance will win the hearts of convenience-addicted home owners who often don't read the manual, preferring plug-and-play simplicity.

The newest model in the GE Profile line of ovens is a Grand Award winner in the the magazine's 2002 "Best of What's New" awards for home technology.

Every year, Popular Science reviews thousands of new products and technological developments and select 100 for the "Best of What's New" distinction. Only 10 products get the Grand Award. GE's oven won the Grand Award in the Home Technology category.

"It combines bake, broil and microwave components to cook food three to five times faster than a conventional oven," and when the magazine's engineering team, led by Larry Portaro, took the oven through it's paces, they "unveiled a marvel of culinary efficiency," according to the magazine.

Tentatively called the Profile Speed Cooking Oven and not available until the spring for about $2,500, the oven simultaneously uses programmable doses of microwave, convective and thermal energy. It earned the reward after the team baked 25,000 cookies, 300 pizzas and 200 turkeys and chickens and other goodies with a demo loaner borrowed from GE in July.

Preliminary testing shows speed modes allow foods to cook up to five times faster, speed roast a turkey in half the time, speed bake breads in a third of the time, and side dishes in a quarter of the time. Potatoes speed cook five times faster than in a traditional oven.

"But cooking foods quickly was not our only goal," explained Leanne Wilks, general manager for GE Cooking Products.

"We developed this oven to use the optimal combination of the best of three cooking methods in an effort to produce the best possible food," she continued.

Based on the team's report, it appears to take some getting used to.

Fast cooked food is often poorly cooked food. Processes like caramelization, in which sugars devolve into a sticky coating, take time -- if you apply heat too quickly, the coating turns black.

Before they got it right, Potero and his team cooked foods repeatedly, varying the doses of microwave, convective and thermal energy. They programmed into the oven algorithms describing the ideal texture, crispness, moistness and browning for each food type.

In the end, they emerged successful. Filet mignon, salmon, baked potatoes and chocolate chip cookies came out perfect.

"Even finicky angel food cake was appropriately light and fluffy," the magazine said.

Consumer Reports, the consumer goods and services rating magazine published by Yonkers, NY-based Consumers Union, also likes GE's existing Profile line of ovens as a good value.

The magazine rated the ovens performance "very good" (one step from excellent) and said they offer "...a high-end look without a high-end price tag...Despite their expensive look, the GE Profile appliances ... cost considerably less than the (higher end) GE Monogram pro-style models..."

Also getting the nod for being tops in home technology were Research Frontiers, Inc.'s switchable smart windows with light-absorbing particles that provide natural shade. When subjected to a voltage, the particles align and let light pass rendering the window transparent.

Kelix Energies offers an energy saving air conditioner that instead of using a compressor, employs a refrigerant-filled coil on a spinning rotor. Centrifugal force drives the fluid through the coil, compressing and decompressing it just like a standard air conditioner's more power hungry, evaporator and condenser. The new air conditioner uses one-tenth the electricity of standard air conditioners. The product remains years from production, however.

Other top technology products for the home included Craftsman force-multiplying pliers and its no-kickback circular saw, a Dutch Boy paint container, an Arbortech plunge saw and SawStop's table saw.

Starbucks is in the house

Meanwhile Seattle's coffee cafe giant Starbucks wants to give you jolts of java without leaving the comfort of your home.

Its new $695 Saeco Italia automatic espresso machine grinds, tamps and delivers "coffeehouse quality" espresso shots and steamed milk. It even cleans up after itself and comes with a two-year guarantee.

Obviously in need of decaffeination, Ken Mooney, Starbucks brewing product manager, says joking, "With the Saeco Italia home espresso machine, you could open a Starbucks coffeehouse in your own kitchen,"

Starbucks will sell houses next.

Published: November 29, 2002

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.