Posts Tagged ‘video’

This turned out to be one of the more dangerous machines I’ve ever built.  The goal was to make a cotton candy machine out of parts I had lying around.  The finished product was an aggressive, 1/2 horsepower, 4000°F beast of a machine that lasted long enough to prove itself before dying of awesomeness. 

If you want to build a cotton candy machine at home, all you need is:

• A tin can, like a tuna or dog food can
• A drill with a very small drill bit
• A motor (ex, your drill, an old CD player, a blender)
• A heat source, such as a propane torch, a lighter, or the coils from an old toaster
• A bucket to catch the cotton candy, or alternately a sheet of paper to wrap around the assembly
• Sugar

Follow the steps in the video to see just how easy this machine is to build.  Oh, and don’t forget… safety first.  My favorite part of this project was setting up a blast shield in front of the camera before we turned on the machine.

Special thanks to Victor (@sphing) for filming!

Making your own butter is simple and rewarding – nothing tastes quite as good as homemade.  Just put heavy cream in your blender or food processor for about 10 minutes, or until the butterfat separates from the buttermilk (mine took a little less than 10 minutes).  Once you’re there, you’ve got fresh unsalted butter.  But why on earth would you stop now?  Jazz it up with thyme, sage, honey, cayenne pepper, or, as the video shows, add some chopped porcini mushrooms and black truffle salt. 

Oh, and whenever you’re working with small appliances, be sure to wear your geek glasses for protection