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The futuristic kitchen tech slowly killing the cook 1 of 40Attribution: Instagram/ @sewyoursoul

Supermarket stocks shelves with felt food items

August 17th, 2018: At first glance this may look like a typical supermarket, except it couldn't be further from.

The major difference is that there's no actual food lining the shelves.

From jumbo sausage wieners to furry cans of spam, Lucy Sparrow's felt supermarket in LA is unlike anything we've ever seen.

Who needs real life food, when you can have ever lasting felt alternatives?

The Sparrow Mart at the Standard Hotel houses 31,000 produces, all hand sewn and hand painted by Lucy Sparrow herself and her team of five.

'The source of this neon rainbow was Los Angeles- a seemingly mythical place to a child growing up in grey, post-recession Britain' Sparrow told The Spaces.

Image: Instagram/@sewyoursoul

Scroll through to see more of Lucy's foe creations 2 of 40Attribution: Instagram/ @sewyoursoul

Felt Jumbo Wieners at Lucy Sparrow's supermarket

Sparrow Mart debuts in August, and showcases the magic that happens when you fashion food out of fabric.

Equal parts quirky and artful, it took Sparrow a year to make enough products to fill the 2,800 sq ft space, all of which are available for purchase.

These jumbo wieners particularly tickled our fancy. Head to her account for a glimpse of some of the other foodie creations.

It leads us to wonder at 9Honey Kitchen whether in fact food needs to edible to draw us in.

Excuse us while we plan our next trip to LA for a slice of this action.

Scroll through for more instances where futuristic tech killed the cook 3 of 40Attribution: Twitter

Pizza dispensing vending machine operating in Japan

August 14th, 2018: It appears that customers are preferring their food served up quickly and efficiently, because vending machines are dispensing more then fizzy drinks and chocolate bars.

A vending machine in Hiroshima, Japan has been dispensing steaming hot pizzas to customers and they're pleased with the quality.

Who needs to wait for a delivery man to beat the traffic and deliver your pizza, when you can press a button and have your margherita dispensed within minutes.

The machine operates 24 hours a day, and exists within a video and CD rental stores, according to Sora News 24 according to Sora News 24. It's become quite an attraction, with customers opting for vending machine pizza over other Domino's chains nearby.

On the menu are margherita pizzas for 980 yen ($12 AU), and a 4-cheese pizza for 1280 yen ($15 AU). After ordering the pizza, the machine gets to work and delivers your pizza in five minutes.

Click through for all the exciting and frightening technology developments that are helping and hindering the cook... 4 of 40Attribution: Plant & Food Research

Modern breeding is working on apples that are red all the way through....

July 20th, 2018: So this one isn't strictly a 'kitchen technology', but it is one that will touch consumers and home cooks if it comes to pass. So here it is; in a release that came out today from the Plant and Food Research division of University of Auckland, a conference has unveiled the idea that we could breed apples that are red all the way through. Not just that glossy skin, but the actual flesh.

There are limited breeds of apple that already have partial red flesh, but this current research is looking at how to take better control of that in all fruits and vegetables.

According to the release, 'novelty and health benefits play a major role in influencing consumers' purchasing decisions and are often controlled in the plant by a family of proteins called MYBs. Understanding how these work could result in new fruits and vegetables on the supermarket shelves,' like that tantalising apple that's red right through.

The research looks at how changing the activity of MYBs 'transcription factors' can influence key traits including appearance, flavour, texture and even nutritional content.

The key point is that we might be able to control the colour producing compounds in the skin of fruit, which usually have more nutritional punch than what is found in the larger flesh mass of fruits. Essentially, we could encourage the plant to produce more of the healthy compounds throughout more of the fruit... not just the skin.

The full story will be out in the August 2018 edition of academic journal Trends in Plant Science, but for now it sounds like we might be able to breed super-fruits by messing with their colour concentration. Pretty to look at, and pretty nifty - much like the naturally occouring anthocyanins that make blood oranges bloody. We could also end up with the capacity to enhance flavour profiles, texture and even the 'fuzziness' of fruit skins, thanks to manipulation of these MYBs. Though forcing anything in nature tends to raise questions.

We could see more few fruits and vegetables on the market, or we might find out there's a reason this trait is limited in nature to begin with... we'll wait and see. For now, why don't we all just admire that very red image of an apple. 5 of 40Attribution: Supplied 6 of 40Attribution: Original

How to slice watermelon with dental floss

June 29, 2018: Knives are so yesterday. This watermelon hack is everything, and it will turn you into a fruit ninja in no time.

This popular strategy for slicing up a watermelon doesn't even require a knife. A couple videos have surfaced that demonstrate people cutting watermelon with dental floss, and we're all about it.

In this recent episode of Food & Wine, culinary director Justin Chapple used a large piece of unscented floss to cut along the watermelon's edges absolute ease. He then proceeds to move along the watermelon, and chop it into cubes.

If you happen to have misplaced your knife, or you're concerned about cutting yourself- then you're in luck with this newfound hack.

With a simple piece of dental floss, you can get those perfect cubes of watermelon and serve them to your guests for a fruit filled feast.


French engineers have developed a pizza making robot

June 28, 2018: Pizzaiolos everywhere are quaking in their boots, as French engineers reveal a new pizza making robot. Check out the video above to see this futuristic technology in action.

The robot can spread the base sauce, add the toppings, place the pizza in the oven and even slice it up evenly. They say it can cook up a pizza every 30 seconds… that’s 120 pizzas an hour.

At 9Honey Kitchen we agree that this is impressive.

But can this pizza robot put on a show like a real pizza chef?

Given that the dough is stamped or pressed out, rather than tossed theatrically in their air, and given that a lot of the best pizzaiolo and pizzaiola rely on the feel and ‘in the bone’ knowledge of a tradition handed on from chef to chef… the jury is out on whether this will ever beat the real deal.

Even if it does turn out a pretty consistent result.

Sometimes consistency and efficiency isn’t actually what a meal is about.

We’re also pretty sure that while the technology is advanced and astonishing, we’ve got a gut-feeling this won’t ever catch on in Italy.

But we’re happy to give it a go and pass the verdict on who wins a taste test.

Click through for more technology that is creeping into kitchens. 8 of 40Attribution: Amazon

Butter knife magic cuts and spreads your butter evenly

June 13, 2018: Getting the perfect smear of butter on your bread is no easy task.

That moment when you extract too much butter from, and it breaks through your bread is disappointing to say the least. This kitchen utensil is a few steps ahead, and is about to revolutionise your experience in the kitchen.

The Butter Knife Magic offers up a kitchen hack that you never knew you needed. It kind of looks like the lovechild of a butter knife and vegetable peeler, and it seamlessly grates your butter with a single moment.

This delicate slice of butter can then be applied to your bread, and give you the ideal ratio when tucking into your breakfast.

The product is being sold on Amazon for $11.99, but it can be found on Butter Cup for purchase in Australia.

Here at 9Honey Kitchen, we're seriously intrigued and are planning a tutorial on how to use this epic invention.



The sandwich press hack that wins the day

June 12, 2018: Last week we were losing our minds over the Kmart pie-maker/doughnut hack (click through to see what that's all about). This week, there's a new hack in town... and at 9Honey Kitchen we love nothing more than a cheeky kitchen twist, so we were thrilled to see the next incarnation of 'kitchen gadgets gone wild' surface, as social media lost it over the fact that you can make cupcakes in a jaffle press.
Yep, in just four minutes you can pop your cupcake packet mix into your electric jaffle iron and you'll have perfect, fluffy, hot cupcakes... albeit sandwich shaped ones. They still taste like cupcakes. Check out the video above if you don't believe us.
This rivals the microwave mug cake as far as we're concerned.
Of course at 9Honey Kitchen we just had to give it a go, and it was such a success that 9Honey Food Editor Jane de Graaff popped by the Today show to demonstrate it for hosts Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner, along with a bunch of other lunches you can make on your office sandwich press,  from bacon and eggs to burgers with the lot, pancakes and vegetable stacks. If we learned anything from this kitchen hack, it's that the sandwich press is an under utlised kitchen tool.
Jane says she uses hers regularly to cook bacon at home and goes mad grilling zucchini in lovely flat strips.

So go on, try it, we dare you... just remember to wipe the surface down while it's still hot for the best cleaning results, and don't make a mess in the office kitchen, otherwise it won't matter how good your lunch is, you still won't be very popular. 10 of 40Attribution: Facebook/ Kmart mums australia

Social media loses its mind over Kmart pie hack

June, 2018: This kitchen device from Kmart was designed to make pies, and pancakes.

But this mum discovered that it's far more versatile, when she used it to make a nutella filled doughnut.

She posted on the Kmart Mums Australia Facebook page, that her $29 Kmart pie maker had the ability to create nutella and jam doughnuts in a matter of minutes.

Naturally, this sent mums into a total meltdown.

The Nutella doughnut which has already accumulated over 600 comments, requires only eight ingredients and is ridiculously simple.

This mum was thinking outside the box, and used the shells of the pie maker to create treats with eggs, flour, pancake mixture, and bread.

What an epic reminder that $29 can get you so much further, then you could have ever imagined in the kitchen. 11 of 40Attribution: Twitter

Google's salad emoji becomes vegan friendly

June, 2018: Google's focus is on inclusiveness, and the developers have shown this by removing the egg from their salad emoji.

The company's developers blog announced the decision to make the salad vegan friendly, in the company's push towards inclusiveness and acknowledging diversity among users.

'There's big talk about inclusion and diversity at Google' Jennifer Daniel, head of design for Google emoji, tweeted.

This new salad doesn't look all that appetising. It's essentially leaves in a bowl with a couple diced tomatoes. Surely, they could add some carrots or cucumbers to spice things up?

This isn't the first time an emoji has stirred up some controversy.

Last year, there was huge debate over google's burger emoji and how it measured up to Apple's emoji. The placement of cheese was the centre of discussion as Google had placed it below the patty. Ultimately, the company caved and issued a new version.

We'll leave you to be the judge of whether this salad was in need of a makeover. 12 of 40Attribution: Getty

Kitchen appliance that banishes bench germs

While there are always methods to avoid foodborne illnesses- like washing your produce in copious amounts of baking soda. These are not always the most convenient. New technology now exists that instantaneously kills bacteria as soon as it strikes.

A new kitchen appliance is on the scene, and it's here to banish those germs from your beloved kitchen. A team of engineers and scientists at the company, Vital Vio have made LED lights - called ellumi- which supposedly disinfect your kitchen surfaces by implementing light wavelengths that are safe for humans but deadly to bacteria, Fast Company reported.

The lights will be retailing for anywhere between $90 or $180, depending on how large the panel is. This kitchen tool might just be the perfect solution for those of us who don't have time to scrub our counter tops daily. 13 of 40Attribution: Getty

Bumpy use by labels that will reduce food waste 14 of 40Attribution: Instagram

Edible banana peel: "Mongee" banana

Having to dedicate precious time to peeling a banana skin off is no longer. Japanese companies have simplified the process for us by successfully growing edible fruits.

Behold, the mystical banana that has an edible peel dubbed the Mongee. Science is aiming to make us so simple that we can’t even peel a banana.

The Mongee (pronounced Mon-Gay) begun as a ‘hobby’ for D & T farms technical development manager, and has grown into something quite extraordinary. It’s no surprise that they were named “Mongee”, as “mongee” is Japanese slang for “incredible”. Here at 9Honey Kitchen we're not arguing with that.

The secret to the edible skin comes from growing the banana trees in a minus 75 degrees Fahrenheit (-59 degrees Celsius) environment, then they're thawed and replanted. It means the fruit grows rapidly and leaves the skin with a skin resembling a ‘lettuce’.

In November, the bananas were successfully produced with this technique, and this is some kind of witchcraft that we're hoping will find its way to Australian soil.

The mongee bananas are priced at $5.63 per fruit, which is obviously exorbitant. This is because Japan imports 99 per cent of their bananas, and ‘mongees’ encompass only one percent of fruit produced within Japan.

Another thing to note about mongees is that they’re far ‘sweeter than regular bananas, with 24.8 grams of sugar, as opposed to average 18.3 grams’ according to rocketnews24.com. So brace yourself for a serious sugar rush. 
Are you a mill-your-own-flour sort of cook, or more of a local-Chinese-restaurant-on-speed-dial?

Wherever you sit on the cooking scale, the kitchen as we know it is evolving at an astounding rate. From burrito-toting delivery drones to smartphone cases with in-built espresso machines, click through for the latest kitchen tech leaving your cooking skills for dead.


WATCH: Bakon's ultimate cake decorating weapon

At 9Kitchen we're all for kitchen technology that makes life easier... but we start to feel uneasy when the tech looks like we might have to give up all our hard-won kitchen skills. Enter the Multi-Depositor Satellite cake decorator, designed by US food innovation company Bakon. This crazy piece of machinery is clearly designed for professional and large scale kitchens, and it takes all the mess (and labour) out of hand-decorating cakes, replacing it with unimaginable consistency, precision and speed. That's no bad thing for large scale, high turnover production... but we get as little nervous when we think what that might mean for cake decorators everywhere. Still, there's certainly something mesmerising about the precision layering of cream filling for tower cakes and the super-fast picture perfect all-over frosting finish. Watch the clip and just try to take your eyes off what is undeniable an amazing piece of production tech. We're just worried for cake decorators everywhere.


WATCH: Kiwi man picks up KFC order via a drone and mankind should just give up now

May 25, 2017: A Kiwi man has just dashed any skerrick of hope we had left for humanity by eschewing the, frankly, already pretty lazy drive-through method of collecting take-out, and rather picking up his fried chicken order via a drone.

Aucklander Ollie Mason-Clarke, affectionately known to his 19,000+ Instagram followers as the King of Cheat Meals, partnered with production studio Visualise Media NZ to orchestrate a KFC meal pick-up using the flying device, and documented the slick transaction in a clip that has now gone viral.

KFC was in on the stunt as well, to ensure it complied with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) guidelines and health and safety rules. Watch the clip in full (left) to see how they pulled it off. (Note how the drone doesn't fly over any roads – another caveat of the CAA.)

Video: Visualise Media / Ollie Mason-Clarke (Instagram/@kingofcheatmeals)

WATCH: Burrito delivery drones are deliciously real

October 18, 2017: Earlier this week, robotics tech firm X announced they'd be teaming up with Aussie Tex-Mex chain, Guzman y Gomez, for a partnership we reckon is going to make it that much harder to resist ordering out.

As part of Project Wing, the company has been busily testing their delivery drones around the outskirts of Canberra, flying fresh burritos out to residents who download and order Guzman y Gomez via the Project Wing app. Take a look at the drone trials in the clip released by

Drone deliveries are currently only available to a handful of regional residents who would otherwise be facing a 40-minute round car trip for a bit of foil-wrapped Mex-y goodness.

No word yet on when the service will become available to the rest of Oz, so you'll just have to do Mexican night the old-fashioned way in the meantime.

VIDEO: blog.x.company 19 of 40Attribution: KFC on drone delivery in 2013. Image: Twitter/@kfc

May 25, 2017: Interestingly, way back in 2013 when drones started to really take off (excuse the pun) the fried chicken giant had posted this image and wry remark on their official Twitter page, @kfc (left), essentially pooh-poohing the notion of this exact scenario ever taking place: "There's been a lot of talk about drone delivery. Don't fret, we're thinking the same thing #WhenChickensFly"

But boy oh boy, how times do change. While this isn't the first instance of drones delivering food and other supplies to people in remote locations by a long shot – humanitarian drones are used regularly for disaster relief, and pizza giant Domino's made history last year by being the first to carry out drone deliveries – it may be the first case of a civilian using drone technology to grab lunch.

Click through for more of the latest tech killing the cook.

Image: Twitter/@kfc

WATCH: This smartphone case lets you make coffee while you wait for the bus

May 16, 2017: Italian designers are threatening the livelihood of baristas and thermos manufacturers everywhere with their latest piece of mini tech – the world's tiniest espresso machine, attached to the back of your mobile device.

The Mokase is a heat-proof smartphone case that makes espresso at the push of a button using itty-bitty coffee pods and enough water for a single shot. The device connects with an app which activates heat sensors in the case, and the extracted coffee is poured out of a hole in the top – watch the promo clip to see how this slick-looking gadget works.

No verdict yet on the pod coffee itself, but the case is currently available to pre-order for 50 Euros (around $74) excluding shipping, and is set to roll out by September 2017.

Video: Supplied


WATCH: Supermarket of the future drives to you

June 14, 2017: Soon dashing out for milk at some ungodly hour of the night will be a thing of the past thanks to Moby, a revolutionary new store on wheels that just hit the streets of Shanghai for testing. Watch the demonstration (right) to see the real-life roving tech in action — it's truly like something out of a sci-fi movie.

The forward-thinking tech start-up behind the world's first employee-less supermarket, Wheelys, have upped the ante with their latest invention, a 24-hour self-driving convenience store on wheels, designed to come to you. The solar-powered prototype can be summoned at the touch of a smartphone app button, and lets you enter and pay for food items via your phone. Click through for more amazing foodie tech.

VIDEO: YouTube/Wheelys Cafe