During a time when I watched infomercials because I could not get to sleep, I thought up two ridiculous cooking gadgets that I could sell to Ron Popeil and see on TV during my next bout of insomnia. One was a machine that could make Chinese stir fries. It would be shaped like a small barrel, suspended like a spit, with a heated area inside. You’d put your stir fry ingredients in and turn a handle on the side, and your food would cook as it turned. It would be marketed with different flavors of sauce packets (“lemon chicken! just add chicken and veggies!”). The other device was a self-stirring pot that would make risotto for you. Risotto requires wrist and arm stamina. There is enough tending and stirring to make you reach for the box of Rice O’ Roni, but the creamy results are always worth it in the end. Well, I started sleeping again and the world was safe from my madness, but I can’t save the world from everyone else. Now there’s StirChef. It’s a paddle device that fits on your saucepan and does the stirring for you. It reportedly makes a mean risotto. You still have to tend your risotto, pouring in the liquid as it is absorbed, but your arm can now rest up for the more important task of lifting forkfuls of yummy arborio rice to your mouth. Will this gadget show up on late night TV? I hope I don’t find out. Incidentally, these folks are headquartered in Connecticut. (via Gizmodo)