Reader Input
Thoughts, tips, and musings from readers like you.Page 07
Make: Volume 53 – Hack Your Food
Food hacking brings together two fundamental and complimentary passions: cooking and making. In this issue you’ll learn avant-garde cuisine techniques like using liquid nitrogen to make unique ice cream sundaes and using a laser cutter to create beautiful sushi artwork. Delve into classic projects like building a tin can camping stove and making your own signature cocktail bitters, then organize your cupboard with a periodic table of spices and construct a superior, microcontroller-driven cold brew coffee tower.
Altogether over 25 how-to projects, including:
- Build a Raspberry Pi-powered mini fridge that tells you how many beers you have left.
- Assemble a one-day outdoor brick pizza oven that can reach 1,000 degrees.
- Put together the perfect field kit for any electronics repair job.
And much more.
ON THE COVER: Inside our arched-roof brick oven. Full steps on page 34.
Table of Contents
COLUMNS
Welcome: Building Blocks
Mike Senese
Food is by far the most widespread (yet maybe overlooked) maker pursuit.Page 08
Made on Earth
Backyard builds from around the globe.Page 10
Show & Tell
Project photos and notes you’ve sent in. Sharing is half the joy of making.Page 18
FEATURES
Makers in the Arab World
Dale Dougherty
Young Egyptian innovators are embracing maker culture despite — or because of — political challenges.Page 20
SPECIAL SECTION: FOOD
Hack Your Food
Stephen Ritz and Jan Feindt
Food technology is ripe for makers to engineer solutions that benefit the whole world.Page 26
Meals on Wheels
Brett Lindenberg
A how-to guide for building your own food truck.Page 28
Culinary Contraptions
Lisa Martin
Quell your hunger with these oversized and automated food machines.Page 32
Cutting-Edge Cuisine
Chandi Campbell
3D printing isn’t just for plastic anymore.Page 33
One-Day Wood Fired Pizza Oven
Mike Senese
Simply stack bricks to quickly make this arched-roof forno a legna.Page 34
Funky Fromag
Louella Hill
Make cheese with just a basic understanding of biology.Page 36
Frigid Feast
Lisa Martin
Use liquid nitrogen to craft a sumptuous frozen spread.Page 38
Scratch-Built Chef’s Knife
Jimmy DiResta
Turn a hunk of steel into a razor-sharp implement for everyday kitchen use. Page 40
Maker to Market
Dale Dougherty
How one food enthusiast had to become a maker to get her sous vide machine out to the world.Page 42
Periodic Table of Spices
Wayne Hammond
Bring order (and family, genus, and species) to your seasonings with this clever spice rack.Page 44
Tall Cold One
John Edgar Park
Build a behemoth cold brew coffee drip tower for the smoothest cup.Page 46
Not a Latte
John Edgar Park
Ditch the dairy and use this velvety-smooth secret ingredient in your next latte.Page 47
Tin Can Cooker
Kathy Ceceri
A can of cardboard and wax fuels this easy outdoor stove.Page 48
Play with Your Food
AnnMarie Thomas
New technology and old techniques combine at Alinea restaurant.Page 50
Better Bitters
Diane Gilleland
For the tastiest drinks, make your own flavored mixture.Page 51
Laser-Cut Sushi
Anthony Lam
For the tastiest drinks, make your own flavored mixture.Page 52
Sauce That’s Hot (or Not)
Dale Dougherty
Combine two ingredients to make this peppery condiment.Page 53
Crystal Clear Ice Balls
Mike Laine
Cool your next cocktail with large, gorgeous spheres of ice.Page 54
Smart Beer Fridge
Jamie Bailey
Hack a Wii Balance Board to tell you how many brews you have left.Page 55
Fizzify Your Fruit
Ben Krasnow
Carbonate your healthy snacks with effervescent tablets.Page 56
1+2+3: Edible Milk Carton Surprise
Anthony Lam
Cast a chocolate bottle that looks just like the real thing.Page 57
SKILL BUILDER
Greasy Does It
Jordan Bunker
A layman’s guide to how lubricants work and when to use them.Page 58
Fix-It Field Kit
Tim Deagan
What to pack to make quick electronics repairs on the go.Page 61
PROJECTS
Persistence-of-Vision LED Globe
Ulrich Schmerold
Spin up a 3D optical illusion to display words and images in thin air.Page 64
Macro Magic
Ted Kinsman
Shoot super detailed, 3D-enhanced photos with this homemade TRI camera rigPage 70
Lee de Forest and the Amplifier
William Gurstelle
The invention of electronic amplification gave us radio, TV, computers, and the Marshall stack.Page 74
3D-Printed Raspberry Pi Skycam
Brook Drumm
It rides a monorail of string, streams video. and is remote-controlled from my phone.Page 76
Amateur Scientist: Surveying Light Pollution
Forrest M. Mims III
Measure sky glow — and fight for your right to the night.Page 82
EMF Microphone
Jonáš Gruska
Listen in on the secret, weird sounds of electromagnetic fields all around you.Page 84
1+2+3: DIY “Neon” Sign
Jenny Ching
Bend EL wire to create safe, affordable glowing words and graphics.Page 86
TOOLBOX
Tool Reviews
The Power MIG 210 MP, PocketCHIP, BeagleBone Green Wireless, and more.Page 88
OVER THE TOP
Nix + Gerber: The Last Artists in Brooklyn
James Tiberius Burke
These photographers make detailed dioramas of the post-apocalypse into works of art. Page 96
