A space-aged new pan designed by a rocket scientist from the University of Oxford could threaten to topple Le Creuset's 'cast-iron' grip on the cooking market. The new enamelled cast iron Dutch oven has been created using thermodynamics, which designers say have boosted cooking speeds. The pan, produced by FireUp, features fins around its outside inspired by heat transfer methods used in jet engines and rockets.
Inventors say the fins help to more efficiently distribute heat around the pan, which would otherwise be lost around the outside, helping to create an 'oven-like' effect. The firm behind the design, FireUp, produced the new tech after receiving a £10,000 grant through the University of Oxford's Innovation incubator scheme, which gives cash to entrepreneurs in exchange for a percentage of royalties. Professor Thomas Povey helped invent the pan, applying his research into high-efficiency cooling systems for next-generation jet engines to everyday objects that transfer heat, like domestic cooking pans. Raghav Agarwal, founder of FireUp, said: 'Conventional cookware only heats up from the bottom - our patented fin design guides heat across the bottom and up the sides of the FireUP Dutch oven, resulting in faster and more even heat distribution, saving energy each time.' Professor Povey added: 'Adding fins to the pan takes more heat out of the hot plume and makes it more efficient. We spent a few years optimising it and the result is this product.' The pan, produced by FireUp, features fins around its outside inspired by heat transfer methods used in jet engines and rockets (pictured is scientist Professor Thomas Povey) The pan's new fins are inspired by heat transfer methods used in jet engines and rockets. Pictured are some of the distinctive pans from French cookware giant, Le Creuset FireUp is now jostling for control of the cast iron market, which has long been dominated by French giant, Le Creuse