Ultraviolet bread box preserves bread, freaks out friends

Contrary to appearances, this is not a device for creating giant mutant bread, it's actually a bread box designed to prevent mold from growing on your run of the mill unmodified loaf of carbs. Based on the same groovy kind of UV light used in food and medical sanitization, the breadbox should be relatively easy to build for anyone with minimal DIY skills -- and even if it didn't work exactly as intended, would be a stylish addition to any mad scientist's (or fantasy lad's) kitchen. But according to the folks at InventGeek, it actually does its job, increasing the shelf life of bread by about 50%, and preventing any mold from growing on the exterior of the bread (it may still grow inside, however). They didn't say what the bread tasted like after being baked a second time in UV, but you want to give it a shot yourself, the total cost of parts should only run you about $65.

[Via MAKE: Blog]

[Cliff @ Aug 22nd 2006 6:58AM]

Yeah the interior of the bread would be hard to protect. Nice idea though

[OutrightLie @ Aug 22nd 2006 7:41AM]

Mmmm... taste the cancer.

[Phil @ Aug 22nd 2006 8:12AM]

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[Michael C @ Aug 22nd 2006 9:16AM]

I wonder if the UV light is on continuously?

Re the mold growing on the inside of the bread: Since the inside of the bread has been heated to several hundred degrees and then is somewhat sealed from the outside it is relatively safe from mold for quite a while. The only time I have ever seen mold inside a loaf was when it had been sliced.

I wonder if having a UV light strategically placed would reduce the number of science experiments growing inside my fridge?

[Joe @ Aug 22nd 2006 9:26AM]

Why not just make your bread from scratch and unless you're a single person w/out any roomies it won't last. For those of you who grew up slabbing some butter and/or honey on a fresh slice of bread remember how gooooddd it tasted, solved the whole mold problem :)

[Wei @ Aug 22nd 2006 9:53AM]

Or you could just put the bread in the fridge like I do... that'd be one less thing to take up the counter space.

[farris @ Aug 22nd 2006 10:19AM]

i think you are mistaken, donald...

it should be [via www.hackaday.com]

[Darby @ Aug 22nd 2006 10:36AM]

I tried this for a science class project in middle school. While it does actually keep the mold off the outside for awhile, the whole problem with mold on bread is the "roots" internally. As this doesn't solve this, the bread still goes spectacularly bad in a week and a half or two weeks. It goes from zero to moldy in 3.2 seconds. The Tesla or Ferrari of bread mold.

[Jose @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:22PM]

... The nice thing is that if you eat a lot of bread, you'll get tanned. Fat and tanned.

[Justin @ Aug 22nd 2006 1:23PM]

A $65 device to preserve a $2 loaf of bread. Err... Clever. I agree with Wei: try the fridge, it works.

[tom needer @ Aug 22nd 2006 1:45PM]

He used a water clarifying unit he got on eBay. These use the genuine UV bulb as you mention but as they are submerged they are coated in a thin black layer of PVC so the bulb won’t burst in cold water. I use these systems in a pond I have and know first hand the risks that come with them ultimately UVC is an issue and a kill switch in this project would really make it something viable.

[Greg Baz @ Aug 22nd 2006 2:53PM]

UV Bread Box $65
Loaf of Bread $2
Spening $5 on electrisidy to make a loaf of bread last %50 longer....Dumb

[Greg @ Aug 22nd 2006 3:43PM]

It should be noted that scientific and medical devices that use UV sterilization typically incorporate a switch such that when opened, power to the UV bulb is cut. UV with sufficient energy to effectively kill microbial contaminants is also very capable of causing severe DNA damage in human cells. Repeated exposure to UV sterilization lights back in the "bad old days" can be at the least anecdotally linked to a rather high incidence in skin cancer in researchers.

[GadgetChick @ Aug 22nd 2006 3:54PM]

If you've got a microwave, or a toaster or toaster oven, just throw your bread in the freezer. When you want your carbs, just nuke it or toast it. Works like a charm.

[nacho @ Aug 22nd 2006 5:51PM]

I am gunna have to agree with GadgetChick on this one. Bread products stay near forever in the freezer and suffers no ill effects if tightly sealed. I put mine straight in the toaster after the freezer. However, a similiar setup would be good for sanitizing your toothbrush which is truly a haven for nasties.

[Joe @ Aug 22nd 2006 5:58PM]

[quote]
UV Bread Box $65
Loaf of Bread $2
Spening $5 on electrisidy to make a loaf of bread last %50 longer....Dumb
[/quote]
Good stuff Greg, are you our resident engadget.com comedian. Please keep posting some comments like this to keep things 'light' alright.

[dyun1dyun1 @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:09PM]

Its not actually a UV light that is killing the germs. Its a small dose of ozone or 03 with a loose 3 particle of oxygen.

But what I do know that there is a product that the UV bulb omits these extremely low doses of ozone. I believe goverment mandates less than .02 parts per million for an ozone device that omits 24/7. But it uses this process to kill mold or viruses. You can apply this process to refrigerators to increase the life of produce and fish. Lots of pratical uses, allergies, odor.

But the problem is that no one has done any long term studies on the effects of these machines. There are a lot of machines that do the same thing but are not withing the legal limits. Next time you goto a bar look for something that looks like an old speaker box. Then get close and take a deep breath. Some people have hyper sensitivity to the ozone. It has a distinct smell.

But dont get those machines mixed up with the technology that we are talking about here. Two derived the same way but different.

[mark izzard @ Aug 23rd 2006 8:52PM]

the Night of the Living Bread......