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We have this odd cooker. We have not been able to figure out what it is. The top can't be opened.

EDIT : There's some liquid inside both parts, we can hear it if we shaken them. Even if we can't figure if it's water or something else as we can't see it.

Does anyone know what this is?

We don't know what this cooker is

enter image description here

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    If the rest of it is sometimes used with some kind of dough or pastry lining the base, maybe it's to keep the dough from puffing up so it retains the container shape until set? Comment vs answer because of pure speculation on my part. Jul 30, 2019 at 20:26
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    Blind baker for pastry crusts? Could also be that you are missing some part of the set and it is something to perhaps crush berries through a sieve/strainer? All speculation.
    – bob1
    Jul 30, 2019 at 20:41
  • When you say the top can't be opened, do you think it's designed that way or stuck? How heavy is it? About what you'd expect for a hollow thing made from the same material as the base? And what sort of gap does it leave when placed in the base (the gap looks too big for blind baking to me)?
    – Chris H
    Jul 30, 2019 at 20:48
  • It seems it's made of stainless steel, so quite heavy even without the liquid in the top. There is also a 1 liter mark at about 3 fith of the bowl part. Mark noted "1 LTR" which means it comes from a non french country that uses metric system. The gap between the two parts are about 2cm, maybe an inch.
    – Arnold
    Jul 31, 2019 at 20:19
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    Marc, no one destroyed the answer. It was converted to a comment, which is what it is. You can see, it's the fourth comment now. I've cleaned up some of the unnecessary comments.
    – Catija
    Aug 4, 2019 at 5:59

3 Answers 3

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It might be a Midas Ice Cream Maker, one of us found.

  • Makes healthy frozen treats in only 20 minutes
  • Simply place the Midas in your freezer overnight, once frozen fill with chilled ice cream mixture
  • Use to quickly chill soups and dips, as an ice bucket or a wine cooler
  • Makes 2x1.5 litre batches before refreezing
  • Hypoallergenic, durable stainless steel construction
  • Non-electric, no moving parts
  • Dishwasher safe
  • Recipe booklet includes 20 traditional and low-fat recipes

Here is it's guide.

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  • I think you nailed it!
    – Cindy
    Dec 7, 2019 at 5:44
  • @Cindy it's really a good thing because with it's shape it had a place with the flying saucers (and saucers are ustensils used in kitchen) you found plenty in space. This is why it had a risk to be somewhat UFO related and I'm happy we resolved that mystery and avoided a new threat. Dec 7, 2019 at 6:48
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I suspect that's for cooling, not heating. Each piece would be filled with brine (but only partially, to allow for expansion), to increase the thermal mass and yet maintain a high thermal flux while cooling. The two-part design maximizes the surface area. You freeze the two pieces, put the food to be chilled in the vessel, then insert the lid.

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  • I find the idea attractive, but we have to find one ad or a reseller that shows this equipment used for that. The search of someone who knows how to use it is long : I wonder who created it and when. 1970's ? 1950's ? It haven't been a success, whatever... We (me and twenty other internauts) are searching since four months. Jul 31, 2019 at 16:03
  • if you're right: what would need to be cooled down so quickly? Perhaps some soup / sauce? I suppose a liquid since it would easily conform to the shape of the vessel and have more contact with the cold surfaces.
    – Luciano
    Aug 1, 2019 at 11:39
  • Something like gazpacho or other cold soups seems most likely.
    – Spagirl
    Aug 22, 2019 at 17:06
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+25

I suspect it is an ice cream maker. Freeze the parts and put a solution into the gap to be displaced and maximise the surface area but it remains accessible to scrape of and reinsert a few times and voila, Ice cream/ sorbet.

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