Homemade Lava
May 18, 2015 10:12 AM Subscribe
posted by maryr at 10:20 AM on May 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
I don't eat red meat, but I would make an exception for a lava steak.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:20 AM on May 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by cjorgensen at 10:20 AM on May 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
Mmm. Lava-seared steak. Coming soon to a trendy restaurant near you.
posted by monospace at 10:21 AM on May 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by monospace at 10:21 AM on May 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
My first comment was going to be BUT WHY and then I got to maybe photo #5 or 6 in the series and that was just no longer a valid question in my mind.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:23 AM on May 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 10:23 AM on May 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
Oh man, just the other day I watched a youtube video on how to make your own, incredibly dangerous arc furnace. And at the end he melted some rocks in it.
His results weren't nearly as impressive as this, but it has given me the strangest desire to make lava at home. Hopefully I can get over this urge before I end up burning something down.
posted by mayonnaises at 10:33 AM on May 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
His results weren't nearly as impressive as this, but it has given me the strangest desire to make lava at home. Hopefully I can get over this urge before I end up burning something down.
posted by mayonnaises at 10:33 AM on May 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
I have so many more questions though. did anyone taste the banana after it's lavabake? what is the difference in composition between the final glass result they got and what one would see from a lava flow in, idk, let's say hawaii? presumably it makes a difference quenching it with salt water and fresh water? were the steaks good and can i have one.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:38 AM on May 18, 2015
posted by poffin boffin at 10:38 AM on May 18, 2015
Speaking as a texture geek, the lava when it flows looks...chewy.
posted by datawrangler at 10:42 AM on May 18, 2015
posted by datawrangler at 10:42 AM on May 18, 2015
I would like to see some stone scultures made by poured molding instead of carving.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:56 AM on May 18, 2015
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:56 AM on May 18, 2015
There's a similar exhibit at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, and I think they've been doing it for several years.
They were very clear from the beginning that this was *not* actual "melted rock" lava. They said that there was no furnace in existence that could make a facsimile of real lava, because it's produced under enormous pressures underground.
They said that what they're doing (which looked very similar to this one) is "volcanic glass" and they're basically using a standard glass furnace and natural ingredients.
posted by slacy at 11:18 AM on May 18, 2015
They were very clear from the beginning that this was *not* actual "melted rock" lava. They said that there was no furnace in existence that could make a facsimile of real lava, because it's produced under enormous pressures underground.
They said that what they're doing (which looked very similar to this one) is "volcanic glass" and they're basically using a standard glass furnace and natural ingredients.
posted by slacy at 11:18 AM on May 18, 2015
I heard there's money in the banana stand-in.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:23 AM on May 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Sunburnt at 11:23 AM on May 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
Speaking as a texture geek, the lava when it flows looks...chewy.
When I was in elementary school and would see a road crew patching cracks, I'd go back along their route a little ways and peel up some of the cooled but still shiny freshly laid tar, scratch the pebbles and as much of the dirt as I could get out of the underside with my fingernails, and chew it.
The very satisfying texture was like the stiffest bubble gum you could ever imagine, but somehow finer and unchanging even after prolonged chewing, and the flavor was of an ethereal sweetness floating on top of components that tasted like tar smells. I'm not sure anybody ever realized I was doing this.
I would like to see some stone scultures made by poured molding instead of carving.
Wedgwood used to make art pottery out of unglazed fused basalt and called it, unglazedly enough, Basalt Ware. They made some table settings out of it too, and I've always kind of wished I had some.
posted by jamjam at 11:27 AM on May 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
When I was in elementary school and would see a road crew patching cracks, I'd go back along their route a little ways and peel up some of the cooled but still shiny freshly laid tar, scratch the pebbles and as much of the dirt as I could get out of the underside with my fingernails, and chew it.
The very satisfying texture was like the stiffest bubble gum you could ever imagine, but somehow finer and unchanging even after prolonged chewing, and the flavor was of an ethereal sweetness floating on top of components that tasted like tar smells. I'm not sure anybody ever realized I was doing this.
I would like to see some stone scultures made by poured molding instead of carving.
Wedgwood used to make art pottery out of unglazed fused basalt and called it, unglazedly enough, Basalt Ware. They made some table settings out of it too, and I've always kind of wished I had some.
posted by jamjam at 11:27 AM on May 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
am I the only one that got a chuckle from the steak video where lava started dripping over the edge of the trough ? You know, right next to that yellow gas line. And around 42 seconds, the person realizes "OH SHIT" and grabs that deflector plate to protect the gas line.
posted by k5.user at 11:45 AM on May 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by k5.user at 11:45 AM on May 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
jamjam -- I just learned the other day that saccharine was first discovered when someone was working tar.
posted by garlic at 12:47 PM on May 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by garlic at 12:47 PM on May 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
I guess that steak is cooked Krakatoa Rare...
posted by jefflowrey at 3:21 PM on May 18, 2015
posted by jefflowrey at 3:21 PM on May 18, 2015
One of the photos is captioned "The cover of my next black metal album."
posted by larrybob at 4:32 PM on May 18, 2015
posted by larrybob at 4:32 PM on May 18, 2015
They said that there was no furnace in existence that could make a facsimile of real lava, because it's produced under enormous pressures underground.
I'm not so sure this is really that different, though. A higher pressure would just mean that the melting temperature would be lower, I think.
Here are some electric kilns you can buy that go up to 2350F. (1287 C.)
Wikipedia says lava is between 700 to 1,200 °C.
There are many types of rock, and I think you may be correct that glasses can melt at lower temperatures, but "The most abundant elements in the Earth's crust are oxygen (46.6%) and silicon (27.7%). Minerals which combine these two elements are called silicates" and "All the silicates are molten at about 1200°C".
I think most rocks are glasslike.
posted by bitslayer at 5:02 PM on May 18, 2015
I'm not so sure this is really that different, though. A higher pressure would just mean that the melting temperature would be lower, I think.
Here are some electric kilns you can buy that go up to 2350F. (1287 C.)
Wikipedia says lava is between 700 to 1,200 °C.
There are many types of rock, and I think you may be correct that glasses can melt at lower temperatures, but "The most abundant elements in the Earth's crust are oxygen (46.6%) and silicon (27.7%). Minerals which combine these two elements are called silicates" and "All the silicates are molten at about 1200°C".
I think most rocks are glasslike.
posted by bitslayer at 5:02 PM on May 18, 2015
How tough is this stuff once hardened? I mean can I make a terrazzo floor with it and be able to play "floor is lava" for realsies?
posted by mcrandello at 4:25 AM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mcrandello at 4:25 AM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Iirc you need the pressure and time to get the chemistry right. Sure you can reheat some basalt and get something similiar, but it won't be identical to the stuff fresh out of a lava tube. When the stuff you re-melt originally flowed out into the air or ocean it out gassed and reacted chemically with the environment. Then it would continue to react as it weathers. So what you re-heat isn't the same exact substance that first poured forth from the magma chamber.
posted by humanfont at 12:16 PM on May 19, 2015
posted by humanfont at 12:16 PM on May 19, 2015
As I was watching the lava steak video I was screaming "Take them out! It's been long enough, they're way past medium rare now!!" Then when I got to where they threw the steak right into the lava I knew these were people with utterly no respect for meat.
posted by destrius at 7:48 AM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by destrius at 7:48 AM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
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