Comments on: BELSHAW DONUT ROBOT 42

BELSHAW DONUT ROBOT 42

ikkyu2 — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:16:19 -0800

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Belshaw Donut Robot (Model 42.)

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:46:19 -0800

I had no idea I wanted to know about Belshaw Donut Robot 42. Reading that post makes me wonder how I ever managed to survive without knowing about the Belshaw Donut Robot 42. Plus that I now want a dozen donuts. Lovely.

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:48:24 -0800

I want one.

By: i_am_a_Jedi

i_am_a_Jedi — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:58:12 -0800

Goddamn I'm hungry for some donuts.

By: Jofus

Jofus — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 04:12:11 -0800

Concensus: Donuts please!

By: roomwithaview

roomwithaview — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 04:13:27 -0800

That was kind of fun.

By: Mr.Encyclopedia

Mr.Encyclopedia — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 04:13:48 -0800

This is the best of the web.

By: rudster

rudster — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 04:36:30 -0800

Ahh, donut robots ... what can't they do?

By: imperium

imperium — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 04:36:41 -0800

And certainly amongst the most fattening of the web.

By: Malor

Malor — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 04:38:24 -0800

The Belshaw Donut Robot 42: The answer to life, the universe, and expanding waistlines.

By: MetaMonkey

MetaMonkey — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 05:03:05 -0800

Now he just needs a delivery machine. /must eat donuts

By: blacklite

blacklite — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 05:19:54 -0800

The Donut Robot 42 has made my day.

By: eriko

eriko — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 05:37:26 -0800

ROCK. But not TOTAL ROCK, for the Belshaw Donut Robot (Model 42) doesn't appear to have an automatic glazing attachment.

By: kalessin

kalessin — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:05:10 -0800

Let me be the second person to mention getting fat and the first person to insult the FATTIES on this thread. (please note: I'm actually vociferously against fat bashing, and so on, but since I figure it's inevitable that Metafilter is about and for fat-bashing, I figured I could just get the comment in now and be done with it.) FATTIES FATTIES FATTIES!

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:06:59 -0800

Best post of the week... now where the hell are my donuts? I WANT donuts..I want them NOW.....

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:08:21 -0800

Best post of the month. Wow.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:12:41 -0800

Very excellent. When I was in college the food service where I worked had one of these that they never ran. I eyed it every time I went to work, wondering if I could get it to work, but alas, I never was able to convince the powers above me to run it. My favorite part of this story is that the guy spent $900 on a donut machine (with apparently no way to actually get rid of the donuts), and was only willing to blow $5 on a postal scale at Staples for his mixing needs. "The reason they do this is because industrial food manufacturers are communists who hate America." Excellent!

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:19:23 -0800

put your money where your mouth is... let's all chip in and buy this one! You can keep it at my house, I'll make donuts whenever you come to visit, you bring the wine... a nice merlot perhaps...

By: ernie

ernie — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:27:35 -0800

Belshaw ain't the only game in town y'all. The added bonus of the lil orbit machine is that the founder looks like he would cut your head off.

By: davelog

davelog — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:29:54 -0800

OMG, I worked with a Donut Robot 42 at Shipley Donuts in Corpus Christi, TX back in the 80's. I used to spend the majority of the graveyard shift baked to the tits and mesmerized watching it plop, flip, and cook the cake donuts. Thanks for the memory, I'd forgotten all about that sucker.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:35:59 -0800

Unavailable for comment.

By: beaucoupkevin

beaucoupkevin — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:38:01 -0800

This. This. This is brilliant. Brilliant.

By: Zinger

Zinger — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:41:43 -0800

Donuts. The number 42. Coincidence? Clearly not. Donuts are obviously far more important, existentially and philosophically, than I'd given them credit for. This warrants an investigation. I'll start with the chocolate glazed.

By: zekinskia

zekinskia — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:43:54 -0800

Mmmmmmmm. Donut robot.

By: jdfalk

jdfalk — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:49:08 -0800

Elsewhere in donut robot land: ="http://static.flickr.com/44/132919602_24f610ac5e_d.jpg"> (plop...plop...plop...)

By: jdfalk

jdfalk — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:49:32 -0800

feh! it worked in the preview.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:51:53 -0800

Donut robots were unknown to me until I went to Prince Edward Island. There on Saturday was an open air market, a donut robot, and a line of about twenty people. This robot must have been a junior model because it only shot out a dozen donuts a minute, and everyone ahead of me was getting at least a dozen fresh tiny delicious little donuts with cinnamon and sugar. I waited patiently, got my two dozen, and had eaten a full dozen before I managed to bring the bags to my friends who were waiting for donuts. The only thing more awesome would be a robot made out of donuts made by a donut robot. Grey goo with holes in the center and delicious glazing.

By: PlusDistance

PlusDistance — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:52:03 -0800

At the risk of being labeled anti-donut, I have to ask: wouldn't this make your house reek to high heaven of used greasy shortening?

By: Joeforking

Joeforking — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:56:14 -0800

HuronBob, you'll need a 3 phase power supply.

By: fleetmouse

fleetmouse — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:58:05 -0800

Oh man, when I was a kid they had one of these at the downtown Eatons department store in Montreal. It made some fiiiiine donuts. And yes it is completely mesmerising. I think watching it lowers your blood pressure so you can eat a bunch and break even on the health-o-meter.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:07:27 -0800

I see your Donut Robot. And I raise you ... Donut Robot - MARK II!!!!

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:08:03 -0800

PlusDistance: You are SO not getting it, are you?

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:08:07 -0800

FATTIES FATTIES FATTIES! HURF DURF DONUT-ROBOT-42-OUTPUT EATER

By: kalessin

kalessin — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:22:55 -0800

On topic, though, there's a vendor at my farmer's market who has one of these that makes mini-donuts. It's $2 for a little bag. You can put cinnamon or powdered sugar on them, and hot, they're amazing.

By: lalochezia

lalochezia — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:33:42 -0800

6.5 donuts per minute are going to eventually overwhelm your defenses. Oh yeah? Youtube link

By: punilux

punilux — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:36:06 -0800

I met the nicest girlfriend I ever knew in the queue at a Donut Robot 42. I shared my donuts with her after the machine broke down before she received her bag. We had a donut eating contest. Reader, I failed to marry her.

By: glycolized

glycolized — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:38:27 -0800

When I was in college the food service where I worked had one of these that they never ran. I eyed it every time I went to work... We had one of these that did work in my dorm in 1988. It looked ancient, but they did fire it up about twice a month. Looking back on it , it was pretty sick what you could put together on donut day. They had a "condiment" bar at the end, where you could take a warm donut and slather it with frostings of many colors, sprinkles, nuts (seldom used), and chocolate baking chips.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 09:15:45 -0800

A vendor was using one of these (or something identical) at the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas in October, 2005. Watching it was oddly mesmerizing, and the output was simply delicious. I went with cinnamon and sugar... and sometimes late at night I wonder if I should have done powdered sugar instead. punilux: I hope you regret that decision as much as I do for you.

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 10:40:22 -0800

DONUTS! Yesh! If I but had a laundry room to put one in....

By: Lazlo Hollyfeld

Lazlo Hollyfeld — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:06:24 -0800

mmm.... I had some cider donuts fresh off of one of these at a you-pick place a couple of months ago. Taaaaasty.

By: punilux

punilux — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 12:39:41 -0800

Ynoxas : Only every time I eat a donut. I also remember seeing a manual version of the DR42 at a funfair once. It was oddly reminiscent of an up-market restaurant where you pick your dinner from the fishtank; your donuts were individually hand-cranked to order and you watched their greasy progress from oil to sugar to soon-to-be-transparent paper bag.

By: [@I][:+:][@I]

[@I][:+:][@I] — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 13:52:44 -0800

I want to know more about this robot.

By: not that girl

not that girl — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 14:10:15 -0800

Don't you people have a local Krispy Kreme where you can go watch through plate glass as their industrial automated donut factory cranks 'em out by the hundreds? Complete with glaze. That's something to see. Of course, it's not as cool as having one in your laundry room. But still.

By: autodidact

autodidact — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:11:22 -0800

Sign me up for some fresh warm chocolate glazed donuts boyeee! Hooo boy that thing is awesome! I'd like to have one, along with a real movie theatre popcorn machine. There's a link in the comments on his livejournal to the IMDB page for "The Doughnuts" which was one of my favourite short stories as a kid. Never saw the movie but that story sure makes ya want some doughnuts!

By: autodidact

autodidact — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:15:44 -0800

Which spelling do you guys prefer, "Donut" or "Doughnut"? I like the longer way because it is more full of doughy goodness. Of course the shorter way is a bit kitschy and I suppose the donut has become a bit of an american icon so perhaps it is appropriate to slangify.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:20:28 -0800

Toronto residents should all have fond memories of the TIny Tim booth in the food building at the CNE... it's basically a machine like this one except it pumps out wee, tiny little donuts which get covered in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. That said, it is cool to have your own, though no so cool to start a fat fire in your laundry room. Sounds... dangerous.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:22:04 -0800

Oooh - pictures and videos! And Tiny Tom, not Tim.

By: RufusW

RufusW — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:35:19 -0800

The doughnuts should be dropping into a box of sugar....

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:47:17 -0800

kalessin writes "(please note: I'm actually vociferously against fat bashing, and so on, but since I figure it's inevitable that Metafilter is about and for fat-bashing, I figured I could just get the comment in now and be done with it.)" Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over? autodidact writes "Which spelling do you guys prefer, 'Donut' or 'Doughnut'? " The correct one. They're made of dough, not do. GuyZero writes "Toronto residents should all have fond memories of the TIny Tim booth in the food building at the CNE... it's basically a machine like this one except it pumps out wee, tiny little donuts which get covered in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar." Oh dear God yes. I loved loved loved loved those doughnuts as a kid. So hot they practically burnt your lips off. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

By: HyperBlue

HyperBlue — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:53:39 -0800

I like the comment at the bottom from anonymus: I'm totally linking to this from my Flickr photo of the nameplate on another Donut Robot 42 (http://flickr.com/photos/meyerweb/132867103/in/set-72057594113810129/). The one I shot is located in Cleveland Heights, OH, and is owned by a guy who lives a block away from me. Every October he sets up the Robot in his front yard one Saturday morning and gives away free donuts to anyone who cares to drop by. He usually gets several hundred people, and occasional writeups in local papers. It's a party and a half. Sounds like a cool neighborhood!

By: kalessin

kalessin — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 19:37:28 -0800

dirtnumbangelboy, if it ain't clear for you already, let me just say that I have a number of friends who refuse to comment here, much less read the Big Blue because of the occasional self-hating and neurotic bouts of fattie-bashing that go on here at the Big Blue [Mesa]. I guess donuts bridge the gap and tickle the pleasure centers of the metaBrain before anyone can go off about how eating leads to being fat and how fat leads to dying of something horrible, which is good. I think those trains of thought are really unhelpful in general.

By: kalessin

kalessin — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 19:38:26 -0800

HyperBlue, Cleveland Heights is the bomb. I plan to/wish to move there soon.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 04:35:17 -0800

kalessin, how about you drop the condescending tone? Also, there's a difference between 'fattie bashing'--which I have never seen here--and a recognition that obesity is a health issue which comes with increased risks of diabetes, heart disease, etc.