Careful with Glass topped turbo roasters

beanflying

Not wanting to be alarmist here but one of our members here Coffeehorse had a glass top on a Turbo oven explode on him a day or so back during a roast. Luckily no facial injuries but the nearby cat needed a trip to the vet.

"Turbo-oven lid exploded - second roast. Must not have liked being hot - supposedly heatproof glass but still hit me in the face. Not happy."

Just a heads up keep the glass clean and play safely. See any large scratches throw it out and get another.

Lacehim

Wow, this is the first time I've heard of this happening.  What brand was it?  There seem to be heaps and heaps of cheaper TO's hitting the shops at the moment.  They seem to be everywhere. Personally I would have blamed the cat!   ;D  :D

Koffee_Kosmo

I am glad no one was hurt Was it a brand new unit? I am aware of one Aldi unit crazing in 2008  and I suspect that it must have been a manufacturing fault of some sort Its also possible that the Turbo Oven may have had some "incident during transport" which caused a tiny fracture in the glass. This fracture will slowly, invisibly increase over time until something pushes it over the edge One other theory I can come up with is If the glass top was a tight fit in the metal ring frame, perhaps if the glass expanded tight in the frame & caused a stress fracture and then shattered the glass I have also heard of tempered glass tables shattering when a hot item is placed on it None of the units we use have had any reports of such an occurrence KK

Brett H

Wow, good to know.  Thanks for posting BF!  My setup is in the back shed and my little girl often toddles down for a look.  Thanks for the warning and I hope the cat's okay.

beanflying

Apparently not a complete Catastrophe  ::)

UNM

on 1317539141:

Apparently not a complete Catastrophe  ::)

Cat as trophy?

Brett H

on 1317548264:

Cat as trophy?

That would be claws for alarm!

Muscles

Could potentially happen another 8 times before any real need for alarm...

coffeehorse

The brand in question was a Tiffany turbo oven. I feel somewhat aggrieved that I was sold something which was implied to be a (KK)TO roaster rather than what it actually was, but the price was low enough that it might not be right of me to feel moreso. Essentially, the glass top should never sit directly on the pasta pot lid. When you look at the videos of all of KK's ovens, they either have 3 black heatproof buffer bits, or a blue silicon ring. This had neither, and although independently acceptable, the PC transformer connecting to the motor via bare wires. The roaster then involved a pair of brick pairs to raise the pot to the right height, and the TO resting on the top of the pot. So probably cracked from tiny movements against the pot, and flew outward because of the pressure of sitting on the pot. The glass also had a layer of brown oil. However, having had tempered glass shatter on me before (grill glass), it tells me two things. 1) KK spent a heap of time trying to make sure his roasting setup was safe, while using a turbo oven outside warrantied usage and in a potentially dangerous manner. 2) Always wear safety specs or at a minimum, sunglasses with hardened lenses (eg. oakleys) around hot glass @ ~230C. 3) Turbo oven glass should be cleaned regularly to prevent oil buildup. Sadly with the back injury I'm going to be selling my beloved Domus Galatea even to pay rent + rehab costs, so while I'm not earning at the moment I can't afford KK's lovely parts. I would say that the Tiffany TO rated at 1200-1400W was a lovely and well-timed roasting machine, but that the Homemaker unit I've found is a very bright yellow halogen element, so with the guard removed (to prevent 30 minute roasts) I think I'm as happy as I can be with the setup at the moment. As there's no insert I'm roasting on bare metal with a 15.5L volume (295mm diameter, 230mm height), and agitating directly, with a small vertical cut for chaff (sadly large enough for the odd baby yirgabeany to pop out), and a slightly bent/non-rigid motor shaft makes the shaft/agitator quite loud. Totally agree with beanflying's info - not cause for alarm, but cause for caution. Manufacturing fault, poor maintenance or no, if you get eye damage from it, no judge or jury is going to award you compensation for using a turbo-oven like this. Total cost of the incident was about $450, including replacement TO and stablising the pan so it couldn't do this again. I don't think it's the fault of the Tiffany TO, but of the seller's somewhat bodgy setup. While I appreciate the price he sold it at, it's been an experience I could ill afford.