A Western Australian company has made a hot chip vending machine that deep-fries frozen chips while you wait.

While the idea has occurred to many who have stared sadly at the closed sign of the local takeaway at 3 a.m. before stumbling home for a disappointing slice of toast, the successful execution took years of work.

It’s the latest venture of Perth businessman Peter Malone, best known for his turn as managing director of collapsed telecommunications company New Tel.

Malone, who heads The Hot Chips Company, said the vending machine’s development began more than 10 years ago when his group of business associates began tracking failed attempts by other companies.

He said their machine, which has just passed the trial stage and will start commercial production this year, fried the chips in a 10-liter vat of rice bran oil in the belly of the machine.

The technology used in the final design, which relies on a robotic arm to catch the chips in a cup and then serve them up to the waiting customer, has only become available in recent years.

Malone suggested the chips could qualify for the Heart Foundation tick because they were fried in cholesterol-free oil. He said the risk of food poisoning was minimal because “potatoes are very much an inert product.”

The potato selection was no easy task. Stephen Bendotti is a director of the potato processing company Bendotti Exporters and WA Chip, which supplies the chips. He said it had taken a lot of trial and error to make frozen chips that would cook properly within minutes.

The exact makeup of the chips is a closely guarded secret, but Bendotti said they were likely to be more uniform than ordinary ones.”It has to be the perfect size and length so it doesn’t get lodged in the machine,” he said.

Malone said the company planned to manufacture 200 of them by the end of the year, with production increasing to 1,000 machines in 2016 and 5,000 in 2017.

澳大利亚西部一家公司设计出一款热薯条自动贩卖机，顾客等候期间能自动将冷冻薯条炸成热腾腾的薯条。

凌晨三点，人们幽怨的盯一眼外卖餐馆前暂时歇业的告示牌，而后踉跄回家啃索然无味的面包片时，脑海通常会闪过一个念头：如果有一台热食自动售卖机多好。这种想法历经多年终于成为现实。

这是澳大利亚珀斯城商人彼得·马隆最新的投资项目，其最为人熟知的身份是已倒闭的电信公司New Tel总经理一职。

担任热薯条公司总经理的马隆表示，十多年前，其商业团队跟进其他公司在这方面不成功的尝试，开始研发这款自动贩卖机。

马隆称，这款机器刚通过试验阶段，将于今年投入商业化生产，薯条会在装有10升米糠油的机体内炸制。

最终设计中采用的技术使用机械手臂将薯条置于杯中，递交给等候中的顾客。该技术是近年才进入实用阶段的。

马隆认为，这种薯条会得到心脏基金会的认可，因为它是采用不含胆固醇的食用油煎制的。他称食物中毒的可能性非常小，因为“土豆具有化学惰性。”

挑选土豆绝非易事，供应商是从事土豆加工的本多蒂出口和WA薯条公司。担任这家公司董事的史蒂芬·本多蒂表示，他们试了很多次才生产出可在数分钟内炸制成功的冷冻薯条。

薯条成分是严守的机密，但本多蒂透

露，它们可能比普通薯条具有更标准的外形。本多蒂说，“它们的形状和长度必须统一，以免卡在机器里。”

马隆称，公司计划今年年底前制造出200台这样的机器，2016年与2017年分别增产至1000台和5000台。

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【踉跄】liàngqiàng stumble walk or go unsteadily

    【惰性的】duòxìng de inert having little or no ability to react