University researchers create all-in-one microwavable pie à la mode

By Britteny Dee | Originally Published: 07/05/11 7:01pm | No comments

For Hunter Gartner and his teammates, creating Minute Escape, a pie à la mode dish, was not as easy as pie.

Minute Escape is an all-in-one apple pie and custard ice cream dessert prepared in one minute by microwaving it.

Gartner, a recent graduate, used patent-pending technology he designed to heat the pie up while keeping the ice cream portion of the product frozen.

“It’s an interesting, intriguing concept to think that you can throw ice cream into the microwave and that it will be kept frozen,” alumna and team member Rebecca Watts said.

The product was created to compete in the Institute of Food Technologists’, or IFT, National Product Development competition.

IFT is a nonprofit scientific society whose members are professionals engaged in food science and technology.

One of the main purposes of the competition is to afford food industry representatives the opportunity to spot talented students for potential employment, IFT’s director of media relations Mindy Weinstein said in an email.

Minute Escape took first place out of six finalists in the competition, which took place in New Orleans June 11-14.

“Finding out that we won, there was a huge sense of pride,” Watts said. “The competition is very prestigious.”

Winning did not come easily, though.

The team began developing their product in fall 2010 and continued improving it throughout the spring semester — a process Gartner said required a great deal of time and effort.

After their concept was fully developed, Gartner and his team wrote a 22-page proposal explaining their product and how they plan to market it.

The night before the competition, Gartner said he baked more than half a dozen pies, and then baked several more the day of.

“We did have five really great pies in the end that we served the judges,” Gartner said.

At the event, each team was required to give a 10-minute presentation, participate in a 10-minute question-and-answer session and give a three-hour presentation on the poster they created for their product.

Finally, a panel of five judges sampled each team’s product and selected a winner.

“Right before the judging was by far the most nerve-racking part of the competition because you can have a stellar proposal, an amazing presentation and a really impressive poster, but if your product doesn’t deliver, then none of those things mean anything,” Watts said.

Receiving first place might not be the only benefit of the team’s hard work.

Janice Harte, the team’s adviser, said everyone’s hard work could pay off when they apply for a job.

The competition is well-known within the industry, and a student’s participation will be appreciated by potential employers, she said.
Currently, the future of Minute Escape is unknown.

MSU technology services owns the product and Gartner said he is unsure of what they plan to do with it.

“Maybe if (the product) gets out there a little bit more, some other companies might be interested in it,” he said.