The Client

Danon, as head baker for Mad Mac’s Bakery, excels in specialty macarons and liquor-infused cupcakes. Also the co-founder of Odin & Sons Comic Book Shop, she wishes she had more time to devote to her comic shop and her costuming hobbies.

Current Method

Danon expressed that sifting takes the most time in making a batch of macarons because it must be repeated 2-3 times. She uses a whisk inside the mesh to try and accelerate the process, but the repeated circular motion aggravates her carpal tunnel syndrome.

Visual Exploration

Some ideas of potential directions for a solution included various layered meshes, adding bearings into the sifter, or even creating a flour vacuum.

Physical Research & Development

After testing a few of the ideas from the sketch wall above, the bearings had the most immediate success. I pursued the idea first in broad shape differences, then, seeing that knots were the most successful, narrowed them down based on speed, food safety, dry time, and break resistance.

CMF Exploration

Danon’s style, visualized here, was taken into consideration for the final form and finish of the baking knots.

Final Design

The final working prototype is shown below with a potential packaging solution.

The final knots are food safe, and their open design prevents flour buildup and allows for fast air-dry times because water can’t collect.

The baking knots significantly speed up the sifting process and can sift three cups of flour in 8.4 seconds, compared to 16.6 seconds shaken without the knots or 19.8 seconds stirred with a whisk, Danon’s previous method. That’s a speed increase of 50-60%!