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Crowdfunding Smash: A $50, 10x13 Steel Plate Lands $1 Million and Counting

Because it helps you cook better

By Rain Noe - May 24, 2021

in Food | Crowdfunding

The latest crowdfunding smash on Kickstarter may also be the simplest object ever sold on the platform. The Misen Oven Plate is just a 10" x 13.5", 6mm-thick piece of steel with rounded corners. And it just shot past the $1-million mark.

Cooking utensil company Misen says that your average oven fluctuates wildly in temperature, exposing its contents to a rollercoaster of temperatures that can yield inconsistent results.

So, Misen says, they've borrowed a trick from pro chefs to even out the temperature, which is to merely add a steel plate below (and/or above) the dish being cooked.

I don't doubt (much) that the plate might be useful; it's just sobering, as someone trained in industrial design, to see a product with almost no design applied to it achieve such wild success. The campaign was seeking just $25,000, and they're now 4,000%-plus funded, with 27 days left to pledge.

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The plates run 50 bucks a pop, or 80 for a pair.

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Chris Simon

3 years ago

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> “ it's just sobering, as someone trained in industrial design, to see a product with almost no design applied to it achieve such wild success...”

Hardly a product— just a material. You wouldn’t feel so bad if someone put fire bricks in their oven and reported the same results.

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Alex Netz

3 years ago

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2 incredible achievements:
They convinced thousands of buyers that they have a problem no one knew they had, and they convinced them to spend 50$ On steel plate they could probably procure locally for pennies

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- Nathan D.
  
  Alex Netz
  
  3 years ago
  
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  A comparable raw sheet on McMaster-Carr is nearly $300. McMaster-Carry is typically close to double the going local price when it comes to sheet metals, so let's say $150 is closer to reality. Add plasma cutting and finishing work so you wind up with something that won't slice your hands open every time you touch it and you're well above the "pennies" range.
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  - William Holden
    
    Nathan D.
    
    3 years ago
    
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    But you *could* go to a local metal shop and get a scrap peace of metal. Come with a six pack and to ask them to smooth the edges.
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Cherry Knobloch

3 years ago

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Nothing new- just more durable and easier to care for than a pizza stone. I bought a bigger one made by Pizzacraft over a year ago on Amazon for $45 and would do it again. It does have a finish of some sort on it so it hasn't rusted. When we order pizza, we get it unsliced and throw it right on the steel for a few minutes for a crisp crust. I hate soggy or undercooked pie crusts- this fixes that, cookies bottoms are better browned. Haven't roasted vegetables though- use the grill for that.

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Andrew Roberson

3 years ago

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Misen nicely presents a relatable problem, but not sure the product is as amazing as advertised. There are a lot of variables for even cooking results, but preheating is very important. Usually an oven is finished preheating when the cavity air reaches temperature, however, if a cook preheats the oven so that the cavity itself is hot the temperature is more even and cooking results more consistent. Adding 6mm metal plates to the oven might increase cavity preheat time by +20 min, but ultimately yes, would help keep the temperature steady. Of course there are also different oven modes like convection bake which is designed to circulate hot air evenly... Misen didn't show too much detail in terms of testing. If you've made it this far reading this comment, you should also know I designed the fluctuating temperature Bosch wall ovens tested in the kickstarter campaign so I can speak on this topic at length. :)

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Jeffrey Warnock

3 years ago

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Yet Apple will charge $35 for a USB C to Lightning cable... which also costs pennies to produce. With a steel plate, you still have a relevant steel plate after a decade. ;-)

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Wal Grop

3 years ago

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It's definitely not for the casual chef, but as a tool for someone trying to dial in their craft, I can see how this would appeal to the pro-sumer. And as far as the "almost no design applied," comment, would encourage you to watch the dieter rams doc and compare this to the last 2 kickstarters posted here.

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steve hassler

3 years ago

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I wonder how it will rust, maintain, and last if it's not stainless steel. At least I'm assuming it's not stainless since they don't mention it.

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- Ken K
  
  steve hassler
  
  3 years ago
  
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  It's A36 - ordinary hot roll steel. It's mentioned on their kickstarter. It's about the cheapest (and ugliest) steel you can get. From someplace like Midwest Steel Supply, one of the cheapest online suppliers, a single rough-cut unfinished, unsurfaced piece would be about $40, coming down to about $20 each at quantity, and of course less if manufactured en masse. And yeah, A36 will rust. But at $40 each (for a pair), it's surprisingly not the worst markup in the world.
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- Andrew Roberson
  
  steve hassler
  
  3 years ago
  
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  I agree it is likely to rust since it is not stainless
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Anthony Towers

3 years ago

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browning? looks more like burning

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