Today in fun-but-unnecessary things you can do with molten lava: Culinary research group/event planners Bompas & Parr teamed with a group from Syracuse University to cook a steak over molten lava that flowed at 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. SU professor Robert Wysocki, an expert in "artificial volcanos and streams of man-made lava," has used his lava-pouring device for scientific purposes in the past, but the group notes this is the first time it's been implemented for "something as ubiquitous as cooking."
Bompas & Parr have experimented with unorthodox cooking methods before: In an experiment with the UK's University of Southampton, steaks were zapped with lightning at 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in a cook taking "microseconds." In this experiment, two steaks (and two ears of corn) are thrown on a grill placed just above the lava flow, resulting in a slower cooking process compared to lightning: But it's the most mesmerizing cooking process you'll probably see today. Go, watch:
Video: B&P Cook Out
· B&P Cook Out [Vimeo]
· All Steak Coverage on Eater [-E-]