looking for a good mother's day present?

Sharp unveils fat-busting microwave oven
(this tech is about a year old, as is this article...but my housewife students often talk about it)

TOKYO - Eyeing up that juicy steak but worried about your waistline? Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. says it has developed a new fat-busting microwave oven that can melt some of your worries away.

Unveiling its invention to media on Monday, Sharp said the microwave generates "superheated steam" at a temperature of about 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit), hot enough to melt fat and reduce oil and salt from steak, chicken, fish and other foods.

Osaka-based Sharp said the product was developed to address a growing awareness among consumers about the need for a healthier diet, especially with obesity rates climbing to worrisome levels in many countries around the world.

Sharp said the machine's fat-zapping power derives from a steam generating unit that produces a combination of convective heat and condensation heat so hot that fat liquefies and flows out of the food in a very short period of time.

The company said the new oven can remove eight times more fat off a 200 gram beefsteak than if prepared in a frying pan, leading to a 13 percent reduction in calories. It can cut nearly 19 percent of the fat off a 100 gram serving of mackerel, compared with about 12 percent reduction when using a gas grill, Sharp said.

But reducing the fat and calories of your meals will come at a price. Sharp said it expected the "AX-HC1" to sell for about 126,000 yen ($1,153), or several times the price of a typical microwave oven that might retail in Japan for around 20,000 yen (170USD).