STUDENTS fed-up with dodgy food as a result of poor quality ovens in their university accommodation have invented their own baking tray, with the help of a Malmesbury company.
Robbie Denning, 20, and twins Maiya and Luke Roberts, 21, had grown tired of inconsistently cooked food and so set about inventing their own purpose-built baking tray - fitted perfectly to deliver ideal crispy chips and perfectly cooked pizzas.
Robbie, a mechanical engineering student, made use of thermodynamics and designing software skills learned on his course to invent the MiraclePlate.
The plate is thicker than most baking trays, maximizing heat retention, while it features hexagonal holes aimed at spreading the airflow through the oven.
They say that the design also is covered in non-stick material so it will not rust, and is both lighter and cheaper than other hotplates on the market.
In contrast to other products, the MiraclePlate will also not break like ceramic pizza stones, nor does it way as much as competitors.
The team now aims to fundraise for their company BakePlate to begin production through Kickstarter.
The product will be available to be purchased through Kickstarter, and will be produced by Sweetnam & Bradley - a sheet metal fabrication business based in Malmesbury.
Robbie, from Stroud, said: "While we were studying at university we were living in student accommodation and we had quite bad ovens.
"Nothing was cooking properly, some chips at the back would be burned, at the front they wouldn't be cooked at all and they'd be soggy in the middle.
"It was the same for pizzas, you had to keep turning them around to get them to cook.
"So we thought there must be a way to cook everything without buying a really expensive oven.
"We found that products on the market with similar features were either really expensive or we didn't think would even work properly.
"If you own a house you can just buy a new oven, but for people like me who's moving every year as a student, you cant get a new oven.
"Now you can just take the tray with you wherever you need it, and it'll always work".
BakePlate also plans to develop a pizza tray equivalent in the future, and a chopping board.
You can purchase the plate online at bit.ly/3h80Etq
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