February 19, 2026
Soup needs a spin doctor
Making the Vortex Mixer
From lab bench to blender? Should this spinny gizmo whirl your soup
TLDR: A new piece recounts how two brothers invented the lab’s trusty vortex mixer in 1959. In the comments, readers debate bringing lab mixers to the kitchen—some dream of smoother sauces and cocktails, others worry about magnets in food, mess, and safety—turning a nerdy origin story into a home‑cooking tug‑of‑war.
Asimov Press just resurfaced the origin story of the humble lab workhorse: the vortex mixer, dreamed up by brothers Jack and Harold Kraft back in 1959 with a patent for an “Apparatus for mixing fluent material”. In plain English: a tiny machine that wiggles a rubber cup so fast it creates a swirling mini‑tornado and mixes whatever’s in your test tube. It’s in almost every biology lab, born from the Krafts’ radio-repair hustle and wartime machine obsession, and it saved scientists from endless stirring by hand.
But the community immediately turned this lab nostalgia into a kitchen showdown. One reader confessed they’re “surprised” the lab’s magnetic stirrer—a plate that spins a little magnet—never made it to mainstream kitchens, daydreaming about perfect sauces… then catching themselves at the thought of an inedible “magnetic bean” in their soup. Cue the hot takes: DIY fans want “sous‑vortex” cocktails and lump‑free pancake batter; skeptics point out kitchen goop is thicker, messier, and way less forgiving than a test tube. The mood? Equal parts gadget lust and “please don’t choke” energy. The debate swirled around safety, cleaning hassles, and whether this is a cool hack or a chaotic dinner‑disaster. And yes, the jokes practically write themselves: “vortex margaritas,” “spin cycle for soup,” and the immortal question—do we really want lab gear near lasagna?
Key Points
- •In 1959, Jack and Harold Kraft filed a patent titled “Apparatus for mixing fluent material,” introducing the vortex mixer.
- •The Kraft brothers, New York–born entrepreneurs, evolved from radio repair and record player manufacturing to scientific equipment.
- •Dr. Samuel R. Natelson, a clinical chemist at St. Vincent’s Hospital of New York, highlighted lab mixing challenges and advised the Krafts.
- •Existing mixing options—magnetic stir bars with electromagnetic stir plates or manual methods—were limited and required cleaning.
- •A prototype was built within three days in October 1958 using a shaded pole AC motor; the design used a rubber cup to impart orbital motion and create a vortex.