Other than something like modeling clay or a paint set, very few toys are as practical as the Easy-Bake Oven. Originally made by Kenner in the ‘60s, the Easy-Bake Oven is basically a plastic box with a lightbulb in it, and hungry children could use it to bake terrible cakes while their groovy parents were off having key parties or whatever. For a few brief moments as a kid, famous food nerd Alton Brown really loved having an Easy-Bake Oven, and even though he eventually got tired of its miniature baked goods, the thrill of cooking something with nothing but the power of light still appeals to him.
That’s why he built a grown-up version of the Easy-Bake Oven called the “Mega Bake.” As explained in the video below, his behemoth uses 54 1,000-watt bulbs, and it’s bright enough that if you took it outside on a clear night it could be seen from space:
One of the most fun parts of the video is the way Brown offers important tips about how to use the Mega Bake properly, as if the people watching this might just build their own version of it. Don’t forget to keep turning your pirate wheel, people at home! Also, not to quibble with Alton Brown, but if you’re showing off an industrial-strength Easy-Bake Oven, shouldn’t you actually use it to bake a cake? Otherwise this is more like a Pizzaz than anything else.