I recently wrote about the EsmoSphere food preservation magnet that can slow food waste. Since its kind Singaporean manufacturers sent me a sample, the least I could do is test it out and share the results.
Since I received the seafood model, I decided to assess it with the sea life I cook most often: shrimp.
At the seafood counter, I had the clerk put 1/3 pound shrimp in two separate bags. Using standard food-magnet testing equipment (OK, desk dividers), I rigged up the crisper drawer so that the electromagnetic field would affect the test shrimp, but not the control shrimp in the other drawer with the carrots and cucumbers. It was all very scientific; all that was missing was the white lab coat (will a bathrobe suffice?).
Four days later (the high end of the recommended test period), the regular shrimp had experienced some serious water loss as they started to break down. By comparison, the EsmoSphere-aided shrimp looked better. Outside of their bags, the EsmoSphere shrimp also looked a little better than the control.
I decided to cook them to see if I could taste a difference, and because we wouldn’t want to waste food! I boiled them in identical pots for 3 minutes and then examined the results. I didn’t notice a difference, aside from that black mark that many shrimp have.
As for the texture, the EsmoSphere shrimp were definitely a little firmer and had a little more snap to them. Both varieties tasted good, however. I guess the lesson here is that I’m such an amazing cook I don’t need an EsmoSphere. Or maybe that the EsmoSphere works moderately well.