The ultimate barbecue? Chef cooks steak using LAVA - and says it's the best he has ever eaten

Syracuse University lab created lava that reached heat of 2,700F

Chef Sam Bompas said steak was the best he had ever eaten due to the lack of smoke and high temperatures

Team hope to create a 'lava volcano'

The best steak restaurants pride themselves on their ovens.

They are far hotter that the average home setup - but for one British chef they still weren't enough.

Sam Bompas travelled to Syracuse University in upstate New York to attempt to cook using Lava created by an 'artificial volcano'.



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Sam Bompas cooked on a lava flow which reached temperatures of 2,700F



HOW IT WORKS Professor Robert Wysocki and his team at Syracuse University in upstate New York have customised a 3 million BTU bronze furnace bought used in Canada for $2500. To create lava, they start with Dresser Trap Rock and use the furnace, described as 'like a crock pot' to melt it.

It takes about 60 hours to melt and degas approx. 800lbs of lava, which creates a flow lasting 7-9 minutes.

The team has done 100 lava pours so far, for artistic and scientific purposes, but had never actually used the lava’s 2,700°F heat to cook before.



'I've always been obsessed with volcanoes, and had a dream of being able to cook with lava,' he told Mailonline.

'We wanted to find a way to cook with it, and heard about Professor Robert Wysocki, who has spent five years working to perfect a technique to make lava in this furnace.'

Bompas got in touch with Wysocki at Syracuse University in upstate New York, and he instantly agreed to help them.

The researchers created an artificial flow of Lava for the team to cook on.

The ultimate barbecue? Sam Bompas grills steak on the lava flow created from an artificial volcano

The finished steak and corn, which Bompas described as the best he'd ever eaten

Although it was the first time steak has been cooked on lava, the results mean that the chef hopes it won't be the last - and says cooking over lava could be the ultimate way to prepare steak.



'When you cook on a barbecue you get a ot of smoke.

'Because lava is pure heat, you get meat sealed v quickly, and with a very even char.'

The team even developed a special technique, sealing the meat with an initial blast of lave, letting it rest, then finishing it off.

A grill was clamped over the lava flow to allow the chef easy access

The 2,100F molten lava, which is created on site and then poured to recreate a lava flow

'It was awesome - and totally delivers, in fact it was the best steak I've ever had in my life ,' said Bompas.

The firm now hope to develop the technique for an event.

'We are hoping we can scale the lava flow and do this elsewhere, we have big plans.

'We want to create a lava banquet for 500 people - you can combine education, thrill and have an experience you'll want to tell everyone about.'

Robert Wysocki and his team at Syracuse University said 'After looking into them, I realized they were very serious, fun/insane and had pulled off some really ambitious projects.



'I found their commitment to their work to be as serious as I am to mine; I think they are operating in a new area of fine art installation involving entertainment, food, science, etc. all of which translates to an incredibly deep curiosity on their part.



'After the opening of their Museum of Sex installation in June they came up to Syracuse.



'After they saw their first but short pour of lava for a Nasa grant proof of concept; they went with my assistant to the grocery store and I went to the ice place; the result is what you see in the video'.

Ready to cook: Bompas wore special protective clothing die the the heat and his proximity to the lava

The lava is full

WHAT THEY'VE DONE BEFORE Bompas's firm, Bompas and Parr, have previously created several major food installations, ranging from jelly moulds in the shape of buildings to gin and tonic 'clouds;. They also worked to allow Londoners to 'taste' New Years eve fireworks. This year, the skyline will not only be filled with exploding colours, but peach snow, banana confetti and giant 'zesty orange' bubbles. Jelly geniuses Bompas & Parr, who famously put a cake-inspired crazy golf course on the roof of Selfridges, have created special effects involving fruit flavours and fruit smells, to go along with the fireworks.























