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^I love my One Touch but I do recommend getting the one that has the little flaps in the grate that you lift off to add more charcoal. I do not have that one and it's FREAKING ANNOYING.
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Feb 8, 2011 02:56
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The best cleavers are the kind you buy in asian markets with funny names and don't cost a smidge over 20 bucks. Explain to me the whole charcoal chimney thing. How do you use it / what does it do? I'm not very good on the grill and for whatever reason I let my wife do the grilling instead. It would be nice to take the grill back occasionally.
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Feb 8, 2011 05:00
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Instead of squirting lighter fluid all over the charcoal and lighting it, you stick it in the chimney and underneath it light something like a sheet of newspaper crumpled up with some vegetable oil. This will ignite the bottom charcoal and the chimney funnels the heat upward to ignite all the rest as well. Once they're going you just dump them out and spread them around.
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Feb 8, 2011 05:14
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King Arthur Flour is having another tiered site-wide sale. They stock the red splash-proof Thermapens and are the only retailer other than the manufacturer who ever put them on sale. One Thermapen is $81.56 (or $76.76 if you add a $4 item you want to get 20% off), decent but not quite as cheap as the Thermoworks sale that just ended. If you and a buddy go in together and order two, they're $71.96 each after 25% off. You have to use the link included in the e-mails they send out about the sale. Here is the one I received.
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Feb 8, 2011 12:22
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LoungieMu posted:The best cleavers are the kind you buy in asian markets with funny names and don't cost a smidge over 20 bucks. Try a chimney. You may look at it and scoff, but man, for something so simple, it really is the easiest way to get charcoal going. It is miles better than faffing around with fans/lighterfluid/those little firestarter things...
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Feb 8, 2011 19:08
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LoungieMu posted:
There are two chambers in the chimney, separated by a metal grate. The top, large chamber is where you put your charcoal. It'll hold quite a bit. Probably the top 5/6ths of the cannister are charcoal space. The bottom chamber is big enough to hold a couple of loosely wadded up pieces of newspaper. Once you have both chambers loaded up, you put the chimney on a fireproof surface. Some people put it right on the grill, but I find that leads to newspaper ashes in the grill. ick. You light the newspaper. The flame from the newspaper lights the bottom layer of charcoal. Because the chimney is, well, a chimney, the chimney effect draws the heat upward, igniting the rest of the charcoal over time. I usually light my chimney, go in and do final prep on my food and by the time I come back out, I have a tower of blazing hot charcoal. Dump that into your grill, put the grate on and proceed to make delicious food.
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Feb 8, 2011 19:16
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Phummus posted:There are two chambers in the chimney, separated by a metal grate. The top, large chamber is where you put your charcoal. It'll hold quite a bit. Probably the top 5/6ths of the cannister are charcoal space. They work brilliantly and I highly recommend their use. As you only need newspaper, you also avoid the taste given by fire-lighters etc
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Feb 8, 2011 19:32
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I just use my weed burner!
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Feb 8, 2011 19:33
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You can also cook directly on top of the chimney, just put a grate on it. It's great if you need fuckoff high temperatures and not much space.
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Feb 8, 2011 19:44
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If you're in the market for peelers, I'd like to recommend the Progressive Magnetic Peeler set: Three types of peelers (straight blade, serrated blade, Y-peeler) with a magnet built into each handle, so when you're not using them, you can stick them together, making yourself a mega peeler, like so:  Handy if you're opposed to rooting around in your drawer for a peeler, plus it handles well, peels smoothly and can be had for about $10 on Amazon.
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Feb 9, 2011 06:34
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GigaFool posted:I currently have 6 unglazed terracotta tiles in my oven, and I'm about to buy 6 more because we have a larger oven since moving. I spoke with mr. brown today, and he reiterated this was the way to go. soapstone, he said, is more durable, if you can find it.
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Feb 9, 2011 07:16
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I am looking for a rice cooker. It needs to do 4 things: 1. Cook long-grain brown rice well. 2. Steam veggies simultaneously. 3. Be able to set a time for it to start cooking so I can leave the rice/water in it and have it automatically make me breakfast. 4. Cook egg whites in some fashion (this is a secondary consideration, so if not possible then the other 3 still stand). I will only be cooking for one person so it can be small capacity. This is the closest I've found: http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-ECJ-HC55S-2-Cup-Micro-Computerized-Cooker/dp/B000X8VBWU/ref=pd_sim_k_3 But the review below says that the steaming tray does not hang from the lid, it normally sits on the bottom, so to steam veggies at the same time as cooking rice the tray would have to sit on top of the rice. Any ideas?
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Feb 9, 2011 07:20
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Green Vulture posted:Magnetic Mega-Peeler Ohhh this looks fantastic. I am such a sucker for things like this. I personally recommend one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Chefn-Dual-Ended-Spatula/dp/B001GI2ZR6/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1297244317&sr=8-17 This one is better than the other one Amazon sells, as the angle is much better. Sadly the more recent version doesn't have the interior metal quite as close to the tip, so it's not quite as stiff as the one my dad has, but it's lasted me a long time, can be used with almost anything, for almost anything and is tough as brass balls.
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Feb 9, 2011 10:43
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Jack Black posted:I am looking for a rice cooker. It needs to do 4 things: Why do you need a rice cooker that cooks egg whites? They take 1-2 minutes via pretty much any other cooking method.
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Feb 9, 2011 12:01
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With a rice cooker, think of it more along the lines of "if it's going to get my rice perfect, that's really all I can ask it to do." I have that exact model in the 10 cup version, and it churns out pot after pot of perfect brown rice every single day for me. Also, when I take it out of said pot, the nonstick coating on the inside doesn't let the brown rice stick to it. Also, it makes my brown rice fluffy and nice. If you want the thing to make brown rice, let it do its job, and don't ask it to try to do other things at the same time. The temperatures and cooking time needed for brown rice (as well as the pressure that's needed inside the cooker) is such that you turn it on, and /leave it alone/. Opening the lid will gently caress with the cooking time and consistency of the rice. Therefore, if you're asking it to steam vegetables, you're going to end up with mush. At the restaurant, when we steam vegetables, we put said vegetable into a mixing bowl, pour boiling water over it, and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes. You end up with perfectly steamed vegetables every time. Your better investment would be an electric kettle, that will boil your water very quickly. That way, when you're in your last 10 minutes of cooking time (for the rice), you can have your steamed veg around the same time with no hassle.
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Feb 9, 2011 15:06
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Green Vulture posted:If you're in the market for peelers, I'd like to recommend the Progressive Magnetic Peeler set: This looks dumb, sorry. Won't it stick to other metal objects in the drawer?
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Feb 9, 2011 16:14
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Massive posted:This looks dumb, sorry. Won't it stick to other metal objects in the drawer? They won't be super strong magnets or anything. I have magnetic measuring spoons that stack kind of like that and it's never been a problem. (magnetic stacking measuring spoons are also loving awesome) To go back to the chimney starterchat, you can also use forced air induction to get them going even faster. But they are really an excellent way to get your coals going.  I use them on briquettes and lump charcoal, try to find one with a smaller grate hole size for the lump charcoal though, the little bits like to fall through and clog up the newspaper. Or get some small gauge wire cloth cut to size.
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Feb 9, 2011 22:46
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Massive posted:This looks dumb, sorry. Won't it stick to other metal objects in the drawer?
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Feb 10, 2011 05:22
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Most metal in your drawer isn't magnetic.
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Feb 10, 2011 11:25
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Just chiming in to say that I bought the Accusharp 001 based on the recommendations in this thread and it is AMAZING. I used it on my Global Santoku and it was given new life. I found myself just rummaging through my fridge for anything that I can start chopping. I spent a few seconds on each of my knives, serrated too, and am so happy with it. No more wasting time with whetstones. BUY IT NOW.
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Feb 10, 2011 15:55
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I'm looking for some old-fashioned brownie/bar baking pans that are not coated with teflon or anything similar and are the right shape (sharp corners and edges) and my GISsing turned up some interesting-looking pans from USA Pans: Says these have a silicone-based clear coating called "Americoat". Anyone have one of these or similar? Is this coating and the ribbed surface any good or just another marketing scam? poronty fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Feb 10, 2011 |
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Feb 10, 2011 16:03
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k0konutz posted:Just chiming in to say that I bought the Accusharp 001 based on the recommendations in this thread and it is AMAZING. I've been wanting to get this for a while, but I've read that Accusharp takes off a lot of the metal when it hones the knife. What do you think?
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Feb 10, 2011 16:06
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poronty posted:I'm looking for some old-fashioned brownie/bar baking pans that are not coated with teflon or any other toxic crap Are you a bird? Are you baking brownies at 500 degrees?
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Feb 10, 2011 16:11
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DragonWC99 posted:I've been wanting to get this for a while, but I've read that Accusharp takes off a lot of the metal when it hones the knife. What do you think? I've read that as well...but I don't know how often I'll need to sharpen my knives yet. You'll probably only have to do a pass or two with the Accusharp every couple of months, depending on how often you're using your knives. So I think that the amount it removes is negligible. Edit: I will add that having 3 knives sharpened in a matter of 5 minutes made it worth time spent with a whetstone or other sharpening methods.
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Feb 10, 2011 16:21
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DragonWC99 posted:I've been wanting to get this for a while, but I've read that Accusharp takes off a lot of the metal when it hones the knife. What do you think? I've got the Wusthof version of that which is good too: http://www.amazon.com/W%C3%BCsthof-2904-7-W-fcsthof-2-Stage-Sharpener/dp/B0009NMVRI Don't know how much metal it takes off.
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Feb 10, 2011 16:22
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FlashGordonRamsay posted:Are you a bird? Are you baking brownies at 500 degrees? OK, I've edited out the comment about toxicity since I'm not in the least bit interested in getting into the teflon topic.
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Feb 10, 2011 16:49
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Wroughtirony posted:*steel ball whisk. Easy on your pans and will bang out a pan sauce or roux in no time flat. Consider me interested. I hate cleaning the inside of regular whisks, and this thing looks like it can reach into corners, too. Going to have to pick one up.
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Feb 10, 2011 18:02
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therattle posted:I've got the Wusthof version of that which is good too: I have the Lansky equivalent. if your blade is in need of serious sharpening, it takes off quite a bit, and isn't as good as a professional job. If it only need a bit more than a steel could fix, it's not too bad.
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Feb 10, 2011 19:05
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Acetone posted:
poo poo, I get that stuff by the pallet.  I got flour too. 
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Feb 11, 2011 22:37
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(1 tsp yeast, 1 pound loaf, no sugar or anything to promote rising).
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I want to make waffle-cut vegetables at home. The main goal is to make waffle-cut potatoes for frying, but I also have dreams of sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, really just all kinds of waffle-y root vegetable slices for various applications. Sadly, my Walmart-bought mandolin-cutter has only one crinkly blade and it's very shallow, good only for making vaguely ripple-cut chips. My ideal blade would have much deeper Vs. I'm looking to get a better mandolin anyway, does anyone know of a good sturdy one that has the type of blade I'm looking for? Or one that I can get that type of a blade as an add-on?
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Feb 12, 2011 08:04
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k0konutz posted:I've read that as well...but I don't know how often I'll need to sharpen my knives yet. You'll probably only have to do a pass or two with the Accusharp every couple of months, depending on how often you're using your knives. So I think that the amount it removes is negligible. I don't much like the Accusharp except for a few instances. I use it like a mad bastard on my machetes. Keeps them sharpity-sharp for brush and tree trimming. I got one for each of my lovely "I'll sharpen my stamped crap Chicago Cutlery knives on the bottom of a coffee mug!" relatives. Now their knives are at least passably sharp. An Apex Edge Pro is the way to go (though it's a spendy bitch) for home sharpening. It puts a mirror polished edge on your knives and makes them absolutely hair shaving sharp.
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Feb 13, 2011 01:54
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Can anyone recommend/badmouth the options for rolling pins? It will see use making (man)pies, tortillas, roti/chapati, and possibly pastries. I'm not sure about traditional maple rolling pins vs. "french style" rolling pins (the ones that look like drumsticks), or the marble ones. Likewise, unsure how large to get, although it will need to be at least 9". Also, I support the claim Kuhn Rikon Swiss peeler is the greatest thing ever.  Yes, it looks cheap, but it is incredibly well designed. The hold is different than a traditional peeler, but once you get the hang of it, it's almost 2-3x as fast to use. The shape makes it comfortable to use for peeling large batches of product -- I can do 50 pounds of potatoes in an hour or so without soreness. Your namby-pamby pinko stacking multi-peelers can suck it. My Kuhn Rikon has gone through at least a half ton of potatoes and other vegetables, and the carbon steel blade is still sharp enough to take a chunk out of my finger.
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Feb 15, 2011 07:46
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I would recommend a large wooden rolling pin with no handles. They are cheap and they work.
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Feb 15, 2011 08:46
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I have a deep, but unspecified, loathing for marble rolling pins. Maybe it's the weight. Just get a nice big wooden handle-less like Fredus says.
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Feb 15, 2011 10:46
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Acetone posted:Can anyone recommend/badmouth the options for rolling pins? It will see use making (man)pies, tortillas, roti/chapati, and possibly pastries. For tortillas you will be hard-pressed to find a better rolling pin than aluminum pipe. That's how my grandparents did it, how my mother does it, and it works for me--wood or PVC pipe just can't compare. You want something like this, 1 3/8" Aluminum 6061-T6 Round Tubing, but it appears that supplier is out. Cut it to about 10-12", polish up the outside with a green scrub sponge and you're good to go.
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Feb 15, 2011 17:31
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straw_ewe posted:For tortillas you will be hard-pressed to find a better rolling pin than aluminum pipe. That's how my grandparents did it, how my mother does it, and it works for me--wood or PVC pipe just can't compare. For some reason I never thought of this. I made tortillas for the first time today, and, while they didn't totally suck, the fact that I used a half sheet pan and some elbow grease to flatten them out didn't help. Next time I'll have to go down into the garage to get the proper tool.
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Feb 16, 2011 01:07
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Would aluminum pipe also do well as a general purpose rolling pin?
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Feb 16, 2011 01:29
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I use my 12" aluminum pipe for pretty much everything, the weight is just the right balance for me. While I do have a heavy wooden pin (2" diameter, 14" long + handles) and the aforementioned 1 1/4" CPVC pipe (can get static-y) honestly the aluminum works the best for me on pie crust, dough, or the tortillas. The real trick is getting a flat surface to roll on; stupid cheap formica countertops. Anyone have that DuPont Quartz stuff?
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Feb 16, 2011 02:12
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Do you ever have issues with metal slivers from the pipe? I've never used one with a rolling pin but I've done a little bit of work with metal pipes before and every now and then have gotten a metal sliver stuck in my hand. It sounds like a good idea though, I can never seem to get my pasta dough or tortillas as thin as I'd like.
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Feb 16, 2011 21:09
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Maybe it seems like cheating but a tortilla press is a pretty great little invention if you're interested in making thin circles of dough.
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Feb 16, 2011 21:58
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