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Hello GWS, I have never posted here before, but I do lurk fairly often and consider myself fairly well acquainted with kitchen products and cookware. (Caveat: I have not read through this thread so sorry if this particular company has come up before) I got a call from my sister today who said my parents were really excited about a seemingly expensive purchase they made at the local county fair. She then linked me this: http://www.cookforlife.com/index.php I read through and saw "waterless cooking", bad videos with lots of american flags, and very expensive pots. The pots and pans are "7 layers" made out of:
I am confused by 'aluminum alloy' sandwiched between 'pure aluminum alloy'. If we merge the steels and aluminums we get: Steel, Aluminum, Steel. Oh wow a standard aluminum core stainless steel pot. As well as the fact that one of the benefits of this 'waterless cookware' will 'Increased natural medicines in foods' I guess they dumped over $1,000 on this. Searches for Americraft cookware turn up a couple references to them being an MLM. Which means the kitchencraft site I linked is probably an intermediary distributor. Apparently encountering demonstrations and pushy sales tactics at fairs is not uncommon. Has anyone heard of this before? What the hell did my parents just buy?
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Aug 19, 2012 04:54
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They just bought some over-expensive pots.
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Aug 19, 2012 06:50
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It's like the story of Jack & the Beanstalk, but instead of buying 'magic beans' they bought 'magic bean cookers.' 30% faster cooking with no soaking overnight! Yeah right.
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Aug 19, 2012 07:58
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It's that time of year where there's a million tomatoes in my house. What should I make with them?
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Aug 19, 2012 09:53
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PokeJoe posted:It's that time of year where there's a million tomatoes in my house. What should I make with them? If dino doesn't post his tomato curry recipe by the time I get back, I'll type his recipe up for him. 
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Aug 19, 2012 15:05
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PokeJoe posted:It's that time of year where there's a million tomatoes in my house. What should I make with them? Homemade ketchup. Can it. Gazpacho, estratto, sauce, sun dry them.
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Aug 19, 2012 15:27
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Hey guys, just wondering if there is an Indian food thread archived? I'd love to see one. And while on Indian food, can somebody recommend a recipe for my housemates who aren't fans, but seem to like everything else? I'm sure I can convert them. No butter chicken or anything, but something with meat and vegetables and a fairly easy spice ratio for the two who aren't crazy big on it. I mean, I could make butter chicken, since they like it and all, but it's not really Indian food and I'm more into the vegetarian recipes. I could make channa masala or aloo gobi but I think they'd turn their noses up at it due to the lack of meat (I'd like to describe it simply, and chickpeas/cauliflower doesn't sound as appetising as a meat dish to two meat lovers). Basically something fairly easy to eat (in the same category of the less exciting stuff like tikka masala and rogan josh) but that shows off how good Indian food can be with their usage of vegetables. I could adopt a vegetarian recipe and add meat but I doubt it'd be the same.
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Aug 19, 2012 15:33
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Giant Isopod posted:Hello GWS, I have never posted here before, but I do lurk fairly often and consider myself fairly well acquainted with kitchen products and cookware. (Caveat: I have not read through this thread so sorry if this particular company has come up before) Yeah... that's one of the most egregious examples of selling snake oil I've ever seen. Your parents bought some okay pots for probably ten times their actual worth. Absolutely every claim they make about their pans is BS. You can do any of the things they describe with walmart cookware. And they're only oven safe to 350? See if your folks can't return them.
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Aug 19, 2012 15:51
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TychoCelchuuu posted:It's like the story of Jack & the Beanstalk, but instead of buying 'magic beans' they bought 'magic bean cookers.' 30% faster cooking with no soaking overnight! Yeah right. I think somewhere they claim they have "weighted, sealed lids" or something equivalent, which might explain the origin of the bean claim. That seems to be the only unique claim I can find. If it pressurizes it by weighing it down, then beans might cook faster? You'd have to get a really loving heavy lid for that to work though so I bet it's also just a lie. Math time: The maximum pressure above atmospheric these lids could supposedly support are roughly p = 4*weight / pi*diameter^2. So for a 4" diameter pan, that would require over 12 lbs to pressurize it to 1 PSI. So it shouldn't really help keep the moisture in at all, once it gets above that pressure, the vapor in the pan will escape. So yes, it's probably all bullshit.
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Aug 19, 2012 16:13
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Wroughtirony posted:Yeah... that's one of the most egregious examples of selling snake oil I've ever seen. Your parents bought some okay pots for probably ten times their actual worth. Absolutely every claim they make about their pans is BS. You can do any of the things they describe with walmart cookware. And they're only oven safe to 350? See if your folks can't return them. They have plastic handles which explains the 350 thing. All-Clad D5 10pc sets are $950 at Williams-Sonoma.
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Aug 19, 2012 18:12
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PokeJoe posted:It's that time of year where there's a million tomatoes in my house. What should I make with them? Salsa's always nice to have around.
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Aug 19, 2012 18:24
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Casu Marzu posted:If dino doesn't post his tomato curry recipe by the time I get back, I'll type his recipe up for him. dino posted:5 TB of peanut oil, 1 tsp mustard seed, 1 tsp cumin seed, 2 tsp coriander seed, crushed. This owns so hard. Made this the other day for the gf and
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Aug 19, 2012 18:56
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What tomatoes are best for it or should I just go by cost on the basis they're being put in without needing to have the seeds removed
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Aug 19, 2012 19:41
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How can I make cooking more enjoyable/less like a chore? Part of the problem is that, living in Hawaii with no A/C, our kitchen quickly becomes a sauna with the oven on. My wife and I usually just stick a frozen meal in the oven or on the stove and microwave a bag of vegetables. The other part is that while both of us can follow a recipe, neither of us find any enjoyment in it (besides eating once we're done, of course).
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Aug 19, 2012 20:03
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Scott Bakula posted:What tomatoes are best for it or should I just go by cost on the basis they're being put in without needing to have the seeds removed Use whatever tomatoes you have on hand.I used a mix of brandywines, romas, and cherry tomatoes.
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Aug 19, 2012 20:05
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Casu Marzu posted:This owns so hard. Made this the other day for the gf and This looks like the winner, that sounds wonderful.
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Aug 19, 2012 20:10
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Wroughtirony posted:See if your folks can't return them. I convinced dad to try and cancel the order. They don't physically have the pans yet, they took a credit card at the fair and the pans are supposed to be sent in the mail. The more I read the more lovely that company looks.
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Aug 19, 2012 20:17
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I have some Japanese curry roux/mix that has a best-by date of Oct 2011. It's basically just a bunch of vacuum sealed spices and some palm oil. Would it be a bad idea to use it? Packaging is still pristine, no bubbles, smell, or general weirdness.
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Aug 19, 2012 21:46
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I didn't see a cookbook thread (I thought that we had one of these?) But could anyone recomend a good vegetarian cookbook? I'm trying to replace one normal meal a week with a vegetarian one and am now realising how few straight up vegetarian dishes I know.
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Aug 19, 2012 21:52
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Two Headed Calf posted:I didn't see a cookbook thread (I thought that we had one of these?) But could anyone recomend a good vegetarian cookbook? I'm trying to replace one normal meal a week with a vegetarian one and am now realising how few straight up vegetarian dishes I know. I dunno any vegetarian cookbooks, sorry. but there's the vegetarian category in the wiki http://www.goonswithspoons.com/Category:Vegetarian I also recommend checking out the vegan thread, great stuff in there! http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3413016 paraquat fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Aug 19, 2012 |
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Aug 19, 2012 22:22
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Two Headed Calf posted:I didn't see a cookbook thread (I thought that we had one of these?) But could anyone recomend a good vegetarian cookbook? I'm trying to replace one normal meal a week with a vegetarian one and am now realising how few straight up vegetarian dishes I know. dino. wrote a vegan cookbook that's really awesome, if you're cool with cooking vegan http://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Vegan-International-Straight-Produce/dp/1604865083/ref=la_B002BM2QEI_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345412174&sr=1-1
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Aug 19, 2012 22:37
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My parents just spent a couple weeks with my moms folks and while they were there they did a lot of canning. One of the things they canned was a "simple tomato sauce." I don't have the exact ingredients but it was tomatoes, two bottles of wine, a couple cups of olive oil, minced garlic, and basil. I think that was about it. Anyway, they were showing it to me and I said something along the lines of "oh I didn't realize y'all took your pressure canner with you," because I know my grandparents don't have one. Turns out they didn't and it was water bath canned. Is this a botulism risk or is a tomato sauce acidic enough to not have to worry?
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Aug 20, 2012 01:57
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eggrolled posted:I have some Japanese curry roux/mix that has a best-by date of Oct 2011. It's basically just a bunch of vacuum sealed spices and some palm oil. Would it be a bad idea to use it? Packaging is still pristine, no bubbles, smell, or general weirdness. It's fine. I've used much older Japanese roux with no problems.
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Aug 20, 2012 02:28
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tarepanda posted:It's fine. I've used much older Japanese roux with no problems. Awesome thanks. I have a surplus of onions and potatoes so it would've been disappointing if it were no good.
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Aug 20, 2012 02:46
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Randomity posted:My parents just spent a couple weeks with my moms folks and while they were there they did a lot of canning. One of the things they canned was a "simple tomato sauce." I don't have the exact ingredients but it was tomatoes, two bottles of wine, a couple cups of olive oil, minced garlic, and basil. I think that was about it. Anyway, they were showing it to me and I said something along the lines of "oh I didn't realize y'all took your pressure canner with you," because I know my grandparents don't have one. Turns out they didn't and it was water bath canned. Is this a botulism risk or is a tomato sauce acidic enough to not have to worry? Tomatoes are riiiiiiiight along the cutoff point for hot water canning. You want a pH of less than 4.6 to kill off any chances of botulism. A tablespoon of lemon juice per pint is about right to make sure you're under that line. If they just canned straight tomatoes it's probably safe, but 
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Aug 20, 2012 08:21
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Casu Marzu posted:Tomatoes are riiiiiiiight along the cutoff point for hot water canning. You want a pH of less than 4.6 to kill off any chances of botulism. A tablespoon of lemon juice per pint is about right to make sure you're under that line. If they just canned straight tomatoes it's probably safe, but Maybe the wine helped drop the pH enough? Wish I had a pH meter. They spent a lot of time on that sauce and I'd hate to have to tell them it can't be eaten. They followed a recipe in a canning book which said to process it in a water bath.
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Aug 20, 2012 15:43
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My canning book recommends adding straight up citric acid to most of the tomato recipes. It's hard to imagine the wine is acidic enough to make it safe, unless they used some really sour stuff. I suppose you could have them crack a jar and do a dip test for pH, that would put the question to bed. You can get the test strips in a lot of stores or pretty cheaply online.
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Aug 20, 2012 16:15
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I never do canning, but would it at all be possible to just send them through a pressure canning step? Like just boil them in a pressure canner as is. The heat should destroy any botulism toxin present (if there even is any), and then kill off the spores. It might destroy the flavor or something though, I don't know.
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Aug 20, 2012 18:05
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Eeyo posted:I never do canning, but would it at all be possible to just send them through a pressure canning step? Like just boil them in a pressure canner as is. The heat should destroy any botulism toxin present (if there even is any), and then kill off the spores. It might destroy the flavor or something though, I don't know. Good question. They have a pressure canner. Anyone know if this would work? I don't know a thing about canning.
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Aug 20, 2012 18:46
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I have some money to buy a kitchen item but am torn between a pressure cooker, a slow cooker and a rice cooker. The rice cooker's only in there because we have a poo poo ceramic hob and it's impossible to cook rice nicely on it so we've been using boil-in-the-bag basmati. Sigh. So which of these items would people consider to be the most versatile?
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Aug 20, 2012 18:49
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Bollock Monkey posted:I have some money to buy a kitchen item but am torn between a pressure cooker, a slow cooker and a rice cooker. The rice cooker's only in there because we have a poo poo ceramic hob and it's impossible to cook rice nicely on it so we've been using boil-in-the-bag basmati. Sigh. I mean, you could make rice with the slow cooker in about 2-3 hours and in about 4-8 minutes with the pressure cooker if that's any help.
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Aug 20, 2012 18:58
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Bollock Monkey posted:I have some money to buy a kitchen item but am torn between a pressure cooker, a slow cooker and a rice cooker. The rice cooker's only in there because we have a poo poo ceramic hob and it's impossible to cook rice nicely on it so we've been using boil-in-the-bag basmati. Sigh. Many rice cookers have a slow-cooker setting.
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Aug 20, 2012 19:03
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Randomity posted:They followed a recipe in a canning book which said to process it in a water bath. It's fine. Eat it.
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Aug 20, 2012 19:34
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Randomity posted:My parents just spent a couple weeks with my moms folks and while they were there they did a lot of canning. One of the things they canned was a "simple tomato sauce." I don't have the exact ingredients but it was tomatoes, two bottles of wine, a couple cups of olive oil, minced garlic, and basil. I think that was about it. Anyway, they were showing it to me and I said something along the lines of "oh I didn't realize y'all took your pressure canner with you," because I know my grandparents don't have one. Turns out they didn't and it was water bath canned. Is this a botulism risk or is a tomato sauce acidic enough to not have to worry? Wait two months. If the jars are still well sealed (no popped button top or anything) you'll be fine.
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Aug 20, 2012 20:04
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While on the topic of safely canning food I'll ask for a bit of advice. I'm thinking of trying pickling something for the first time, cumcumbers in this case, and I wonder what safety precautions are needed when using the following pickling liquid: 1 liter of water 1 dl salt 1 dl of Ättika (24% strength Acetic acid) 2 teaspoons of sugar. Should be boiled before being poured hot over the cucumbers and spices (dill crowns, horseradish maybe some mustard seeds). DekeThornton fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Aug 21, 2012 |
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Aug 20, 2012 21:26
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I have a very large number of baked potato skins. While I don't have a problem with just frying em up, I was looking for other ideas. They're mostly cut in half the short way, with a little potato left on em but not much.if you have a "traditional" bacon and cheese recipe that would also be OK.
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Aug 20, 2012 23:09
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Bollock Monkey posted:I have some money to buy a kitchen item but am torn between a pressure cooker, a slow cooker and a rice cooker. The rice cooker's only in there because we have a poo poo ceramic hob and it's impossible to cook rice nicely on it so we've been using boil-in-the-bag basmati. Sigh. Get the Cuisinart electric pressure cooker. It does slow cooking, has a rice cooking mode, and works as a pressure cooker. Problem solved. 
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Aug 20, 2012 23:20
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Turkeybone posted:I have a very large number of baked potato skins. While I don't have a problem with just frying em up, I was looking for other ideas. They're mostly cut in half the short way, with a little potato left on em but not much.if you have a "traditional" bacon and cheese recipe that would also be OK. Treat it like a pizza crust, and load it up with sauce, your favourite toppings, and have at. I accidentally figured out how tasty it is one night when I was mildly drunk, and thought that the scooped out baked potato skin looked an awful lot like a halved french bread. Or, do the treat I had in Otavalo, Ecuador: fill with a layer of guacamole, top with chopped onions and cilantro, serve with a wedge of lime and a sprinkle of sea salt, and go to freaking TOWN, son. The way the restaurant served them (where we ate) was to have a HUGE mound of guac with the boiled potato spears stuck in, and then topped with lots of chopped tomato. I don't know why I never thought to do it before, but it's quickly becoming a favourite treat.
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Aug 20, 2012 23:23
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I've got a shitton of large eggplants that I want to use for dinner. Any suggestions that don't suck? Still haven't gotten used to using eggplant in things, I've been just adding it to stirfrys for tasteless filler...
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Aug 21, 2012 01:13
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7 Bowls of Wrath posted:I've got a shitton of large eggplants that I want to use for dinner. Any suggestions that don't suck? Slice them about 1 cm thin, and lay them onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Lightly brush with fat of your choice. Sprinkle on a mix of powdered: cumin, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, fennel, paprika, ground red chiles, and cardamom (if you have it). Feel free to substitute what you have instead. Roast at 350 for about 8 minutes, and serve over your favourite accompaniment (bread, rice, whatever). They'll get cooked through, while taking on an awesome flavour from the spices. Bonus points if you use said spiced eggplants in a different dish, in which you treat them like lasagne noodles, and layer them with other crap. Feel free to use the roasted slices as a shell for your favourite stuffing. As if they were like little mini spiced burrito shells or whatever. The texture completely changes, and since you're cooking out most of the water, you're going to power right through them.
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Aug 21, 2012 01:19
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