The GWS product recommendation thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The GWS product recommendation thread

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Thanks for this thread, guys. Just learning to cook for the first time so I'm suddenly in a huge kitchenware acquisition mode right now. Pots, pans, everything.

BTW, Calphalon is doing some promo where you can buy a pair (12" and 10") of their Contemporary Nonsticks (anodized aluminum body) for $50. Those are decent pans for a great price, right?

# ¿ Jan 26, 2011 21:22

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 01:51

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Okay, time to buy jars. Do I have to get the kind that have clamps on the lids for airtightness, or can I just use those pop-top ones?

# ¿ Feb 1, 2011 09:08

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Flour, sugar, everything.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2011 09:35

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Would aluminum pipe also do well as a general purpose rolling pin?

# ¿ Feb 16, 2011 01:29

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Im shopping for a dutch oven. Anyone wanna recommend enameled vs bare cast iron?

# ¿ Feb 17, 2011 05:58

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

nevermind

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Feb 17, 2011

# ¿ Feb 17, 2011 17:56

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

CuddleChunks posted:

Cuisinart Immersion Blender

It turned that pot of veggies into a beautiful pureed soup in seconds. Holy poo poo! I'm making more soup just so I have an excuse to use it again. The price was cheap and so far it's performed well above my expectations. Also, the base disconnects for easy cleanup of the stick/blender portion.

Bought this immediately when you recommended it, didn't use it until last night. Creamiest mashed potatoes I've ever had in my life. It was like pudding.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2011 23:59

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

I am admittedly new to cooking. A friend told me to try it out and I thought it was an interesting texture, but if that's a no-no then I guess I won't do it again...

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 12:37 on Mar 1, 2011

# ¿ Mar 1, 2011 12:35

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Hmm. So it seems the blended potatoes were smooth and creamy when I ate them, but after checking the leftovers this morning they've turned into playdoh. I read up on it and see why blending is a bad idea now, but it seems you still have a window of time before it turns into glue.

At any rate, umm, the immersion blender blends the hell out of things.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2011 21:05

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

While we're on knives, I am also buying my knives piecemeal and got tired of them clattering around in my shelves so I got one of these universal knife blocks:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=14024263

Thousands of little plastic rods hold your knives in place, fits any 8 inch or smaller knifes, you can orient them whichever way you want. My only complaint is that I wish the angle on it was lower, it's annoying to keep touching the bottom of my cabinet when I pull my knives out.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2011 23:17

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Mr. Wiggles posted:

I need a mini processor. Opinions on this vs Magic Bullet?

# ¿ Mar 2, 2011 23:41

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Rotten Cookies posted:

Wouldn't the knives cut off little slivers of plastic, possibly getting into your food?

Still a cool idea.

Once in a while a sliver will come off, but they are very small, very obvious black slivers against the silver of your knife and I just brush them off

# ¿ Mar 5, 2011 20:41

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

feelz good man posted:

You could avoid all that hassle buy just nailing one of these to the wall. I got mine for about $10 at Fred Meyer/Kroger. The Chicago Cutlery one is the one I got, and while it's ugly as sin, the magnets are actually stronger than the NorPro wood grain one. I feel a lot safer using it than the NorPros.

Also, this is the best $10 I've spent in my life:

I spent the afternoon today making linguine and rolling dough and hand-making some tortellini. God drat I love this thing.

It's no hassle at all, slivers happen rarely and are easy to spot when they do.

And if you're trying to post pictures of a magnet bar, I have one of those too, but I don't like the idea of blades being out in the open for longer than brief periods in between chops.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2011 13:04

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Victorinox consistently gets high marks from Cook's Illustrated, often beating out Henckels, Wusthof and Global at 1/4 the price. The only complaint against them is that they're light, so if having heft is important for you, pretty much any name brand knife with a bolster should do.

Also... consider getting your knives sharpened. I had a crappy "Kitchen Prince" knife that I brought to a knife sharpening place (many key duplicators have the equipment for this), and for $5 to sharpen an 8" chef knife, the thing has come back to life and I don't have any problems using it in place of my Henckel. There's more to a knife than just an edge, but you might find that a new edge is all you needed.

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Mar 6, 2011

# ¿ Mar 6, 2011 22:49

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Nevermind, wrong thread

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Mar 8, 2011

# ¿ Mar 8, 2011 22:26

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

BraveUlysses posted:

Mortar and pestle recs? I had a porcelain one from amazon, shattered from a tiny accident.

If it's for spices, I'd recommend a coffee grinder. I have the Krups Fast Touch and it's able to make dust.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2011 19:40

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

zerox147o posted:

There was a gadget thread a year or two back where someone posted bottle openers that were stainless steel pipes with assorted smiley/scared faces. Cannot seem to find them again. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Google fu is failing me atm.

http://www.amazon.com/Poketo-Stainless-Steel-Bottle-Opener/dp/B0049B3EO0

http://www.amazon.com/Poketo-Stainless-Steel-Bottle-Opener/dp/B0049B3EOA/ref=pd_sim_k_1

??

# ¿ Mar 10, 2011 01:00

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

If anyone's in the market for a stand mixer, the KitchenAid Ultra Power (300w, 4.5 quart) is on sale for $200 (from $250) at Target this week.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2011 06:08

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Mr. Wookums posted:

My parents got me this juicer and I have to say it is easier than using an actual juicer and just as easy to clean as a reamer. Well worth it if you use multiple lemons or limes a week.

Does it feel like it gets every drop of juice? Because I got the Oxo citrus press and it feels like it leaves quite a bit in, no better than if you squeezed lemons and limes by hand

# ¿ Mar 23, 2011 17:27

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Now I'm even more confused about juicers.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2011 18:13

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Goddamn posted:

Seconding this like hell. Nuke the citrus,

Microwave?!

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 00:15

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Iron Lung posted:

I have a question about stainless steel mixing bowls. I presumably found a few at Ross for real cheap (and a Mandolin! Woo!) so I picked them up. Is there any way to tell that these are actually stainless steel and not some cheap horrible metal that will poison me and the rest of my family? I took the tags off and there is absolutely nothing stamped into the metal to signify its stainless steel.

Was it in the cooking section? If so, then it should be foodsafe, whatever it is.

But if you're still curious, try a magnet and see if it sticks.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 04:58

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Learn something new every day

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 06:33

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

To settle the juice question, I went out and borrowed my mom's Black & Decker electric juicer, bought a glass juicer ($4 Tablecraft at TJ Maxx or Marshall's) and pulled my Oxo citrus press out of the drawer, and squeezed one orange each:

It looks like they all produce roughly the same amount of juice.

The Oxo will be relegated to lemons and limes only however, since the bowl is too small for half an orange, which then requires me to cut it into 8 pieces total and 8 squeezes per orange is ridiculous.

The electric juicer scrapes the gently caress out of the orange, but then loses a lot of volume because of how much pulp it filters. If you want your juice to be non-pulpy, this might be your tool of choice. Downside: cleanup is annoying because pulp doesn't want to come out of the filter.

I think I prefer the glass one (and would maybe like the metal one as well) because cleanup is stupid easy compared to the electric and I don't need to make more than one glass at a time. The glass one just doesn't have enough room for more than one orange's worth of juice at a time.

I'm still curious about the stainless steel juicer, since it seems to have a larger bowl than the glass one, and cleanup looks easier than the electric.

edit: I should add that the Tablecraft glass juicer that I got doesn't have as big of a bowl as the glass juicer that was posted here earlier. I think I'm going to return it and get a bigger glass one.

edit: VVVV other than the Oxo being annoyingly slow for oranges because of its small hopper (there are other orange-specific presses with bigger hoppers meant to fit oranges), it looks like juicers are roughly the same in performance and if already have one just stick with it

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Mar 28, 2011

# ¿ Mar 28, 2011 08:14

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country book and DVD sale, 40%-70% off:

https://m1.buysub.com/webapp/wcs/st...cekey=CE11035AA

# ¿ Mar 29, 2011 18:16

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Korwen posted:

I'm moving out in a month and as I'm sure you've already deduced I want new cookware because what I'm using is either abused too much by roommates, or is going with my roommates

I've been reading the thread, and most people recommend clad stainless cookware, and a Cuisinart set was mentioned. I also read that most people don't recommend buying sets of cookware because you get pieces you don't need. That being said I found this:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=106828&RN=397&

two frying pans, a saute pan, two sauce pans, and a stock pot, with lids where necessary. It's stainless, with aluminum cores in the bottom.

I also have one of the 20% off BB&B coupons, so that set for $120 seems like a heck of a deal. All of those pieces look useful without buying anything too obtuse (okay so I'm not sure how much use the 8" frying pan will get)

Thoughts?

Looks like a good set. You can get it at Amazon for $116 and free shipping

If you want clad, for $150 you can get the 8 piece Tramontina clad set at WalMart.com
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tramontina-8-Piece-Cookware-Set/5716478

It's missing the saute pan that the Cuisinart has. If this is something you use, then go for the Cuisinart instead, I wouldn't consider disc bottoms vs clad to be a deal-breaker, you just need to stir to make sure food doesn't occasionally overheat where the disc bottom and the sides meet. Plus, the cuisinart set is $30 cheaper.

Also, an 8" skillet is good for personal quiches.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2011 22:30

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

The final word on juicers: get a $250 Omega masticating juicer. It looks like a giant motorized black dildo.

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 07:45 on Apr 3, 2011

# ¿ Apr 3, 2011 07:43

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

feelz good man posted:

The ultimate question: Buy a $250 juicer or an extra orange to get that extra 1/4 cup of juice?

I'm sure you can find other uses for a motorized black phallus to amortize the cost.

edit: It also juices carrots and spinach and all that other healthy garbage. It's actually pretty impressive because all the pulp it spits out is pretty dry.

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Apr 3, 2011

# ¿ Apr 3, 2011 07:48

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

The Pyrex Read-From-Above measuring cups...

... suck complete rear end. I wish I'd read the Cook's Illustrated review on these before I bought them. I guess they got jealous of Oxo's read-from-above design, so they made one of their own. Guess what? The significantly thicker glass material means the measuring lines will tell you different things depending on whether you read them from the top or from the side. On top of that... it's horribly inaccurate from either direction, by about 10 loving PERCENT. I took a cup of water, poured it into several other measuring cups which all agreed, and then in this Pyrex cup it was WAY off. How the hell did this get through quality control

# ¿ Apr 12, 2011 07:19

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Thanks for that, I was actually considering the Oxo one as a replacement.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2011 20:13

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Uziel posted:

Since waffleimages is now down, the Kitchenaid mixer link in the OP is broken.

Is there a specific kitchen aid mixer model that is recommended? We generally make our own bread and pizza crust, as well as mix casein protein into "fluff", but are doing this with a hand mixer.

Sam's Club has this one:
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod500276

However, I cannot find that model number anywhere else so I can't compare it to the other ones like on Amazon.

Any ideas?

$269 is a great price for that model. The lift-bowl mixers usually MSRP for $400 and up, although I've seen a similar model at Costco for $300

Just keep in mind if you're buying new blades or bowls for it, that you get the lift-bowl types and not the ones for tilt-head models

# ¿ Apr 25, 2011 19:12

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

The tilt-head models are 17.5 inches high when tilted up. MIght want to check your cabinets to see if that will fit.

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Apr 26, 2011

# ¿ Apr 26, 2011 03:49

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

PRADA SLUT posted:

Is there any reason not to get All Clad copper core cookware?

Cause it costs significantly more and people who bought them said they couldn't tell any performance difference between it and the aluminum core All-Clads.

I can only hazard a guess, but I think maybe the copper layer is so thin that it doesn't make much of a difference.

Mauviel makes copper cookware with more copper in several different configurations, but they cost twice as much as All-Clad and Cook's Illustrated said there were issues with its saucepan design (handles got hot, bad angles on handle, too heavy)

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 09:46 on Apr 28, 2011

# ¿ Apr 28, 2011 09:41

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Chemmy posted:

I bought the D5 which is steel - aluminum - steel - aluminum - steel.

The copper core are just steel - copper - steel.

Actually the All-Clad copper core is steel aluminum copper aluminum steel

# ¿ Apr 28, 2011 19:06

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Trudeau is cheap, simple, sturdy as hell, and you can throw in two or three cloves at a time without even bothering to peel them, although you'll probably want to chop off the hard knotty part at the bottom of most cloves, they keep the thing from pressing all the way closed.

http://www.amazon.com/Trudeau-099-685-Garlic-Press/dp/B00062B0EM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1304117235&sr=8-1

# ¿ Apr 29, 2011 23:48

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

I went to test both the microplane and my trudeau press, and quite honestly I can't tell the difference. If anything, the microplane liquified the garlic even more than the trudeau press, which was still kinda chunky.

As far as I can tell from researching this, garlic contains alliin and alliinase. When cell walls are destroyed by chopping/slicing/pressing/grating, the alliin and alliinase are released and mix, producing allicin, which is the zing of garlic. All the different methods of processing garlic just appear to produce varying intensities of the same allicin. Pressing just leads to (in general) the most allicin produced of all the methods, which for some people is too much.

All of this is tempered by the application of heat to the allicin, which breaks it down.

The sum of all this is that you probably want to try pressing/grating/mincing to see what level of intensity is palatable to yourself, and keep in mind that cooking will make the same amount of garlic less zingy than it would be in a recipe that called for it raw.

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 12:06 on May 1, 2011

# ¿ May 1, 2011 11:24

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

No restaurant supply stores in your local area?

# ¿ May 30, 2011 10:23

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Here we go:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/dining-and-entertaining/individual-bowls/restaurant-bowl/s682764

# ¿ May 30, 2011 18:26

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

For the month of June, you can bring two knives into Sur La Table and they'll sharpen them for free. Probably worth about $15

edit: more dinnerware with large rims:
http://www.surlatable.com/product/prod60011/

Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 07:41 on May 31, 2011

# ¿ May 31, 2011 06:14

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 01:51

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

The lady I talked to there a couple weeks ago while checking out the Shuns made it a point to let me know they're able to sharpen asian-angled knives.

The brochure I got said they use a Chef's Choice commercial sharpener ($400-500 on amazon) in all the stores, which I think does both 20 and 15 degree angles. I assume this also means they do it in-house.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2011 00:01

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The GWS product recommendation thread

«‹›16 »