The GWS product recommendation thread

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

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

mindphlux posted:

I think I eventually want copper pans, or hybrid copper / stainless ones, or something. just some really high end poo poo that will look pimp as hell hanging in my future dream kitchen. you know, like the stuff you put on your wedding registry.

I don't really know where to start though. I don't want to buy like, williams sonoma dumb copper poo poo because I'm sure it's overpriced and gimmicky and who knows if it's actually good, but I'm having a hard time finding any sort of reviews on anything else.

anyone have any suggestions?

I have a couple All-Clad Copper-Core pieces. I use the 12" fry pan all the time and I like it a lot. Sturdy, heats up quick, doesn't have hot/cold spots, comfortable enough to handle, pretty fuckin' sexy.

I don't know if it's worth the normal asking price, though. I think I picked up all my All-Clad gear from amazon just by waiting for poo poo to be on sale.

# ¿ Nov 19, 2011 00:33

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 00:13

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Oxford Comma posted:

What is the advantage of All-Clad over cast iron? I've used both, and my $30 cast iron works just as well as my spendy All-Clad. Of course I can't throw the cast iron pan into the sink/dishwasher, but otherwise I can't find any difference?

I get way better fond out of a stainless cooking surface than I ever get off cast iron; well-seasoned cast iron is practically nonstick.

I also get a much clearer pan sauce/reduction using stainless; they always end up cloudy when I use cast iron.

I also reach for the stainless fry pan whenever I'm working with something acidic, like a red sauce or vinaigrette or whatever (just because the acid will gently caress with the seasoning), or whenever I care about the rate at which the pan is gaining or losing heat (like if you're expecting to use carryover heat to cook but not curdle eggs---so I use a stainless fry pan when making carbonara, because a cast iron skilled would still be hot enough to curdle the eggs for quite some time after you take it off the heat).

# ¿ Nov 22, 2011 05:42

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

futurebot 2000 posted:

From the top of my head, here's a list of things I'd buy right now if I would have to start a household from scratch:

- 8 inch chef's knife
- Paring knife
- Cutting board
- Bread knife
- Measuring cup
- Digital scale
- Spatula
- Can opener
- Ladle
- Peeler
- Strainer
- Slotted spoon
- Masher
- Grater/slicer combo

In addition to a turner/spatula, I'd get one or more broad wooden spoons and tongs. When I need to stir poo poo around when I'm saut�ing or whatever I tend to use a wooden spoon instead of a turner. And I tend to use tongs when I need to manipulate something like a steak in a skillet.

I also can't imagine trying to work with only one cutting board.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2011 02:04

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Acetone posted:

If you're buying sharpening equipment, I have found the Spyderco Sharpmaker is easier to use and gives a better edge than freehand sharpening with a stone; it's easier to hold a blade vertical than maintain a 20 degree angle by feel. Plus the stones are of good quality.

The main problem with the Sharpmaker is that it can only sharpen to precisely two angles, and the rods it come with aren't really abrasive enough if your knife isn't already sharpened to one of those two angles and you need to reprofile it.

If you have trouble keeping a consistent angle freehand, get a piece of scrap wood or plastic or some drat thing that's big enough to hold your stone. Measure the length. Figure out how high you need to raise one end of it to give you the angle you want---20 degrees or whatever. Put stuff under one end until it is that high. Put your stone on the inclined surface.

You've just made something that works the same way a Sharpmaker does, only you need to keep the blade horizontal when you're sharpening instead of having to keep it vertical.

Here's a `fancy' version of the above I made with some scrap wood, including a riser that's pre-drilled to a few common sharpening angles. That's an 8" Norton stone sitting on it.

# ¿ Nov 30, 2011 22:16

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

mindphlux posted:

subg - my edges only seem to last like a couple weeks touching up with a honing steel, after that even the steel doesn't render them very sharp. this is in contrast to when I have them professionally sharpened, and the edge seems to last 2-4 months before it's irreparable. any ideas? using a norton stone in basically the same setup you have except mine is much less pretty.

I couldn't say for sure without knowing more, but my guess is that you're just sharpening at a different angle than you're getting from your third party sharpener.

The most common case here would be that you're using a wider angle for sharpening. The wider the angle, the duller the knife will get as soon as the very tip wears at all. This is mostly likely the problem if the knives are made of one of your typical kitchen cutlery stainless steels.

If you've got knives made of one of the high strength but brittle super steels, you could conceivably have problems if you're sharpening to too acute an angle, as you might be producing an edge weak enough that it's breaking off under mild stress (from chopping against a cutting board and so on).

Another possible problem if you're using one of those super steels is that they may contain carbides that are harder than your sharpening media. Since the carbides are harder than the stone, the stone will only wear away the metal around the carbide grains in the steel, either exposing the grains and making the edge jagged, or digging the grains out and leaving the edge pitted. All of this obviously at a microscopic scale. This would only be a problem if you're using one of the modern super steels, and is more likely to happen if you're using an aluminium oxide stone (like the Sharpmaker rods), which is comparatively soft.

Alternately, it's possible that you're just not finishing the edge as well as your sharpening service does. That would just depend on what the final grit you're using is. If you're not already doing so, you could easily try stropping the edge after using finest stone you have. You don't need a `real' strop, the inside of a leather belt will work fine, and a flat piece of cardboard (like the back of a legal pad) will even do. If that helps with the problem you're having, you might think of just picking up a finer stone and adding it to your sharpening routine.

# ¿ Dec 1, 2011 01:02

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Acetone posted:

That's true, and making your own angle guide is definitely one way to go. You could also buy one of the benchstone angle guides, such as the Edge Pro. But, for its money the Sharpmaker is a really good value. It has slots in the bottom if you want to go fully freehand with the stones, and the price is comparable to one or two good stones.

Eh. The 8" Norton duplex stone in that photo I posted does the work of two stones and sells for around US$20 anywhere. The Sharpmaker runs around US$50, and while it has two sets of rods, they're both skewed toward the fine end of the spectrum. They're also aluminium oxide, so they'll be less effective with any of the harder steels.

I'm not trying to say the Sharpmaker is a bad bit of gear. My point is that it really isn't a general-purpose sharpening setup. It's really good if a) you don't have a lot of experience with sharpening and are worried about it, b) your knives are already bevelled to 20 or 30 degrees (so you don't have to reprofile them to work with the Sharpmaker), and c) you don't have any knives with really high hardness steels.

You can also use the Sharpmaker rods to sharpen serrated knives, which is really nice and is something you can't do on a bench stone.

But as a general-purpose sharpening setup it's really limited, even compared to what you could pick up for the same amount of cash.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2011 00:59

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Martytoof posted:

This looks interesting, what is it specifically? Just a heater/dispenser? I'm not hung up on stand-based, just something i'd prefer because it makes pouring easier without having to unplug a power cord. If this is a dispenser that would also solve the pouring problem just as well as a stand would.

Yeah, it's basically just a water jug with a heater and dispenser built in. You set the temperature you want (from a number of presets), and it heats the water to that temperature and holds it there indefinitely. When you want hot water, you put a cup (or whatever) under the spout, punch an unlock button and then a dispense button and it dispenses the water. The two button thing is so you can't accidentally start it pumping hot water onto your counter by bumping it.

They're designed pretty much precisely for always having hot water ready at exactly the right temperature for making tea. The different presets are at the different common steeping temperatures for different kinds of tea, plus boiling.

# ¿ Dec 24, 2011 11:22

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Achmed Jones posted:

If you're using a $25 Victorinox, you shouldn't be sharpening it. Just buy a new one when it needs sharpening. That's the point of Victorinox - they're disposable.

What? No. A US$25 Victorinox will last a home cook a lifetime. Treating it as if it's disposable is silly. Would you toss a US$20 cast iron skillet or a US$20 carbon steel wok when they needed seasoning just because they're inexpensive?

# ¿ Jan 6, 2012 02:50

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Achmed Jones posted:

The comparison you make is simply silly. Seasoning and re-sharpening knives aren't remotely comparable.

Yes, insofar as properly reseasoning cast iron or carbon steel takes far longer than it takes to resharpen a knife.

Throwing an otherwise serviceable knife away because it's no longer sharp is asinine, and it's terrible advice to present as something that one should do. If you personally want to regard your tools as disposable garbage, and if you personally wish to feel blas� about filling a landfill with something that you could still be using years from now, that's your prerogative.

But the fact that Achmed Jones isn't willing to sharpen a perfectly good knife and would rather throw it away and buy another one doesn't mean that people in general shouldn't be sharpening them or should be regarding them as disposable, which is what you said.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2012 04:17

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Achmed Jones posted:

As far as the knife thing goes, I've never actually thrown one away because I (1) know how to use a whetstone and (2) have a bunch of whetstones that were gifts. I've only sharpened it once though, when I got it. poo poo's expensive though - my point is if you're cheaping out by buying cheap (if great for the price) knives, you probably don't have an expensive sharpening system laying around. And if you're going to shell out for the sharpening system, you probably have knives that are better than Victorinox.

A 8" fine/medium duplex Norton stone will run you around US$20 and if you're just sharpening one or two knives on it, it'll last longer than you will. One of those Sharpmaker things runs around US$45 and it'll last about as long. We're not exactly talking about huge Scrooge McDuck piles of cash here. You'd literally have to use the stone exactly once and the Sharpmaker exactly twice to recover the cost of ownership versus chucking the knife and buying another one.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2012 04:00

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Zettace posted:

Does anyone know of a good product that can remove rust spots on knives? It'll be better if the product is common enough to be bought in just about any retail store so shipping rates for Canada are usually ridiculously high.

Steel wool.

# ¿ Jan 15, 2012 00:30

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Zeno-25 posted:

This has also got me into looking at Chinese-style vegetable cleavers. Anyone have one of these?

Yes. I do about 90% of my knife work in the kitchen with a Chinese cleaver; pretty much everything except cutting bread and the occasional task where I want an itty bitty blade for something.

If you're in the market, the CCK #1 small slicer is pretty much the best value in a knife out there, assuming a carbon steel blade isn't going to freak you out. It'll develop patina you use it, so if you need everything looking bright and shiny all the time it's not for you. Here's an old photo of my CCK #1 small slicer, second from the top:

The top cleaver is a CCK kitchen chopper (a heavier, axe-grind cleaver designed for going through light bones), then the #1 small slicer, then a Takeda cleaver, and below that a Tojiro santoku I put in for scale.

# ¿ Feb 14, 2012 06:23

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

.Z. posted:

Is the the BBQ or Bone chopper on chefknivestogo?

No. If you look at the CCK cleaver page (on chanchikee.com) the one I have is the #1 Kitchen Chopper, KF1201. The BBQ Chopper on chefknivestogo.com is the #3, KF1503, and the Bone Chooper is the #2, KF1602.

I got both of those CCK cleavers from a restaurant supply in my neighbourhood Chinatown. I've also got a couple of other CCK knives that chefknivestogo.com carries, the #1 Butcher's Knife, KF2208, and what CCK calls the Large Scraping Knife and chefknivestogo.com calls the L'il Rhino Cleaver, KF2205, both pictured below with a 8" Moritaka gyuto for scale:

The Large Scraping Knife looks like a total gimmick, but it's loving awesome for pull-cutting veg and things like that. The #1 Butcher's Knife is a loving beast, axe ground and thick like a bone-chopping cleaver, but really well balanced for such a large kitchen knife. Both of them kinda look like something you might get from killing an Orc.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2012 19:53

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

.Z. posted:

So which cck is your go to bone chopper?

The Kitchen Chopper. For no grand philosophical reason other than habit. If I was dealing with primals more than I am I'd probably be reaching for the butcher knife more, but as it is it's mostly for waving around the kitchen making `whoooosh' noises.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2012 18:54

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

.Z. posted:

Ah. Are you primarily using the Kitchen chopper? Or do you mainly use the Takeda in the first picture you posted?

The two are for completely different things.

If you're going through bone or, I dunno, doing something like taking the end off a corn cob or something, you want a heavy cleaver. This is what most people think of when you say `cleaver': thick-bladed, probably axe ground, and designed for chopping through tough poo poo. For this kind of thing I mostly use the Kitchen Chopper.

When you talk about `Chinese cleavers' as a genre of kitchen cutlery, you're usually talking about a very narrow-bladed, single or double bevelled cleaver that is more or less comparable in intended use to the classic French chef's knife or gyuto. If I'm doing general knife-type poo poo in the kitchen, I'll reach for one of my Chinese cleavers for this. My favourite is that Takeda cleaver, but I also use my CCKs a lot as well. At this point it's probably mostly down to whichever one is closest to hand. The Takeda is waaaaay better quality than the CCK #1 Small Slicer, but they'll both slice the gently caress out of an onion or whatever. I've been using that goofy-looking curved guy a lot lately whenever I'm doing a lot of slicing veg prep---it's loving gangbusters when you're doing the thing where you're doing pull cuts like a mandoline with your knuckles against the side of the blade.

.Z. posted:

Wondering because I've been eyeballing some of the higher end cleavers on chefknivestogo for something sharper and with better edge retention than the cck I currently use.

`Sharper' is a property of individual knives, not kinds of knives. The CCK Small Slicer (and related slicer-type cleavers) is carbon steel, and so it won't have the edge retention of a cleaver using a higher-end steel. But it will take an edge just as keen as knife made with a more expensive steel, and you can use a more aggressive bevel on a carbon steel knife that you'll want to try on one of the hard but brittle super steels.

As regular practice, I just get in the habit of passing the CCK a couple times over a strop regularly and that keeps it sharper than I really need it for daily home cooking prep work.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2012 20:21

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

KozmoNaut posted:

Go for cheap hammered or pressed steel. Nonstick or cast iron just doesn't work well for woks.

There's nothing wrong with cast iron woks. The Chinese have been using them for hundreds of years. You do want to avoid cast iron woks that are built like cast iron skillets (like the ones Lodge sells); a proper cast iron wok is built very much like a carbon steel wok---thin and light. A cast iron wok will be somewhat less responsive to heating changes, but they'll tend to take seasoning better than carbon steel, which can be nice if you're doing steaming or anything else in your wok that can normally put the hurt on the seasoning.

If you have a local Chinatown, a good cast iron wok will run you about the same or a little cheaper than a good carbon steel wok, which is to say somewhere south of US$20.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2012 13:46

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

No Wave posted:

I have to disagree. I can't imagine a good professional kitchen that isn't using Benriner mandolines. That's the one you want.

I don't mean to be a prick - the one you like is probably okay for home use. But any restaurant I've been in uses nothing but the Benriners without a second thought.

I don't mean to be a prick, but have you ever actually tried a Borner mandoline?

# ¿ May 19, 2012 04:30

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Pikey posted:

Anybody used tojiro knives in the past? I'm looking at knives for a graduation gift (want a 10 inch, a carver, and maybe a 6 inch utility) and I ran across this:

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/tojiro-hammered-black/carbon-steel-chefs-knife-p117822

It's on a great sale right now and just looks awesome. I don't like the look of the shun as much and I have never seen a tojiro in person to see how it handles. Any thoughts?

I own several Tojiro knives and I like them just fine. They're pretty much what converted me from preferring the heavier German-style knives (which I used to use exclusively) to the lighter Japanese-style knives. If you've only ever used heavier knives before it's something to keep in mind---it might not be your thing---but other than that I can't think of any warnings or anything like that.

That being said, for the price of the Tojiros you linked you could pick up a Moritaka of the same size, and I'd take a Moritaka over a Tojiro pretty much any day.

# ¿ May 21, 2012 22:32

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Pikey posted:

I have a 8 inch global chef's knife whic I love because its so light. I essentially just want a 10 inch for large produce chopping to get more uniform cuts with the deeper blade. Where are you seeing moritaka knives for that cheap? I can't find any ~10 inch knifes for less thank 200

The Tojiros you linked were an `8 1/4 inch' (which is actually 210mm) for US$150 and a `9 1/2 inch' (or 240mm) for US$170. The regular price on the Moritaka Aogami series at chefknivestogo has their 210mm at US$140 and the 240mm at US$170. The Moritaka `Supreme' series runs about US$180 for the 210mm and US$207 for the 240mm, which is probably about what you're seeing elsewhere.

I don't have any affiliation with chefknivestogo, but I've bought a bunch of knives from them, and they're one of the few online retailers in the US that carries :swoon:

CCK cleavers :swoon:

. Don't know if there are other places that'll sell you a Moritaka for cheaper or not.

# ¿ May 22, 2012 07:50

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

mindphlux posted:

yeah that's what I do now, and yeah no disadvantage, I'm just being silly. I fill a pot with water and submerge the stock/ziplock bag right up to the seal right now, so it's basically the same as a vacuum seal, works perfectly, and takes two seconds. and you don't even need to vacuum seal stocks. so what am I talking about.

I have a cheapass bottom-of-the-line Seal-A-Meal thing, and the suction on it is so wimpy it's pretty much perfect for sealing wet poo poo. I've never tried bagging a bunch of stock, but I've bagged a lot of eggs for the puddle machine, and it's pretty easy to just start it up and then hit the release button when the liquid's creeped too high.

It's also pretty good for doing poo poo like bagging burger patties without compressing them. I kinda feel like once you take the step back from a chamber sealer that can pull something like a real vacuum and all the poo poo you can do with that, then for sous vizzle at least you're better off with a weak-rear end sealer.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2012 20:31

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Doh004 posted:

Any preferences on toaster ovens? My toaster died on me and I'd like to get a toaster oven as its a lot more versatile.

I've had a Cuisinart convection toaster oven for several years and I really like it. It's way overkill if you just want a new toaster, but if you plan on using it for other poo poo it's a surprisingly decent little oven/broiler as well. It's got a removable crumb tray, which is nice, but it is a bit of a pain in the rear end to clean out the rest of it if you get grease or whatever spattered over the interior. In particular there's a ledge or whatever under the door hinge that likes to collect debris and is a pain to clean. Other than that, no complaints.

# ¿ Jul 4, 2012 02:30

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

bummer dude posted:

any recommendations for good wok and ring combo, my lovely ikea flat bottom wok is not cutting mustard

Go to your nearest Chinatown, buy the cheapest wok whose handle you like. If you're paying more than about US$20 you're probably getting taken for a ride.

You'll probably be able to pick up a wok ring at any place that sells woks. Of the two basic designs:

I'd take one that looks like the top image over one that looks like the bottom; there's no reason why you'd actually want to restrict airflow through a wok ring, and the perforated kind can sometimes choke a gas flame.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2012 01:02

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

No Wave posted:

OK. I'll say it. I don't understand woks on a burner made for normal pans. I don't understand what you gain vs. a flat-bottom pan when you're not working with magma.

You mean a wok versus a fry pan? Or a traditional wok versus a flat-bottomed wok? Because a wok behaves very differently from a fry pan---thinner, so it's more responsive to temperature changes, sloped so you've got a temperature gradient up the sides, more volume inside the same radius, and so on.

Traditional versus flat-bottomed, the main difference is surface area. This affects how much food you can get in there at once, and how well you're heating the hottest area of the wok. I also think there's a noticeable difference in how the pan behaves just in terms of moving food around in it and so forth, but that's probably just familiarity and personal preference.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2012 12:49

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

No Wave posted:

I guess my question is - can you really get results in a wok on a normal range that you can't get out of two flat-bottomed pans?

By `normal range' do you mean an electric range? Because I agree that a round-bottom wok doesn't make sense on an electric range. But with a gas range, even one lacking a dedicated wok burner (or other high-output burner) I think you'll get better results out of removing the spider and using a wok ring compared to what you'd get out of using a flat-bottom wok. Or at least on my particular gas range. On the full sized burners (that is, not on the smaller warming burner) the bottom of the wok rests just slightly over the hob, and flames hit the sides from just above the bottom to well up the side of the pan. Assuming that the burner output is more or less constant and that the wok's efficiency at absorbing it is also more or less constant, then this by itself would result in a more regular cooking surface than applying the heat only to bottom surface (resting on the burner) of a flat-bottom wok.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2012 23:01

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

No Wave posted:

Sorry - I meant gas - I'm being very unclear and I apologize.

I've been putting the round wok directly on the spider but maybe I'll look into getting a ring. I haven't been getting a great char/caramelization on meat that I cook with my wok but I may be doing too much at a time as well.

I had come to the conclusion that if you're using round-bottom you really need the absurd molten heats that proper wok burners generate, and that with a lower amount of heat you'll need much more time so you'll do better to use a normal flat-bottomed pan so that you can give the meat time to caramelize on each side. But if this has really been working - wok/ring on a normal gas range - then maybe I need to rethink that.

Wok burners are great, but unless your range is really anemic you shouldn't have trouble searing off meat in a wok. A wok ring will certainly help for the reasons I've described (or at least it certainly makes a difference on my stove; removing the spider and using a wok ring puts the wok roughly an inch and a half closer to the burner).

On the other hand you can also overcrowd a wok and end up greying your meat instead of browning it. I don't put more than a single portion of meat/protein in at a time when I'm trying to brown/sear it---call it around 3 oz/85 g. Brown and reserve it in batches if you need to do more. When it's done, do your veg (in stages if necessary), and then add the meat back in near the end. Right before everything comes out before serving you'll have way more food in the wok than you have at any time while you're cooking things.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 05:33

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

PRADA SLUT posted:

Works are carbon steel which means they don't retain their heat well. The shape of a wok gives a blistering hot center while the sides aren't as hot.

The idea is that you can cook something on the bottom of the wok then move food up the sides to prevent overcooking.

There's that.

The shape also helps with the kind of cooking you usually do in a wok. You can't really get the same sort of rolling stir thing going on with a vertical-sided cast iron skillet (or at least all cast iron skillets I've seen have vertical sides). You really want the sloped sides of something like a fry pan. But a wok has way the gently caress more capacity than a fry pan of the same radius. If I'm doing some kind of stir-fried thing with noodles, I'll have, I dunno, around two quarts/litres of food moving around in there at the end. No loving way I could manage that in a fry pan without ending up redecorating my kitchen.

The shape also means that a wok can switch hit as a fryer with a much greater capacity than your average skillet or fry pan.

I mean if you want to get all technical sure anything you can do with wok you can do with a cast iron skillet. Like you could in theory cook just about anything with nothing but a Zippo and a lot of raw determination. But unless you're in the kitchen entirely for the perverse masochism, like Pr0k's Mom is, why would you bother?

# ¿ Aug 4, 2012 06:24

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

mindphlux posted:

I think the handle is probably what matters most to me - yeah, sharpness and edge holding ability of blades is important, but you can always resharpen a blade - the handle though is there to stay.

I care more about blade geometry, but I pretty much agree. Unless you're talking about complete poo poo or are investing a lot of money in exotic blade steels, pretty much any decently-made kitchen knife will have good enough steel for what most people need a kitchen knife for. So the main way you're going to differentiate between options involves personal preference, and personal comfort absolutely should be at the top of that list.

Certainly if you're choosing from between the mid to high end offerings from the major names in mass produced kitchen cutlery---Shun, W�sthof, Henckles, MAC, and so on---the average consumer (that is, someone who doesn't have a bunch of carefully nurtured special snowflake prejudices about knives) is absolutely best served by just handling all the knives they can afford and picking the one with the handle they like the best.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2012 01:10

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

blowingupcasinos posted:

The guys at work render duckfat almost every day, and they only use the lard for staff meals! I am going to take some of it home! What should I keep it in? (And what should I make first? I would say I'm moderately skilled in the ways of the kitchen...)

I always store duck fat in a plastic tub. Like a tupperware container or the moral equivalent. In the fridge, if that's not obvious.

As to what to make---frites is the obvious choice. I really dig pommes persillade with the taters fried in duck fat.

I also really like scallops pan fried with duck fat. Put a couple Tbsp in a fry pan over a high heat. Scallops you wash and pat dry, sprinkle with a pinch of coarse salt, sear both sides in the fat. Reserve them, then throw in some minced garlic, let it just get fragrant, add some tomato concasse. Keep it moving while the tomatoes soften just a little, add a little white wine, reduce a little, add a little chicken stock, just enough so when it reduces a little everything will look like a sauce. When it's there, add the scallops back in, plus some basil chiffonade, plate, done.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2012 04:20

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Doh004 posted:

Also, knife sharpeners aren't 100% necessary and some would argue a bad idea as people overuse em.

Some people would argue the silliest goddamn things.

That said, pull-through sharpeners aren't a good idea---they're not particularly good at their intended task (sharpening knives), they're not very flexible (in terms of what you can sharpen with them, angle of bevel, and so on), and to top it off they tend to gently caress up knives due to their design (bad materials in the sharpening surfaces, tendency to go off-true rapidly due to the small sharpening area, and their habit of picking up sharpening detritus which becomes abrasive).

For anyone just getting into sharpening I'd recommend a simple Norton coarse/fine duplex stone. If you're really paranoid about not knowing how to sharpen without a gadget to hand-hold you through the process, the Spyderco Sharpmaker is well-thought of, especially for the price. I don't hate 'em, but I'm not crazy about them either.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2012 23:47

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Hed posted:

Any specific products? I went to Norton's site and got overwhelmed with products.

One of these is the kind of coarse/fine Norton stone I had in mind, but I just use it as an example of a generic stone rather than as a specific recommendation. I like the crystolon stones in general, as they tend to have good wear characteristics compared to most natural stones (and so you don't have to worry about flattening them as often). And I tend to prefer oilstones over whetstones just because they're less fussy as well as having better wear resistance. It's not magic though and pretty much any stone from a reputable manufacturer will work more or less like every other stone of the same grit.

The only real caveat I'd add is that if you've got a lot of knives with exotic steels with high carbide content you might want to invest in a set of DMT diamond hones, as almost all other sharpening stones will be softer than the carbide groups.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2012 03:29

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

Thanks. That Oxo gallon may work, though it is a bit ugly. Form over function I guess.

If you're willing to go ugly but functional, you can get a pack of three 4 quart Cambro containers for about what that Oxo costs. I keep dry goods in a cabinet so I don't give a poo poo what they look like, and Cambros stack securely and can go through the dishwasher if you want. I've got a couple Oxo containers with the push-button lids, and they're okay but tend to accumulate crud around the seals and are fussier to clean.

# ¿ Dec 4, 2012 23:00

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Doh004 posted:

I have one of those Victorinox small paring knives and it's great. Can I use a honing steel on it like my chef's knife? Can it be resharpened? I know it's inexpensive enough to just buy another, but it'd be cool if I can keep it longer. The metal is a lot thinner than other knives, so I'm unsure.

I've got a couple Victorinox paring knives that I originally bought back in the '80s. They can be resharpened.

logical fallacy posted:

Does anyone know of a super fine ceramic steel? It just seems counter intuitive to get to a near mirror finish on the edge of a knife and then hone it with something far coarser than the last sharpening grit. I have a (too) small ceramic hone that I like, but all of the longer ones are way too coarse. I cringed when I tried one because I could hear how it was grinding the blade. Or am I better off with a strop/equivalent?

I'd use a strop instead. I do use a strop instead. But if you want a really fine honing rod/steel, then you can find borosilicate rods. They're going to be pricier than a ceramic rod, but they'll last for loving ever and they'll work on pretty much any blade steel (many/most ceramic rods are aluminium oxide, and so are softer than the carbides in modern `super' steels).

# ¿ Dec 7, 2012 21:19

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Gilgameshback posted:

Do people routinely go through like 30 $17 Foodsavers?

I've been using a Rival Seal-A-Meal for the past two years or so. I think I gave something like US$30 for it on amazon. Use it and a SV Demi a couple three times a week and don't have any complaints about either. The Seal-A-Meal is loud as hell and the rubberised seal likes to come loose if you shake the machine around, and the perforated tray thing that came with the Demi is discoloured all to hell and gone, but all that's firmly in the `gently caress if I care' column as far as I'm concerned.

# ¿ Dec 26, 2012 07:55

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Shooting Blanks posted:

I'm sure the answer is "No, just buy a pair you idiot," but are there any super magical kitchen shears I should be aware of? Mine died and I need to replace them.

I've seen a lot of bad kitchen shears, but none that were obviously the One True Kitchen Shears that make all others obsolete. I always want the take-apart kind, because otherwise it's a pain in the rear end to clean them. And I find a bone notch useful if I'm attacking a bird. Apart from that, just get a pair that are comfortable to use.

# ¿ Dec 27, 2012 00:41

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

That's the one acceptable answer.

Chipotles in adobo.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2013 20:14

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

ChetReckless posted:

Anyone own Modernist Cuisine at Home? I find myself with some Amazon gift cards that would bring the price down to $40 out of pocket.

I'm attracted to the book for a few reasons. First, I love reference/knowledge books and interesting food photography. Browsing the table of contents leads me to believe there is a decent amount of pressure cooker stuff in there, and I'd really like to use mine for more stuff. I'm not super fixated on specific recipes as you can usually find those anywhere and I end up messing with them anyhow. I'm more interested in techniques and applications.

Am I going to be happy with this for $40 (+$70 in gift cards)?

I own a copy.

It's okay, but I'm not in love with it. It has surprisingly little theory in it (given the reputation of its bigger brother), and on a lot of subject it seems to gloss over large volumes of important stuff while devoting a lot of acreage to fiddly horseshit. All the photography is nice, but in a lot of cases it seems like a bad use of space---a couple pages of soups as food porn tadpoles, with just a line or two dedicated to each of the recipes itself. That kind of thing.

Overall the quality of the physical book itself is good, and it's nice that there's a separate recipe book that's spiral-bound and printed on spill-proof material.

My take is that it's a sorta cute book, but it's really best suited for people who are already on the advanced end of the home cook scale, and are interested in spergy poo poo that they're probably going to actually use only rarely. I wouldn't want to have had to learn anything from scratch from it, and if I was tearing my cooking library down to only a couple books it wouldn't be one of the ones to make the final cut.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2013 05:06

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

vacuity posted:

What kinds of options are available for liquid storage? I love mason jars in all their rustic glory, but I'm curious if there is anything out there that's a viable alternative. I'm not looking to preserve anything, but soups/sauces will factor heavily so freezer safe is crucial. Since I'm not preserving, the lids are my only (admittedly nit-picky) gripe with mason jars. These are cool, but not 7$ a pop cool, so something with a flexible lid system would be nice to have. I'm not picky about materials as long as it's sturdy, easy to clean, and doesn't look too much like poo poo.

Any suggestions?

Depends on the liquid. I tend to use either the cheapass Glad/Ziplock/whatever containers you can get in any grocery store, baggies, or recycled containers from other poo poo (like whenever I make my own ketchup, bbq sauce, or other condiment sauce I'll just use an old store-bought ketchup bottle to store it).

If you're planning on needing a shitload of them, you can just go to your nearest restaurant supply store and buy a bunch of plastic containers in pint, quart, or whatever sizes for a couple cents a pop.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2013 11:55

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Anyone got recommendations on French door refrigerators? Reviews for all of the common brands seem to be all over the loving place.

And apart from the common consumer brands, what's the refrigerator equivalent of a Wolf or Blue Star range/oven, if that makes sense?

# ¿ Mar 10, 2013 20:01

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Chemmy posted:

Sub-Zero?

http://www.subzero-wolf.com/

Unfortunately unless I'm mistaken they only make 48" free-standing fridges and builtins (apart from under-counters, wine fridges, and poo poo like that).

Viking is another high end appliance manufacturer, but looking around the reviews for their free-standing fridges is pretty mixed.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2013 01:49

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 00:13

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Knockknees posted:

Dish drying shelf above stove

Also known as a grease trap.

I definitely agree on the extra outlets---all else being equal I'd put a double outlet wherever there's a single outlet. I wouldn't really worry that much about a lot of built-in poo poo like spice racks---I know know about your habits, but what I want/need/use regularly changes as I learn more, so unless I was really confident that I was done doing that I'd prefer having flexibility over builtin convenience for a specific thing, if that makes sense.

A pasta faucet sounds nice in theory, but I guess I've never really found myself that troubled by filling up pots the old fashioned way. And spilling from the sink to the stove is bad---water on a kitchen floor is an accident waiting to happen---but really I'd prefer something that helped range-to-sink more with the hot water than sink-to-range with it cold. And I'm always a little leery about adding a few more metres of plumbing; I'd be asking myself how I'd know about it if it was leaking, and what's involved with fixing a leak if there is one. But maybe I just have a bad attitude.

Really, the things I pretty much always find myself kinda wanting, regardless of how things are set up: more counter space for prep work, and in particular counter space that's close to the cooking surface(s); more storage space for poo poo I always use---knives, tongs, turners, whisks, side towels, and that kind of thing---close to where I'm actually working (so I don't have to walk across the kitchen, even if it's just a couple steps, to grab what I need); more counter space for appliances that aren't builtin but aren't really portable---puddle machine, toaster oven, stand mixer, that kind of thing---so you don't have to muscle them around to use them/plug them in/clean them/whatever.

And this is probably outside the scope of what you're asking, but if I was designing a kitchen from scratch the thing I'd worry about most apart from the poo poo I just listed is how much of a pain in the rear end it is to clean: smooth counters instead of tiled; light counters without any patterns so it's easy to see if you spilled poo poo on them; counters and cabinets without that pain in the rear end overhang that they usually have, so cleaning the floor right next to the counters is easier; range hood with an easy to remove/get at/clean grease trap. That kind of thing.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2013 19:47

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

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