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Bit late but crépe talk: Using a regular 10-12" pan with sides this is my method: Get yourself some small measure like a shot glass (or double shot glass or something of similar size) and experiment with how much mix you need to get the right thickness - just enough so that you get full pan coverage. Make a mental note or an actual mark on your container. Fill the container up to the mark, get your pan nice and hot (but not so hot that oil would smoke). Get a small amount of vegetable oil on a paper towel and wipe it around your pan - you're looking to make a really thin layer of oil, you should barely be able to see it but it makes a difference. Once the pan is hot and oiled, dump all of the (correct amount of) mix from your container into the pan in one big go, don't try to pour it and cover the pan this way. Get it moving straight away and swirl it around the pan until it is coated. Wa-la, good crépes. No need for fancy pans and spreaders, though you might be able to get them a little thinner - I've never tried a spreader though, maybe they're amazing, but I'm pretty happy with how my crépes turn out with my method. You can also do this without oil but IMO it doesn't seem to turn out quite as well and you're using such a small amount anyway. Also fun fact: What you 'Merkins call crépes we just call pancakes in the UK - generally we don't put baking powder in our pancake batter as a standard thing. Your big thick fluffy pancakes are "American style" to us. (And yes, I know it's "voilà".) WhatEvil fucked around with this message at 09:04 on Mar 14, 2018 |
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Mar 13, 2018 16:55
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 08:43 |
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I have this Breville 4-slice long-slot toaster and I'm pretty happy with it. Does everything I need, including a "bagel" option that means only the centre elements are on. The "a bit more" feature is handy and the linear dial slider thingy for how done you want your toast operates on an actual timer as far as I can tell. https://www.breville.com/ca/en/products/toasters/bta730.html/1000 My only (smallish) issue with it is that the elements inexplicably go behind a thin metal sheet in the middle of each long slot, so if you actually do have long bread slices (or say, pitas or something) then they don't get toasted as thoroughly in a vertical strip down the centre. Still, for the price, it seems decent to me. I've had it a few years now and it's worked fine the whole time.
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Feb 1, 2024 01:28
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OK so this is probably the right place to ask about this. I moved to Canada 5 years ago from the UK and one thing that has driven me slightly crazy is the difference in kitchen appliances. There seems to be a HUGE fuckin' premium here for built-in ovens. In the UK I could get a NEFF built-in oven starting from £449GBP including tax. NEFF are a great brand, I've had one of their ovens before and it was perfect. Very reliable, good reputation etc. and good performance. They're owned by Bosch. Now, NEFF aren't available here, which, fine, but it seems if you want a "name brand" built-in oven here they start at like $1500 +tax - so like $1700CAD with the tax, which is ~£1000GBP - more than double the price for the equivalent thing in the UK. So for now I ended up buying a Frigidaire induction range for like $1300CAD, 'cause Frigidaire is supposedly a "premium" brand and I thought they'd make good poo poo. They don't. It loving sucks. It doesn't hold temperature well and it was also sold as "true convection", but if you change the temperature the upper grill/broiler element comes on and so does the element in the bottom and if you have food in there already it gets burnt to a crisp. Also it makes horrible vibration noises and the cooling fan for the induction cooktop is noisy as poo poo, and the induction cooktop does not heat evenly at all. Also I bought a Frigidaire dishwasher that's loving melted its own internal components several times due to lovely design. Does anybody have any tips particularly on an oven brand that is not total poo poo and also not ridiculously expensive? I could get a Miele or something but they're like $6k. I guess mostly I just want an oven that is actual convection, with all the heat coming from the element in the rear with the fan, instead of whatever that Frigidaire bullshit is, and ideally it would hold temperature well.
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Mar 2, 2024 04:02
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Yeah Bosch exist in Canada it's just that their ranges here inexplicably start at something like $3000CAD+ tax but were available in the UK for £279GBP including tax. Wall ovens are ~$2300CAD + Tax. There must be some loving insane levels of collusion and price-fixing going on here. That works out to 7x the price and I can't wrap my head around any other reason for that much of an uplift. Particularly for wall ovens. They're such simple appliances. Some electric-resistive heating elements, a fan and motor, the body/casing and insulation and some basic electronics and controls.... I'll put AEG and Whirlpool on my mental list of good brands though, thanks. They do seem to be similarly expensive as Bosch here. Ultimately if I have to pay like $3000 for an oven that doesn't suck, I will, but I'll be pissed off about it. I'd consider importing an oven here from Europe but a)it sounds like a huge load of hassle, organising the shipping and all that, b)there are differences between the European and American power supply, and c)apparently you need to get ovens and large electrical appliances certified by some safety authority otherwise your home insurance is void in case of a fire - even if not started by the appliance. There are also considerations around parts and servicing etc. but I'm not as worried about that part, since, like I said, they're very simple and I don't think I've ever had an oven of any brand break on me. If people have other recommendations for convection ovens etc. that are very good then I'd still appreciate them. I have no idea how GE, KitchenAid and other (seemingly) common North American brands are, in terms of their ovens.
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Mar 2, 2024 19:04
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Eezee posted:Huh, just took a look at Canadian best buy and those prices are insane. Not only is everything at least 4 times as expensive, the few cooktops they actually sell have a lot less features than the ones available in Germany. You can't even use a griddle on any of them Yeah exactly. It's nuts. I have seen the griddle / linking function on some cooktops you can get here but again they're stupidly expensive. Arsenic Lupin posted:WhatEvil, how close are you to the border? Ottawa, so yeah pretty close - like an hour. I have had a look at US Lowes for example and prices don't seem too different from Canada though. Frank Dillinger posted:Have you considered finding stuff on Facebook marketplace or the like? resale value on kitchen appliances is pretty soft, might snag a deal on a Bosch or a Miele. Yeah I guess I'll keep an eye out the next time I come to buy appliances.
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Mar 3, 2024 23:31
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 08:43 |
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Re: knife sharpening. I have one of these: https://www.johnlewis.com/robert-welch-signature-hand-held-sharpener/p187267 It's a "pull through" sharpener but rather than just having fixed ceramic (or whatever) bars that you pull against, it has an offset-axis V-shaped ceramic/stone wheel and it does a great job of sharpening. I think I've seen people saying "They wear down your knives too much!!!" and maybe that's true if you're a professional chef who sharpens every day (or multiple times per day?) but I've been using mine on my knives every couple of weeks for like 7 or 8 years I think and the wear on my knives is barely noticeable. Only thing to look out for is that I think particular models of this kind of sharpener do have the angle set for a particular knife - though I use my Robert Welch one for another brand of knife which I'm pretty sure had a different edge angle, and it's fine. Took a bit of going through the first time I did it which I guess re-set the angle?
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Mar 26, 2024 03:27
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