|
Anne Whateley posted:Look on craigslist near you. Apparently everyone has a bread machine they got as a gift and used once. The thrift store near us has them for $5. At that price it's really easy to take the machine back and drop it in their donation bin once you've tried it and gone "meh". I did that with a couple of different brands before I got tired of donating to the cause.
|
#
¿
Dec 7, 2015 16:07
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 18:22 |
|
|
Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:We really should get a mod to close the other thread if this is now the official one. I use this one. Easily expandable from the original 6 up to 20 trays, in case you need to get serious with processing a garden or an orchard. I like the timer and the adjustable heat. After a bit of practice I can get a pretty good product on a variety of foodstuffs and I don't have as much of a problem over-drying stuff overnight. Maybe it's just the the geek in me wanting more buttons and blinkenlights. Main thing I don't like about it is that the trays are not dishwasher safe. Our sink is big enough to soak several at once but it would be a lot nicer to just throw them in the dishwasher after a big run of beef jerky.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2015 08:34
|
|
|
Red_Fred posted:It's not my cooktop so that's a concern also I heard that cast iron pans get so hot as to damage the cooktop? I've heard this concern about using home canners on a ceramic top; supposedly they overhang the burner too much causing uneven heating or heating in areas that aren't supposed to be heated or whatever... no idea if any of it is true. Match the pot to the burner size and everything should be fine. OTOH you might be talking about an induction top while the rest of us are discussing conventional radiant tops? Ceramic tops will scratch eventually even if you go out and buy a set of compatible steel pans and your wife refuses to let you use your cast iron pans on the new stove. Besides the "lift before moving" thing you have to make sure you don't rotate the pans in place. If I had a do-over my cast irons would be on the ceramic top from Day 1.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2016 07:00
|
|
|
El Jebus posted:Food savers and other vacuum sealers. Any recommendations, don't bother, or other advice? Costco has the Fm2000 or something for $60 and it seems like not a bad deal and good for meat storage. If you have a chest freezer, eat a lot of meat, and/or have Costco card I think they're worth it. You definitely get a better product when you pull something out of the bottom of the freezer several months down the line. Huge trays of Italian sausage on sale? Yes, please, I'll take four. Also kickass if you have a vegetable garden or can get cheap, local produce during part of the year. The closer to the garden the beans are when they're frozen the better they taste. Ours has the accessory for vacuum sealing canning jars and doing 30 minute marinades. I'm underwhelmed - the canning jars sometimes lose seal over the winter. NBD with dehydrated fruit if you're keeping an eye on things but still annoying. Similar problem with bagged dry food, you have to watch for punctures if the contents have edges. I haven't used the marinade feature yet, so far I've been able to get things together the night before if something needs to soak. We had a little Decosonic several years ago, but it had constant problems with its seals. Not sure if it was a design problem or what. The Foodsaver is more reliable and vacuums better, but part of this might be the Foodsaver bags. Their design makes vacuuming more effective. They're not cheap but Costco sometimes has them on for a good price. Cabellas might have a cheaper alternative and there are Youtube videos showing tricks to make vacuuming regular polyethylene bags more effective. If I could go back a year I'd probably get another Foodsaver without the bells and whistles, like the one above. The bags are expensive enough that I try to limit their use to high value contents. Bit like bubble jet printers, now that I think about it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2016 20:22
|
|
|
Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:The atlas is more or less the standard for hand cranked pasta makers. Huh. Noticed a couple of days ago that my favourite woodworking tool site carries the Atlas and was wondering if it was any good. Better price than what a Canadian can get on Amazon.com or .ca while our petrodollar is in the crapper.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 25, 2016 04:35
|
|
|
door Door door posted:In related Kitchenaid news, I looked at some of the pasta attachments and holy poo poo are they expensive. This is true. I was thinking the pasta maker might help justify the expensive mixer, but nope.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2016 05:17
|
|
|
Bape Culture posted:I need dehydrator recommendations please. We have a L'Equip dehydrator. Got it cheap second hand so no great efforts were made in research and comparison shopping. If I needed to replace it I'd look for: 1) Thermostatic temperature control. You want higher temperatures for beef jerky but herbs do better under gentler conditions. 2) Easy to clean. Dishwasher safe trays - our dehydrator gets heavy use in late summer and washing those big trays in the sink is a pain in the arse. All sorts of bits and drips end up in the base so that part needs to be easy to wipe out too. 3) Easily expandable. If you're a normal household and not prepping for Armageddon ignore this, five or six trays should be fine. If you have a garden and berry patch or access to cheap seasonal produce it can be a bit limiting. Dehydrated cherries are amazing; use in place of raisins in fruit bread, etc. Just finished the last of ours  tonight in homemade cherry and chocolate ice cream.  Homemade beef jerky is a close second, flavoured with whatever interesting Asian hot sauces you have in the fridge.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2016 06:50
|
|
|
Squashy Nipples posted:Oh right... meat. I'm not allowed to dehydrate meat in the house. Ah, there's your problem. Jerky, fruit, and herbs make the house smell wonderful. The cats and dogs get a bit crazy when the meat's on though.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2016 04:50
|
|
|
SubG posted:It's not just the screw you have to worry about, it's what it's in contact with. Water in a running dishwasher is a weak electrolyte solution at high temperature, and that means that anything that wants to be a sacrificial anode gets the opportunity to sacrifice itself (to ineffectually electroplating something else). Whether something is willing to function as a sacrificial anode isn't universal, it depends on what else is in the solution with it. Yeah, I'm just not seeing this "dishwasher safe screw" thing. Unless maybe the screws are an alloy that will discolour in a dishwasher? Wouldn't want ugly screws.  I see one model has an aluminum sandwich base. Not sure how they did it, but if the aluminum is exposed that could be a bad thing in a dishwasher.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 16, 2016 16:47
|
|
|
Farking Bastage posted:These babies right here are a Godsend. Looks promising. Several years ago my wife and I had one of the pneumatic jars that pump up like a bicycle pump. It looked a bit like this. Cap was slightly different but everything else was the same. Early one morning we were awakened by a loud "pop" in the kitchen. The top of the oil sprayer had come apart and sprayed an explosion of cooking oil over that corner of the kitchen. Took quite a while to clean all the extra virgin out of nooks and crannies. It was probably a freak incident but never the less, never again. I might consider an unpressurized hand pump though.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 14, 2018 21:19
|
|
|
Doom Rooster posted:I bought this guy about a year ago and freaking love it. Feels much sturdier than the last cheap one that I had and works perfectly. Seconding this. I looked at other brands but everything except one other Italian brand felt cheap and flimsy in comparison. My grandkids will probably be inheriting this machine. Sad to hear the ravioli attachment doesn't work. I was suspicious about it and haven't got around to buying one yet. Back to Plan B - any recomendations for a tray or are there other ways to do it?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2019 03:44
|
|
|
Anne Whateley posted:I got these, but if you click around there are a bunch of options with those features. The only other feature I can think of that I'd want is the little spout. I have a set of those from Costco. Only difference I can see is black instead of red. Far prefer them to our plastic or glass bowls (slate floors, and I am kinda a dgaf cook). Seconding the silicone bottoms, especially for storing things in the fridge. Spouts would be nice, but my main criticism is that the snap on lids shrink over time. Otherwise the sooner our plastic bowls die and free up space in the cupboard the better.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 13, 2019 15:52
|
|
|
Steve Yun posted:Trip report: for decades my mom had a tall Panasonic bread machine that always made sorta mushy bread. It broke down recently and she got a Zojirushi long bread machine. It’s really really good! Crumb is pretty even, soft and is small bubbles, crust is very satisfyingly crunchy even after a few days. I tried out a series of breadmakers through the local thrift shop - buy one for $5, make a couple of mediocre loaves, donate it back to the shop, repeat with a different brand... One day they had a Zoji on the shelves for the princely sum of $35. Based on our experience with our Zoji rice cooker I bought it. We've had it for three years now and if (when?) it breaks I will be immediately buying a new one. It is awesome, especially after you get comfortable enough with it to start modifying recipes. I'm amazed at the excellent results using the delayed start. My wife really enjoys coming home from work to the smell of fresh bread ready to come out of the bread machine.
|
|
#
¿
May 10, 2019 21:57
|
|
|
BraveUlysses posted:used big Green egg or kamado joe I had no idea they make dual fuel kamados. I thought they were all charcoal only. Steve Yun posted:What about the knockoff egg grills are they any good Can be. Intake and vent controls can be a bit more finicky on the non-BGE grills and there have been complaints about the porcelain flaking and cracking on some brands. We've had our Visions kamado for six years and it's been good. Surprisingly the claimed 10 - 15 minutes heat up time is reasonably accurate. Not as fast as a gas grill but quite workable. Heat has to be adjusted upwards when bbqing in the snow. Sounds like Nanigans might be after something more like the table top miniature kamados in electric or gas. If it doesn't run on charcoal I have no clue.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2019 06:51
|
|
|
Mr_Roke posted:I'm eyeing either the Oxo shears, because duh, or the Kuhn Rikon ones. I had a set similar to the Oxo or the Wustoff for several years. The head of the T stud that keeps the two halves together was too thin and eventually wore away so that the shears wouldn't stay together. I peened them back together (losing the ability to separate and wash them thoroughly) and they lasted a couple of more years before failing completely. Even when new, pay attention to how you carry them. My pair separated unexpectedly and left a nice little triangular hole where the blade fell and embedded itself in the wood floor. I didn't complain much - it had missed my bare foot by a few centimeters. Other than that they were good, whatever they were. I still need to get another set. Maybe the Kuhn Rikon this time.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2019 19:32
|
|
|
Not sure if this is relevant at all to your situation but whatever - I do a lot of canning and have been using a 10 litre thin walled ss stock pot and graniteware canners to cook large batches of soup, stew, sauces, etc. for canning. Complete pain in the arse. If you turn your back for a minute something scorches on the bottom. Costco had a 15 litre clad bottom stock pot on for $40cdn this fall. Night and day difference - absolutely no scorching since I bought it. Heavy and surprisingly well built - I don't think the handles are going to fall off in my lifetime. Verisimilidude posted:I also have one of these at home and it's my go-to big pot for just about anything. They come in bigger variations (the 12qt isn't much more expensive), are heavy-bottomed and will last forever. Yeah, this, only bigger!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 15, 2019 19:02
|
|
|
canyoneer posted:I have that same gigantic Costco stockpot (in 24 quart/22 liter) and it's awesome. It has brought much gumbo into my life. If that size ever shows up on Costco.ca I'm done with graniteware canners forever.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 15, 2019 19:34
|
|
|
Verisimilidude posted:Any recs on a small bread maker? Looking for a gift for my mother-in-law who has celiacs and also can't move around too much. I remember using a bread maker at an ex's apartment that was super easy. Was gonna get her the pre-mixed gluten free bread mix as well. We tried several bread makers cheap from the local thrift store. All of them went back except for the Zojirushi - it makes good bread. We have a relative with celiacs and it has no problems with the recipes he needs. If it ever dies I will cry a bit and spend the $$ to buy a new one. It might be bigger than you like and new they are not cheap.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2019 06:26
|
|
|
SubG posted:I think all the people making a point about the cook time in a Zojirushi are just imagining the wrong workflow. I never put rice in the cooker when I want some and then sit around waiting for it to be ready. I put some rice in the cooker like whenever and then the rice sits around waiting for me to use it. This was the approach my wife and I took when we were both working outside the home - load and program the Zoji while making breakfast, haul the contents for the crockpot out of the fridge and turn it on. Come back from work to the house full of cooking smells and dinner ready. Lots of criticism of CrockPot cooking but it beat having to figure out dinner after a day at work. The rice was always good.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 14, 2019 08:22
|
|
|
That is an interesting read. The fact that they bounce around so much makes me wonder how suitable they are for pressure canning. This review sums up my concerns about canning in one of these. They keep telling you to follow the National Center for Food Preservation recipes but don't provide the tools needed to follow them accurately (a pressure gauge to confirm the machine's performance?). I can't imagine what you'd actually want to can in it though. 4 x half quart jars is a fart in a windstorm for any serious canner. I have a low sugar jam recipe that might work but it doesn't need pressure - a boiling water bath is fine. I hope their canning work with McGill University goes well. I will probably buy one eventually and it might be useful for re-processing that one jar in a batch that didn't seal properly the first time without firing up the 24 quart canner again.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 17, 2019 08:35
|
|
|
Txxt posted:Can anyone vouch for the Bosch universal mixer blender attachment? Just catching up with the thread so a bit late, sorry. We bought a second hand Bosch a few years ago that a blender attachment included. We didn't actually use it until last year when the generic department store blender we've had for many years finally let the magic smoke out. Might not be a fair comparison with something more modern like the newer Ninjas or KitchenAids but the Bosch is much more powerful and blends more effectively, maybe due to the shape? Keep the lid on and add ingredients carefully or you will be painting the ceiling. It's a significant improvement over the old machine. The Bosch is loud but the noise isn't as high pitched and obnoxious as a lot of kitchen machines. My wife and I can carry on conversations over it without yelling while grinding flour, for example. Main problem is that we store everything in drawers. I think we're going to need to find a place on the counter for the base. Between the blender, mixer, food processor, and flour grinder we're using it more and more and it's a pain to haul that heavy motor out of a drawer every time we need it.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2022 05:20
|
|
|
DaveKap posted:I didn't really mean to turn this thread into a conversation/argument about lid strainers but I will insist how much of a quality of life improvement they've been since I've had them. My mother in law had a set of those so I got to use them for three months last winter while I was cooking for them. I agree. Not enough that I'm going to replace my current set but I can see the point. These are cool too but the one we have is lighter and flexes enough that it doesn't feel secure when draining a heavy pot. Part of the "and with your third hand..." problem. JoshGuitar posted:On the bright side, ruining a plastic canning funnel with freshly rendered animal fat of some sort (I forget what kind) forced me to finally bite the bullet and get a stainless one. Also works with hot maple sap and nylon strainers. Downside was that I had to throw out the sap that had nylon dissolved in it. Not sure what I was thinking. Speaking of maple sap, still trying to figure out wtf is going on with our induction cookers and cookware while finishing off the syrup. The hotplate bought last year barely gets the 16 litre clad bottom Costco pot up to simmer, but the old one from ~2008 gets it up to a vigorous boil. Not as vigorous as the single walled 10 litre stock pot which works best on either burner. The fridge magnet test pad included with last year's burner sticks to the bottom of the 16 litre but not to the 10 litre. I have no idea how these magic pixies work. 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2023 20:31
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 18:22 |
|
|
I went to the local Industrial Paint & Plastics shop and found some agricultural/harvest trays that were relatively cheap and stack three deep width-wise in our chest freezer with enough space left to slip a couple of pizza boxes or flatbread packages into. The plastic is a bit thin and brittle when cold so you have to be careful banging things together. I'd prefer something made like milk crates but they aren't the right dimensions to fit efficiently in our freezer. If I break another one I might just make a set out of wood. We keep a white board inventory next to the freezer divided into a grid representing the stacks of trays. It makes life so much easier we're actually careful to keep it up to date.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2023 03:02
|
|