mart242

Nah, not worth the hassle just to save a few $$$, especially since I'm deep in the west end of ottawa. I ended up buying the other bags online last night, I'll have tons of bags for a while!

Where in Canada are you? I've got a whole lot of a couple of different sizes. I'm in Burlington. Ottawa.. a bit far

Woops, my previous post was incorrect. what I was thinking of getting was the 10x13 and also the 6x10. The zipper bags are also interesting but are quite big (at webrestaurantstore), 8x12 is the smallest. No free shipping with amazon for me, I'm in canada. I'm heading across the border to pick my webrestaurant order (deep fryer, slicer, bunch of other small things) so shipping for the bags is reduced a bit with this. Sadly, selection is a bit limited.. I guess I could order the bags from another store with more selection.

Yeah, I'm thinking of getting 10x13 4mils (largest bags) and then 8x10, 3 mil. I should be good for a while with this. I'm not sure if I should "upgrade" the 3mil to 4 mil for the smaller bags.

Thanks. I'll go take a look at it tonight, hopefully it's in good shape and won't end up being a door stop 6 months from now! Took a look at it tonight, it was a bit dirty but works flawlessly. Surprisingly quiet, pulls an excellent vacuum and seals well so I left with it. Manufacturer 12/2009 so I'm guessing it's made in the US. I'm quite happy with my purchase.

Thanks. I'll go take a look at it tonight, hopefully it's in good shape and won't end up being a door stop 6 months from now!

After reading a few threads on this forum, I'm now considering getting a proper vacuum sealer and I ended up seeing a used one for sale locally. The sealer is a VP210. While I would have preferred a VP215 with the oil pump, this VP210 is $500 vs the $1000 that a VP215 would cost me (due to taxes..) so it is tempting. The guy says it was bought in 2010, used 3 months and then stored in his garage until now... I'm thinking this could mean that the pump may have rusted rusted? some bushings may have dried? Or are all those non issues? Anything to look for if I go see it besides if it reaches low vacuum and seals properly? Thanks

I did 4 cakes last night. More or less a success. The cakes are a lot more fluffy than two years ago, but I still has problems with flour lumps. I use a wire whisk fold the flour it. It was sifted cake flour that I added all at once (as I had read before). I was careful not to overmix but I still had some lumps. Should I had it a little bit at a time with the sifter, like you do for a sponge cake?

Thanks a lot for all the tips. I won't do a double batch, will try one recipe from joyofbaking and will try it again by making sure that the eggs and sugar form a ribon. That should cover it.

I need to make a few cakes for christmas, planning to go with rolled cakes with buttercream in them. I did a recipe last year that turned out ok but the texture of the cake wasn't that great. The buttercream was fantastic though. This year, it's total garbage! The recipe has basically 5 eggs, 1/2 cup of sugar, some vanilla. You mix that for a few minutes and add 1/2 cup of sifted cake flour with some baking powder. Stir that in, gently with a spatula (yeah, right, like that's easy to do) and finally fold in some melted butter. I need 4 cakes so I though that I'd make two double batch. 1st batch: flour made lumps and butter was a bit too hot so made lumps as well. In the garbage it goes (after putting them on a baking sheet, I noticed all the lumps and could not get rid of them. 2nd batch: I thought that I'd avoid the lump things by adding the flour and butter gently in the stand mixer. Batter was smooth but after cooking, it was like a thin piece of rubber. Quite pissed off, I then called it a night. What did I do wrong? I'm usually pretty good with all the recipes I do.

Most of them are ok, but not my non-stick pot, big pot, and a few other. As long as my Creuset dutch oven / mini dutch oven work work and regular pans / pots are ok, I'm happy! I'll buy what's not and it shouldn't be too expensive. I don't know what I'll use for home canning though.

What's the typical profit margin for a bakery? 20% max on these since they don't do any work? (just guessing). So retail price - 20% (or whatever) = your price, as long as you make a decent profit. Calculating the retail price is easy, just go shopping!

I did a bunch of reading on the gardenweb forum last night. I'm now tempted by an induction cooktop and inwall oven instead. The induction cooktops heat quickly and evenly. Plus, barely any energy is wasted, so you don't heat up the house while cooking during the hot summer days when the AC is running. Oh well, still a few months to do my homework!

squids, I'll definitely look at the bluestar but it doesn't seem too popular in Canada. There's only one distributor carrying them under the name "prestichef" so service might be a PITA if something happens. Based on what you're saying, they were less expensive than DCS which would be a big plus if it's as good... I'll look at the GE monogram. When will you have it delivered to your new house?

Gruyere is actually from Switzerland: http://www.gruyere.com/ As is emmenthal, jarlsberg, ... I guess that what they mean is the america's test kitchen recipe is that you can use any kind of "tasty" cheese, no cheese whiz or monterey jack...

The recipe from America's test kitchen is really good: http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe....s=614&iSeason=5 French Onion Soup Gratinee

All right then. THanks a lot for the info. I'll keep the DCS on my list. I think the 5 burner 30" one is something like 4600$ taxes in (in Ottawa). Any range hood to recommend?

I forgot something: how useful is "self cleaning" on these big powerful ranges?

What range where you using before? Based on your comments, I think I'll have to go for a DCS or another good range (GE monogram?).

That's pretty nice... Could be super useful at my next house. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Sorry for the long post. Skip 1st section if you don't want the details! ---------------- EXTRA DETAILS ------------------- I'm having a house built, well, I've picked a model from a builder so can't make any major changes to it but can have things moved around... He're the model I choose: http://tamarackhomes.com/findlaycreek/floo...ges/bristol.htm I'm on a limited budget which is why I won't have the kitchen of my dreams with a walk-in pantry and big island in the midle. Well, I could have a walk-in pantry added to that kitchen but it look weird... Anyways, I still lots of time ahead of me but am wondering a few things regarding which gas range I should put in. It will be natural gas for sure. I currently have a kitchenaid slide-in, 4 burners with convection oven that's pretty nice, lots of useless electronics on it though (touch panel with tons of options). It takes forever to boil water though.And the burners sometimes heat the side of the pots more than the bottom of it! I think that's caused by the range hood circulating the air. -------------------------------------------------------- I first thought that I'd put in a "prosumer" grade range in my new house, something like a 5 burner 30" DSC range http://www.dcs-range.com/indoor/detail.php?id=91 whici is about 5k$CDN, that's as much as I'd spend. No 36" or more for me. Unfortunately. With such a range, all the burners are powerful (no 2xsimmer, 2xhigh power burners like on my current kitchenaid). The broiler is also great. Convection oven, but not self clean which apparently is not required on a range like this: you just put it on full power with the broiler for an hour or two and it's clean. Now, it's summer time and I've realised that I have barely used my range because I have a good gas BBQ and it gets too hot inside the house if I use the range. I've got AC but why waste so much energy fighiting against the range? Sooo... I'm reconsidering my choice. I'm thinking I could save some money and go with a lower cost range, aroung 2k$CDN. That would buy me a nice TV. I make that choice, I'm afraid that I'll regret it 2-3 years down the road... Is "prosumer" grade worth it? I don't care about the stainless steel commercial look as long as it cooks well. Can I get that in a high end consumer model with more features for less $ instead? If I go high end consumer, I can get a double oven or warming drawer for cheaper than a basic "prosumer" one but do they cook / bake properly? Heck, I could even go with a dual fuel one, something I could not do if I go prosumer/commercial. A few things to keep in mind: - If you've looked at the floorplan, you'll see that there will be a ~8' duct from the range hood to the outside of the house. - I cook / bake a bit of everything. I really enjoy cooking and cook more and more, when I have the time! I currently have 1 young boy and might have another kid down the road. Oh well, I still have ~4 - 5 months to decide!

The recipe from Good Eats (www.goodeatsfanpage.com or from the foodnetwork) is pretty good and foolproof IMHO. You could also read the episode transcript on goodeatsfanpage to see which tips he mentionned. As far as I remember, it was quite tasty too.

I'd dump it in the garbage. Leave on the shelf and it will attract all kind of insects. Plus, if it's been sitting in the freezer for a year, you know it will taste like the inside of a freezer so you won't eat it. If you're afraid your marriage will collapse because you throw it in the garbage, you've got other things to worry about! A piece of cake won't save it!

I have the delonghi ICK8500. Bought it at the end of last year, made ~10 - 15 batches of ice cream / sorbet since then. Highly recommended, no problems with it beside a slightly noisy motor that mixes the ingredients. Easy to clean.

Here in Ontario, Canada, we can buy them in 5kg pails for about 15$CDN. THey are already pitted, and are available with and without sugar. Most supermarkets carry them. I bought 2 pails and froze them in 2 - 4 cups portions to use them. Haven't had a chance to bake anything yet... What should I bake / cook with them first? Do anyone of you have a show-stopper recipe?