polack

Hey John, My frig is an Imana with the freezer also on the bottom. On the back wall is like a piece of duct work that goes from the bottom of the frig section towards the top where it has a vent opening for cold air to escape. That's where the control and the flapper valve is located. Just make sure that in the freezer section, the vent opening for the condesor is clear and unobstructed. That will cause the condensor to freeze up thus letting the cold air from going to the frig. Polack

I was just doing batches of sourdough through mine when it failed, not once but twice. Some of the older models had circuit breakers on the side for when they would start to draw excessive current and trip the power feed, thus saving the internals. I want to modify mine with one but am waiting to see if it's worth it with the nylon gear. I hear they used the breaker on metal worm gears and that's what I have to find out, was it indeed metal or nylon. Polack

Yeh I could remember when I was a Kid, I would go to the local grocer and get meat for dinner and the butcher would cut it off a larger piece of meat, like a leg or whatever. They actually didn't have that much meat in the display case already cut up. Now what we're talking about today is that the supermarkets have large quantities of meat, that is already cut up and laying in display cases, that I dought is environmentally controlled, since they're open at the top of the cooler, how do they handle this meat? Polack

Most new refrig. are made with the temp. control, thermostat, being located inside the freezer section of the refrigerator. There is a dialed flapper valve that controls the cold air inside the frigerator compartment. If Im right the cold air will generally go to the bottom of the frig. and therefor the bottom part should be a bit colder. The frigs. of today are pretty simple to repair, with most of the problems being in the defrost contol timer switch. Should you have ever have a problem with the freezer working good but the frig part not cooling down, check to see that there's no obstruction, food, plastic bags, etc., that might be blocking the air flow in the openings for the condenser. Should the condenser be all iced up, but not from the obstruction listed, then check your timer motor. It should rotate and after maybe 10 to 12 hours it will shut the compressor off, let the condensor defraust and the heater turns on and boils the moisture away. One more part could be bad and that's a thermostat that's on the coils from the compressor. Check it yourself, you might have an easy problem to fix. Polack

That's why I buy it by the bakers size package, for an exrra two bucks you get a whole bunch of yeast. I then put it in a jar and put the jar on my vac sealer and put it in the frig to stay fresh. Polack

When I looked for a mixer, that's what I wanted a mixer with no add-ons, i.e. blender, food processor, etc. I wasn't looking for a mixer that had add-ons built on to the mixer, to me it seems like there's too much of a chance for something to fail. I would say that you would be wise before you put down a few hundred bucks, to go down to a local appliance repair area and check with the tech. on what might be the most trouble free mixer for the price. Around my area we have a Vac-way that repairs small appliances, have parts, and gave me some good info on the KA line. I have an older model that has heavy duty written on the side with a 325 watt motor, the tech claims that the one I have, with a removal back plate, on the rear of the motor-has a screw that takes a plate off and exposes the rear of the armature, is a better unit to get. Now you really can't prove it by me, I repaired mine twice already and am looking to modify it with a circuit breaker to save the plastic gear. But anyway he claims the model k5ss is supposed to be a better line. He did say some of the newer versions are giving the consumer problems, that's why I mentioned previously that electrolux might be the way to go if I were to buy another mixer. People that have them seem to rave about them and I haven't seen a bad report on them. Polack

Boulak, Where have you been I haven't seen your name on this site for some time. Polack

I made Nancy Silverton's sourdough starter a few months ago and haven't had a bit of problem with the rise process. I take it out of the frig two days prior to baking my bread and start the feeding. The following day I make the dough and let it rise in the oven with just the lights on. I let it rise for an hour and then stretch and fold it on the hour for about 3 to 4 times. Total rise time about 5 hours. I then shape and put the dough in banneton's and put them in the frig overnite. Next day I pull them out of the frig 2 to 4 hours before I want to bake my bread and walla the best bread I ever baked. By the way this sites bakers helped me out in the way to bake bread when you want to, and not when the dough wants you to. Polack

Too bad a butcher hasn't responded to this thread because I wonder what they do with the meat that's in the butcher's case and doesn't sell. I'm sure they don't go and throw it away since some of these supermarkets have quite a bit of meat in their coolers. Also, in the local supermarkets they rarely have sales on meat that's about to go out of date. While watching some cooking shows on TV, they showed prime meat in a cooler for a month or more, this meat was green molded and considered prime cut. Polack

Ebay has the assistant on sale for$399. Just type in electrolux mixer and it will come up for you. I'm going to give it, KA, one more try since I fixed it. Should it crap out I will definitely be looking at the electrolux. Now if anyone has the same type of problem as I did don't be afraid to try and fix it yourself. I have to admit they are pretty simple to repair, most of the time all you need is a straight slotted and phillips screwdriver, a flat punch, and a lot of paper towels to wipe the grease.The Ser. number of my set is wb0861090 and it's supposed to be the better made model. It's 325 watts, heavy duty wriitten on the side and according to the parts guy, there's a back oval plate that sits around the armature that can be removed by taking a screw out, that signifies the so called better unit. Polaxk

The kitchenaid I have is 12 years old also, and it's supposed to be the better model. It's 325 watts of power and is the professional model. I just completed the repair on it for the second time, replacing the gear and once again I'm good to go. The thing that irks me is that not only the gear went but the shaft for the paddle, now when you use a piece of equipment you expect it to perform, especially if it's not been used hardly at all. When I got the gear today the gentleman at the parts store said kitchenaid was bought out by whirlpool which in turn was bought out by Sears. So if you have a new one it most likely is a sears product. Polack

Yes they'll fix it for you for a price and the lost of use of the equipment for a period of time. You really have to look at how cheap this equipment has gotten over the years, if people have the old mixers and they work fine then why cheapen them. Kitchenaid is like the American cars of the seventies, they were junk and the American car manufactures are still trying to recover. Polack

Well after reading the last kitchenaid post on how the mixer had failed I would like to add my experience with their mixer. Purchased the heavy duty version some time ago and it sat on the shelf with little to no use. Just a couple of months ago I got the bug to start making my own sourdough bread and started to finally use my machine. Well after maybe three to four batches of bread the shaft that holds the paddle broke at the pin area. After a week I got the part, for $30, put it back together and was back on line. After making two batches of bread in the last two weeks I started to make another batch over the weekend and like Emeril would say, BAM the damn thing broke again. This time the worm gear that comes right off the armeture disintegrated, of course this thing is made of plastic and it would blow apart at the slightest of pressure. I called the company to complain about the gear being made of plastic and I was told that since I repaired it the first time and didn't have one of their so called expert repair shops repair it, it was my responsibility and they were sorry it happened. Well to me, after spending some $300+ for this machine some ten years ago and not using it until recently, that was a poor answer for a pissed off consumer of their worthless product. What to they think people are not mechanically inclined and can't fix their own equipment? Tomorrow I will go down to the local parts supply house and get the gear for $20+ and fix this worthless piece of crap and put it on the shelf to collect dust for another 10 years. I will start to look for a 10 quart hobart or the electrolux assistant to continue my hobby, making bread. For anyone that is looking at purchasing one of these monsters, stop and check for other brands with a better design than KITCHENAID. Polack

A good ground chuck makes an outstanding hamburger vegetable soup. Just brown the meat and ad your favorite vegetables, i.e. corn, green beans, onions, quart of tomatoes, and whatever spices and veggies you want. Believe me it's good with a good homemade bread. Polack

I also think it's the baking sheet, needs to be confined.

I kind of agree with bond girl but I would blanche them, peel them and freeze them for use with soup and other items that would need tomatoes in their makeup. Polack

Well over the weekend the smoked kielbasi came out of the smoker and the fresh was made also. Now for supper we're going to have a turkey breast, Irish potato stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beens, corn, sour cream and cukes with scallions, red beets, fresh baked sourdough bread, and of course a couple rings of the smoked kielbasi, have to try it. Tomorrow will be in the teens so I can imagine a pot of soup of some sorts, to start it off. Polack

I bought mine some 10 or more years ago and got the metal gears. Now this thing had set for some time before I got the bug to start making my own sourdough bread and wouldn't you know the paddle shaft breaks after little to no use. Matter of fact it broke right at the pin where it sits in the paddle, looked like a defect in the cast of the pin. Anyway a week later and about $30 lighter I was good to go again. Now when it comes to design I like the way the electrolux kneads dough and if KA should ever changes their design they might want to follow their example, it seems like they can use a smaller wattge motor to get an equal or better result. Polack

Yep, I had mine apart to replace the shaft that takes on the paddle, wisk and dough kneader. I didn't take it all the way down but you can look up sears part breakdown and it gives you a pretty good illustration of what's in the thing. If you're just a little mechanically inclined you shouldn't have too much problem Polack

Try throwing in some sour cream when you make the dough, should help in softening it up. Did you try making the cabbage pierogi, they're excellent.

I agree with Sinclair, if it's going to be part-time why invest in school when you you will not use it professionally and full time. Finding someone who will teach you the ins and outs is a lot cheaper. I know there's a lot of ventures that I started, got bores and quit after awhile. Polack

I like the vegetable chuck soup with either the veggies diced or halved. After eating a good bowl of it, with my homemade sourdough bread of course, I like to take a chunk of meat, and some halved veggies and load it up with muster and go to town. Another alternative is hamburger vegetable soup made with good ground chuck. Polack

I think you hit the nail on the head. Serrated blades are very difficult to sharpen, so why waste your money on a real good namebrand knife. Polack

I like you started this fantastic hobby a couple of months ago, that's baking bread with a sourdough starter, and am really enjoying not only the bread, but enjoying seeing the pleasure and raves from the people that enjoy it. After making bread with the machine I started to get adventurous and build a sourdough starter, with directions from Nancy Silvertons Le Brea baking cookbook and a lot of help from some of the finest breadbakers from this site. You can refer to sourdough starter thread for some valuable info on bread baking with sourdough starter. Polack

Like wayne said, recipes for sausage is a starting point, once you get the basic down you change it to meet your taste. The books you use to make sausage are used not only for starting points but for certain techniques, that's why I like Rytec Kutec' s book, it not only has recipes but will explain the in's and out's of making fresh, smoked, semi dry, and dry cured sausage and other products. When I made my first batch of smoked kiebasi, it was a starting point that told me I could make this like the recipe but for me it needs a change. Let me tell you the kielbasi I make now tastes nothing like the first batch. Matter of fact on Thursday I will start to make my fresh and smoked for the Holiday in my new smoker. Can't wait. Polack