JohnN

Interesting. What kind of wood, finish and style? Where they build by a mfg company, or custom built? -john

Sounds like they weren't finished or the finish was wearing off. Pine isn't a great wood for this anyway and are prone to this kind of behavior, but theoretically it could be avoided by proper construction and finish. -john

I've had pretty good luck with wood, but in a different style. In a panel door, the panel is supposed to float in the frame (no glue) and the frame helps stabalize the panel. Also, the pannel should be made with alternating grain directions. For example: \__/ /---\ \__/ Note this alternating pattern is going to highlight the contrast of the individual boards. All my cabinets are built in this style. (You can see them close up in my remodel gallery. I'm not worried about them warping, but I did visit the cabinet maker in his shop and got good warm fuzzies about his work. Of course I could be wrong! :-) You an also see the exterior doors as described below in the photos as well as four panel interior doors.) The wood is going to need to be very well dried before you do this or it is going to warp. Some high end solid entry doors are sawed out of a solid piece of wood and then glued back together like this: [||||||||||||||||||] [||||||||||||||||||] I don't know if you can find this done for cabinet doors or not. Probably not so likely. I guess you could pull this off by request with a good cutom cabinet guy, but it is probably going to be expensive (and might not work for doors so thin). You probably get better bang for you buck having a custom guy carefully pick the wood. The key to matching will be using all extra-extra select wood and then hand matching it. It will also depend on the type of wood and finish. As is pointed out here, while it does exist, it is more costly. Most people don't find the variation in wood color so distasteful. To most this is part of the charm of wood. Certainly I think so. And I like wood! :-) There is also a practical upside of solid wood, which is refinishing. While it is possible to refinish veneer doors, you have to be real careful (esp on the edges*) and you can't do it many times. Most good wood cabinets can last as long as you want. In either case they need to be maintained. Once the finish wears through on either a veneer or a solid door, you need to re-finish. If you don't do that it is only a matter of time... -john * although in better thought out veneer doors (read, better quality), they try to use real wood at in the key locations.

I understand I'm being nit-picky, but I suspect things will work a bit better if all the subs are clear about the roles, esp. you and Todd! :-) (And, yes; better!) :-) -john

Isn't this kind of sending mixed messages? Why not just say you are the GC and Todd is you primary sub or something like that? -john

Note that it may not be reasonable to write in completion date incentives if the guy doesn't have the role of a GC. While you could do it for the work he is personally responsible for, the main problem is when the cabinet guy needs to wait for the countertop guy and he has to wait for the plummer (or whatever). Which isn't to say I don't think they are a good idea. Quite the contrary, actually. -john

Are you planning on using him as a GC, or you going to handle that yourself? I would decide and then structure the deal around that decision. Remember to be very careful in setting up the agreement. Go over expectations up front and talk about how you want to work together. Congrats and good luck! -john

Hello, After a couple of days I've finally waded through this course and Q&A section. Wow. First, thanks to Sam (and others) for all this great information! Certainly it has changed my whole perspective on cookware. I did come up with a couple of questions. First, is the stainless used in Falk cookware, "magnetic", suitable for use on induction stovetops? I assume not. Also, I'm very confused by Demeyere. I see the references on their we site that they use a 7 ply contruction. However, Sam indicates: If they use a three ply construction, how could they get away with making the 7 ply statment? Also, if they used a 7 ply construction, it seems the performance would go down, not up. The only reason I could even think of to do this is if some of the plies were specifically for induction, meaning two stainless layers, Al, and layer(s) of a ferrious metal. But it isn't clear how good of a pot that would be on a non-induction stove. It would seem that if Demeyere actually used 3.9mm Al on their fry pans, that they would be better in all ways to the stainless All-Clad. However, if they use a 7 ply sandwich, it could be anyone's guess?! I'm kind of looking at this from a bit of a weird perspective, since I'm flirting with the idea of an induction cooktop, but I currently have a glass top radiant cooktop. I am also considering a gas cooktop, but due to the counter, I probably could only support a consumer model so the induction looks more attractive. This makes the All-Clad stainless (Al core) somewhat attractive since they should do OK on various cooktops, and it sounds like they do real well on the indunction (why oh why does nobody make a nice thick magnetic stainless, copper-core line?). So this means if the Falk wares don't have magnetic, then it sounds like the main options are Demeyere and All-Clad. Hmm. Any thoughts would be appreciated (but no, we aren't taking out the countertop! :-) Thanks, -john

As usual, I feel myself feeling a bit stupid in the kitchen! :-) My wife and I really like horseradish and one of our favorite restaurants serves their prime rib with great fresh grated horseradish (not paste style). While out shopping the other day I caught sight of some horseradish root out of the corner of my eye and brought it home with the thinking of making it the same way. They grate it with the grain so it is tiny little strings, not paste. So I clean it up, hack off the outside and run it through the "corse" Microplane, with the grain. Looked great. But, um... Well, it was dry. I started thinking maybe they soaked it before grating or something. So I searched here and see these references to adding lemon juice and such. So what did I do wrong? Should I soak it? Should I add lemon juice? What is this with vinegar? Thanks, -john

I'd listen to your inner voice here. Mine said that our GC didn't do jobs as large as ours very much, and I think that was the root of some of our problems. I would grill him about his subs. How many jobs and of what scope has he done with each of them? For example, ours recommended a painter which turned out to be a nightmare. In the end, I think his recommendations turned out to be something along the lines where he knew someone who did something similar to what you wanted, as opposed to someone he knew was good at what you needed. If you have a crew that really does the kinds of jobs you need done on a regular basis, they will people lined up that are good. If not, they tend to strech and use less well known folks. Or at least that is how I figured it. I know I said it before, but make sure you have some fudge factor in there. The number is bound to go up*, even after doing your homework. I think this is a valid issue. While we "had" a GC, the deal wasn't really structured that way and our GC didn't really do the job a GC is supposed to. He brought guys in and we struck deals directly with them. Don't do this! You want the GC to have to eat it if he brings in someone who can't do the job or screws stuff up or whatever. You want one deal with the GC and have him deal with the subs. You also want something in your contract with him that calls out that he has that responsibility. Make him deal with juggling the schedules of the subs, etc. As above, grill him about this crew before you get too impressed. We used a custom cabinet guy as well. I priced out pre-made (Kraftmade? I think, sorry, it is already getting fuzzy) cabinets and I think in the end the prices looked pretty similar. My take on this after having it finished is that you probably get a bit better quality and consistancy by going pre-made (dovetail joints, etc), but you get a better exterior look with the custom cabinets. Our cabinets use all high quality hardware (hinges, heavy duty full extension glides, etc) and good sturdy plywood interiors, but the drawers are simple end joints with some staples (and glue!), etc. Interior is all very nice and functional tho. And the exterior is FIRST rate. See the end panel treatments and other little touchs in the photos, below. Some stuff is small but nice like the bead on the bottom of the cabinets. Note that some of this could be simulated with pre-made cabinets. So I think it is a pretty even trade. I suppose it is possible to find custom guys who do dovetails and stuff, but it would certainly be a lot more. In the end I was happy with the result, but I think I would have been happy with the pre-mades as well. -john Full Gallery * Ok, it is possible the price won't go up. But I do think it is likely. Obviously the more homework you do the less likely you will have this problem.

Looks like that ones is a ceramic knife. I would read up on ceramic knives before buying. Originally they sounded great to me until I started reading up on them. This should give you the idea: link1 link2 Regarding size, ceramic knives tend to be pretty short. Santokus tend to max out around 7" is seems. But it is a cool looking knife. -john

From reading In the Kitchen Forum - knifeforums.com (ironically, I found eGullet while reading there) it seems that once people get used to the lighter, Japanese knives, they don't go back. It does appear that the Japanese knives (in general) tend to be better than the German versions. After reading up on the knifeforums.com I purchased one of these Shun Classic 6" Chef's knives. Wow. It's actually kind of unfortunate, because now I feel compelled to replace all my knives (Henckels Four Star). Luckily for me, after trying out the new knife, my wife actually agrees with me! Personally, I don't see the advantage of the Santoku over the chef's knives, but I think it is more of a personal preference thing. It seems the consensus on knifeforums is that the Granton edge doesn't tend to help much (with the exception of the third knife down - note, good reviews on this site), so if you are purchasing you can probably save your money. On the other hand, I don't think anyone has claimed that it hurts. As stated above, it appears that knives are pretty much a personal thing and YMMV. -john

Interesting thread. I went and took a look at these on the Target web site, and did notice there were a couple of folks who reported the copper coming off, also indicating it created a dangerious situation. From my perspective this would indicate the clad version would be the better (and possibly safer) bet. FWIW, it would be cool if someone could nab a sample piece of each type and run them through the bandsaw and post pics! :-) -john From Target.com's user reviews of the Chefmate Copper Bottom Cookware Set (8-pc.):

I have a Kitchenaid, freezer on bottom, like this. It has seperate digital tempature controls for the freezer and the main compartment. I haven't really tried hard, but it is unclear to me exactly how the tempature is regulated in this unit. Perhaps there is the flapper as you indicate, but I just can't see it. Couple of interesting things here. I also have a KA, and I have no humidity controls at all (I wonder how the humidity controls work, hmm). Also, I looked through the user manual and it doesn't directly call out which drawer is for (raw) meat, but the picture on the web site says the top is a crisper drawer and the bottom one is a "deli" drawer. If I recall correctly, the manual refered to both as cripers. Anyone know why a "crisper" would keep things "crisp"? AFAIK, there is nothing different inside this drawer as out, other than all the cold air doesn't spill out when you open the main door. At the very least, mine don't have a seperate humidity control. Thanks for all the great information. It is really nice to get a professional perspective on this. The sanitation survey form was also very interesting, and from right here to boot! Thanks! It's great to be here! :-) -john

Very interesting. The reason I said it was a stupid question is that you'd think after all these years I'd know a bit more about this. Your post brought out even more tidbits. 1) What tempature should I keep my fridge? I had mine set to 40F. After seeing your note about the optimal tempatures for bacteria, I turned mine down to 36F. 2) It also got me thinking about the drawers. Exactly what do the "crisper" drawers do? It seems some often the different drawers are suggested for different purposes, but how/why are they different (or are they?). My guess here is that the main purpose of the drawers is to keep the cold air from "spilling" out when you open the main door. As for the different ones, not sure if there is any difference, but there are a few holes on the bottom of our fridge, so my guess is the bottom drawers might be a bit colder (air spillage from the freezer). Hmm. How can it be I'm 37 years old and don't know that much about a basic thing I use every day?! :-O -john

I thought I'd let everyone know how it worked out. Roast smelled fine and tasted great. Also, it's been about 24 hrs and nobody got sick! :-) I do think the vacuum packing helped because meat that has been in the fridge that long typically smells a bit off. The details: ~3lb roast, seared and then put in a 400F pre-heated oven, uncovered, on bake until the internal temp got to 130F. It was removed, tented well with mutli-layers of tinfoil to rest. Internal temp rose while resting to 147F, then back down to 145F before the guests finally were ready to eat. Carved just prior to serving. Thanks all! -john * I already knew the guests were running pretty late so I was attempting to make sure it didn't cool too much as I didn't want to have to re-heat it.

Thanks for all the replies. It is interesting to see that based on the replies this might not be quite as clear cut as I would have thought. It seems a couple of folks seem to imply that this shouldn't be any problem, at least based on the specifics of this case. On the other hand, Hest88 says up to four days is OK. In this case I'm looking at five days prior to cooking. I'm guessing this is pushing it about as far as is prudent, but is probably OK. I should point out that I'm not only concerned about safety, but also freshness/taste. BTW, I should probably mention out that I partially re-tied the meat when I vacuum packed it. I get the impression that the vacuum packing is helpful, but that opening the package also provides the opertunity for some nasties to get in. I would assume the re-tying fits into this catagory. I'll have to do a search on this topic, but my guess is that the references to cryovac imply vacuum packing (and then perhasps radiating?) and this provides for a couple of weeks? Thanks again, -john Edit: Fridge is set to 40F.

I know this is incredibly stupid, but how long will meat stay fresh in the fridge? Monday, I got confused on timelines and purchased a nice piece of beef tenderloin roast for Christmas. When I got home I realized that Christmas was almost a week away which is much longer than I would normally store meat (I tend to be a bit of a freshnik). Yesterday I vacuum packed it. Will it keep? Should I toss it in the freezer? Will the vacuum packing help, hinder or make no difference? Many thanks, -john

Hi all, I started reading this thread with some interest because we finished our kitchen remodel this year and it was quite the learning experience, despite being fairly familiar with what is involved. I admit I haven't read the whole thread (so this all may be redundant), but seeing as you are starting into this process now, I thought I'd throw out a couple of things that I wish I could have dealt with better. I'll try to read the whole thread and see if anything else comes to mind. FWIW, our remodel took about 5 months, although we did do other things (all windows, power and lighting in garage, and a bit in the master bath), which is a LONG time to wash dishes in the bathtub! :-O 1) I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but if you are trying to work within a budget, spend the time before you start to get comprehensive, written bids on everything! Once you get the ball rolling, the pressure to keep moving can tempt you to cut corners in this respect (and you need to see the full picture before you start). We had massive cost overruns and part of this was self-induced scope creep, but mostly was because we neglected to really nail this down ahead of time. Things that should be covered are terms of acceptance, terms of payment, terms of termination and SCHEDULE. If permits are required (and they usually are) make sure you write into the agreement that they will be responsible to deal with them. Agreements should call out a requirement for detailed materials breakdown on invoices. 2) Despite covering #1, assume a cost margin for things you didn't think of, or things that go wrong. 3) While this is part of #1, review each job with the contractor to set expectations. For example, our painter didn't think two coats were needed to paint the walls. Going over the walls with a drop-light showed him that his single coat didn't cover. While I actually didn't care how many coats would be used, I did expect him to cover the old paint. He also didn't stain/finish the tops and other unseen parts of the windows. These things should be cleared up before starting! See again the parts about payment. I highly suggest incentive oriented payments. 4) Again part of #1, but get amendments to the agreement for changes. When you talk with the contractor about making a change, review the cost and ask them to revise the written contract. 5) Avoid time and materials! 6) Lighting matters. We originally were not going to re-do the lighting, and we are extremely glad we did, despite being painful cost (in this case, more a factor of the agreement than the actual work). FWIW, here is our remodel gallery. Best of luck! -john Edit: A couple of random comments: 1) I had no idea how much window treatments cost! The gallery was taken before we added them. We ended up doing something fairly simple and relatively inexpensive, but just barely! :-) 2) If I could change just one thing, I would have gotten an induction stovetop.