ray goud

Easy: a point-and-shoot infrared thermometer, which have greatly come down in price, to your stated level. Ray

I did read the literature, and as good as it sounds, it has too many disadvantages for people like me. Although the Northeast has a majority of homes with electric stoves, the device is useless for gas ones, barring some add-on solenoid gas valve. I use our oven a great deal of the time, in addition to long-simmering on the stove top. The concept is good enough for me to WANT it to work, but this is not the right approach. Too many situations when it becomes annoying or worse, and ends up being disconnected. Ray

I think it can be a good idea; I know of several people who ruined meals because they forgot they had something on the stove, slowly boiling the water away and coming back to incinerated foods. Plus, someone I can't mention has been known to leave on an unused burner (just like lights), for which this could be a great item. However, what's the difference between leaving a stock pot on for four hours (and checking it only every hour or so) or truly forgetting to turn off a burner? I didn't see any way the device can tell the difference. The timer wouldn't be good enough. Ray

Canned beans being so inexpensive, I don't see why more don't use them for something like cassoulet. With them, precooking is eliminated. We use them for cassoulet and baked beans. For both of those recipes, did it ONCE with dry beans, then canned, just to see the difference (flavorwise). Not finding any, switched over to canned, which reduces the steps in something as involved as cassoulet. Ray

Have you ever seen beef being dry-aged? It simply hangs or sits, without any "protection" in a refrigerated environment, until the operator judges it is done. How does a bag, sealed or not, duplicate that? Ray

I am a LONG-time user and proponent of microwave ovens. Our first one was a GE unit (because I worked for the company and got a discount) back in the early 70's. It was what today is called an "inverter" type machine, because it had different power levels, meaning one could cook gently or aggressively, or in-between, depending on what one was doing. It did NOT simply cycle the magnetron on & off during the cycle, which is what began being offered in the late 80's and 90's. I even bought one of those for our other house, and it is HORRIBLE for one who is used to the original controls. Finally, my old GE unit failed and I replaced it with a high-powered Panasonic inverter unit, and it functions just like the old GE, but with many more (and unnecessary) levels of power (three is all one really needs). My only complaint is the touch pad, which I prefer less than discreet switches. The new inverter units are not more complex, with the exception of having a built-in turntable which the old ones didn't. Ray

I never found a decent ready-made potato gnocchi. Perhaps because I was raised on ones made by my Italian-war-bride mother. Why not try making the ricotta-based gnocchi, as described, for instance, by Lidia Bastianich? Much easier to make, taste better, and you can eat more without feeling like you just downed a whole dinner-for-four. I assume you can get ricotta in Japan? Ray

About ten or more years ago I bought a marble slab (in person) from "Vermont Marble Museum" gift shop. It is 15" x 22" and JUST fits into my fridge. It's about 5/8" thick and has cork feet. For me, it is perfect and fits on my kitchen island when I need to use it. The company is seasonal, meaning they may or may not be able to service you in the winter. I went there in the fall and few people were around, though I was able to buy my slab for about $90 at that time. I have no idea about shipping. Ray Here is their website: www.vermont-marble.com

Ages ago, when a teenaged supermart worker, and more recently, I have seen, all too often, carts laden with frozen/refrigerated foods languishing in the grocery aisles while the worker is off somewhere taking a break. The foods do warm up, and can begin to spoil. Ray

"Not super-rich, and have an immune-compromised person in the house so wasn't prepared to take the least chance. But yes, a lab result would have been quite interesing. " Never, ever take a chance with things like that; any possible consequences are far too serious. I'm glad you dumped it, without even a lick to taste it. In Canada, is there any way to "easily" check to see if there were any other complaints about it? Do you have a corollary to the U.S. CDC? Ray

I would suspect there was some contamination from another bacterium (not the one which made the yogurt in the first place) which “overpowered” or “took over from” the ones in the container. I occasionally get this with OPENED (by me) large yogurt containers which I have begun to use, then put back in the cooler for future use. Then I forget it is there (or something else comes up), and the next time I look there is a slight internal pressure and very evident contamination (visually) present. Out it goes. In your case it was probably contamination at the factory since you didn’t open it first, and I assume a prankster didn’t do it, either. Could even be a botulism-type if it didn’t appear to be bad when you dumped it. Another, but far less possible scenario is that it was packed in Denver (5000 ft altutude) and you are much closer to sea level. Too bad you aren’t super-rich and able to send samples out to a lab for testing. Ray

Seems like an important factor is being ignored: the input of heat to the surface of the stone. If it was a blowtorch (or pair of) it would provide gobs more heat than a simple "infinitely restoring" steady state of oven environment.

I will only recommend a conventional electric-coil cooktop as your replacement, since you cannot have gas. There are too many negatives for me to choose induction, though many other people love them. As for another smooth top becoming cracked, I believe it is only a matter of time, based on my friends and acquaintances' experiences. It may not have even been GE's fault, since a requirement for those things is to have an installation free of stresses. Ray

If you have the internet capability (DSL or equiv) download the .pdf at the following link: http://web.mit.edu/lienhard/www/ahttv131.pdf It is a textbook (ten megabytes/ 796 pages) just for heat transfer problems and analyses. The Lienhard's are on public radio, are profs., and their shows are usually interesting. I don't have the time right now to dig out the relevant formula, probably later; in the meantime maybe you can find it there before I do. A while ago I used it to prove the fallacy of in-floor radiant hot water heating. Ray

The only times I have had trouble sliding a pizza from my wooden peel was when I accidentally caused a hole to from in the crust, thus allowing some topping to ooze through and soften/gummify the crust, causing it to stick to the peel. Besides having cornmeal on the peel, the crust should also be fully cooked on the bottom. Oiling your peel after sanding can paradoxically make the situation worse if you don't remove ALL the excess oil and allow a few days for the remaining oil on the wood to "dry". Ray

Thank goodness for all the wonderful replies to this post. Viewing cooking shows on TV, I had begun thinking that many people forgot that microwave ovens were invented to COOK food, not just reheat it. I rarely steam anything anymore, relying on the micro instead, and the only things I boil are pasta and making soup stock. Nothing works better for fresh veggies than the micro, with the exception of oven-roasting. Perhaps the plethora of steaming/boiling on the cooking shows stems from the cooking schools not realizing the potential of the micro and not teaching it to the future chefs, who then do many of the TV shows. Having learned how to properly use a micro back in the early seventies it is refreshing to see that we are not alone. Ray

Have you seen this on youtube?: If so, what's wrong with what they are doing? Why didn't they recommend it? Perhaps they used it incorrectly? From what I see, it looks like a capable machine. What's your verdict? Ray

I have a hard time trusting recipes from the web. Unless it is something I saw the author actually DO, like Alton on Good Eats, I know that cookbook recipes are at least somewhat tested (in the books I buy), but cannot have that faith in websites. Unless it is a "basic" recipe which one finds in essentially the same form from several different sources. Ray

For me, at least 80 percent, maybe higher. I am very cookbook-selective; most of the ones I seldom use were gifts. Ray

With a "vacuum chamber" the temperature of the steam will be lower, not higher. That's why high-pressure steam is so much more effective at cleaning, driving turbines, etc. Ray

OK, time for me to make MY confession: At a dinner about 35 years ago made by my then landlord's mother, I was asked how I liked dessert (everything else was superb, venison, taters, etc). I stated that the shortcake with whipped cream was great, only later to learn that it was CoolWhip instead of cream. Boy, was I embarassed! Ray

Here's one that actually calls for miso. Anna, you're a gem! I was never able to stumble across that one. But Suzanne's has a few more tasty ingredients. So, a combo? Ray

I'm going to try Suzanne's recipe, also, just as soon as I can get some fresh ginger. But I'm also going to try an additional version, exactly the same but with the addition of a tablespoon of light miso. The reason is because a waiter once recited the recipe to our table at a sushi joint once, and miso was definitely in his rapid-fire rendition. I've been making a non-carrot version for years, with miso, and it's been pretty good. But I think Suzanne F's has more going for it. Ray

Unlike some others who never soak wood chips, I take the scientific approach and know that vaporizing the considerable water in soaked chips greatly spreads out the time required to bring them to ignition temperature. Thus, the exterior layers smoke for a much longer time, which I have confirmed many times when I am cooking a brisket or pork butt in my outdoor smoker (by occasionally throwing in some dry chips "just to see"). I soak long enough to cause the wood chunks to sink in the water (become waterlogged), and I find that hot water accelerates the sinking. So both science and observation support hot water soaking. Ray P.S. Porous woods like red oak and hickory take less time to waterlog than closed-grain ones like cherry and maple.

I must tell you what I just discovered: The method for "producing" Kate flour, at home, looks very dangerous to me. One is supposed to heat the flour, in a microwave, to a temperature higher than the boiling point of water. Regardless of what is done later to the flour, this is the dangerous point, because it would be extremely easy to accidentally heat flour dust to past its ignition point and produce a small explosion in one's microwave! (Think of grain silos and how they sometimes blow up) So, I don't think it is at all advisable to try this at home, especially considering that it (unbleached flour) is probably not the cause of your problems with baking. Ray