ray goud

No, freezing does not kill bacteria reliably. If it did, life for everyone would be so much easier and safer. Freezing does kill small parasites, such as the ones which can cause trichinosis in pork. Extremely slow freezing to the temperature of liquid nitrogen or dry ice might be safe because the ice crystals which would easily form during the slow freezing might rupture the bacteria, which are single-cell organisms. But I wouldn't trust it, or even try it, except as a lab experiment. And for the final capper, freezing of any kind has no effect on viruses, whixh aren't even cells. Ray

I meant to say monocrystalline instead of what I wrote. Also, diamond stones never need flattening. And also learn how to create a micro-bevel; that will save a lot of time when the edge needs a quick touch-up. Ray

Please just accept the 21st century and try the diamond stones. They are far and away the best, if you go for the momocrystalline ones. The same source, Lee Valley, sells some of the best brands. You won't have to worry about water soaking or oil contamination. I build wooden furniture and I used to use the old-fashioned stuff, but I have realized the error of my ways and reformed! Ray

NO!!! But they are so bitter and astringent that one couldn't be poisoned even if they were! Ray

Not very impressed with OXO stuff. Not being arthritic yet I don't see any advantages, rather the opposite because their peeler is worse than my old metal one, and their salad spinner broke soon after I bought it. So I'll stay away until I have a physical need for their stuff.

So far, I haven't seen mention of something which can ruin the otherwise good teaching of almost any teacher/chef: ultra-closeup handheld (shaky) photography. Most British shows are guilty of this. For me, they become unwatchable. Ray

In response to the post which said that a crock pot has two temperature settings: Sorry, but crockpots don't have thermostats, and depend on the amount of food inside to limit the temperature. Thus, if you overload the pot (really tough to do) it will take a much longer time to reach the same temp than if you had put in, say, half the recipe amount which might be suggested by the pot's maker. The ultimate limit on temp is the boiling point of water. None of the pots have heaters large enough to boil away all the water in the recipes suggested by the manuals which come with the pots, in a typical time frame, like eight hours or so. Thus, none would ever reach 300 degrees. Also, none will hold at a specific temp which the user might want, unless the user had made many batches of the same recipe and knew what the pot's performance was for that dish only. How do I know this? I took apart several in my quest for a crock pot which WOULD hold a specific temp, and could find none which have thermostatats; the thermo's just cost too much for the makers to compete with the ones which don't have them. There si a Hamilton Beach unit I saw at Target which has a probe which goes through a hole in the lid to tell YOU what the temp is, in which case YOU become the thermostat. In connection with this thread posted, the pot would take too long to reach a safe temp, since it would not work (like a home furnace) by cycling on and off until it reached the temp one wanted. Ray

I can simplify your pizza-at-home even more: instead of pizza dough, use ready made large tortillas, as described by Jacques Pepin in his new book "Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook". They taste slightly sweeter than pizza dough, and you must use the all-wheat-flour ones, but what a difference it makes in saving time and trouble. And they have a nice crusty texture. I found, however, that I couldn't use oil on the bottom like Jacques does (Makes them stick to everything), and I don't know why. Mine came out super even in my outdoor pizza oven. Ray

Besides the previously mentioned problems with splitting, as shown in the photo, that block also includes the "pith" of the tree, or its very heart. With pine, it is a very soft area and prone to future rotting, if it hasn't already started. And besides that site, who said that soft wood like pine is better than a hardwood block? I am a professional furniture maker and I know my stuff. Stay away from that thing, as it sounds like you want to. Ray

I looked at this post, chuckled, then moved on to others. Something was bothering me, though, so I came back and saw what my instincts noticed the first time: ditch that floppy towel because it is an accident waiting to happen. As a 50-year machines-of-various-kinds-operator I see danger there. Just a friendly warning to hopefully prevent a bad thing happening to nice people. Ray

I believe most of the naysayers of slow cookers might change their opinions if they tried the recipes in Lora Brody's "Slow Cooker Cooking". I cannot praise this book enough; it puts the French ambiance in slow cookers. Ray

I've tried the Holy Cross fruitcake, and we (wife and I) feel that it is no better than the average store-bought ones, in spite of the implied virtue in buying one from them, and the price (!). I would love to find one which was clearly better. Ray

Before you or anyone else builds this thing, refer to two books: "The Bread Builders", and "Bread Ovens of Quebec". There you will find that the open front should be a certain proportion of the inside dome height of the oven. Get that wrong and you'll likely get lousy fires, and messy burns. I built mine (nothing like the Sunset one) according to the guidelines in those books, and it works wonderfully. Beware, and not just for Halloween. Ray Also, speaking of some baking things we made, I made my own bread and/or pizza peels.

Baby zucchini, at our farmers' markets, in season. They are trying to get rid of it, almost, since too much on the plants is bad for production. So I get it for literally pennies per zuke, when the seeds are just about nonexistent, and we feast on them. Ray

Whatever extra-virgin Costco or BJ's happens to be selling; it's usually a major brand, and at those low prices ($10 for 3 liters) I can use it for anything striking my fancy. Ray

It sounds gorgeous, and must provide a beautiful setting for your food. ← Yes, LindaK, it's still gorgeous after all these years, not only because teak is so durable and pretty to begin with, but also all the unforgettable memories of my building it. Like the lumberyard guy who helped my friend and I go through and move several TONS of rough lumber when he heard what it what going into, and the special clamps I made to fasten it all together, and.... Ray

I'm a woodworker also (actually, a furniture maker; there's a difference), and I made my dining table (42" x 102") of solid 2" thick teak in 1983. I finished it in polyurethane and I leave it bare, always. It doubles as my office table when no guests. My wife lays out placemats when we have company over, for looks, only. The table is still gorgeous, even with the inevitable dings and scratches. We love it, as does everyone else who sees it. Ray

The Audubon Society field guide to trees says that they can be made into jelly or wine, but that the fruit is very bitter. Guess it would take a lot of sugar, but it is edible. Ray

Are you sure? Walnut was the first wood we burned in our fireplace when we moved to California in 1980. Unfortunately walnut orchards are being cleared for development at an alarming rate in the central valley of California, and the trees are piled up and burned. I've used walnut oil in cooking for years and my understanding is that it is one of the healthiest oils available. I would like to know where you got the information relating to walnut toxicity. ← I'm positive. Remember that burning wood in a fireplace (or woodstove) does not expose one to the smoke, unless something is wrong. And the oil comes from the nutmeats, not the wood, bark, husks, or leaves. (Tomato plants are quite poisonous, but we can eat the tomatoes!) To get the info, just Google it; there are quite too many sources to list. But stop by a horse farm, agricultural station or library if you can; the internet is not the repository of all man's knowledge. Ray

Everything mentioned so far is wonderful for smoking. Just be extra careful and DO NOT use walnut for smoking. It is POISONOUS! Don't believe anyone who says it isn't. It has and still does kill horses when used for bedding, and its extractives are deadly. Ray

Salads! Or use the backyard pizza oven. Ray

Perhaps it would help to know what temperatures the two versions are baked at; coating the skin with oil allows a higher temp. because the oil somewhat prevents too much moisture to evaporate from the potato. I always use the Alton Brown method, even though I got it from somewhere else; I also split them lengthwise and put bay leaves inside and reassemble with toothpicks. It gives an ethereal flavor, and a slightly crispy skin (at 450 degrees). Ray

That's quite correct. And if you use a diamond "stone", you need neither oil nor water. Ray

Ammonia does not smell like bleach. Bleach smells like chlorine, which is much different than ammonia. That is very bad chicken. Ray

Have you looked inside any slow cookers? They do not have thermostats. They have very small cooking elements, like heating tapes, which are sized to warm up the calculated contents of the pots. The selector switches on the outside simply connect or disconnect different portions of the heating tapes to produce more or less heat output. This has been one of my pet peeves for some time, because I don't always use the amount of food for which a particular cooker is designed (usually less). When I do that, the appliance takes more or less time to cook than the recipe suggests. There is a new Hamilton Beach on the market, which I saw at Target, which has an external probe which one pushes through a hole in the lid (!) to tell the cooker when a preset temp. has been reached, and then to switch to warming mode. I have disassembled a couple of these cookers and know what's inside. Their design explains why they are so inexpensive; a real thermostat would probably add five or ten dollars to the price. (I used to be a master repairman/refurbisher for General Electric when they made small appliances) Whether or not you could "roast" in one would require a great deal of experimentation, and perhaps some danger if done in a home setting, if you use too little food. When you say "53 degrees", is that fahrenheit or celsius? Ray