paulraphael

These knives do need waterstones if they're going to come anywhere near their potential, but they don't have to be expensive ones. There isn't much need for fancy stones until you're experienced enough to have strong opinions on them. By then you'll have worn out your first set and will need new stones anyhow. It's been a while since I've shopped for waterstones, so there could be better values than these now ... but if you shop around I'd suggest a couple of combination stones (different grit on each side, so you get 4 grits) ranging from a 400 or so to 8000 or so. King and Norton are popular value brands. Norton has a kit with two combo stones and a stone flattener. Should be less than $140. Or you can go the Edge Pro route. Much shorter learning curve, but you won't get as fast as you can get freehand. Your stone choice is also limited. I'd strongly suggest doing your first few sharpening sessions on a knife you don't care too much about.

My rebuilt mixer has survived its first few uses, and does seem to run quieter and cooler with the new grease. I think switching to the synthetic grease is a significant upgrade. As is realizing that KA's claim of "lubricated for life" is an insult to the intelligence of every engineer or semi-sentient tinkerer. If you use a mixer hard, you should relube it every few years or so. You might get lucky and get one that survives decades of abuse, but it's not the best bet. One issue with KA mixers is that the transmission is built around a worm gear. These allow huge changes in speed and torque in a compact arrangement. But they introduce a lot of friction, which means added stress and heat for both transmission and motor. I found one study on worm gears that showed an upgrade from mineral oil-based grease (like KA's) to synthetic grease increased efficiency by 15%. This means a reduction in heat produced by both the transmission and the motor. Other benefits include consistent lubrication over a wide temperature range, and much improved resistance to grease breakdown from heat or oxygen or water. No more black goop dripping into the mixer bowl. Unrelated: be very careful not to strip any of the machine screw holes that are threaded into the shell of the mixer, that attach the transmission cover. Some people have done this and had their weekends ruined. Fresh guts with fresh synthetic grease.

That's the real deal. I love my Tadatsuna gyuto, but haven't yet graduated to the big-boy knives.

And every fish is different. Japanese fish butchery is a great hobby for anyone who eats fish 2 or 3 meals a day, loves knives,and has endless free time. The best resource I now is Ittasan's Youtube page.

Another product plug: I really like a product called Howard's Butcher Block conditioner. I used to make my own stuff by melting together mineral oil and beeswax (or sometimes paraffin). The Howard's product lasts much longer. It's a mix of those same ingredients and also microcrystalline wax, which is much harder. With some trial and error you could probably figure out the proportions and make it yourself, but it's not expensive and is just an Amazon click away.

I have a few pieces of ancient calphalon anodized aluminum. This is back when it just said "The Commercial Anodized Aluminum Cookware Co" and had the NSF logo, and was about twice as heavy as the modern incarnations. The anodized surface is not my favorite (I prefer stainless for most things) but these pans work great for almost everything and have taken a beating since the early '90s. The only ones I've stopped using are the fry pan (9 or 10" omelette pan / poele) because it got ridiculously warped. It's still around as a spare, but it wobbles and spins and every now and then needs to be bashed back into shape (sort of) with a hammer. One drawback to very thick aluminum is warping when you use on high heat ... presumably because of the high expansion coeficient of the material allowing it expand / contract on the inside more than the outside during fast temperature changes. Probably when deglazing, etc.. For bare aluminum I'm pretty happy with my 20qt stockpot. I chose this material here because it was the cheapest. I think a stainless one with a disk bottom has a bit more utility—easier to clean, and no issue with acidic ingredients leaching metal into the stock. But the aluminum is a workhorse and these drawbacks have been more hypothetical than anything else.

I saw a small gap formed in a seam at the back edge of mine a couple of years ago. Dave said that can happen at the edges of any end grain board from dimensional changes in the wood, but that it's rare. He suggested just filling in with beeswax. I decided to mix some sawdust with epoxy and fill it permanently. It worked fine. I was mostly concerned with food getting in there.

Well, that pretty much removes the last justification for their existence, doesn't it?

I understand the logic of extended warranties in some circumstances. Like if you have plenty of money to spend and zero tolerance of hassle. But if that's your position, just buy an overpriced KA mixer from Williams Sonoma. They warrant everything forever (at least they did last I checked). The other issue with KA is that they're so easy and inexpensive to fix, assuming you have some patience and free time. For me this has become the nicest thing about the mixer. That I was able to use the thing hard for 8 years, break it, and then for under $50 in parts and an few hours' total tinkering and Youtubing, have a brand new mixer. This is worth a lot, because ALL consumer planetary mixers are going to break if you use them hard. They all have underspecified motors, light duty bearings, and casual manufacturing tolerances. If they didn't, they'd be commercial mixers and the entry level would be $1000. That's just life.

I always start dough with the flat beater. This includes the initial mixing before autolyse, and the wet mixing before adding the final quantity of flour. It's much faster and works the dough much harder than a dough hook can. Once the dough develops some body switch to the hook (mandatory ... you'll break something if you don't).

I'd never get an extended warranty. I do the opposite and buy them refurbished, which saves a ton of money (in exchange for a 6 month warranty). Which is fine if you use it a lot ... you'll know in a couple of months if anything's wrong with it. Now that I know how easy they are to work on, I'd take the thing apart and regrease it the minute the warranty's up.

All the parts came in and got the beast put back together again. It was unclear what caused the binding, since the only gear wear I found was minor, and none of it was in the planetary housing (which is what was getting stuck). The shaft that attaches the planetary to the gearbox was loose. It could have been that, or it could have been dried grease that assembly. Anyway, I replaced the slightly worn gears (unnecessary but cheap) and the planetary assembly. Then I gave the machine its big upgrade with the synthetic grease. No chance yet to use it, but unloaded it sounds quieter and smoother than ever. It's nice knowing that I'll never have to worry about the grease separating again from disuse or heat. And I won't have to worry about using the mixer hard when it's cold or has been sitting a long time. At least in theory.

There's an advantage for things that draw a lot of power, like espresso machines and induction hobs. The assumption with appliances sold in the U.S. is that most houses have at least some 15 amp circuits, so standard appliances are limited to 1800 watts—and then only rarely, because they wouldn't be able to share the circuit with anything. Some heavier duty things come with plugs for special 20 amp outlets. These are one-outlet-per-circuit arrangements that take air conditioner plugs, and can handle appliances up to 2400 watts. In the UK and France, the standard is 230v (it can vary by 10%, so people call it 220), with 13 amp circuits. This means any outlet in a non-ancient building can handle over 2800 watts. So appliances can be made more powerful. Great if you want a professional espresso machine. Irrelevant with mixers, unless you need a Hobart that's big enough to climb inside.

Probably mentioned upthread, but I can't speak highly enough of cutting boards by The Boardsmith. All made in a workshop by one guy who's a pleasure to deal with, does great work, and has seriously researched the topic. And he undercharges. I've had a 16x22 maple end grain board of his for eight years or so, and it's nicer than new. Hasn't yet needed sanding (although I cut with a light touch and don't use my serrated bread knife on it). All his boards have rubber feet on the bottom, which is such a good idea I've applied it to my other wooden boards. The feet prevent slipping, and more importantly, keep moisture from accumulating under the board. This is the classic cause of boards warping and developing a concave surface.

A cheap one. Definitely not what I use for finer cutting. Most butcher shops these days use poly boards and throw them out when they get too hacked up. If you look at the end-grain blocks used traditionally by butchers, they all had hills and valleys from the constant sanding needed to keep the surface free of grooves. I don't use my end-grain board like this—I want it to stay flat.

Exactly. Wondra's also ideal for breading things you're going to sauté.

I usually advise people in the U.S. to get KA, and people in Europe to get Kenwood. If you read a lot of reviews, you find similar strengths and weaknesses among them. But one of the greatest strengths of each is the parts and service network on its respective continent. Hard to get Kenwood service here, hard to get KA service there. My KA project is relatively cheap and easy only because I'm in the U.S.. I'm aware that the Cuisinart mixer is a version of the Kenwood (as is the viking and I believe the delonghi), but it has not gotten the best reviews here, at least if you're not comparing one of KA's mistakes, like some of their models from the late 90s / early 2000s. I don't know if the Cuisinart is identical to the best models Kenwood sells overseas.

Something I just noticed: the motor in the pro 600 is labelled "Ankarsrum," which you might recognize as the Swedish company that makes the Electrolux mixers (which are always getting pitted against the KA mixers in reviews). You might be getting the same motor in each machine. Vitamix switched to a Swedish-made motor a few years ago also.

I'm experimenting with 65% on the next batch. Today I used the second half of my my batch of glue dough. While preheating, I figured out that my temperature readings have been wrong. The IR thermometer was picking radiant heat reflected off the broiler, and was telling me the steel was 200F high. If I pulled out the broiler drawer and took a reading, it wouldn't get above 450F or so, even long past an hour. So I took the hot, 32lb steel and stuck it on a rack 7" from the top of the oven (not recommended!). Here with the oven on full blast it got to about 560F in the middle. I managed to get the dough proofed more thoroughly this time. And with an extra 3 days of retarding in the fridge, the flavors intensified. This round was a big improvement. The pies still took 6 minutes, but they developed nice char on the bottom, even through the parchment, and puffed up with more oven spring than I'd been able to get in previous years with a stone. The crust was airy and moist, with good chew. Next time I'll try moving the steel a notch up to the highest position. And I'll see if I can get the same airiness with a lower hydration dough. This one I tried baking on foil instead of parchment. Bad idea. Char was a bit odd and the foil glued itself to the bottom, even though it had been oiled.

Ha. I'll just point you to a video. If you can bake a cake you can fix a stupid mixer!

After 8 years i've finally had a problem with my pro 600. I've been experimenting with pizza, and working with stiffer doughs, and yesterday I got some binding and bad noises from the planetary assembly. I'm waiting for a set of snap-ring pliers to show up so I can complete the disassembly and figure out what's going on. So far i have the gear cover open and the worm assembly gears removed and everything on top cleaned up. I'm more impressed with this mixer than I was before breaking it(!) The gears are very high quality and the machining tolerances look better than I expected. After 8 years there is no visible wear anywhere, and the grease is in good shape. I'm not sure what's going down below in the planetary assembly, but clearly that's where the problem is. It's also the part of the mixer that has made inconsistent noises in the past. I may find a worn/broken gear, a worn bushing, or something similar. The best news is that these machines are extremely easy to work on, parts are available everywhere (do some comparison shopping ... prices vary a lot) and there are instructional videos online that show you in about 10 minutes how to completely overhaul them. To save time, I ordered a whole new planetary assembly. It cost about $25. Buying the replacement gears and washers cost about the same amount, so I decided to keep it simple. You need to get a new gasket for the gear housing. About $6 including shipping. If you have an old style plastic housing, you should use this opportunity to upgrade to the indestructible magnesium one. It's a pop-in replacement. You also need to replace the grease. KA uses and specifies their own food-grade grease (which is probably a Shell product). This is one of the weakest links in the whole mixer. It's a poor quality grease by modern standards. It hardens (which stops it from working) and it separates (which leads to the liquid portion leaking out into your merengue). I upgraded to a synthetic #2 grease called Superlube; there are other similar ones. It's food-grade, odorless, impervious to salt and water, safe on rubber and plastics, is completely stable, and has a temperature range nearly 200 degrees broader than the KA grease. People online have said the synthetic greases makes their mixers run more smoothly and quietly. People have also reported that they've discovered inadequate lubrication when opening their mixers ... like a top bushing or planetary gear that not been given enough grease, or in some cases that hadn't been greased at all. It's possible I'll find something like this. This is going to be about $75 worth of maintenance after 8 years of pretty hard use. I anticipate that the mixer will run better than new when fixed and packed with the synthetic grease. The most expensive part of this was the snap-ring pliers ... if you have a pair you're set. If you're shopping for them, be careful—most are too big for the rings on the mixer. I'd also suggest getting some good-quality non-toxic degreaser. You want to get everything squeaky clean before putting in the new grease. Overall, I'd say that fixing a pro-600 is a bit easier than working on a racing bicycle, a bit harder than assembling an Ikea coffee table.

Escoffier also predicted that one day we'd have much better thickeners than flour I like his recipes as a reference, but for anything like sauces, stocks, glaces etc., I think of them as historical curiosities. We have techniques now that will give better flavor and clarity with less time investment and much less waste. I like roux in certain dishes where it's part of the local character, like gumbo. But I wouldn't assume that there's any important difference between the flour you can get and whatever E. used. The chemistry of roux is such that you're basically clarifying the wheat starch. The butter is a cooking medium, and whatever starch you don't transform by browning gets dispersed and forms a hydrocolloid with the water. The protein separates, cooks, clumps together, and joins the scum on top. So it really doesn't matter if you're using flour that's 9% protein or 14%. If you're making a cake that's success vs. failure, but with roux none of it's going to be in your finished product.

Thank you ... I agree it looks pretty good, but the eating was only so-so. And yeah, this dough is sticky beyond what you can solve with cornmeal. It's like a gelatinous blob of glue. For my next batch with 65% or so hydration I'll try sliding it.

Don't bother trying to get 00 pizza flour. It's only of interest if you're baking at 800°F or higher, which is done in the interest of Neapolitan-style crusts, not crisp ones. At lower temperatures and longer cooking times 00 offers no advantages, and may contribute to problems. I don't think the type flour matters nearly as much as the hydration and the way you hydrate it and develop the gluten. Crisp crusts are generally the product of the crust drying out over a longer cooking time. When you try to make Neapolitan pizzas in oven that isn't hot enough, you get crispy crusts. I'd think that some added sugar in the dough might help exaggerate this effect.

Wondra is designed to thicken sauces without any requirement for it being cooked. It won't give you the raw flour flavor that you'd otherwise get (which is actually the flavor of partially cooked flour ... raw flour is pretty tasteless). And since the starch has be pre-gelatinized, it will dissolve easily and have full thickening power right away. It's basically so you can use wheat flour the same way you'd use a purified starch, like corn starch or arrowroot. Since the whole process of making roux, including skimming the released fat, will fully cook and gelatinize any flour, I'm not sure what advantage you'd see from wondra. My inclination would be to go for lower protein flours, rather than higher, since the proteins in the flour just contribute to the scum that you have to skim off. But really, whatever flour you have will work fine. How are people getting lumps in their roux? I've never noticed a tendency for flour form lumps that the requisite whisking wouldn't take care easily enough. Roux should be pretty foolproof. The only thing to keep in mind is that the darker you brown it, the less thickening power it will have.