Porthos

Alex, I have a friend who is a forensic anthropologist who teaches college. Her FB posts make me chuckle and groan at the same time.

Thanks to the feedback given I have decided against acquiring a HAA pot.

No. Apparently there are comprehension issues in our community. I didn't ask for how to run my kitchen. I asked about whether hard-anodized aluminum would work as a good non-stick surface under the conditions I described.

Anyone out there that can answer the question I am asking? The one about how non-stick is hard-anodized aluminum? Will it lessen the clean-up effort compared to stainless steel?

The one who makes for the biggest clean-up mess doesn't understand sequence and manner in which I make those soups. I have a bit more clean-up than from other soups but nothing like that mess. Me: Soup pot gets a standard mire poix cooked in butter and olive oil, then in goes some stock and the broccoli. In a separate pot I make a simple white-sauce-based cheese sauce but about a gallon's worth. That gets incorporated into the basic soup and served. The person to whom I am referring, who makes the most serious mess, starts the same way I do, then makes roux in a separate pan, adds the roux to the soup and then tries to incorporate the cheese into the very thinned-out roux. That doesn't work so well so often this person cranks up the heat trying to force the cheese to incorporate. Unfortunately a lot of cheese ends up just melting and then adhering to the bottom of the pot. So I am back to the question of how non-stick is hard-anodized aluminum? Will it lessen the clean-up effort compared to stainless steel?

First off, if there is an existing thread on this I will gladly read through it. I have 2 volunteers in my southern ren faire who make soups to be eaten after faire closes for the day, I have decent 12 quart S/S stock pots. However, when they choose to make broccoli cheese soup or the like I spent an hour or more cleaning the pot. Partway through this season I finally said no more cheese soups this season, which has ended. I am looking at options for future seasons. One option is to restrict them to using the 8 quart non-stick Dutch ovens I supply. It still takes a little bit extra effort to clean but nothing like the S/S pots. I am also looking at perhaps getting a hard-anodized 12 quart stock pot in hopes that it will be non-stick enough to clean up more like my other non-stick items. Since these volunteers are family and friends to whom I am grateful for the help I am not going to change “the system” and ask them to wash the pots themselves. One of them would be offended beyond definition if I tried to show this person a better way to prepare the soup the vastly lessens the issue. I am just saying that the solution does not lie in asking them to change how they cook. All that being said can anyone speak to the relative differences in non-stick performance between separately-applied non-stick coatings versus the non-stick properties of hard-anodized aluminum? Will I gain something in easier cleanup if I buy a hard-anodized stock pot or am I likely to end up with just another stock pot to store? Thoughts?

Way down the scale but still a disappointment: Brownie Brittle. We had seen it at Costco for a couple of months but had yet to pick any up when we happened by where they were handing out samples. I had imagined something of the texture of peanut brittle with the flavor of a good brownie. Not so much. We fell in love with Corazona oatmeal bars some time ago. They quickly became a staple for snackage. Then Costco clearanced them. SInce we could still buy them at our local supermarket our main disappointment, at that time, was having to pay more for them. Costco brought them back. The packaging and flavor selections had changed. But, far more importantly, they changed the recipe, made them less sweet and started promoting themselves as a heart-healthy snack. I wasn't buying them for my heart, I was buying them for my mouth so to speak. The changed recipe made it's way into our supermarket also. Sad. From some years ago: Grgich Hills Zinfandel. Wonderful nose, very tasty but it had the mouth-feel of water. I am used to a good red having some "texture" on the tongue. My BIL agreed with my assessment.

Woot and thank you, Shelby. I just ordered my purple Thermopen. My DW chose to give me cash for our anniversary and that paved the way to get this,

I went on to the BB&B website. At least in our area they are mail-order only items. There was 1 user review - which was negative. But the complainer missed an important point and is misinformed, at least to me, about knife lengths. He seemed to miss the point that even by the product name they are edge guards, not blade safes. He complained about them not entirely covering the knife. His second assertion is that 8" knives are actually 8.5" long as the norm. When I got home I measured 4 different 8" knives that I own. The longest was 8 1/8", a far cry from 8.5". I'm putting this out there so that anyone who is interested in them will know that the bad review was from a rather uninformed person.

I've never thought to look there. I'll check my local store.

During a pre-faire meeting this spring I explained something to our group. In past seasons many had passed up the foods that were "vegan" because they figured vegan meant weird. I explained to them that if they cooked a veggie at home and didn't add dairy or meat to it (simplified version for this post) that it qualified for vegan. When we state that something is vegan it is simply to let the vegans know that it has been prepared in a manner that they can eat. My son-in-law had eschewed our vegan food for years based upon this "it's weird" thinking. My daughter started making up food bowls for him (he could not make it to the feast due to other responsibilities) and was very surprised that he liked "vegan" food. In the end he got it. separate thought: Right or wrong, part of how I define picky is based upon attitude.

The only MesserMiester edge guard that I haven't liked is the small one for paring knives. It didn't want to stay on. Since I carry 6 paring knives to use in my ren faire feast kitchen my DW made me a custom knife roll just for paring knives. It is made of multiple layers of heavy duck cloth with individual pockets for each knife so I don't worry about the paring knives cutting through the fabric or getting damaged clattering against each other.

Shel, I own two of them and find them to be a pain in the butt. The locking mechanism is not to my liking. I prefer MesserMeister Edge Guards. They can be had from many places. Ever since I lost my local source I order mine from www.knifemerchant.com and have had very good service from them. I ordered 3 guards Monday night (one to replace one of the blade safes) and they were delivered Wednesday. http://www.knifemerchant.com/products.asp?categoryID=418

Shel_B, regarding asparagus have you tried them tossing in olive oil, salt and pepper and then roasting them? Very different flavors than boiling or steaming deliver.

My depression-era mother boiled broccoli until it was gray. I steam mine. Looking at the concept of picky eaters I am very fortunate. I married into a family that enjoys a wide variety of foods so beyond what we prepared in our own home they were introduced to many kinds of food from their earliest years. The foods they don't like are few. My older daughter detests mushrooms and I through a bad choice turned her off to salmon. She likes eggs EXCEPT in salads. My younger daughter disliked onions for many years but it was a texture thing. If they were cooked until really soft such as in a long-simmered marinara sauce she was ok with them.

I was just reminded of the opposite thing that I witnessed as a child. Family came visiting. When the meal was served the mom said the 4-year-old wouldn't eat something that was served to him. Mom had to leave the table and he ate it while she was gone.

Smithy, your post reminded me of the saying: "What is the difference between what a man will eat and what he won't? 24 hours." I would not deal well with having picky eaters around me. Given that I don't have a poker face, unfortunately they would know it.

I buy those in the 3-box packs at Sams Club. I mostly use them in my faire kitchen but use them at home when needed. We also keep nytril gloves in the kitchen because my DW prefers them. Edited to add: I add sauces or spice rubs to the cut-up meats I grill at faire. I love that I can grab a cheap glove, put the next batch of meat on the grill, pull the glove off (using the same technique I learned to use when I received blood-borne pathogen training) and move on to something else while the meat is cooking. As an aside I am very happy to have time again to be on eGullet.

We each make our own choices. I get that. Have you ever had a serious case of food poisoning? I don't care to ever repeat that experience. Do you have a prefered brand of soap?

Steaming eggs and potatoes takes less water and less energy than boiling. That is one way I have reduced energy costs. The truth is, though, I don't do it for the energy saving, I do if for how I like the food turns out. The eggs have the added benefit of peeling more easily. In my ren faire kitchen I have also moved to steaming the eggs I hard-cook (15 dozen/weekend) and steaming the potatoes (10lb at a crack) and have noticed that my propane usage has definitely gone down. I've steamed veggies for many years.

At Home - The specific things I do: Hands get washed before I empty the dishwasher or start food prep. I don't care if I just came from the restroom where I washed my hands. If I have to stop and do something in the middle of emptying the dishwasher or food prep , then hand sanitizer before I continue. I take the attitude that any surface I touched may be harboring something I don't want to consume. I only own cutting boards that can go in the dishwasher. This is a personal choice. I have purchased wood boards and end up not using them because I don't want to have to hand-clean them. I have give away every one I ever bought. Again, personal choice. All knives save one go in the dishwasher. I have one knife that is veggie/fruit prep only. It gets hand-washed, dried and returned to my knife block as soon as I am done with it. Knives DO NOT go into the silverware basket. Upper rack, edge down. Personal choice. If I have to deal with multiple raw proteins, after a given protein used cutting board goes into the sink, the counter where I was working gets a once-over with spray cleaner, my knife gets washed and dried, and then on to the next task with a fresh cutting board. Multiple veggies get the same knife and board if they are to be cooked. Fridge is below 40 degrees. If I pull our something that is suspect anyway, I toss it. I NEVER wash any food in my sink. As in never. If it needs washing, I pull out a S/S bowl and do the washing in that. As an aside, the glass and plastic bowls in our kitchen are for my wife. I don't use them. I really like my NSF S/S bowls. My Faire Feast Kitchen: Sanitizing spray and paper towels only for clean-up to prevent cross-contamination that can come from using cloth towels. My understanding is that cloth towels are the number one source of cross-contamination in commercial kitchens. Mine is not commercial but I'm feeding 80 people. Because this is one small step above camping I use 10 gallon Rubbermaid totes as sinks, 3 sink operation. (actually 4). Pre-wash to remove any remaining bits of food that scraping and/or paper towels missed. Wash. Rinse. Sanitize. Calif law for retail food facilities lists 30 seconds in bleachy water, 100ppm bleach, as acceptable sanitization. I teach this to anyone who helps with dish-washing. My wife and my sous chef have food handler's certificates and they see what we do as reasonable. Since this is a catering-style operation the proteins don't get cooked until an hours and a half or less from sending the food out. That means that the meats will be under 2 hours from cooking until they have all been consumed. All food is kept covered as soon as cooking is done. I am big into Cambro 2-pans with lids, height commensurate with quantity of food. We use three coolers: One cooler for meats, one cooler for dairy, one cooler for produce. E to fix typo.

Do you have a clothes washer and dryer in you apt?

I discovered something about the location of the Sriracha plant in Irwindale. It is located about a half mile south from where the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire is held. In the spring I am there on-site Friday evening-Sunday evening and drop off supplies there during the week. Faire 2015 ended last Sunday. If there was any kind of odor problem, this year or previously, I would have noticed it. I didn't know how close they are because I normally do not drive down the street where they are located.

What good stuff. Congratulations.

15 minutes on the Edge Pro and it has a new lease on life. It will be added to my ren faire knives. I had a woman offer to help with cutting and chopping of whole vegetables some time ago. She asked for a small knife so I asked about an 5" utility knife. Nope - too big. She wanted. and got, a paring knife. That is one serious fear of knives. Most of the people who work with me in my ren faire kitchens are like me; they want a 10" knife.