Porthos

18". 1984 ranch-style house in southern California.

After the sticker shock, find the local homebrewer in your group. I'll bet dollars to ducats that he/she knows someone with a plasma cutter who cuts the tops off stainless steel kegs. You can't ask for a better pot when you want to make soup for 50 people at a fair. It even has easy-grip handles. Interesting idea but I'm afraid they would be way to large. From 12 quarts to half a keg is a pretty big leap.

I'll be going to my favorite restaurant supply house next week just to check things out. Definitely going back to stainless steel.

I don't dine out alone. When I dine out I am there for food AND conversation with my fellow diners. If the noise makes conversation difficult I won't be back. I refuse to go to the local Red Robin for a burger meal for precisely that reason. I will say that the old saying "If the music's too loud then you're too old" does probably come into play a little bit.

Nothing that I'm going to eat goes into the sink. Ever. Period. Cooked or raw. I normally don't even put things I'm going to eat raw on the counters. Call me over-cautious if you want, but I've had serious food poisoning and if doing simple things may help me or my family avoid future illnesses then I'm doing those things.

Does anyone have any idea of how to figure out where to email a complaint to whoever manufactured these particular pots?

I disagree -- even though tomatoes aren't "period," enough of them find their way into Ren Faire fare to warrant spending the extra dosh for stainless. Or find a friend with a plasma cutter and turn a 1/2 barrel beer keg into an ideal stock pot. The soup we make for after faire closes is not period.

I acquired two 12 qt Paula Deen enamel on steel stock pots the past year. (I believe that it's enamel and not porcelain but I'm not sure). They were different colors purchased at different stores several months apart so I have to figure they were from different lots. I bought them for a specific purpose - to make soups. I am part of a renaissance faire guild and my DW and I run the kitchen that feeds our own people but not the public. This is on weekends only. We have a feast at lunchtime. Later we make a couple of soups for members of our group to eat after faire closes for the day. I have a super volunteer who actually prepares the soups. I put these pots into service in early April and was initially pleased with my choice. However, the sixth weekend of using them saw the enamel start coming off of the inside bottom of one of the pots. On the seventh weekend the other pot started losing its enamel. I was really disappointed. Here's where I think it may be my own fault. We do the soup making on 30K BTU burners. I'm thinking that maybe these pots just couldn't take the heat, although I have another stock pot of the same construction but different brand that has lasted several seasons. For the time being I'm going to stick with the stainless steel (and one enamel on steel) pots I have but I will want to replace the stock pots that failed eventually. So I'm looking for opinions and insights to help me make future purchasing decisions. Are 30K BTU burners too much for enamel on steel or did I just get questionable quality cookware?

One word: Mayonnaise. Home-made mayo is super easy with the whip. Our 6 Qt KA gets its major workout in December when my DW bakes enough cookies for 35 plates. Our 5 Qt KA that we purchased in 1981 was still going strong when we ugraded to the 6 Qt 2 or 3 years ago. The 5 Qt is put away and will be given to someone down the road.

Good Eats was the last show I still watched until I just gave up on FoodTV. And just this morning I heard that the Government finally is agreeing with what he already knew about safe temperatures for pork. 145 degrees F, a bit pink is safe.

I just bought an inexpensive enamel-on-steel stock pot to take to the kitchen I do volunteer cooking in. The care instructions say to hand-wash only, not to put it into the dishwasher. Can anyone tell me why? It will only get hand-washed anyway but I'm curious as to what the problem would be.

Yup.

Definitely different burners. My stove has a 16K BTU burner, a 12K burner, 2 9K burners and 1 simmer burner (my best guess is about 5K). I love the flexibility it provides. It does everything from hard-boiling 5 dozen eggs at a time to simmering sauces.

I saw this old General Electric mixer being used as a decoration this morning. I'd never seen a mixer like it. I just thought is was really cool and wanted to share it with other gadget lovers.

One of the more intelligently written shows of its time. I was disappointed that it was around for such a short time.

I was watching the Chefography episode on Emeril last night (there wasn't much to watch). They did a segment on other famous chefs that have been guests on his show. I kept watching for Julia Child since I'd seen an episode of Emeril Live with her on it. It never came. I realized about 1/2 through this segment that only other Food Network celebrities were being shown. At the end of the show there was a brief montage and Julia was in that. It saddened me that the one person who most made showing and teaching food preparation a part of our cultur was ignored in favor of trotting out their own stable of faces. Just had to vent this to people who understand.

Drives me nuts too. FWIW: My wife has a degree in German Literature and we use a recipe from a German cookbook.

I find them truly repulsive.

I enjoy a more substantial amount of pepper on my salad and on beef than most people. That doesn't make me a cretin, just makes me me. So I appreciate the chance to have pepper added to suit my taste. Just saying...

We have an Oster model 6309 made by Sunbeam. It was around $30 at Target. I bought it for my wife as a gift (at her request) because it has a copper body. It has perked along for several years and produces toast just the way we want it.

Carl's Jr California Roast Beef Sandwich.

I SO agree.

Dove. Brown in butter in dutch oven. Add good dry zinfindel then bake at 275 for 3 hours. Remove dove, add sour cream, salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the birds. Eat like your in heaven.

I only have western knives. I use an edge-pro,

You beat me to it!