Jon Savage

It has been over a year since we got this device. A few remarks in no particular order: -It bakes outstanding bread -convection steam bake is the bomb for brisket & or ribs (225F all day mmmmm) tho I wish the timer would go over 120 minutes. Starting again is EZ but I'd much rather set & forget. -Broiling is the next best thing to an actual salamander -it makes absolutely killer toasted bread or bagels -perfect for not heating the house up; see below: In the time we have had this oven we have only used our regular oven for turkey's standing rib roast & the like so maybe 3 times in the past almost 2 years? If there are only one or two people to cook for this thing absolutely takes the cake. We like it because it is precise & doesn't heat up the kitchen, which by ambient 85F (=29+C) in the house is oh so very welcome. The short version = we are very happy with it & hardly ever use our conventional legacy oven. $250- or less really well spent IMHO.

I'm really happy with my 27 cm pan. Used it several times & it seems quite non stick already. My wife remarked it seems like Teflon. I did nothing special upon receipt; just gave it a good scrub & seasoned with rice bran oil. Eggs just slide around too. It is, in short, my new favorite pan. TicTac - that's kinda sorta normal. Keep using it; no need to get too crazy about seasoning it as it will most likely sort itself out.

It rocks actually my go-to pan.

I'm really happy with my 27 cm pan. Used it several times & it seems quite non stick already. My wife remarked it seems like Teflon. I did nothing special upon receipt; just gave it a good scrub & seasoned with rice bran oil.

The easiest solution to the duck problem is to sautee off some duck breasts (Moulard Duck D'artagnan ) is a good choice. That way everyone gets what they like; feel free as to inquire as to the method I use. You also get tons of duck fat to re-use which is useful. I myself will be making for the holiday season: Duck breast as mentioned. Whole Duck roasted. Standing rib roast w/ all the trimmings. I'll need to go on a diet soon. Ciao. --edit Smithy of those breasts you'd need about 5 half boned breasts for that many people maybe 3 whole ducks would suffice for 10. In either case that is pretty rich fare. I know my wife & I frequently enjoy a 1/2 duck breast for shabbat between us & actually only eat about 1/2 of it which gives us another meal each later on.

I love the design. Considering one of the most loved pans in our household (cast iron) aside is in fact a black steel paella pan that gets a whole lot of use besides its intended purpose I simply had to just order one of these pans in 27 CM. I'll report back in a week or so.

The veg took a little longer than expected- taters carrots needed 40' @ bake / steam/300 the cabbage another 20'. The learning curve continues. In the meantime there is the bread proofing in earnest tonight & this recipe for tomorrow: Credit due to cuisineart here:https://www.cuisinart.com/share/pdf/manuals/cso-300n.pdf for the recipe which I have shared here that I think was fair use in any case. Have I mentioned just for the record that I have 3+ lbs pork chunks in that very same rub steeping overnight?

My wife recently found a cheese powder at WinCo that is neither unpleasantly salted nor sugared. It does make a good sub for the Kraft M&C we all grew up with (OK admit it-- That is a taste memory we all like). I was recently appalled by the Kraft stuff 'cos sugary... They must have changed the recipe because I don't recall sugar as having been a primary ingredient on said box before now but it is there now. Anyhow... That is what we use to do quick & dirty M&C- w/ the addition of a little good pasta & the Kraft box ratio of butter/milk/cheese powder pretty darn good. So that's my dirty secret. Don't tell on me.

Some Burundi A just roasted on my Stir Crazy Convection Oven tonight. Good times. Chapeau to the green coffee coop.

Yes Chris- I've got a laminated wood (pine most likely) round tabletop about the size of a large pizza & circa 6cm thick I got from Home Depot for I dunno maybe $10 that thing seems indestructible I've used it for oh 20 years with just a couple of hard scrubs/light sandings. There's also the more traditional Asian option for cleavers which basically involves a goodly slice of a branch or preferably tree stump. I've used cleavers using the above mentioned combo of (HDPE???) thin Ikea boards atop laminated Bamboo as well that I just posted without ill effects to the underlying wood(ish) matrix but maybe I'm more gentle with the cleaveroflove(TM) than you might be?

I use a decent sized laminated bamboo cutting board like the one pictured below from Ikea APTITLIG $12.99 USD but actually use the thin DRÄLLA boards also Ikea pictured below $1.99 USD for a two pack (also Ikea) atop it. I like these for a couple of reasons- 1. Laminated Bamboo cutting boards seem hard on knives, at least in my experience, perhaps due to silicon content inherent in grasses? 2. It is a whole lot easier to sanitize these than any kind of wood block & at that price its easy peasy to have 6 or 8 around - they wear well & as they start to get a bit careworn we just take them to Venezia and leave them behind in the rental apartment we use there most years. 3. The flexibility of the thin boards is also a nice feature to have. 4. The red/green colours are helpful to remind one which boards require hardcore sanitizing & which don't. Obligatory disclaimer - no financial interest just a satisfied user of these products blah blah blah.

I just made a 2.6lb corned beef flat loosely based on this recipe - 2 hours @300 bake/steam resulted in a very nice tender corned beef. Now making the potatoes/carrots (20 minutes bake/steam) then add cabbage on top for an additional 20 minutes. Honestly this little oven has so far exceeded my expectations in every respect. Well worth the $300 for bread alone! Toast is as mentioned frequently upthread excellent as well.

That seems like a (potential) improvement on the Cuisinart I just purchased especially as you can completely ignore the meal delivery service they are pushing so very hard. What I am extremely happy about is that there are more players entering this price/form factor for combi ovens which bodes well for the future I think.

Second loaf this morning- I'm pleased with this oven.

The bread came out just fine. My wife remarked at how nice she thought the crust was. First impressions and all but I think this is a worthy experiment. I'm also thinking this oven might be just the thing for corned beef - 'tis the season after all.

I've got the device- trying some bread as I type this. Many unknowns as this is using a new, literally unproven, starter + the new appliance. I will say the setup was easy, the controls intuitive. I guess I'll see if the bread becomes in another 20 minutes or so.

It should be here on Monday. I've got a starter ready for the first bread in the new device.

Darn you all. I innocently peek into the forum and now find myself soon to be in possession of one of these devices. I look forward to playing with it. It should arrive in the next 4-5 days. The N model seems to be holding stable @ $299.- on Amazon which is as weinoo and others have noted is a steal for a combo oven of any size. I've been lusting after a combi oven for years & while I won't rule out the 1/4 or 1/2 sheet pan sized ones ($$ though $2,000 up to the sky) I do have to agree that for a 2 person household this oven will nicely suffice for most situations. It also will be a good intro to this technology for me at a price that is none too dear. If upthread is any indication it also makes damn good toast! I'll report back when the object of my desire arrives. Initial use will be bread baking - the steam feature seems compelling for this.

We are Spending the 2nd half of November this year in Venezia. Any interest in a continuation?

I see both sides of this argument. I myself am comfortable pressure canning tomato (products) @ unacidulated for 15 minutes @ 10 PSI at sea level. YMMV, as always be safe and discard anything that looks wonky. We have only ever had one thing look that way & it was Pinto Beans that had gone awry. It was pretty obvious with that one jar. --edit obviously one should always use tested recipes.

Those Tamales look awesome! We canned another 13 half pints of salsa today. 5 lbs Roma tomatoes, couple lbs each Poblano chiles & onions. Life is good. PS Those mild Hatch Chiles we canned on Saturday... perfect as is as antipasto. C. Eats them right out of the jar. I did make a frittata with the mild hatch this morning (sorry no pics). It was very tasty indeed as herself attested to. --edited to add info.

We did another 25lbs today; yielded 26.5 pints. We decided 1/2 pint jars were the ideal size to use. Practice also makes perfect - a little over 2 hours in the first 27 jars were already in the pressure canner and the other 26 ready to go into the 2nd load. I think we are set until next summer!

In short - We dehydrate, Water Bath can & Pressure can. Each method has its place. None are better than the other.

Skip the hassle & have them roasted for you. Roasting 5-10 lbs is fun but 25-30 not so much. Besides that there is a small bit of work involved in peeling/de-seeding ahead of you anyway. Herself & I will do another batch the first weekend or so of September. @daveb that burger was delicious thank you. -edited to add burger info

You pound them to create uniformity. Otherwise it is difficult to get the breasts done correctly(= evenly done). Same reason people spatchock chix. If you are butterflying them the result would be similar to pounding them. --edited for clarity