Shel_B

Styrofoam wine shipping containers: http://www.uline.com/BL_5450/Styrofoam-Wine-Shippers Why you shouldn't use Styrofoam: http://www.paulgregutt.com/2011/10/dreaded-styrofoam-wine-shippers.html Special cardboard containers: http://www.spiritedshipper.com/?gclid=CKT5gJDgwbsCFe1xQgodHkgA0g Made in the US from strong corrugated Kraft cardboard, our wine shippers are layered with extra cushioning and include a special insert for each and every bottle for safe and secure shipping. Light weight and tough, our wine shipping containers are environmentally safe, fully recyclable and made with recycled material. They ship flat, saving you money and valuable storage space.

The question isn't just that, but what other damage or degradation may occur. The oven isn't self cleaning, however, it seems that there's an open flame from the heating element of the oven. I should check that to be sure.

In the FWIW Department, we have a commercial coffee maker at the Senior Center where I teach http://www.cw-usa.com/equipment-commercial-coffeepotbrewers-bunn-pourover-vps.html?utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase&cvsfa=3170&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=323833&gclid=CLjN9tClvbsCFYw1QgodLCgANA I always thought that the filters for these machines http://www.bunn.com/pages/commercl/related/rel_paper_filters.html would be ideal for use in a bowl strainer. I may grab one or two from the center and see just how well they work in my situation. I'd imagine the size of the strainer would be important, and need to fit the filters appropriately. Did you mention if you had anything specific in mind to filter?

We ALWAYS use separators. Yes, I think they're pretty good. I had one that lasted a L-O-N-G time, replaced the set, and then got another set for Toots. Here's an interesting aside: the new pans are stamped "Dishwasher Safe" on the bottom. The earlier pans were not recommended for the dishwasher.

Haven't a clue what the manual says. Toots has the manual filed somewhere and we can take a look at it. Never thought of that, although I don't expect to learn much, if anything, from the manual.

Toots has a new skillet. It's an anodized aluminum Calphalon non-stick model, specifically this one: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/calphalon-reg-contemporary-nonstick-10-inch-and-12-inch-omelet-pan-set/1014506683 Storage space is tight in her kitchen, and she was thinking of storing the skillet in the drawer that's below the oven in her gas range. We'd like to know if leaving the skillet in that drawer while the oven is on could damage the skillet. Thanks!

I cut slices thin and thick, toasted them a fair amount and per the instructions. Never had dry and baked toast. Maybe it's the choice of bread. Shelf has never ended up on the counter. Can't imagine why yours does.

Breville BOV450XL Mini Smart Oven Review, such as it is ... Tuesday I purchased a standard-shaped loaf of very good quality (http://acmebread.com/bread/whole_wheat) whole wheat bread, and Wednesday morning I made three slices of toast in the Breville. I was minimally disappointed as the top of the bread was nice and crispy, just the way I like it, but the bottom seemed somewhat insipid and nowhere near as crispy. I’m not obsessive about my toast, so it was OK enough to eat and enjoy, but the next time I made toast I flipped the slices about half way through, and tried to get an even toast and crispness on each side. That helped a bit, and now my toast is nice and evenly toasted on both sides. In addition, all the slices were charred at the top of the slice, where the knife entered the loaf at the crust. I don’t understand that. Last night I baked three potatoes and the results were just about perfect. What impressed me was how quickly the oven preheated. I suspect that the Breville will save some electricity $$ over time, just on potatoes alone. I’ll know just how much after the Kill-A-Watt gets here, although it’s not much of an issue. My electric bill over the past three months has averaged about $5.00/month, so from a cost standpoint it’s not very important. However, I do like to conserve, and enjoy the challenge of reducing electric usage as much as possible. My best month was $4.56, and I’d love to get down to below $4.00 – just to see if it can be done. The rack doesn’t slide out when the door is opened. I knew that was the case before we got the oven, but I didn’t realize that it would annoy me so even though the workaround is simple and easy. Size wise, it’s just about perfect. The Breville’s footprint is small enough that it fits comfortably in several places in the kitchen, and I may choose to move it around a bit to see what works best for me. How nice to have options. Well, that’s all for this review. Maybe there will be more comments when I’ve used it more, and for different things.

I've decided to go with the Kill-A-Watt. Here's an brief article about these devices. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/march-2009/appliances/energy-monitors/overview/energy-monitors-ov.htm

Definitely worth looking into. Thanks!

Yeah, Romertopf - that's the other terra cotta pan I have. There is really no comparison between the Tufty ceramics terra cotta and the Romertopf - they are worlds apart.

The terra cotta pans I'm referencing are a little different than others, certainly different than the other terra cotta pan I have. http://tuftyceramics.com/ and http://tuftyceramics.com/history.html to give you some general idea about the pans. I don't know if the manufacturing technique would be considered glazed or not. What I do know for certain is that I have been using one of their loaf pans for almost 30-years and have never found a need to soak it in water. While not having made a clafoutis in the pan, I have used the one pan for bread, sweet, dessert bread, vegetable and meat terrines, meat loaf, and probably some other dishes as well. It's one swell pan, and I like it so much I just bought three more after looking for the pans for many years.

Thanks for the tip... looks pretty complicated to me.

That looks about my speed, and is pretty much as I imagined what I wanted. Thanks!

That's not the info I'm looking for. I want to measure actual use while the appliance is running, i.e., how much juice the fridge uses when it cycles on, how much the toaster uses when it's toasting, etc. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Is there some way to measure the amount of electricity that an appliance uses by adding something to the line - something that plugs into the socket and then the appliance plug will plug into that, or some similar device? Thanks!

Toots got me a Breville oven - just the one I wanted. She's such a dear. Her daughter is getting me "something" for the kitchen. Amongst other things, I got Toots her most favorite alfajores, direct from Argentina. She's been wanting them for a while, and now she'll have them. Can't wait to see her expression when she unwraps the box. I also got her a new skillet. Technically, it's not a Christmas present, just something she needed (my word, not hers) and that I wanted for her place so I can cook for her a little easier and she can have a skillet that'll go into the oven. Oh, and while it's not directly related to kitchens or cooking, I got her a pair of warming boots that heat up in the microwave oven. Her feet sometimes get cold and these might help a bit. Finally, I got tickets to see Baryshnikov at the Berkeley Rep theater later on. She's going to enjoy the performance, I'm sure. I'm making lemon curd to give to the family - something like 7 or 8 jars of it. Mmmmmm ...

I subscribe to their email newsletters and have yet to receive any coupon or offer for 20% on-line discounts. I'll probably get around to using it for the first time tomorrow or Wednesday. I'll see if I can get creative, and do something more interesting than making toast ... at minimum I'll knock off some potatoes or try roasting some vegetables.

The 20% off coupons are not for on-line purchases, as you discovered. I posted an email from BB&B about how those coupons work, and how you can, under certain circumstances, use them for on-line purchases, but their on-line use is quite limited. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145904-bed-bath-beyond-coupons/?hl=%2Bbed+%2Bbath+%2Bcoupons#entry1935781 As for Breville being excluded from the 20% coupon, we bought a Breville toaster oven on Saturday and got the 20% discount.

Yes, that one ...

In the FWIW department, I took home the small Breville today and set it up a few hours ago. I am very pleased with the size, and am looking forward to trying it out. Unfortunately, it'll be a few days, maybe a week, before I'll have a chance to fire it up. Thanks to everyone for the advice and suggestions.

Analyze the heck out of it! You've got to live with your decision a lot longer than we do <LOL>. Hey, I do pretty much the same thing, and when I finally do make a decision, I'm much more likely to be happier and have a more suitable product than not. And everything I've taken careful time to decide upon, gives me pleasure every time I use it - every time!

http://www.notyourmotherscookbook.com/its-all-in-the-pan/ Second paragraph from the end of the article, above the pic of the bread in the pan.

I'm planning to make a Flognarde Pommes, or Apple Clafoutis, and I have plenty of pans in which I can make the dish. However, I just read that clafoutis "need" an earthenware pan to bake properly. I am sure that there have been countless clafoutis baked in many other materials, but I'm curious about the statement. Might an earthenware baking dish be a better, or best, choice? What characteristics of an earthenware dish make it desirable for a clafoutis? Why would earthenware be needed for a clafoutis to bake properly? And what is "proper" for a clafoutis?

I almost bought a 10-inch D5 skillet last week - big sale somewhere - but I just could not find a way to rationalize the purchase. Kind of a bummer <sigh> The size and shape decision is so very personal a thing. However, I like the idea of similar capacity saucepans - I have a 1-qt, 1.5-qt, 2-qt, 3-qt, 4-qt, 5.5-qt, and an 8-qt. Most of my stovetop, saucepan cooking is done in the 4-qt and lower range, so the closeness in capacity is really useful. I frequently use lids, but it really comes down to what I'm cooking. They all came with lids, so the lids are handy.