Shamanjoe

Those look amazing!

I have a fairly new Frigidaire chest freezer that I keep on my uninsulated screened in porch. I live in California so the temps are nowhere near freezing, but it routinely gets to the 40s in the early morning and I haven't had any problems since I put it out there last year.

My Oxo does great, I especially like the snap on measure box for the bottom if I am shredding small amounts. It even has a lid for the measure box. The only drawback is that you still need to set it on a plate or something to catch the excess, but I think that's the same for any box grater.

I bought a Misto for this purpose, but it seems like I have to pump the thing forever, and usually after no more than 30sec of spraying it turns into a thin stream of oil shooting out at high pressure.. It also works incredibly well sprayed through the flame of a lit match or fire stick to get rid of cobwebs outside. Butter flavour definitely works better here

I use the 'Ove Glove for baking, grilling, poking in the fire pit for fun, and picking up my cast iron skillet and it works great for all that. Like has been said before, it's useless once it gets wet, but supposedly they have a new model out that is "steam resistant" that I can't wait to try.

I have a standard Cuisinart that I got as a gift, I think it retails for about $30. It has a fixed blade and shaft, and two speed settings, anemic, and on. I find it works pretty well for smoothing out a tomato sauce, but it was woefully inept at blending a vichyssoise. I'll just stick to what its good at and take my leeks to the blender next time.

I did a small one (also 5lbs or so) for Christmas Eve dinner in my 10 inch cast iron skillet. I seared both ends, then took it out of the pan, covered it with a dry rub, stuck a thermometer in it (I have the long probe style with a braided metal cord that you can use in the oven) and back into the skillet and then into the oven. 350 for an hour and a half showed 160 on the thermometer, but when I took it out and sliced after resting, it was deliciously medium rare on the inside (I think I must have butted up the tip of the probe against a bone to get the erroneous temp reading). I plan on using this method again whenever I have a roast small enough to fit in my skillet.

I love plain old Bacon Bits, but I've never fooled myself into thinking that they taste anything like actual bacon.. When I want bacon bits, I take a few rashers and snip them with my kitchen shears into the pan, about every half inch or so. Stick over low heat and just stir occasionally. Takes an hour or so, but I always end up with crisp, uniform pieces (slightly larger than "bits" I guess, but still very serviceable) that taste and smell like real bacon.

well at least I hope you peel them... I have never peeled a tomato..

I use it for pretty much all of my baking that doesn't specifically call for buttering/flouring the pan, or an ungreased cookie sheet, things like that. Before going into the oven, but after loading the batter, I just wipe down the pan with a damp paper towel. I haven't had any problems with it getting baked onto the pan that way.

Alton Brown mentioned that the high heat of the dry cycle can wreak havoc with a lot of the items you're not supposed to stick in the dishwasher, notably wood, cheaper plastic handles, etc..

Fish sauce is a good one, but I have to go with ICE. If there's no ice in my kitchen, I'd probably die of thirst..

I think I'm going to have to forget this entire thread before I can go out to eat again..

Fresh galangal can be found around these parts at 99 Ranch Markets. I got a knob, wrapped it well, then stuck it in a zippy bag in the freezer. Like ginger, it doesn't freeze totally solid, so it's easy to whack off a chunk, or grate directly into your dish. I have kaffir lime leaves and curry leaves stashed in the freezer, too. I do think the "fresh frozen" galangal has a brighter flavor than the powdered.... Thanks Pierogi, I'll have to take a closer look in my local 99 Ranch. Like I said earlier, I don't use it often, so this method would be great for me. Do you find the kaffir lime leaves there as well? I have a small tree in my back yard, but no matter how hard I try to keep it healthy, it looks anemic and the leaves are very small.. SAF Instant Dried Yeast. I don't know the specific terminology but its kept in a clamp lock style tin in the freezer door. This package must be years old but when I recently used it for Parker House Rolls & Cinnamon Buns and it still seemed to have plenty of life to it. I think this would work well for me too. I don't use yeast that often, and when I do, what I have on hand is usually months (if not more) past the expiration date, so I tend to just not use it at all. Do you use the same contraption that Pierogi was talking about or is it just a generic clamping tin? edited to fix some formatting issues.

I agree, all these things should work just fine. I've never really thought about using paper towels, and it doesn't make much sense to me when we have all of these other options.