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We are 95% of the way through our own renovation and I agree with every single word of that. We were promised a mid November finish, what month is it now??

Wil do. Interestingly I just found this video (while going through a bit of baby-induced insomnia, might as well use feeding time productively right?). She seasons using the flax seed method then tries to reduce some red wine which strips it all off. The recommendation there is that we should wait a few months of regular use before trying very acidic things. Maybe it’s just a time/use thing?

That’s exactly what I’ve done. They are pretty grubby looking on arrival but I was able to get my paella pan back to a nice dark grey and my sauté pan back to a silver colour (the paella looked like it came pre-seasoned compared to the sauté pan). It only took about ten minutes for each pan with a liberal amount of BKF and a scrubbing sponge. Im halfway through seasoning with flax seed oil at the moment, hampered largely by the kitchen fitters still working on our new cabinets. Shame really as I’ve been off work this week so would have been nice to get these done and cook with them! ive found doing them in the oven on its hottest setting easier and better than on the rangetop. Just takes a little longer - about three hours per coat in total, one hour heating and one to two cooling.

Agree completely, they’re cute enough but wasteful and fiddly to make. Taste wise give me a decent French fry or, if we’re going classical, some dauphinois.

Thats a gorgeous looking pan of food. What happened with the sofrito to Strip the seasoning?

Just picked mine up from the DHL depot... exactly the same story. Why on earth don’t they just put some bubble wrap or paper wadding in there?? The skillet is damaged around the rim of the pan and both sides of the handle, the paella pan has three or four gouges in the cooking surface. They are beautful looking pans though. Ten minutes or so with some bar keepers friend and a scourer and I got them cleaned up. Spent a bit of time with some wire wool on the scratches but suspect I’ll need to come back to them with something more abrasive at a later date. Ive done the first two coats of flax seed oil on the rangetop, might carry on in the oven tomorrow.

I’ve had a set of the offset spoons for a good few years and use them almost every day. I was hoping to get some more but the rhulman shop seems to be closed now. Does anyone know of another way I might source some??

It’s getting nearer! My package left buenos aries on on Friday, had a brief layover in Madrid and Leipzig and is now sitting in the Manchester delivery depot, probably won’t be with me till 2nd Jan but that’s ok 👍🏻 I’m a little nervous to see what state it’s in after its trip

I think mine are on their way 😊👍🏻

So I managed to do some proper cooking last night 😊😊 its going to take a bit of getting used to this grill and I might need to upgrade the motors in my extractor - they were fine with the smaller kitchen and no chargrill, wish I’d thought of this before having everything refitted and boxed in! But, what a relief it’s been to be able to cook properly again. We we had a mixed grill of pork chops (need some work), lamb chops (quite good) and a 1+lb rib steak (alright). It’s been four months since I’ve beem able to put any sort of browning or crust on a piece of meat and I’ve missed it! 😂

Oh to cook again!

Fingers crossed there are about three days of cabinet work left to do. Although I’m a little sceptical of this as I suspect they are going to have to undo quite a lot of bad work that the previous fitter did... After that, the stone people are back to fit the wall cladding near the dining area, a small worktop in a breakfast cabinet and the tops near the bbq. A few small electrical jobs and we’ll be done! It finally feels within our grasp. It might, and I’ll whisper this, even be starting to feel worth the pain!

Another really good day! The stone guys pretty much finished the island today and were able to get the splashback in early enough that our plumber could get the rangetop connected - look, it works! We dont have taps yet, and the bank of units around the fridge is miles off being done. But it finally feels like I’ve got a kitchen back 😃😃 I will never again have to cook on that horrendous induction piece of c***! Our furniture arrived too, so tomorrow morning we’ll be unpacking that, trying to get stuff vaguely in order before we go away for the week to see family over Christmas. First thing though I’ll be queuing at our butchers for the festive meat order, I’m looking forward to having a bit of space in which to get the turkeys ready. I’m so much happier today than I’ve been for weeks!

Alas no, it’s just a gap at the moment but will be filled with another of the regular drawers either side. The rangetop has slotted in where the top drawer of those middle pair used to be.

It finally feels like we are edging nearer the finish line! The first of the worktops went in today, I’m really happy with them so far - great attention to detail with them, such a relief after our stress with the cabinet people. Speaking of which, they are finally taking things seriously and want to make things right with the cabinets. Just trying to agree a plan to get a new fitter that we trust in to fix everything. The worktop guys guys are back tomorrow to fit the splashback behind the rangetop and (very exciting!) the island. All being well the Wolf will get connected up to the gas and I can actually start cooking! I may even have cooked my last meal on the awful induction plate 😁 (though I’ll believe it all when I see it after the last few weeks!)

Keep the updates coming - you’re tempting me to try one of those machines!

Things have really broken down with the kitchen company. They are now over three weeks delayed (on a fit which was meant to take just two). They sent their workshop manager out to inspect things at the end of last week - his view was pretty damning, doesn’t seem like the fitter has done anything that he should have 😡 I’m sure we’ll get it all sorted but it definitely won’t be done before new year now. Grrrr... If only things indoors were going as well as outside, the builders have pretty much finished now, the resin floor got poured at the weekend and the last of the electrics have been done out there:

I saw a woman obliterate her nose on a plate glass window in a local shopping centre a couple of ears ago - not pretty! will definitely look into these

I’ve not come across distraction marks - what do they look like? They sound a very good idea if they don’t get in the way of the view too much

Funny you should say that... while trying to fix a lighting issue yesterday, the electrician drilled through and alarm cable 😣

More progress and more frustrations this week. The floor is all finished and looks amazing (though now it’s covered up again to stop all the other trades damaging it!). Most of the lighting is in, including our copper pendants (currently our shopping bag pendants!) But, and it’s a big BUT, the kitchen cabinet people continue to let us down. Progress has been really slow with their work and I’m just not confident any more that they’ll get things right I’ll be having a big unpleasant conversation in the morning to try and get some sort of plan from here... we shall see how it ends up. Better news is that outside is nearly done, the bbq area is almost complete, my Kamado Joe has been put in place so all we are waiting on is the final floor finish and the countertops out there. The really good good thing about getting used to cooking with no space is that it’s made me love ingredient bowls even more - they are now the only way I can prep food for a meal, no longer can I just chop things and dump them down: I have to plan! It’s getting to be a real slog but this next week or so should see things get better. If we’re lucky we might have kitchen countertops and a working rangetop by next Friday... if we’re lucky!

Beautiful. Great technique 👍🏻

I could have written this entire post 😂 ive treated myself to some DARTO pans as per the thread on here, otherwise we’ll have to see what Santa brings

I’ve not had it in ages but have a bit of a soft spot for canned corned beef: Served cold, in cheap white bread sandwiches with Branston pickle is something I’ll always love. The other childhood memory I have of it is corned beef rissoles which my grandmother used to make - mashed potato, corned beef and onions; made into patties and fried in butter 😋

I’d never heard that song before 😂 id cheerfully move in next door right now!