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Just got to wondering why we all seem to accept that we should get oven thermometers instead of trusting the dial on the oven itself? why would the thermometer you buy in the kitchen shop necessarily be any better than the one that comes with the oven? I can well see how it may be better but should we just accept that it is better? example: I've just got a shiny new Miele oven (electric) which cost about £1500 (so what, $2000+ at the moment?), why would I trust the oven thermometer I have which cost about £5 to be more accurate? If it does hold true that cheap oven thermometers are better than most/all in built ones, why don't oven manufacturers use them instead? I think what I'm getting at is that unless you have a calibrated unit which you KNOW is right, why assume your oven's thermostat OR your separate thermometer are correct?

I'm always amazed by how quickly people think wine goes off. re-corked and refrigerated wine will easily keep a week and more likely two if you're using it for cooking. We did the experiment on a wine tasting course I did (two identical bottles, one opened on the night, one the week before - net result: very little difference). I'm sure there's nothing wrong with freezing wine for cooking but you may be able to get away with longer than you think in the fridge.

excellent, thanks for the replies, will try the gordon ramsey one from youtube (thanks trekflyer). Will probably try it with a bit of meat stock added though.

I've just trawled through all my cookbooks (not a quick job!) and can't seem to find a recipe for this, despite my and my other half being certain that we've seen one somewhere. Does any one have any suggestions for a good recipe? Google wasn't nearly as helpful as I thought it would be

the recipes are NOT the food themselves, it's the conversion of the written words, the ideas, into real edible food that is cooking. And it's this that's the real skill. Give 100 people a recipe and you'll likely get 100 different versions of the "same" dish. improvising (in any field) can only come after plenty of experience, there is not a single person who was able to improvise a dish the first time they stepped into a kitchen - we are not born able to do this stuff.

have a look at the 5 minute artisan bread thread in the pastry and baking section. makes amazing bread with little or no effort. even better is the pizza you can do with the dough - easily the best I've ever eaten at home and now that I've got a big bowl of dough in the fridge its ready within the time it takes the oven to get up to maximum temperature. a little tinned tomato/passata cooked down with olive oil and a ball of mozarella, beats any supermarket bought pizza hands down. oh yeah, and soup.

Does anyone have any suggestions of companies who install these labtops in the UK?

Hi, I think the cut may have had too much fat trimmed off it and this affected the end result but the quality of the meat was beyond doubt - local artisan butcher that we have a really good relationship with and have always had outstanding meat from. Interesting, I'll give this a go next time and see if I can produce better results. thanks for all the input guys

Hi Kerry, you may have something there, certainly this was the leanest of all the pieces I have tried. What sort of time/temperature combinations do you use?

Hi, This is my first post on here so looking forward to hearing people's thoughts on this problem. I've been making salt beef (or corned beef depending on which side of the atlantic you live) to take back to the family for Christmas for the last few years and have seen a steady progression and improvement. Unfortunately, it's still not quite how I'd like it, I've done a good bit of searching but I'm still not sure what I should try next. The problem I have is that although the taste was the best I've managed the texture was still a bit on the tough/dry side. Here's what I did so feel free to suggest anything I might try next time: brined in an 80:20 solution of water:prontocure (pre-made mix of nitrate, nitrite and normal salt) equal to half the weight of the 6.5lb brisket. I left the meat in for 7 days which was slightly too short a time (tiny area of grey meat in the very centre after cooking). I then rinsed the joint thoroughly in cold water and put it in a large stockpot with plenty of cold water, a couple of onions, some celery, carrot, cloves, juniper berries and put it on a very low heat, this took about 4-5hrs to get the water upto 65C, I then did another couple of hours at a slightly higher flame which brought the water upto about 75-80C. The internal temp of the meat was mid 70sC so I took it off the heat and cooled it in the brine before vac packing and taking it down for the holidays. It was very tasty but also very firm and needed to be sliced wafer thin to not be too chewy. Sorry for the long ramble but any thoughts?