peterm2

That's interesting. I hadn't seen that at Whole Foods here in CT. If I were going to spend that much for milk at the supermarket, I would buy the nifty CT milk in a glass bottle that's there. Then you at least get a cool bottle out of the deal if the milk is no different.

You make that sound really good! I may have to try one. Is Connecticut known for hot dogs? I didn't know that. I'll have to look around here more I guess!

My counter was at 0, but the rocker switch was on. I used it twice and turned off the rocker switch, and the next time I turned it on it was back at 0. Doesn't reset anymore when I turn off the switch, so I guess somehow it was set to reset after cycling the rocker, perhaps to allow for in-house testing?

I never got to go there, but I heard it got wiped out in a mudslide. I believe the guy who started it was doing smaller-scale stuff further north, with some landscape design too.

I started out with Penzeys and Savory Spice Shop. Now I get them from the Chile Guy, who primarily sells to restaurants but also will sell in one pound increments. Prices are excellent and the high turnover keeps things very fresh. Also lots of variety to choose from!

Mine arrived today in Connecticut (ordered a black one last day of the sale). Looks brand new: the box didn't have anything on it about being a refurb, and the manufacture date on the base says March 2011. I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl!

Yup I use the 4 oz version of those, which actually hold a surprising amount given that they don't look too big. The only issue I have with them is that the tops can be a bit of a pain to get back on, but most of the time they work fine. And it maximizes use of space when you line them up, and easy to get measuring spoons in them!

Here's the solution I built. Holds 56 spices, although right now my top shelf is in disarray. I'm using jars with a clear top so you can see how many are left, and I've got them in alphabetical order so it's super-easy to find whatever I'm looking for. It's definitely made a big difference in how often I use spices. When it was a pain to dig out a bag or bottle from who-knows-where, I sometimes just wouldn't bother. Now not only can I find them all, but I can also just look through and get new ideas from having everything right in front of me! And no, my kitchen doesn't defy gravity. I can't figure out how to rotate the picture.

Mmmmmm, barbecue. Maybe I judged you in CT if you did that event last summer!

Thanks for the salt-free tips. I've found you're right about the San Marzanos tending to be salt-free. A lot of the tomatoes are packed in tomato juice, which often has salt in it even if they're not adding more. At least tomato paste always seems salt-free!

I have a hard time finding canned tomatoes that don't have salt added. That's the reason why I don't get Muir Glen. I like to be able to control the amount of salt in a dish, which I have a tough time doing when so many canned tomatoes already have it. I've generally found it's easier to find canned whole tomatoes without salt added than it is to find other canned tomatoes (diced, etc.) but all the Muir Glen ones at my grocery in whatever form had salt.

I also use the Breville after spending quite some time trying to find a decent toaster. It has worked well so far. As some reviewers warned, the top gets fairly hot, but then again I'm not sure what toaster doesn't. There were few 4-slice toasters with the two long slot configuration, and even fewer that seemed any good. The Breville has been fine so far, although on the more expensive side for consumer toasters.

I also like the Aerogardens, and they work great in apartments with no south-facing windows and cold winters that keep me from having fresh herbs any other way except the grocery store. I generally try to grow annuals, which will die anyway, in the Aerogarden. I've also got several of them at this point, and am going to try growing some bell peppers and chile peppers in a couple of them to see how that works. And like IndyRob says, they are a great way to start plants early for the growing season. In terms of cleaning them out between uses, that is really not hard at all from my experience. As of now the only proprietary thing I use is the bulbs, but I'm thinking of changing the socket so I can use any bulb, which doesn't look too hard to do.

The 5 cfm fan works great on my large Egg. I don't know if a bigger fan is completely necessary, but it certainly can't hurt. 10 cfm is generally what BBQGuru and Stoker recommend, but the 5 (standard on the Stoker) is fine. If you want to extend your probes, you can just use stereo plug extenders - something like this

I have heard that some of the cheaper pizza stones will break at high temperatures in the Egg, so I got one of theirs. The price wasn't too bad. The Stoker is another temperature controller plus fan, that many people use. You can also control it wirelessly from your computer, smartphone, etc. once you get it set up. At the time I got it, the Guru couldn't do that, but they've since come out with a newer unit that might. I think the above posters covered the essentials. Plate setter, pizza stone, beer can chicken thing (I got the Steven Raichlin one that comes with a "beer can" insert so I don't need a beer can handy to make the chicken stand up). Only thing I would add is some hardwood lump charcoal, not briquettes.

Thanks. I checked out my parents' old Simac ice cream maker which runs at -5 to -6 degrees, according to the infrared thermometer. I think I'll practice with that one awhile, even though the WS Cuisinart one is pretty cheap, because I've got no room in my freezer and can't adjust its temperature (apartment living). Interestingly, apparently you can't even return stuff to WS for store credit anymore without a receipt.

Hi Paul, do you find yourself often going beyond the lowest speed on the Kitchenaid when mixing ice cream? I guess it depends on how much air you want to work in? Maybe you could start a "fast churned" ice cream fad at the grocery store if it works well.

That's not fair. I thought Paul was the knife expert. He can't be the ice cream expert too! How do you have time for all this? So if I was planning on making at most one batch per day, there is really no reason to go with a compressor model over, say, the 2 quart Cuisinart for $80 at Williams Sonoma with an additional $50 gift card? Are formula and freezer temps the only determinants to speak of in that case, or are there certain types of ice cream/sorbets/etc. that a compressor model would do better? I have a small compressor Lello that I am very disappointed in. The compressor doesn't seem to work very well, and it takes 45 minutes or more to freeze a pint batch in a pre-frozen bowl and pre-refrigerated mixture.

They work with a large pan, but the heating area is very small - about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. So when I'm using a pan that's 11 inches in diameter, only the very center is getting heated and everything along the outside is just sitting there, so I end up using my 8 inch electric burner (much as I dislike it) so that the heat is much more evenly dispersed.

I don't have experience with that particular brand, but I really like my induction burner, as long as I don't need to heat anything in a big pan. That said, the Crate & Barrel one at first glance looks similar in function to the cheaper Max Burton. Both have the same number of heat settings I believe, and both have small actual heating areas. Reviews on Amazon Max Burton

In case you're interested, Amazon just lowered the price on Ad Hoc At Home by about $4 today, making it 45% off and about equal to the used price online anywhere.

This thread has some great ideas, many of which I'm looking forward to trying out this summer. Although it may not be the first cookbook you cook through, I've enjoyed working my way through Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking. I'd tried several of the highly-recommended Chinese cooking books but hadn't found one I particularly liked (one of her older books came closest) until this one came out. It's organized by region, not by course, and provides excellent advice including brand recommendations - important for me as I wander the aisles of my Asian grocery (although her recommendation of a particular Mason jar brand struck me as a bit too much). It has really helped me figure out what had always been the most mysterious style of cooking.

Neat. Is there a number for the regular unbleached bread flour?

I ended up ordering a bunch from Parthenon Foods - from Greece as well as New Zealand. The New Zealand honey was particularly reasonably priced. I have yet to try them all, but I'm certainly looking forward to it. While making a trip to New York the other day I happened upon another one: Attiki thyme honey which looks pretty good too. I think that's what you were referring to with the Attica honey, which I couldn't find on Google. Anyway, it's another one to add to my honey taste test! Thanks again for the help.

Oh man, I really like my Thermomix, not the least of reasons being I got to cancel my Sumeet order after hearing "two weeks" every time I called for over a year! The Thermomix is a wonderful piece of machinery that gives me nothing but pleasure every time I use it, not to mention the best-consistency oatmeal I have ever had. A great way to start the day.