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I have a T-fal pressure cooker, too. It's a Safe 2, even. But mine is not teflon-coated, and is stainless steel. I got mine from a friend who had burned food on the inside of the bottom because it's just stainless sheet metal. If yours is thin-bottomed, too, that may be the reason you're having trouble. Is yours thick-bottomed or thin-bottomed? I think I'd be more comfortable deep frying in something with a thick bottom, myself. Can you post a picture of your cooker? Here are some pictures of mine.

No, they make bottles specifically meant as drink containers, now, too. They have for quite a while. You can find them at Bass Pro, Cabela's, Whole Foods, etc.

I don't have a standard ratio, but the last time I made it, I put a healthy dollop of Dijon mustard in a Mason jar, added balsamic vinegar and olive oil and freshly ground black pepper, and blended with a stick blender. I ended up having to add more vinegar and oil because it was so thick. I didn't keep track of the ratio of oil to vinegar, but it tastes good. It's still fairly thick, and it hasn't come out of the emulsion well after a week. How do you store your vinaigrette, after you make it, and how much do you make at a time?

ANY bottle can get "off" smelling if it's not left to dry between fillings. I run my Klean Kanteens through the dishwasher every so often, but generally only when I've had something other than water in them. If it was just water, I rinse with fresh tap water and turn upside-down in the dish drainer to dry. And as far as reusing an unwashed fork is concerned, I regularly rinse my work dishes in the lunchroom sink, no dish soap, dry them, and stick them back in my desk. No food remains, and I'm the only one who uses them (if I lend them out, I strongly caution the user to wash before using), so I don't think it's a huge problem. I know that frequently, backpackers will opt not to use soap for one reason or another, and if you're not sharing utensils and are careful to remove residue and dry them, nothing is likely to live on your steel fork. Oh, if you get coffee or tea stains in your bottle (or coffee/tea cup at work), denture cleaner works well to remove the stains. ETA stuff about denture cleaner

Thanks, again! I forgot mine for work, today, so I'll try the finer grind tomorrow.

I have several of the Klean Kanteen bottles, and some other, cheaper, stainless bottles of varying sizes. I love them. They don't have a resin liner, like the Sigg, and I have had NOT problems with leaking caps. I put the water I filter through my Berkey in them and take them when I leave the house. I even have one in the bedroom for nighttime drinks of water. I don't like the plasticky taste I get with plastic bottles.

Thank you! I will try that. Do you get a lot of "sludge" in the bottom of your cup of coffee?

We have a Keurig coffee machine at work. However, I think the K-cups are way too expensive, so I was happy when I found a reusable filter like this at a local store for $5.00. When I was reading the directions, it suggested to use a French press grind, and NOT to use a fine grind like an espresso grind so as not to under-extract. I used some French Market coffee, which is pre-ground for drip, for my first cup, and it turned out ok, but a bit weak. Am I wrong to think that the Keurig brews too quickly to get good extraction out of anything more coarse than drip? It seems to me that the directions are counter-intuitive.

Andie, I just came across this website that will ship to California. At the bottom of the page, you can see what they have to say about it...

Very cool. I will have to check it out.

Drago, Thanks, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for. It does look neat, though. Andie, That sounds interesting. I'll have to look for that. So, does he just poke through the sealant the next time he wants to seal the jar?

You won't be sorry. I'm guessing the elements will last longer than you think they will, though. Have fun with your new filter!

And I would add that I got the Big Berkey (which takes 4 elements), and I really wish I had gotten a bigger one. Yes, it's big enough, but it would be a lot handier to have the Crown. I live in a 2-person household, and we use the water for drinking and cooking. I managed to find another Big Berkey with 4 elements for $3 at a thrift store, but that one lives in my partner's shop, so he can have filtered water out there. I don't know how often he fills his.

I used a Brita for a while, then a Pur Ultimate faucet mount, and the things never lasted as long as they said they would. The filters clogged a lot faster, and the Pur faucet mount housings would all spring leaks. Regardless of the fact that I could get a free replacement of the leaking faucet mount housing, I switched to a Big Berkey with the super sterasyl filters. I've had it for two years. I occasionally scrub the filters, and even less frequently boil them to reactivate the carbon inside, but I did the math before shelling out the money, and while the Brita or Pur would cost me 20-25 cents per gallon, this set-up is costing me about 2.5 cents per gallon over the lifetime of the filters, which I estimate will be about 8 years, if I filter around 1400 gallons a year. I fill the filter once a day, on average, and it holds about 2 gallons, give or take. When I make stock or soup, of course I filter more water. We use this water for all our water needs. And the plus side of it is that since it's a countertop deal, if all services are down for some reason, or we're on a boil order, we can still use the filter. These have been used in areas with unsafe water to make the water safe. I figure that's a plus, given that it's a whole lot cheaper per gallon to use this than the other kinds of filters available. It would be nice to have an inline filter, but it's not that much of a hassle to fill the thing every night, and New Yorkers might not have the luxury of being able to change the plumbing.

I have and read several times the Razor Edge Book of Sharpening, which I like immensely. It might be worth it to pick up a copy. I use several different grits of stones, down to a super smooth ceramic stone. I use them all dry. When they become loaded, I scrub them down with water and Dawn, then let them dry. I sharpen freehand, and I do it in front of the TV. I take my time doing it, and I enjoy it, so I don't care how long it takes. Other people might not like to spend a lot of time sharpening. I tend to really sharpen my most-used knives every 6-12 months, and touch up the edges as needed. When I do my 6-12 month maintenance, I examine ALL my knives and sharpen or touch up as needed. It usually takes me several hours to a day to do them all, but then I've got a LOT of knives. My coarsest stone is a 6"-long tile dressing stone. I wish I had a softer, coarser stone, but that's life.

Yeah, all the fat has been removed. Theoretically, it has a longer shelf life that way, and I think that's why it's done, in part. The other part is that in the U.S., at least, surplus milk is dehydrated, and most of the surplus milk is skim milk (or non-fat) because the cream gets used for, well, cream, and for cheese.

Kerry, No, I have a couple of those. I want to be able to seal the original lids on the gallon jars. Andie, You may well be right. I have never seen the "universal jar sealer" because the website is defunct, but some of the descriptions I've seen of it refer to tape to seal a hole in the lid. My search continues. I may have to invent what I need.

I guess the model number would be helpful, wouldn't it? It's the CG-15, like this. I got it on sale, too. I have not found, as some reviewers state, that you have to hold the lid down the whole time you're sealing. The instructions state that you just need to hold it down long enough to get the vacuum started, then you can let go. In fact, you have to wait a second or two after the seal is done before the vacuum is released, allowing you to pick the lid up. The gallon pickle jars I have are much larger in the mouth than a wide-mouth Mason jar. I haven't measured it, but I think they're larger by at least an inch in diameter. Wide-mouth Mason lids just won't fit. ETA info about the sealer.

Well, I tried it this morning. I added too much sugar, and tried it with hot water. I didn't get it very frothy. Other than the excess of sugar, it tastes pretty good, if a bit gritty. I had to use a whole one of those pieces.

I don't know what kind of powdered milk you have (instant/non-instant, fat-free/whole), but I use powdered milk for a lot of things. I use it when making bread dough that calls for milk (mix up the quantity needed, 3.2 dry ounces to the quart), put some in oatmeal that I also mix up with brown sugar and a little salt for quick morning "instant" oatmeals, use it in coffee as a creamer, and believe it or not, I LIKE the taste of reconstituted milk, so I mix it up and drink it chilled. But then, I'm a milkaholic, so don't go by me. I make hot cocoa using non-fat, non-instant dry milk, but you could use instant, as well. I'm not sure how this would do in a mix, though, but you're welcome to experiment some more...Be warned, this is a mixture of weights and volumetric measures, because I'm weird, and that's how I developed the mixture. 3.2 oz dry milk powder 4 T dutch-processed cocoa powder 6 T sugar (regular granulated) 1 t vanilla extract 1/2 t almond extract The almond extract is what really makes it, IMNSHO. ETA: This is also really good with non-instant whole milk powder. Edited again to fix silly doubling of milk powder. 3.2 oz, NOT 6.4.

I have the Cabela's model of vac packer, which seems very similar to the one Sam Kinsey and Andie have. I love it. I love that I can replace individual parts if/when they wear out. I love that I can see inside the well. I love that I can control how long the seal is heated and how much vacuum is pulled. I love that it takes all my old Food Saver accessories. I love that it has a little storage area into which fit both my Mason jar sealers, the hose that connects them to the machine, AND the power cord. I love that the seal strip is 1/4" wide. It IS large, but it's well worth the counter space. I had a Tilia Food Saver for over 10 years (I think), but it gave out last year, and while I and my partner tried to fix it, we were unsuccessful. The seal strip would no longer work. Now, the only thing that would make me even happier is if I could figure out some way of vacuum sealing gallon (pickle) jars that I have filled with dry milk, flour, sugar, etc. I can successfully seal other jars (like pasta jars) with the one-piece lids by putting them inside one of my Food Saver canisters, sealing the canister, then releasing the vacuum on the canister, but those canisters are not large enough to fit a gallon glass jar. There used to be a "universal jar sealer" contraption that someone sold, but the site is no longer active and I've never seen a picture of it. Has anyone ever seen anything that could be useful for this purpose? Is there anyone else out there who would find something to seal gallon pickle jars useful?

Today, at a local thrift shop, I found a little bottle with 2 1/2 oz embossed on the neck. It was labeled a "vase." It looks like it might be blown glass. It was fifty cents, so I bought it. I think it's neat. It might come in handy, too.

Cool, thanks! I tasted a very little bit of it. Just enough to be able to tell it's not bitter, but not sweetened, either. I'll try some hot chocolate and see how it goes.

Oh thanks! I have a selection of Pyrex and other brands of glassware. Here are some of them. Your post helped me to determine that some of them might be quite old. The two lower ones in this photo are small, maybe 6" diameter. The one on the left says T.M. REG, but no numberThe one on the right is a Glasbake which says U.S.A. 464 (?) on the top and bottom. The upper right-hand one is one that has the PYREX in a circle with T.M. REG U.S. PAT. OFF. and 603 and B-N. No dollar signs, though. The upper left one has PYREX with the registered trademark symbol, 209 9 INCH, TRADE MARK, BB-9 above the PYREX, and below, MADE IN U.S.A., FOR OVEN BAKING ONLY. The upper-left ones in this photo are deep casseroles, I think, 2 qt. Anchor Hocking Fire-King ovenware. The upper right one says PYREX in an ellipse with "de CORNING" under it on one handle, and on the other, FRANCE in another ellipse. The loaf pan is a Fire-King 1 qt with T.M. REG. and MADE IN U.S.A. on it. The oval casserole has PYREX CORNING NY USA on it. The rectangular pan has T.M. REG., PYREX, U.S. PAT. OFF in a circle, and one of the handles is chipped. Thank you!

How do you make sour cream?