bob.stanton

The temerature range is good for candy, but the form factor isn't practical. I think for candy you'll be better off with the traditional snap on the side of the pot style. But I must say these theropens are great in so many other places for taking quick readings.

The Rubbermaid professional spatulas are the best I have ever come across. But for scraping bits off the bottom of the pan, I use the Oxo tongs which are coated with nylon.

I love immersion circulators, but I am interested in getting a water bath because they are silent. I think having a dedicated machine is much less of a kludge than piecing together three different random machines. It is possible to find used labrotory equipment for a reasonable price, but I'd rather pay a little more for a new piece of equpiment made for cooking food. If the capacity in that machine is large enough, and it can heat up as quickly as it says it can (200 in less than 15 minutes or so), I think it would be a great alternative or replacement to ICs or lab equipment.

Has anyone come across this Anvil Pasta Rethermalizer before? It doesn't say what its capacity is, but it seems like this could be a controllable water bath in disguise. It looks like it is aimed at simply reheating food, but it doesn't seem like there is any reason why it can't be used to sous vide as well. Edit, I found some more specifications here and they mention there is a 1 gallon capacity which sounds too small for practical sous vide.

Btw, I don't think this has been discussed much on this list, but I don't think it is a good idea to cook in plastic bags that were not meant to have food cooked in them. Ziplock bags and most other such bags were not made to be food safe at cooking temperatures. There are some pretty unhealthy chemicals that can leach out of soft plastics into the food when the bags get hot. Bags designed to be cooked in have (at least in theory) been formulated to minimize the nasty stuff that leaches out. Bags meant only for storage were formulated with storage in mind and are likely to have stuff that will leach out at temperature. I would be cautious about doing much sous-vide cooking in bags not meant to be cooked in especially if you are going to be feeding kids or young adults or women that might be (or become) pregnant. The chemicals used to make plastics pliable are known to be endocrine disruptors and pose other health risks as well. While there is some "controversy" on this topic, there is growing consensus about the health risks of these chemicals in the scientific community (except for that part of the community funded by the industries that rely on these chemicals for their profitability--hence my putting controversy in quotes since most of the disagreement is from the side with a vested interest). ← Ziploc offers sous-vide bags now. You can get a pump and three bags for less than $10. Ziploc says they are microwave safe, but doesn't give any specifics on sous-vide water temps. I think if you buy the bags by themself, you end up spending like $0.30 a bag or something like that.

I just saw these at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods three days ago.

I have got the Cuisinart CEK-40 http://www.cuisinart.com/catalog/product.p..._id=44&cat_id=5 This is absolutely the best way to cut a fresh loaf of bread. You can make very even slices. Pineapple and watermelon are also no match.