Dave the Cook

I agree with Rachel and Alex that 16-quarts is the smallest size you should get, though I say this as someone who used a 12-quart pot for years. Pots made for home use get wider rather than taller once you reach a capacity of 12 quarts (commercial pots grow in both directions), so a 16-quart is not much, if any, taller than the smaller one. This lets you make more stock at once, without compromising your ability to see over the rim. Chefmate is very decent stuff for these puposes, as is Tramontina. As Rachel suggests, you can get Chefmate at Amazon (which is really Target): I've seen Tramontina at Wal-Mart. If you have a Farberware outlet nearby, check them, too. Occasionally they have an overstock on their Millenium line (the only one worth buying). This stuff is at least the equivalent of the other two brands. It's not worth it to buy any higher quality than what we're talking about here, unless you're into high-end stuff for its own sake. There's no functional advantage to say, an All-Clad pot for making stock.

Related to fifi's point, has anybody else come to the conclusion that sweet onions (Mauis, Walla Wallas, Vidalias, etc.) are a waste when it comes to recipes, like French Onion Soup, that involve long cooking? I find they turn bland, whereas the really pungent ones have enough character to survive and prosper.

You might check out Ca' Del Solo Big House White.

If Le Creuset or Staub is not in the budget, I'd have no misgivings about recommending Sitram Profiserie: 7-1/2 quart Rondeau With a matching lid, you can be ready to go for about $100. My first choice, like most everyone else on this thread, is enameled cast-iron. But the fact is, I often braise in saute pans, and they're stainless steel with disk bottoms, just like the Sitram Rondeau.

I found this one: Stove and this one: Cooktop and oven choices

I don't have salted butter in the house, so that's what I use -- and I add a pinch of salt to Hollandaise. Actually, I add salt to a lot of things that happen to have butter in them, but Hollandaise, like many things with a lot of lemon in them, can be tricky.

I'm not certain, but I think Varmint's incommunicado for the next couple of days. As for butt-bumping, have you checked out Varmint's kitchen (scroll about halfway down the page to see the layout)? Butt-bumping will be the least of it. Y'all are gonna be best friends by the time this thing is over. Edit: on the other hand, Mrs. Dr. Varmint's mother's kitchen is wonderful.

I believe the 80/20 rule applies to cookware: you do 80% of your cooking with 20% of your pots and pans. Someone suggested earlier that you keep the ones you use most often out on a rack, and the rest in a cabinet. I recall that you have a rack in your current configuration, so you might be employing some version of this already. If you're not, you might consider it. You only have to keep a few pieces pristine, you gain accessibility, and you can keep the ugly stuff hidden. This is pretty much the way I operate, and most weeknights, I only open the cabinet to retrieve the pasta pot. (Weekends don't count, of course.) I agree that a drawer configuration beats shelves. You can keep your biggest stockpots in the pantry. If you want to keep the present rack, we'll need to work it into the plan. Alternatively, you need to put a new one on your shopping list. I've seen racks designed to go around the sort of chimney you've sketched.

It's a completely different breed from the stock used for the usual broilers and fryers, but is nonetheless considered good eatin'. (Never had it myself.) Probably more than you want to know: Here and here. Ooh. Here, too.

I've seen this pattern, and I don't think it's as bad as FG is making it out to be -- as long as you aren't expecting faux stone. To be honest, it never occurred to me that it was supposed to be granite. More than anything, it reminded me of the linoleum floor tile in a house we lived in in about 1963. I felt strangely at ease.

I'm not sure how it's done now, and it probably depends on exactly what you need. I'd bet some has to be hand fabricated, but standard sizes and edges are probably done by a computer-driven machine. John Boos makes them in a bunch of different sizes. They start at about $50/square foot and go up from there. There are probably less expensive vendors.

On that stretch of Beaver Ruin (for those of you ouside Atlanta: yes, that's really the name of the road) between Indian Trail and Buford Highway, there's about half a dozen carneceria/groceries. Most of them have small kitchens in the back, and serve stuff from tacquitos to rolled flank to braised pigs' feet. The quality varies from store to store, and even from day to day, but at the worst, you'll get more and better food for your five bucks than Taco Bell could dream of.

Could you elaborate on "painless stainless"? Something easier, better than Barkeepers Friend? Where does one find this stuff? Where to buy it -- or check a good hardware or restaurant supply store.

OK? Earlier, you said you would switch to halogen lighting. Would you care to illuminate (har) us regarding this decision?

It's hard to imagine that Paschal's Restaurant would have become the de-facto board room of the civil rights movement had the participants not liked fried chicken. Edit: added link; scroll past the hype for the chicken batter mix for the relevant story.

Yes, I'm working on lighting. I'm confused. Isn't there a honkin' big refrigerator to the right? Are you saying that the bookshelves will be open to the left, more or less facing the doorway, and you'd be facing right to use them? The ovens: yes, this is probably a task area. The question is if you'll get enough spillover from the bar, the range and Al's peninsula to cover it. As for the refrigerator, I'm not too worried about light there. You'll have plenty of area lighting, plus they're illuminated internally (aren't they?)

Do the pink ovals correctly circumscribe the main task areas? Have I left any out? Any there that don't belong? I've sketched in potential upper cabinetry, too, though I realize you haven't settled this issue.

Nothing a quick squirt from can of Painless Stainless couldn't fix. Could you elaborate on "painless stainless"? Something easier, better than Barkeepers Friend? It's a water-based spray: all about Painless Stainless. You can usually find it at restaurant supply stores, and sometimes at well-equipped hardware stores.

In the interest of science, and as a service to my fellow eGulls, we just finished off a box o' Banrock Station 2002 Shiraz. Acceptable at the $7-8 tag the bottle usually commands, at the equivalent of $4, it's a very good value. I don't have a terrific wine palate, but neither of us could detect any off-taste from plastic, nor did we note any change in the flavor from the time we opened it to the time we sucked it dry -- about a week, I think. (Well, there was one day it had a sour note to it, but I really need to learn not to drink wine immediately after brushing my teeth.)

Good luck, Homaro. When you've got some time (hah!), maybe you could explain some of the intersting things on your menu.

I'm thinking about lighting a little more. Varmint, what's your latest hunch on your prep area(s)? Will the main one be at the back windows, next to the main sink, or at the bar?

Actually, this might easier with the open shelving Varmint's considering. Presumably, such a unit can be cheaply built by hand. It just needs to be somewhat shallower and shorter than the standard cabinets, with a false back and top to hide the hardware.

I agree with Robyn on this point, and not only for those on a budget. Fluorescents are often overlooked in the overall lighting package, I suppose because they have a connotation of cheapness. But with the latest bulbs, they can be extremely effective at general lighting (and task lighting, when used under cabinets) for a fraction of the installation and maintenance cost of incandescent or halogen, and when properly deployed, they can be almost invisible.

. . . or maybe this answers Robyn's question of what Varmint's going to do with the granite?

Nick: usually what this means is that the base of the fixture (the part that attaches to the celing) is smaller than the diffuser, so the part that houses the lamp(s) appears to float off the ceiling. Here's an example that shows the principle pretty clearly, since the base is black: click