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dtremit

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Posts posted by dtremit

  1. 34 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

    Zwilling has the Staub 4 quart glass lid for 99$ free shipping. Staub 4 quart

     

    Appears to be available elsewhere at that price (W-S, Saks, Amazon, etc) in case it's more convenient — it's the best price it's ever been on Amazon, though it has been on sale for that price a few times recently.

     

    Weirdly the lowest price appears to be $84.99 at King Arthur Baking. Shipping brings it up to the same price as everywhere else, though.

     

    Now if only they'd have a similar sale on the glass-lidded braiser...

  2. 1 hour ago, Shelby said:

    Nor did they have anything but Tommy Adkins mangos.

     

    The mango of disappointment!

     

    I suspect we're hitting the end of mango season from some country or other right now. It's generally been a good year for them, though. 

     

    Apparently mango imports from India are back for the first time since 2019. I always have wanted to find a case at a local Indian market but never get the timing right.

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  3. On 5/14/2022 at 7:19 PM, andrewk512 said:

    What are people's thoughts on chamber vacuuming the ice cream after processing? Or maybe even drilling a hole to attach a food saver hose attachment to the pint container for use during processing? Am I asking for trouble? I want to get rid of the air holes that make the final product difficult to smoothly quenelle

     

    I don't think the air hole idea would work; I think it would just pull in air around the motor shaft at the top of the container. Chamber vac might work — or even putting the pint in a FoodSaver canister after processing.

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  4. 7 hours ago, Annie_H said:

    I have not looked yet, but will. We have an International market the size of a Costco with a exterior surround like a Mexico City market that went bankrupt in 2016. I heard it is back up with help from the community. The owner is very committed to the local politics and loved., So good to hear he has bounced back.(it is a bit of a road trip but worth it) Another in Corona Queens that is on my 'house guest' food tour. A small Vietnamese restaurant with an excellent market in the same small parking lot, so, easy parking. Have lunch and shop for a dinner meal at home. A small family Italian market with a true butcher but started to 'salt lick' their sausages. Changed the recipe?. Three tries, too salty. 

     

    Definitely jealous of all that you can get in and near NYC — I have heard legends about some of the markets! Do you mind me asking the name of that first place? It sounds like it might be worth a stop if we're passing through the area.

     

    That being said, we are still better off here in Boston than many many other places — and have way more options than we had ten or twenty years ago. There is not too much I can't find in terms of essential ingredients for most any cuisine I'm trying to make. 

    On the flip side, the delivery services keep me from spending the entire afternoon browsing the aisles — the last time I went to the local Chinese market it took me about 90 minutes to get through the store!

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  5. 4 hours ago, Annie_H said:

    I like what I saw from Umamicart when I came across them last year. They don't carry a few of my pantry staples I get from HMart. During the first lock-down I had to settle for a few replacement items that really screw with a few recipes so I was not interested in settling for more replacements. Nice to hear about such good produce. 

     

    I know what you mean — I am very particular about certain things, especially condiments. (The Sriraja Panich shortage a few years back was painful — I haven't even found another Thai brand I truly like.)

     

    I feel like SayWeee! and YamiBuy have slightly better selection of more traditional pantry items — whereas Umamicart's selection leans a *little* more towards more trendy brands like Omsom and Fly By Jing. You might be better off with one of the other two for your particular staples.

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  6. I didn't take a picture, but our latest delivery box was from a specialty cousin of these services — Umamicart. I'd been thinking of placing an order from some time and was motivated by a discount. 

     

    Ended up getting a mix of produce (thai chiles and basil, bok choy, gai lan, curry leaves, and lemongrass), some fresh noodles, frozen buns, and a bunch of pantry staples (laoganma black bean, nam prik, pickled mustard, samba, ginkgo nuts, one of the fancy Omsom kits, and some rice and tapioca flours). Decided to limit my frozen order and avoid raw meat on the first order just so I could test their shipping (which was great).

     

    Pricing on some things is a bit higher than local stores, but not that much, and the produce quality was excellent. Definitely the freshest Thai chiles I've gotten in a while.

     

    Packaging was similar to Misfits with the thick insulation lining the box and frozen stuff in insulated bags within. Anything glass was super well wrapped; I might even dare to order fish sauce from them. Shipping was FedEx from Long Island City and *fast* — I ordered at 1PM on the 9th, it was out the door by 5PM, and arrived at 1PM the next day.

     

    Definitely would order again, though I also want to try the amusingly named SayWeee! for comparison. YamiBuy is another option, but they only do nonperishable stuff.

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  7. 52 minutes ago, Smithy said:

    I must say, the produce boxes from Misfits look so good that I'm tempted to sign up. I think I'd rather support our local farmers' markets and independent grocers, however, when we're in town to take advantage of them.

     

    We've ended up settling into a rhythm where we use Misfits / Imperfect to "fill in" during times of the year when local pickings are pretty slim. Despite them billing themselves as "subscriptions," it's easy to put either of them on hold. I particularly like that Misfits won't fill your cart automatically anymore; if you do nothing, nothing ships.

     

    (I've postponed Imperfect enough times lately that they just sent me a "50% off your next two boxes" offer. Max discount $25, but a $60 box for $35 is still a pretty good deal.)

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  8. 5 hours ago, lemniscate said:

    Costco.com (US) has a "While Supplies Last" online clearance area.  A true deal is a 3 pack of OXO softworks silicone turners .   I snagged a set and couldn't be happier.  If you are a Costco member, it's easy to order.

     

    That is an excellent deal on excellent spatulas — I paid about that for just the large one recently. They are quite handy for use in nonstick pans, and well balanced enough that I often find myself reaching for them in other pans as well.

  9. On 4/24/2022 at 8:55 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

     

    However the NP-GBC05 does not have a congee setting.  Not that I would miss the congee feature much, as I've never tried to make congee in my life.  What I would miss is the umami setting.

     

     

    NP-GPC05 does have a "porridge" setting, though. I was always under the impression that "porridge" and "congee" were just different translations of the same option.

     

    The manual for my NP-NWC10XB (which has both "porridge" and "congee") seems to only differentiate the two based on the type of rice (short grain for porridge, long grain for congee, with a slightly longer cooking time). The instructions for preparing the ingredients are identical and clearly describe the same kind of dish.

  10. On 4/18/2022 at 2:46 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

     

    My NP-NVC18 cannot do oats because it is said oats would clog the pressure valve.  However if you look at the instruction manual (linked above) for the newer NP-NVC10/18, which is designed for oats, the oats setting does not apply pressure -- nor do the settings for sushi rice, sweet rice, porridge, or congee.  The other nine settings do apply pressure.  Brown rice uses higher pressure than white rice.

     

    What is your source of groats?  I ask because Bob's Red Mill has stopped offering them.

     

     

    I bought the NP-NWC10XB a few months ago — and at least from the pictures I can find, it appears that the pressure valve apparatus is identical to your NP-NVC18:

     

    IMG_5259.thumb.jpg.e26aa335310b69f23841691b20231acd.jpgimage.thumb.jpeg.0af1636b356f566fa3e1ab234fa6e5c0.jpeg

     

    The "grain filter" that covers the pressure apparatus is also the same part for both series: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/spare_parts/item/BU201011L-00

     

    The line for the steel cut oats setting is much lower than any other measurement line, though:

     

    IMG_5258.thumb.jpg.393b2c6ffac8546ab3d4a5db8cc7107d.jpg

     

    I'm wondering if that's actually the only real difference — a line to tell you not to overfill it.

     

    A lot of Instant Pot instructions also recommend adding a little fat to anything likely to foam — good enough excuse for me to put some butter in my oats!

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  11. On 5/5/2022 at 12:34 PM, TdeV said:

     

    Anova has replied. They think one shouldn't try to use the probe + pan on the top rack.  Grrrr! 😡 😡

     

    So, what do you think?

     

    @TdeV I don't have an APO, but I've run into some similar spacing issues in some of my other smaller ovens when trying to broil tall things. They don't fit with the rack in the top position, and the next position down moves them too far away.

    My solution has been to move the rack down one position, and then invert another pan as a "spacer" in between the rack and the pan with the food.

     

    If you used a spacer pan just *slightly* shorter than the difference between racks, it might get the pan to just barely clear the probe socket.

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  12. On 5/4/2022 at 5:22 PM, bpwhistler said:

    IDo you have any knowledge of a highly rated induction adapter plate? There seems to be no firm 'this is the best' reviews out there. Just a lot of conflicting opinions. This post always has great info, so I decided to give it a try!

     

    I'm speculating a bit, but my guess is there is probably not a universal answer here due to the different element diameters of various induction cooktops. One that works well on a small element portable burner might not work well on a large element cooktop, and vice versa.

  13. @blue_dolphin and others — forgive my ignorance of the nuances of Brix, but in practice does the distinction between fructose, glucose, and sucrose matter for something like sorbet texture?

     

    I'm thinking here mostly in terms of using canned fruit and fruit purees, where the percentage of sugars is known — e.g., the can of unsweetened mango pulp I have has 17g of sugars per 130g serving, so about 13% sugar by weight. However, it doesn't break those down any further.

     

    If I add 62g of a 100% sugar syrup to that, I'd end up with something right at 25% sugar (48g of sugar in 192g of total mixture). That also doesn't seem too far off from the recommendations in the CIA document @blue_dolphin linked (ideal concentration of 40-60% for "sweet" fruits).

     

    Is that level of calculation sufficient for the lay person, or does one really need to delve into the composition of the sugars in the fruit in question?

  14. You have all goaded me into another small appliance purchase!

     

    For those of you who are waiting for a deal, Woot! has refurbished Creamis on sale today — $99 for the 5-program and $116 for the 7-program.

     

    I was about to pull the trigger on that — it's definitely a good price — but it's not clear who refurbished it, and the warranty is just 90 days through Woot.

     

    After a bit of comparison shopping, I realized Kohl's had it on sale for $199, which after their current 25% coupon makes it $149 new. Plus you get $30 in Kohls cash (after the purchase is complete) which is just enough to get a 4-pack of the spare pint containers. I decided $149 for a new machine and four extra pints seemed like a better deal than $116 for a refurb (plus I can get it in a fun color).

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  15. Staff note: This post and the next were moved from the 'Imperfect, Misfit, Etc. (The Food Delivery Services)' discussion, to maintain focus.

     

    11 hours ago, Annie_H said:

    I put a mince of beef or pork into a quart freezer zip-lock, then use my bench scraper edge to press sections into 'ravioli' sized sections so they are easily broken off into needed sizes. Similar with pesto or mixed herbs. One step rather than the ice cube tray two step. 

     

    Definitely a good plan for beef that comes thawed. I'm always looking for ways to avoid thaw-refreeze cycles, though (and I sort of assume most ground beef you buy fresh has been frozen). Though maybe that doesn't really matter for ground meat anyway.

     

    It occurs to me that I could probably also cut one of the 1lb cubes (the kind that come vacuum packed) without thawing it, given a little elbow grease. I have done that successfully with 2lb tubes of breakfast sausage from the warehouse club and a heavy serrated knife.

  16.  

    2 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

    I liked a first look at Umamicart but they did not have a few basic staples I like. Limited noodle selection so HMart is my go-to two/three times a year. 

     

    You might do better with Weee! — my impression is that Umamicart's selection is more skewed toward high-end products whereas Weee! is closer to what I find in a typical Chinese market. For noodles specifically I noticed they had a large selection from Twin Marquis (which is sort of ubiquitous here in the Northeast).

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  17. Email from Misfits last night — looks like they are raising shipping from $4.50 to $7.99 for existing members (with the suggestion that new subscriber shipping is higher). They also mention adding more grocery staples to the offering, and some kind of loyalty program that will include shipping discounts.

     

    I don't begrudge them the increase — $4.50 was almost certainly unsustainably low, and we can just place larger orders less often.

     

    Not ordering much from anyone right now — we are well stocked with vegetables from our CSA boxes. And fruit selection — a big reason we've used Misfits/Imperfect — is kind of dismal everywhere at this time of year, with citrus tapering off and not much else ramping up. Our garage stays at ~45F and has turned out to be ideal for storing apples; we're well stocked there from before the orchards closed, and just supplement with reliable stuff like kiwis, pineapples, clementines, and bananas that are easier and cheaper to get via local curbside.

     

    Still really want to try an order from Umamicart or Weee! — but I dragged myself to the local Chinese supermarket yesterday so it isn't really pressing.

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