dtremit

I think there's just so many steps in the supply chain that right now, it's too easy for one of them to go wrong. A half-staffed dairy plant might choose to prioritize production of higher volume products like milk, or there could be a shortage on quart containers. Weirdly every Target around here has plenty of half-and-half (they're the easiest store for me to check online) -- but none of our warehouse clubs seem to have normal chicken thighs.

One of my funniest work travel memories was visiting a client in Richmond during a ~4" snowstorm. I was staying in a hotel next to the client, but ended up working with them over WebEx because they couldn't drive in to the office themselves. While eating breakfast the weather person on the TV news was trying to explain why cars lose traction in snow (friction, etc) — never thought anyone would need that explained to them! Lovely thing you are doing with the homeless lunches -- I am sure they are very much appreciated!

Ah, so it stays in the machine! I was trying to figure out how on earth you'd snap the lid on.

How are you able to pull a vacuum in a Rubbermaid container? I'm having trouble imagining how that works...

Wait — Walden Local Meats has cheap stock bones?! I would have signed up ages ago if I'd known that! (They are actually very local to us — we live about halfway between their warehouse and their butcher shop in Boston.) Looking at this thread in their forum they seem to have pork leaf fat available too, sometimes. @Annie_H — you mentioned postponing your box — can you see what's available as specials before you do that?

Another thumbs up for this — when we were in a city condo, we had an upright freezer with a similar 2'x2' footprint that made our lives much easier. Basically was like an extra tall dorm fridge. For our space the chest freezer wouldn't have worked as we couldn't have put anything above it — so we were really glad both options were available. When we sold out and suburbanized earlier this year, one of my first purchases was the largest upright freezer I could find 😂

I mean, the "standard" model (the Anova Precision Cooker) has gotten slightly better while staying at roughly the same price. I don't think the MSRP on the pro makes much sense, IMHO.

Sadly only 15% for the APO (which is slightly less than the discount last month). Amazon appears to be matching the prices on the circulators, at least in the US.

I’ve made way too much of a Japanese curry that I think might make a good filling for meat pies. I’d like to make a crust (top and bottom) and freeze small pies for baking later. But I’m not sure what kind of crust to use, or how to prepare it for freezing. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Bake Off, but I was thinking about using a hot water crust. But I’ve no clue if that would freeze well. Does anyone have advice to share?

I have been thinking about those two processors as eventual replacements for my KA when it dies. On the one hand, all the other Breville stuff I own is beautifully made, and the mini chopper for their stick blender I have works great. I also really like the attachments. On the other hand, it's nearly twice as expensive, and doesn't seem to really be rated better by most outlets. The other factor that I learned to be cautious of with the KitchenAid is replacement parts availability -- chances are, the plastic bowl or blade will go out before the motor. This happened to me with the KA — the safety interlock inside the bowl handle broke — and it took me months of searching and cost $100 to get a replacement. The Cuisinart has been in production so long that the chances of being unable to buy a replacement are really slim. I have no idea whether Breville will have replacement parts available in ten years.

Perhaps this has changed, but it looks like Blackwell's now includes US delivery in their prices (which seem quite competitive). (No mention of who the shipping carrier is, though here in the Northeast I've found that things sent via UK Royal Mail sometimes arrive faster than USPS.)

In the realm of "probably don't need this, but couldn't resist," this creme brûlée set: (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) I absolutely hate removing ramekins from water baths with tongs, so I think the frame for this will be helpful. The pan it comes with is a standard 8x8 cake pan, so it's not really a unitasker other than the wire frame. And it was $12ish.

We get these in the "U-pick" for our farm share — they're related to tomatillos, and when we have too many I have been known to make a quick fruity salsa out of them. But as you say, they're also great to just snack on.

I think a lot of the shelf-stable shortages are actually shortages of packaging, rather than product. So it may be that Aldi's apple juice bottle is out of stock...

It strikes me that, for longevity, it might well be better to go with a standalone range where at least the electronic controls are at the back — no chance of water spilling on them, at least, and probably much less intense heat than at the front.

This article in the Atlantic had a similar thesis, and noted that contrary to what you'd expect from the news, imports into the US are actually at an all time high. I suspect this is also true, if only because in our highly vaccinated corner of the country, we've seen way fewer shortages than people seem to be reporting elsewhere. Less panic, so less panic buying. I was inside a grocery store yesterday for the first time ever (to get my booster!) and there was almost nothing out of stock. Some sparse shelves in dairy (sliced and shredded cheese, and certain brands of yogurt) but nothing else missing that I could see.

I may have jumped the gun on the shipping carrier complaint. Our Misfits box sat in a warehouse 5 miles from our house for twelve hours the day it was supposed to be delivered, and when it hadn't been sent out for delivery by 5:30 I thought for sure it was going to be delivered late. My previous experience with LaserShip has been pretty bad, so I assumed the worst. To my surprise, they loaded it on a truck at 6PM and it was here by 8, with all the meat still frozen solid. Significantly better experience than I've had from Imperfect recently.

For those of you who consistently have good experiences with Misfits ( @Annie_H, @kayb, @Shelby I think?) — what delivery service delivers their orders to you?

In case anyone was wondering, I checked with Imperfect and their onions are not affected by the salmonella outbreak: https://help.imperfectfoods.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411215398807-ProSource-Inc-Voluntary-Onion-Recall

Great to hear they're carrying those, and that you've had good luck with them! Broadens the options a bit. I have also sworn off most berries in delivery boxes -- I just don't think they can handle being jostled. Blueberries and strawberries seem to hold up OK, but nothing else.

Not a good sign when the twist in the story is that the guy from Walmart and McKinsey is the one they're forcing out for not being ruthless enough 😕

Got it, thanks! The Neuro Fuzzy @weinoo pictured does have it and so I got confused 🙂

Hm. Oddly enough, I was just thinking it would be nice to be able to make steel cut oats in the new one. What was the issue with the porridge option on the Neuro Fuzzy?

Waking up this old thread with another Zojirushi question since the title is still apt. I think the inner pot in my trusty Sanyo is about to call it quits, and since they were acquired shortly after I bought my cooker, no replacements are available. Planning on replacing it with a Zojirushi, but I'm a little baffled as to which one. I'd like one of their newer models with a jasmine or long grain rice setting — but beyond that I am a little unsure as to which model to go with. Specifically, they have: Standard "Micom" / fuzzy logic: NL-GAC10 , ~$260 Induction heating: NP-HCC10 , $329 Pressure induction: NP-NWC10 , ~$500 There's also the old Neuro Fuzzy for ~$175, which doesn't have the jasmine setting, but gets really good reviews. I'm struggling to understand what the advantage of induction heating is in this particular use case, and to figure out whether pressure is actually worth a $250 difference. It doesn't seem like the pressure model actually cooks rice significantly faster, and I already have an Instant Pot for long-cooking grains. This is frustrated further by the fact that most of the rice cooker reviews out there don't compare the Zojirushi models -- they pick one Zojirushi and compare it to other brands. I suppose I should also be looking at Cuckoo, but the number of models they have vaguely terrifies me. Appreciate any insight anyone can offer...

@KennethT - thanks for that! We're also considering various induction options for our main cooking surface, and you make a really good point about looking at available power levels for those as well. Also good to know that you haven't needed 100% of the output of the burner to stir fry in a flat bottomed wok. I've never had the chance to cook on anything but a low to mid priced 120v induction burner; have been stuck with radiant electric for quite a long time. Might be that we wouldn't end up needing a specialized burner after all. (Or maybe what I need is a butane burner for the occasional non-induction pan!)