mgaretz

I have bought avocado oil in an aerosol spray at Costco. I gave up on misters some time ago. These days I simply pour a little avocado oil in the baking pan and spread it around with a paper towel. A lot less mess than a spray (which I usually had to spread around with a paper towel anyway). For something like a grate, I put the oil on the paper and then spread.

Doesn't seem to make a significant difference. That's both from others and my own experience. So I just let it go to keep warm and don't worry.

I think it comes down to pricing. When we go out I used to almost always order a glass of wine (red). Now with restaurants charging $15-$18 for a 5-6 oz pour of a wine that retails for $7-9 a bottle, I'm passing.

Thanks!

No SV. Cooked at 225F in the Breville Smart Oven Pro to 120F internal then seared on the Napoleon IR Sear Burner. Latkes were air fried in the Speedi for 8 minutes.

Hanukkah dinner: Prime rib, served with TJ's latkes and steamed broccoli.

Cornstarch for sure. I struggled with lumps for years until I found the secret to making the slurry. 1 to 1 ratio of cornstarch to water, stir until liquid. When the stew is done, bring to a boil and stir in the slurry until you get the thickness you want - actually stop a bit before as it will thicken a bit more.

An unusual (for me) stir fry. No noodles and the wife didn't want any onion or garlic or much sauce. So char siu, baby bok choy, carrots, celery, snap peas and mushrooms. Sauce was some cream sherry, a bit of soy and the water from the veggies, thickened with cornstarch.

You might be thinking of More Than Gourmet products (demi-glace), which do appear to be discontinued, at least at retail. They company is here: https://www.ajihealthandnutrition.com/solutions/stock-broth-concentrates/ so you might reach out and see if you can get it at a restaurant supply. Better Than Bullion is good as @weinoo says, but usually I just use some soy sauce and caramel coloring. Since you're in the Bay Area you can get caramel coloring at Smart and Final very cheaply.

Lately I haven’t been too concerned!

Grilled thick pork chop with roasted baby potatoes.

When your wife doesn't like whole cooked turkey (but just deli turkey) and it's just the two of us, you make filets for Thanksgiving. Served with baked sweet potato.

I had the original, larger version of that cooker, but it was unreliable so I gave up using it. Half-way through the cook it would decide there was no pot and stop cooking. In our recent move I recycled it. Same issue with the All-Clad version. I had an old West Bend cooker that also had the lightweight pot and I loved it. Gave it away when I got the Cuisinart.

I don’t think they do.

The meat was tender but dry, as expected with loin cuts. The iPot never got hot enough on low. After 8 hours things were still uncooked. Use Hi if you are going to try it. And use shoulder or butt.