dcarch

For most people, sous vide cooking the way it is done now is too complicated and it involves extra appliances. There is no reason why a crock pot, or a slow cooker cannot be modified to also be a competent sous vide cooker, and priced under $100.00 dcarch

Basically you need to find a stopper which is very soft (compliant). When you fill the sink up with water, the static hydraulic pressure pushes down to form a leak proof seal. Silicone rubber is very good. Regular rubber can get hard over time and leak. dcarch

As I understand, resistance to salmonella depends on: "----------------- In otherwise healthy adults, the symptoms are usually mild. Normally, no sepsis occurs, but it can occur exceptionally as a complication in elderly or weakened patients (e.g., those with Hodgkin's disease). However, infants and young children are much more susceptible to infection, easily achieved by ingesting a small number of bacteria. In infants, contamination through inhalation of bacteria-laden dust is possible. ----------------" dcarch

Those pop up things are worthless. If you are using a rotating spit, then all you have to do is to get a few dial face bi-metal probe thermometers and stick them in a few places, They will get you a fairly good indication of interior temperature. Once in a while, use a digital to get a more accurate reading. dcarch

"----How many bugs does it take to cause infection? I'm not going to look up the research,---" Depends a lot on your resistance. dcarch

Cut them into small cookie size squares, after they have been frozen, vacuum bag them to save freezer space. They make nice pizza cookie appetizers or small snacks. dcarch

Type "K" thermal couple probes can measure over a 1,000 F, the electronics for measuring kiln temperature is not that expensive. dcarch

It looks like still good enough for many uses. Here is a method how you can deal with it if you don't want to find someone to weld it back. 1. Clean the crack very well and use a high power magnifying glass to see where the crack ends. 2. At the end of the crack, drill a small round hole. This will stop the crack from progressing further, a standard method of stress relief. 3. Get high temperature silicone glue to fill the drilled hole and the crack. The crack, like an earth quake, actually releases any built-in stress from initial casting. You will get many more years of good use out of it still. Good luck. dcarch

Go check out some metal shops. Cast iron can be welded, but not everyone knows how to do it. dcarch

It is not possible in today's technology. They do not make digital components which can stand oven temperature, and radio waves in permitted bandwidth cannot transmit outside metal enclosures very well. There are many wireless ones which have the probe wired inside the oven and the transmitter outside the oven. dcarch

"-------- but Hydie would come around and give dinners a back massage instead ----" That is not legal in NYC. You have to be licensed to give massages. dcarch

. Example? dcarchI bought mine on ebay about $50.00 long time ago. I think today if you pay about $100 you should be able to get a fairly good one, There are cheaper ones if you are on a budget. The thing to look for is one that can read from an acceptable distance for you, and one with a laser beam to show you where you are reading the temperature from. The laser beam is just a pointer, it does not measure. You can tell exactly how hot your frying pan is so that you don't kill your non-stick pan, or too hot for your cooking oil, check surface temperature of your meat being roasted, etc. dcarch

A good remote read (non-contact) infrared thermometer has been very useful for my cooking. dcarch

The irresponsibility is in the individual who takes any one single source of information from the internet as the ultimate authority, especially issues regarding food safety. A reporter, possibly a graduate of journalism, will report on a whole range of topics from art to science to economic to politics to ------------. He/she cannot be professionally trained in every field. American Test Kitchen should not be on air, because few of the principals are trained in the food business? dcarch

Start with youtube first. Second, find out if you have good fish suppliers near by. Third, buy some expensive knives. Fourth, buy books. dcarch

It does not matter what your heat source is, cooper will cook more evenly and faster than all other metals, including aluminum. Silver can be better, if they can make silver cookware. Copper cannot heat up your kitchen more than other metals. Your stove does. How hot your kitchen gets is dependent on how many BTUs your stove puts out. Cooking with copper will keep your kitchen cooler because it uses heat more efficiently. dcarch

You can find all kinds of metal skewers on eBay. A suggestion: Many foods will slide down hanging skewers vertically. You can use these paper clips to clip on the tips of the skewers. I have seen these clips in stainless steel (may be just chrome plated). dcarch http://myitchyfingers.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/clip1.jpg

Exactly my concerns. I also worry that the door which you can see inside may be designed specifically based on the wave behavior inside and wave length of the microwave. Suppose what you are doing changes something and the door may not be shielding the wave anymore. dcarch

Cut them in halves and steam them. Then use a small spoon to scoop the meat out. dcarch

Even nothing harmful seems to have happened when you place a St. Steel bowl in the microwave oven. Actually you may not always know what can happen because you cannot see microwave. Microwave is a very strange form of electromagnetic energy. It can be focused with lenses made of wax or paraffin. It can be reflected from large, plane sheets of metal, as light is reflected from plane mirrors. Metal parabolas may be used to produce parallel beams or high energy focused beams. Microwave can travel in tubes like plumbing as in microwave communication systems. The frequency, or wave length interacts with objects in a very complicated way. I would not use anything in it that is not recommended by the manufacturer. dcarch

In the video mentioned above http://www.finecooking.com/item/11058/video-how-to-kill-a-lobster, the technique was to put the lobster in the freezer for 20-minutes, not hours. The freezer doesn't kill them, it just slows them down and numbs them to the experience, like an anesthetic. But if you look at that video again, you will see the lobster is fully conscious the entire time, and the reaction to the knife is very strong. I cannot see how that is anymore humane than other methods. It seems to me for the lobster, it is 20 more minutes of additional half frozen suffering in the freezer. Don't forget, lobster's nerves are very used to be alive in very cold water. On the ocean floor it is always between 32F to 38F. dcarch

In boiling water, it's oven in a few seconds. In the freezer, it takes hours. I wonder which way the lobster likes it better. dcarch

"-----I've bought a CFL bulb but I think I need a more powerful one (I bought a 15W one), ----" That is not good enough. Get 50W to a lot more (Daylight balanced CFL). Stores do not have a very good selection. Go to eBay or Amazon. BTW, I am sure you realize, you need actual power wattage, not 50W equivalent bulbs. Reflectors: Try looking into reflectors that you can fold to very small package and springs to full size. I don't know if there is a technical name for it. Also silver reflector umbrellas. Which also take very little room to store and quick to deploy. BTW, fake ice cream is important for photo studios which use many thousand watt incandescent focused lights hot enough to BBQ. Not necessary for CFL bulbs. dcarch

Go to a farmers market, and ask one of the egg/chicken farmers to get you one. dcarch

I hate ultra modern kitchens. They are for show only and not for cooking. You have a difference kind of kitchen. Very comfortable and user friendly in feeling. You just want to cook something in there. Look forward to your blog. dcarch