dcarch

I get many of my cooking ideas from the incredibly diverse creations on this forum. Thank you everyone. Very inspiring and motivating! Trying a few new ingredients. dcarch Sous vide lamb chops, Calamansi sauce from my little tree, on roasted peppers. Shrimps in Pandan (screwpine) leaf sauce, with purple rice on home grown sweet potato leaves.

Frequent sharpening might shorten the life of a knife by a small degree if done correctly but I would have to ask myself if I would rather have a dull knife outlive me or a very sharp knife that I may have to replace once in my lifetime I have seen knives' scales fall apart, blades bent, edges chipped, tips cracked off --- I have never seen knives' life shortened by regular sharpening. May be a chef's knife becomes a paring knife? Still a useful knife. I have a couple of good knives ($15 each) that I use for regular (abusive) cutting. As soon as they get dull, I take them down to my basement shop and 5 seconds each side on my 400 grit 4" belt sander, they will be very sharp for at least 2 to 3 months. Belt sander can take away a lot of metal. dcarch

You are begging the question here. If there is a single correct angle for any given knife, then the EP would be fine, though still insufficient for retaining cutting performance over time due to the issue of the lowest thinning bevel still being too steep, but since there is no correct angle along the blade of the knife, rather several angles at different areas, the concept of holding the "correct" angle isn't a feasible one. We must understand, 95% (may be 98%?) of the kitchen knife users do not need to sharpen their knives to the so called "correct angle", they only need to sharpen their knives better than they can if they were to do it by hand. For most of them, "several angles at different areas" on one single knife is not of much meaning. For many of them, it is perfectly reasonable to get a good knife (not a very good knife) and use one of those motorized grinder which can only grind at one angle, regardless of knife type. Those machines will kill a very good knife in just one use. dcarch

Agree. EP will increase longevity because it's automatic maintenance of correct angles. Very little metal will need to be removed if you always grind your knife at the same angle to get the knife sharp. By hand, you are always over and under the correct angle, and more metal will need to be removed. dcarch

I don't think you need to. Bamboo has been in use, untreated, in China for centuries to make river rafts, cooking utensils, construction materials, etc. The only time bamboo is treated is when it is used for furniture. dcarch

There are many stone fronted buildings in NY, and there are even more graffiti artists around. That is the professional method I have seen done. BTW, not all baby powders contain talc. dcarch

Why just rectangular marks? dcarch Strip steak, garlic scapes, couscous.

To avoid getting caught, there are probably many ways you can get around from the legal definition of "money" for food. as long as you don't use credit cards. The reporter probably is not much of a "Foodie". Cook with a vacuum machine? dcarch

I have sharp knives. I like to keep my knives sharp. For me I see no point in a kitchen to have scary sharp knives. The drag and suction of the food you are cutting as you are cutting makes the extra sharp edge not noticeable. The sharper the edge the faster it gets dulled and damaged. But I can see for many people, it feels good to have a blade that actually, and literally can split a hair. There are knife sharpeners in many farmers markets, for not much money, on a belt sander or a motorized stone, they get your kitchen knives very sharp in a few minutes and everyone is happy. dcarch

Caesarstone is 30% resin, and 70% stone. It is very durable and stain resistant, but being resin based, it can be stained by some substance. Stone, depends on the quarry, some can be porous. You an even get some stone commercially dyed to match your color scheme. dcarch

Go to a stone place and buy some sealant to seal the stone. It is very difficult to remove stain from stone, once it has been stained. dcarch

Something like that is used in many commercial TV studios, robotic cameras. dcarch

There is no way to attach external lens on most cell phone cameras, Scotch tape, or duct tape, is the only way. Not very elegant, but -------. Only thing with having fun doing this is to keep very steady, any vibration will mess up the photo. dcarch

I am not sure what do you mean by "fishy" or "gamy". Next time: 1. Make sure that the beef you buy is really fresh and in good condition. 2. Before you bag the beef, follow very strict cleanliness routines. 3. Sanitize the bag by boiling, and all the seasonings. 4. Sear/blow torch the beef to sanitize the meat before bagging. For long cooks, it is very important to keep things very clean. dcarch

Welcome to NY from another New Yorker! dcarch

Don't underestimate your little cell phone camera. It can do interesting things. Scotch tape a magnifying glass in front of the lens, and you can take amazing macro shots. dcarch Grains of wild rice, on white rice White and black seasme seeds One grain of brown rice A seed on a strawberry

Dejah, all your food are fabulicious looking. They also showcase the characteristics of this appliance, of its ability to roast food evenly. I am not very sure about this, it would involve the use of integral calculus to figure out. I think the geometry of the cooking chamber makes it unimportant how close or how far the food is to the hot wall. All the surfaces still will be heated by the same amount of infrared heat. dcarch

1. Never buy knives in the store because they can slice paper. Any cheap knife can do that after you first sharpen it. 2. Keep a few sheets of wet/dry (silicone carbide) sand paper of various fine grits in your kitchen drawer. They don't take room, they sharpen quick and they last a long time. 3. You need sharp knives in the kitchen, but you don't need razor sharp knives. Just one that you use only for making sushi. 4. I can't think of a food that can dull a good knife, except bones and frozen food. Bad cutting boards and careless cutting habits can quickly dull the best knife knife. dcarch

No. it depends on what they eat. See what happens if you eat too much carrots. dcarch

"Surf & Turf", an unusual combo which works for everyone, never worked for me. Conceptually wrong, and non-compatible taste combination, IMHO. (please don't lecture me. Just my subjective taste) Back on topic: EVOO + fish sauce + pinch of pepper on heirloom tomato salad for me is amazing. Salad dressing's sweet and tart flavor compete or hide the inherent quality of tomatoes. dcarch

"------My mum is Hakka from the New Territories, ----" Amazing! Enjoy your cooking always! Something different about your cooking fascinates me. Now I can understand a little better. I came across this a while back, and I had wondered if these Hakka people have unique food traditions: https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=732&q=hakka+house&oq=Hakka+&gs_l=img.1.6.0l10.2467.3723.0.8869.2.2.0.0.0.0.81.144.2.2.0....0...1ac.1j2.26.img..0.2.142.ew5R_zXwDII dcarch

Not trying to be a wise guy. Have you tried 2 minutes? 3 minutes? dcarch

Very true for a man. I learned to cook because I didn't have the money to buy a fancy Italian sports car, then I realized it is more effective to win a lady's heart to be able to dazzle her with a multi-course candle light dinner that you whipped up from your kitchen. It's all about sex, for a man. dcarch My second date with my now wife was cooking her a traditional roast chicken dinner. That was about all it took...but hey, she's ez. Recipe please!!! dcarch

Very true for a man. I learned to cook because I didn't have the money to buy a fancy Italian sports car, then I realized it is more effective to win a lady's heart to be able to dazzle her with a multi-course candle light dinner that you whipped up from your kitchen. It's all about sex, for a man. dcarch

They do make electrostatic air filters with an activated charcoal filter. dcarch For home use? This I didn't know. How big, how expensive, how easy to find and install? Please tell more! There are many makers. I had bought one from Sears long time ago. If you have allergies, get your doctor to write a prescription and deduct it as medical expense. It filter out all the pollen and tiny dust particles. It even filters out tobacco smoke. You can pull out the electrostatic filter and wash in the dish washer. scary to see what gets filter out from your "clean" air. dcarch