dcarch

Smoke is not "air" Smoke is particles in air. An electrostatic air cleaner can trap very tiny particles in air. Smell is air, only activated charcoal can trap the smell. They do make electrostatic air filters with an activated charcoal filter. dcarch

But a lot to "work for"-------- LOL! dcarch

"-----How to keep the tomatoes from being too liquid? " Dehydrator. dcarch

Hi, I used the gribenes kind of chunky like bacon bits to sprinkle on top. I put the gribenes and the coffee grinder in the freeze to help make it crispier and easier to chop to small bits. Wow, 80 lbs! dcarch

How? This is how! Sorry guys. OP asks about instant lunch. dcarch

Sure. Lemon Chicken, on rice and broccoli Shrimp, pepper sauce on angel hair Butter nut squash ravioli dcarch

Couple of coworkers came by to finish off a rush report due. There was no time to go out for lunch, and there are no good take-out places around my house. I had to make something quick for the three of us. These three dishes I think took less than 15 minutes total prep time. dcarch

That is basically the "Black Body Radiation" theory. What I don't understand (yet) is how the screen can reflect the IR energy, perhaps the screen's perforation size is such that the wave length of the IR ray cannot penetrate, just like the screened door of a microwave oven can prevent leaking of microwave energy. dcarch Right... I wondered the same thing about the screen - I just sort of assumed that it was made from shiny metal so that a percentage of IR energy would be reflected (albeit in random directions).. Sort of the reverse of how shade cloth works in a greenhouse. The screen need not to be shiny. It is very possible to have efficient reflectivity in antenna design with very perforated reflectors, it all has to do with wave length. IR is exactly like microwave and radio wave, except the wave length is shorter. dcarch Microwave antenna http://antennasystems.com/Merchant2/graphics/rfsworld/APL-3T.jpg I don't know if I necessarily agree... what works for microwaves doesn't necessarily work for all EM waves. You can use waveguides to carry microwaves, which won't work for higher frequency spectra.. antennae are used to braodcast microwaves - which won't work for IR... So while it doesn't matter for microwave, your bathroom mirror is shiny for a reason... For all intents and purposes, IR is closer in wavelength magnitude to visible light than visible is to microwaves - let's say IR is 1-2 orders of magnitude away from visible, whereas microwaves are 4 orders of magnitude away from visible.Anyway, since I don't own the product - I'm not sure if the screen is shiny or not- but I have enough experience to say that when I wear a black shirt in the sun I feel warmer than when wearing a white shirt, given the same ambient air temp. and humidity. I feel pretty safe in saying that a matte black screen will absorb IR and allow it to pass through with very little reflected - while a shiny silver screen will reflect and allow to pass through while absorbing very little. ETA - unless the black screen in absorbing the IR and re-radiating it (very possible), which changes the argument completely. I am not that knowledgeable about some of the nature of reflectivity of IR, whether it can be electronic or just optical. I know that microwave dish antenna are for reflecting, both send and receive, electronically, but IR is of shorter wave length, so I don't know. I know IR can be optically manipulated like light wave. I am somewhat familiar with wave guides. They are more like a plumbing job then an electronic job. Actually, the "Black Body” theory states that the best absorber of IR radiation is also the best radiator. But not to hijack this thread too much, this unique cooking appliance intrigues me. I would be experimenting with it every meal, if I had one. dcarch

But the turkey weighs 18 lbs. LOL! dcarch

That is basically the "Black Body Radiation" theory. What I don't understand (yet) is how the screen can reflect the IR energy, perhaps the screen's perforation size is such that the wave length of the IR ray cannot penetrate, just like the screened door of a microwave oven can prevent leaking of microwave energy. dcarch Right... I wondered the same thing about the screen - I just sort of assumed that it was made from shiny metal so that a percentage of IR energy would be reflected (albeit in random directions).. Sort of the reverse of how shade cloth works in a greenhouse.The screen need not to be shiny. It is very possible to have efficient reflectivity in antenna design with very perforated reflectors, it all has to do with wave length. IR is exactly like microwave and radio wave, except the wave length is shorter. dcarch Microwave antenna http://antennasystems.com/Merchant2/graphics/rfsworld/APL-3T.jpg

There will be a lot of hot rising air. It's the same design as a Charcoal chimney. I can see the heat and the shape of the thing might be good enough for a wok cooking while a turkey is being "fried". dcarch

That is basically the "Black Body Radiation" theory. What I don't understand (yet) is how the screen can reflect the IR energy, perhaps the screen's perforation size is such that the wave length of the IR ray cannot penetrate, just like the screened door of a microwave oven can prevent leaking of microwave energy. dcarch

I don't think those can help much in any IR cookers. However, a remote read non-contact IR thermometer ($30.00 to $3,000) can give you good readings of the walls of the cooker and the surface temperature of the food being cooked. dcarch

Hey now...don't be talking about the new super-auto espresso machine I'm lusting after... I bet the Char Broil thingy can make wonderful coffee too. dcarch

"-----How good is the temp control ?---" With IR heating, temperature control is kind of strange. As I said, you can cook and char food in freezing temperature. What do you measure? It also depends on the color of the food being cooked. The darker the color, the more IR energy it will absorb. IR cannot heat up a 100% reflective mirror, no matter how strong. The only way to control with IR cooking is by using a probe temperature sensor to monitor food interior temperature. dcarch

It is shaped like a turkey fryer. I think originally it was marketed as an oil-less turkey fryer. dcarch

For instance, 1. if you boil food in water, the heat is applied completely by conduction. 2. if you bake food in an oven, most of the heat is by conduction from the food making direct contact with hot air. 3. if you are at an outdoor bonfire, you can still be burnt even the air temperature is - 60, really freezing cold, because you are being roasted by IR radiation. 4. If you broil food, that is mostly IR cooking. Microwave heat is strange, it is neither conduction nor radiation. The food cooks itself. dcarch

Propane? My mistake. The picture looks like a power cord connection. If it is propane, it would be very dangerous to fool around with the flame. An ignitor or a pilot light will need to be fool proof. dcarch

Good ideas! A small wok will be a perfect cover. A smoke generator to pipe in smoke will make this an amazing appliance. Also, A PID digital temperature controller ($20.00) will give complete precise temperature to do low & Slow cooking. dcarch

I don't have one, so I am guessing. Based on the Big Easy design, It appears to me that the cooking (heating) of the food is mostly by infrared baking. Because of the circular shape of the heating space, the baking can be very even, unlike in a regular over, which heats mostly by convection, you have to keep turning the food upside down to help even cooking. dcarch

I have said you don't need expensive equipment, a lot of space or a lot of time to take very good food photos, but there are some easy things you can do to go beyond just "very good". You have noticed that professionals use lens shade for their cameras, that is because even multi-coated lenses have internal reflections which can cause lost of contrast and saturation of color, or lens glare. You can buy your lens a lens shade or you can make one with an empty medicine bottle. Cheap and easy. To determine the exact shape to cut, just mount the bottle on the lens and mark the inside of the bottle with a marker while looking thru the view finder. dcarch

Keith, it did have a bone, but I have a custom made press to press down the meat around the bone for the meat to make good contact with the hot pan. I sometimes use the grill also, actually that is my preferred way. dcarch

"----What that means is that there's practically not any container that's too big, just one that's too poorly insulated. ---" That's the whole story there. I have a smoker that was converted from a refrigerator, I use a 300 W halogen light bulb as the heat source for a 4.5 cubic feet interior. The light bulb works only about 1/4 of the time to maintain temperature because the refrigerator is so well insulated. dcarch

"----putting a steak in a 250 degree oven and a 500 degree oven will be significant, as will be the target internal temp for removing the steak." ???????? Have you read the OP's post? If the steak is seared on both sides already, why would you put the steak in a 500F oven? The OP wants to have a steak that's evenly cooked! not making beef jerky. I just don't understand the logic of making the temperature higher to get the internal temperature higher quicker, what if you encounter the famous "stall" for larger pieces of meat? dcarch

If you stack two identical containers one inside another, you will have an insulated container. The way most containers are made, there will be an air space between the two. You can heat up a lot of water with 1000 watts using an insulated container. dcarch