boilsover

Nah, to each his own (preference, not facts). I'm just tired of folks blowing smoke up my dress about how much more efficient induction is. I have one of the 110v hotplates. It has some advantages in terms of (repeatable) control and convenience, but I find the mode to be soulless.

There are a myriad of reasons. King among them is its atrocious conductivity. You can get by if you mostly use it in ovens, and sort of abide if it perfectly fits a very even hob. But generally it is terribly uneven (the larger pieces can have 100-200F temperature differentials), and hot-spots. Yet slow to respond. Yet the lining lets fat runs through the jus. Yet it chips and scuffs and cracks unless you baby it. Yet is exorbitantly priced for the "good" marks. Yet the stubby casty handles suck. Yet it's over-heavy given its other demerits (at least copper performs). Yet its value plummets the minute you buy it. I could go on... Long ago, before I knew better, I bought and labored with a LOT of Le Creuset, probably 25 pieces. Spent a small fortune on it, thinking it must be really good. I believe it held me back in my development as a cook. I spent second fortune replacing it with a batterie that performs better. But I did progress--I just wish I had all that money and those misspent years back.

I totally get the aesthetics, tradition and romance of enameled cast iron, but with all apologies to my classmate David Liebovitz, it's mediocre cookware. You may now shoot the messenger.

Gas appears to be substantially more inefficient because most measures fail to take into account the large inefficiencies inherent in generating electricity from fossil fuels. If an electric appliance was "100 percent efficient", it would still leave about 40% behind in generating inefficiency. Gas has hidden costs as well, but energy lost before it arrives at your hob is not one of them. Then there're the costs (and environmental burdens) of switching to induction. By analogy, you can drive your old 25mpg car a lot cheaper and more environmentally responsibly for a LONG time before the balance tips in favor of a new hybrid car.

DoE doesn't identify what specific appliance models they used, but the tables make it plain that there were at least two with wattages in excess of 3000W--well beyond the capacity of the 110V/1800W hotplates. Yes, of course induction has advantages, especially over electric coil and radiant. But we can drop the fanfares and heraldic pronouncements over efficiency and focus on real differences.

Ever since induction appliances have come onto the US market, we've been contantly pummeled with the claim that they're far more energy efficient than the coil, smoothtop electric and gas alternatives. It's been repeated so often and for so long that no one seems to seriously question the claim. Well, except for the U.S. Department of Energy. http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/20... As it turns out, it's looking like a statistical dead heat between coil electric and induction (at roughly 72% efficiency). And the makers of induction appliances aren't happy about the truth coming out. There may be other reasons to choose induction over conventional electrics and gas, but energy efficiency appears not to be one of them. So this claim of 90% efficiency should probably go the way of "Cast iron conducts heat evenly" and "Searing seals in juices."

Bear in mind that Vollrath disclaims all warranty for home use of its induction units.

I've always wanted one of these. For all the people wringing their hands and soiling themselves over acidic foods and bare aluminum, take a look. Can't get much more acidic or concentrated. Get over it, I say.

Chances are, it IS a riveted handle. If you removed the verdegris and polished, you would likely see where the rivets were inset and then ground flush with the flange. An old British mark, Elkington, was famous for this attachment using bell metal handles. You need to look REALLY closely to see that the're riveted. Cheers.

Oh, my. I'm 56 years old, a knifemaker, and a son of a packing plant owner. I've been sharpening knives since the training wheels came off my first bike. I've owned and used virtually all types of sharpening methods. The one I keep coming back to is my dad's Pittsburgh-Erie "Hook-Eye" belt machine. Used judiciously and with worn belts to finish, it does a great job and doesn't spoil an edge at all.

Yes, IMO hard-anodized aluminum is less prone to stick than is SS. There are two reasons. One is the surface in contact with the food. The other is the vastly superior conductivity of aluminum; this generally makes HAA less prone to scorching viscous liquids. Now then, great clad or thick disk-bottomed SS will probably perform equally to aluminum for the soups you describe.

1. I heat mostly with wood; I have a wood heatstove and a wood/coal cookstove. When either of them is fired, I try to cook and reheat on them, rather than on the electric or gas ranges. 2. I keep my refigerator in a cool pantry. 3. I wash kitchenware by hand using wash- and rinse-tubs. I add surplus hot water from my kettle to the tubs. 4. I maximize use of manual tools/minimize use of electrics. 5. I use fewer lights. 6. Everything gets air dried. 7. I minimize use of the vent hood, maximize open windows.

You can fix your issue with money. You may have to pay for ductwork and wiring. And you may need to chase ductwork through/around obstacles. IME, the only folks who are well and truly and screwed are the condo owners whose rules (or the landmark codes) forbid any exterior appearance changes.

Hi, Chris: I'll give it in metric measurements. This would probably make 3-4 hamburger buns. 125g flour 100g butter 70ml water 2 eggs 50g honey 5.5g salt (1t) 3g instant yeast (1t) Combine eggs honey, water, salt and melted butter in a bowl. Whisk vigorously for 30 seconds. Add yeast to flour and sift the mix into your liquid mixture. Whisk or mix until smooth, about another 30 seconds. Cover and let rest for 2 hours at room temperature. Turn out on floured board and fold over 4 times. Return to bowl, cover with clingform, and refrigerate for 24-48 hours. Remove from fridge and divide and shape into required shapes. Cover again and prove for 2-3 hours in/on buttered form, parchment or sheet. Option: Brush tops with beaten egg diluted with a bit with water. Preheat oven to 190C (370F). Brush tops again with eggwash, then bake for 10 minutes on middle rack. Reduce heat to 160C (320F) and bake another 15 minutes. If tops are darkening too quickly, place cookie sheet on top rack to shield. Let cool for several minutes before turning out. Option: Brush tops with more melted butter. This dough will not rise much until the final proof, and will be sticky to deal with until floured. Good luck.

An empty pan is going to exceed 500F eventually on any but the lowest settings. I once timed a cast iron skillet on an electric coil set to high, and it exceeded my IR thermometer's 900F max in just a few minutes. I would never preheat a PTFE pan to more than 350F. It is at about this temperature that Dupont's own data indicate ultrafine particles begin to leave the pan. There are independent studies confirming offgasing at 396F. Boucher, M., Ehmler, TJ and Bermudez, AJ. 2000. Polytetrafluoroethylene gas intoxication in broiler chickens. Avian Dis 44(2): 449-53. While neither the particulates or the gas alone is toxic, in combination, they are. Johnston, CJ., Finkelstein, JN., Mercer, P., Corson, N., Gelein, R and Oberdorster, G. 2000. Pulmonary effects induced by ultrafine PTFE particles. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 168(3): 208-15. Dupont (and all the manufacturers who use it) give the 500F figure because that's where the PTFE really begins to break down into compounds that may sicken you or kill birds. They also do it for a reason that should scare you: If a PTFE pan is once grossly overheated, its lining is partially converted into low molecular weight PTFE. Then if this pan is RE-HEATED to 486F, toxic particles are emitted. Seidel, WC., Scherer, KV, Jr.., Cline, D, Jr.., Olson, AH., Bonesteel, JK., Church, DF., Nuggehalli, S and Pryor, WA. 1991. Chemical, physical, and toxicological characterization of fumes produced by heating tetrafluoroethene homopolymer and its copolymers with hexafluoropropene and perfluoro(propyl vinyl ether). Chem Res Toxicol 4(2): 229-36. Much past 680F--easily attainable on your stovetop, by the way--PTFE will pyrolize and evolve some seriously toxic chemicals. Even if you are not bothered by the potential hazards of cooking on PTFE, you may be concerned that your $$ All-Clad may not live past age 1 or 2. Those cooks who reserve PTFE-lined pans only for cooking eggs commonly report that their pans last far longer, up to 5 or 6 years, rather than the 1-2 years' performance of pans that have been heat-degraded. I have ONE PTFE-lined pan, a Swiss Diamond. I preheat it only to the point I can't put my palm down in the pan. And I NEVER leave the room when it's on the hob.

Not that tough to make your own. I have a no-knead brioche recipe if you want it.

Copper all the way, provided it's thick. Stainless clad and disk-bottom is a compromise, based on cost and convenience. I keep one bare cast iron skillet for high-heat searing, one 6mm bare aluminum omelet pan, and one clad skillet for guest cooks. The rest of my batterie (about 50 pieces) is all copper. With all deference to Sam Kinsey, if you can afford it, don't mind hand washing, and don't use induction, there's nothing better than vintage hotel-grade copper cookware. This differs with application only in the margin of improvement over clad, IMO.

I've tried many, and IME, they're all crap. Better to have a strainer pan that lifts everything out of ther bath...

You can toast the enamel on these. I know because my wife destroyed a 9Q round LC oven. Heat concentration in a poorly conductive pot with viscous contents can easily be smaller than the heat source. Just as there can be a donut pattern, there can also be a "donut hole" central spot. The latter is why, IMO, few hobs supply heat dead-center--it's how they (try to) attain evenness.

My WAG is that you have roughened the central spot through repeated burns, scraping and scouring, and this roughness is enough to create the nucleation sites for bubbles and cause food to stick and scorch. I'll even go so far out on the limb as to say this was caused in the first instance by cast iron's crappy conductivity and a hotspot that (shock, shock) corresponds to your hob. Let me guess--you have a small gas or induction ring?

Cookbook stand with glass cover.

So, I've been wanting to be able to cut V-grooves in canrrots and other things, so that crosscuts will yield little stars or sunburst-shaped slices. I already have a channel knife, but its apex is a lot more U-shaped than V-. Any Garnish Gurus have an angle on a deep V one? Thanks!

Actually, I find the chocolate pot the least ridiculous item Drew featured (And I find most of what W-S does ridiculous). I have one of these, and for chocolate and Greek coffee, IMO, a pot like this is worthwhile.

Well, I like opaque, well-shaped, a good grip, a stable base, and non-metal. That's about it.