Joe Blowe

It appears to be overpriced PTFE cookware. If you're OK with that, cool. Otherwise, stick with the tried-and-true method of occasionally replacing your trusty teflon frying pan, like I do

Yes, grilling marinated items is not a problem. But do note what I said before -- sopping wet with marinade is a no no. You also wouldn't want to do any heavy basting over the element. Vegetables dressed in a little olive oil and salt are outstanding over infrared! If you grill veggies dry, they usually just blister and incinerate. Off the top of my head, I've grilled: salmon, sanma, tuna, mahi mahi, swordfish, and all sorts of beef, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. For fish, I like to use a grill basket or an additional fine-gauge grate (looks similar to the item pictured here at the top) on top of the grate. The v-shaped grate channels on the knock-off and the Solaire allow smaller items (or sagging fish flesh, to coin a phrase) to "fall" into the grooves, making retrieval a bit difficult. And before I forget, there's one more problem with that Cincinnati Enquirer article linked above -- they imply that you're supposed to preheat these grills for 20 to 30 minutes to properly sear. That's not how infrared works. You only need to get the element up to proper temp, 7 to 10 minutes, and then you can start grilling. The grill marks do not come from the metal grates, they come from the infrared radiation passing between the grates. The sear marks are basically like a photographic negative!

I've been using a Solaire-knock-off infrared grill since last year, and will never consider buying another grill that doesn't have an infrared element below the grill. My little grill has the "old style" exposed ceramic burner, not under glass, and it sears like a mutha. Yes it's delicate, and you're not supposed to grill foods that are sopping wet with marinade and so on, but nothing else compares IMO. I've seen infrared grills (i.e. radiant char-broilers) at my local restaurant supply, and yes, they also use the exposed ceramic burners -- no gas-under-glass here. NB: The "key patent", owned by TEC, was to use a ceramic "process burner" in an outdoor grill. That patent expired back in 2000, and it's taken this long for the other manufacturers to see the light. The ceramic burners were never that expensive, so I'm guessing it was fear of the unknown (i.e. how will the customer respond) that held them back for the last seven years...

Yup, we're happy BlueStar RNB owners as well (need a better pic, though), and would definitely recommend their products to anyone. I decided to go for it based on all of the positive feedback over at the GardenWeb Appliance forum, and to this day the product still gets solid reviews on that forum. Just in case the OP needs anymore convincing, here's a random quote from some random retailer :

The new Capitals are sweet, but someone should tell the OP that the 30" range is close to $5,000! If I wanted to stay in the $2,500 neighborhood, I'd give the BlueStar RCS30 a good look -- not nearly as polished as the Capital, but still a very solid piece of equipment...

Are you having fun in here by yourself?! 3 bucks is a sweet score, though. Well done!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I only see one reference of guacamole in conjunction with a FoodSaver. Turns out there's only three messages in all of eGullet that touch on the subject... Perhaps further discussion of vacuum sealers and guacamole wouldn't hurt?

Anyone have any input on FoodSavers and guacamole?

Oh man, I loves me some grilled sanma!! It's pretty much available all year long (frozen), but fresh-caught autumn sanma with nicely toasted skin...

Perhaps a Black & Decker electric knife is in order? I paid $11 for my last one, and it excels at thin slicing! And since this thread has been resuscitated , for manual bread slicing I really like my el cheapo Dexter-Russell offset knife. That cost me a whopping 13 bucks! When it craps out, and it will, it goes out to the garden and I'll go out and buy myself a new one...

At the risk of confusing the issue even further , I bring you the Minion Method: It's safe to say that I've spent far too much time over at alt.food.barbecue! And to the OP, if you ever catch Raichlen's show on PBS you'll see that his "fresh coals" are pre-lit in a chimney sitting around on one of the many grills on his set...

Avoiding Chinese-made products is pretty easy to do, as almost any and every end product has to clearly label the country of origin (manufacture). Avoiding American-made products, for example, with Chinese-made components is a different story altogether. In other words, good luck.

You may not believe it, but I have the uncanny ability to tear one sheet of Viva in half! I betcha I could do quarters if I tried hard enough!

Viva! Viva la Viva! P.S. I also wish Costco carried Viva. And Costco's Kirkland paper towels kinda suck. Uh, don't suck up enough, that is...

Without taking the time to look for that thread, are you talking about velveting with cornstarch or tenderizing with baking soda? (Neither of which should ever come near a hamburger )

I've been contemplating a Nesco cooker and temp. controller hookup lately, but haven't had the time to move forward. Anyone have anything to say, positive or negative, about the Traceable No. 4130 (as linked above)? I would use this setup just as a way to "get my feet wet", used mainly for thick cuts of meat, not delicate fish and so on...

thdad: You're looking at the heating elements at the back of the unit. toliver: That La Cornue unit starts at 7 or 8 grand, so get crackin' -- would actually like to see one installed in a residential kitchen, instead of just pictured in brochures!

Something like this? ETA: Or maybe something like this?

But... but I read it on the Internets! It has to be true!

http://travel.discovery.com/tv/bourdain/bio/bio.html "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations returns in the Summer of 2007 with all new episodes!"

Crickets, more like... Have you tried any searches like this or this?

From the Russian News & Information Agency Bwahahahaha! Ahem... discuss.

Oh, you have no idea... congratulations on your descent into madness!

There really is an insane amount of info on Whiz's site, like the following from their review: Be sure to do some searching over at alt.food.barbecue -- differing opinions over there...

Extruded coconut charcoal has generally received good word from the fanatics -- be sure to check out the Naked Whiz's charcoal comparo. And, in my ever-so-humble opinion, Japanese charcoal is all hype. So good on you for looking to alternatives...