JAZ

I just got the MT 500. I'm very happy with it. I believe it brews at 200 degrees, or even a little higher. It certainly makes great coffee. It's considerably more expensive than the original price range, though.

Exactly. I think that's why this is working so well for me. Without an easy, out-of-the place to toss the used ones, it would drive me crazy.

In what way can they be a plus? . . . Do they ever really work and stay meaningfully cool in a wide variety of situations where regular handles would not? In my experience, they simply don't work very well at not heating up. Sure, the handles on my 1 quart All-Clad saucepans don't get very hot when I'm making a little bechamel. But, then again, the cast iron handle on my Falk Culinair 1.5 quart sauteuse evasee doesn't tend to get very hot when I'm making a little bit more bechamel either. More to the point, however, the handles on both brands get hot of the pans sit on the stove doing a reduction for 45 minutes. I suppose the All-Clad's "stay cool" handles take a few minutes more to heat up, but this is not a meaningful difference in practical terms. ← Well, just to put your theory to a test, I put two saucepans about 2/3 full of water on the stove, covered them, brought the water to a boil and then turned the heat down to keep the water simmering. One saucepan was a Demeyere Sirocco, 2 liters. The other was a 1.5 quart Mauviel professional pan. The results: At 15 minutes, the Mauviel was really warm, and by 20 minutes, I could hold the handle just long enough to slide the pan off the heat. At 25 minutes, it was too hot to lift at all, although I didn't burn my hand by simply touching the handle. I turned the heat off at that point, and a half hour later, it was still too hot to hold. After more than an hour, I could still lift the Demeyere easily, and hold it more than long enough to carry it across the kitchen to the stove and empty it out. (Incidentally, not that anyone asked, but at 5 minutes, the lid handle on the Mauviel was too hot to touch. The lid handle on the Demeyere was still cool at 1 hour.) I'd say that's a meaningful difference. It seems to me that condemning stay-cool handles for heating up in the oven, or if the burner is bigger than the pan, or if the handle is too close to another burner is to miss the point -- stay-cool handles (at least Demeyere's) do stay cool enough to be used safely in most normal situations in the home kitchen. Whether it's too difficult to remember which handles stay cool, or to pay attention to the pan-burner area ratio or if a pan just came out of the oven is another question.

Silicone handles would help on the stove top, but not in the oven -- silicone eventually heats up (which is why it's used for bakeware). The "heat-proof" part refers to the fact that it won't melt, not that it doesn't get hot. That's the reason I think silicone potholders are a bad idea -- they're fine for a short time, but if you're holding a pan for a long period of time, say, to take cookies off a baking sheet, they become unbearably hot by the time you're done.

I have, by conservative estimate, at least three dozen dishtowels. Some decorative and virtually useless, others ugly but absorbent. Flour sack and terry, Jaquard and waffle-weave. I always kept a few out at any given time, and crammed the rest of them into a drawer. When I moved, I realized how many I had, and how few I actually used. Meanwhile, whenever I taught or assisted with classes, we'd always have a big stack of towels to grab whenever we needed them, which of course is a fabulous way to work. Yet somehow, I never thought to use my towels at home that way. I used a lot of paper towels for everything from drying greens to wiping up spills, but most of the cloth towels lived in the drawers. Until I moved. In my new place, I don't have the drawer space for the towels. Plus, it finally sunk in how much easier it is to work in any kitchen if you have a stack of towels out and easily accessible. So now I keep a couple of stacks of them on top of the fridge -- flour sack for things like drying lettuce or dishes, thick terry "bar towels" for grabbing hot pans (dry) or wiping my hands (damp), plus a small stack of miscellaneous old towels for spills. The clean towels are stacked up on the left, with a basket on the right for dirty towels. It's working like a dream, and I just wish I'd started doing it years ago. I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, right? How do you store and use your dishtowels?

On the Lodge web site, there's no description of how the Signature Series is constructed. Is the body of the pan just cast iron (seasoned or raw), or is it coated with something?

Call me weird, but I kind of like the challenge of cooking in other people's kitchens. Maybe because I've done it a lot, I find that being able to adapt is oddly satisfying (after I get over the frustration, of course). I have learned to take my knives and a few other indispensible tools to vacation rentals, though. And sometimes I make serendipitous discoveries when I'm forced to adapt. When I moved, it took me a while to get my cookware unpacked. I finally found enough to make a curry, but realized that I didn't have the pan I usually use for rice. I ended up using an egg poaching pan (minus the insert for the eggs) -- kind of a small saute pan with a glass lid. Whether it was the pan or the new stove (electric for the first time in quite a while), it was the best rice I've ever made. Perfect. I now have a new rice pan.

This subject has been thoroughly discussed before, so we're closing this topic. Further discussion of MSG can be continued on the topics Matthew Grant linked to above, or on a new topic, if, indeed, there's something new to say. Thanks.

Since for the most part, this topic has strayed far from the original subject of how supermarket strikes affect shopping habits, we're closing it. Thanks for participating.

The good thing about the Kitchenaid is that it comes with the mini-bowl and blade, so it's like getting two in one. I would definitely get the 12-cup.

I've been meaning to post this for a while. I had dinner at Eugene a couple of months ago with a friend and was very impressed with both the food and the service. We did have to wait for 20 minutes or so for our table, but that gave us a chance to try a cocktail in the bar and chat with the bartender, so it wasn't a waste of time. The cocktails are a good mix of "classics" and solid new creations and were well executed. Dinner was uniformly good. We started with the oysters that Voodoo mentioned; I loved the granita. My favorite dish of the night was turbot with cippoline onions and wild mushrooms; the fish was done perfectly and wasn't overpowered by the vegetables and sauce. The service was professional, although not particularly formal, I thought. Other than having to wait, I had no complaints at all. I'll definitely return; I'd like to try the tasting menu.

I really like the flavor of licorice, and have been known to drink Pernod on the rocks. But aside from the drinks (like the CR#2) where the glass is rinsed with it, I don't know of many cocktails that call for it. I've been using basil in a few drinks, some of which have been very good. Since basil has licorice undertones, I wonder if Pernod and the like would be good in similar drinks. I'll have to experiment. When you get the French Pearl figured out, let us know. It's a great drink.

I've tried a couple of tequila drinks with a pinch of salt, and what I found was that the Margarita with a blanco was much brighter with a pinch of salt. With a splash of grapefruit juice added to the usual mix, it was also nice. But a version with reposado and a splash of blood orange juice didn't fare as well. The salt didn't harm it in the least, but it didn't add anything either. In fact, I added more lime juice to it because it tasted a little flat. This salt thing is very interesting.

Chow mein noodles -- the crispy ones. My mother used to add these to Chex mix, and also made "haystacks" with these and peanuts, covered in chocolate. Lately, I've rediscovered them for sprinkling over Asian-style salads.

In his book The Joy of Coffee, Corby Kummer has a recipe for Praline Crisp cookies that calls for browning butter and then re-solidifying it before creaming it with the sugar. The browned butter makes these cookies so wonderful that I've copied it for several other recipes.

Interesting. Earlier tonight, I tried a Daiquiri with a pinch of salt added. I found it oddly muted -- even after an additional squeeze of lime, it seemed flat and lifeless. It's the exact opposite of what I would have predicted. Maybe salt is best left to grapefruit drinks. I'm planning to test that theory, tomorrow probably.

My sister used to make a savory version with cheese and (I think) tomatoes and sausage. It was good, but I always preferred the plain one.

I remember reading several recipes for limeade-type drinks from various Southeast Asian countries that include salt in the drink itself, so that might be a place to start. I think that, of the citrus juices, salt works best with lime and grapefruit, then lemon, with orange last. Maybe that's because salt works to soften bitterness, so it would make sense that the more bitter fruits would take to a pinch of salt.

Here's one I was playing around with last summer. Since I've been finding pretty good peaches in the market lately, I've revisited it and have decided to call it the Peachy Keen. 1/2 peach, cut into chunks 5-6 basil leaves 2 oz. gin 1/2 oz. Velvet Falernum 1/2 oz. lime juice Big dash peach bitters Muddle peach and basil with the gin. Add rest of ingredients and ice. Shake. Strain (I use a regular small strainer rather than a cocktail strainer).

A couple of comments: Have you considered Demeyere cookware (which can be used on induction ranges)? I have several pieces in the Sirocco line and love it. Most pieces have a copper disk bottom (skillets and sauciers don't -- they have a thick aluminum core), so the responsiveness is good. They're also dishwasher safe. I love them. Also, you haven't really said what kind of cooking you do, so it's a little hard to say what the "minimum" is. The list that gariotin posted is a good start, but (for instance) if you plan to make stock, a 6-qt. stockpot probably won't be nearly big enough. On the other hand, there's no reason to get a 12- or 16-qt. stockpot if you're not going to make stock. As another example, if you want to make stews and braises, I think you'd want a cast iron (either plain or enamel-coated) 4-qt. or larger dutch oven. If the 6-qt. stockpot is heavy enough, it might be able to do double-duty, but often stockpots aren't designed for browning and braising. And it seems that you plan to make candy -- you'll need something heavy bottomed and at least 4 quarts for most batches of candy. You really can't use a cast iron dutch oven style pan for that -- it retains way too much heat. Sometimes you just can't make pans do "double duty."

Gary and Mardee Regan's Tart Gin Cooler (from New Classic Cocktails) is a great drink that incorporates tonic. Pour over ice: 2 oz gin, 3 oz grapefruit juice, 3 oz tonic water and a dash of Peychaud bitters, stir to combine. Great summertime drink.

Incanto is open on Sundays, and it would be a perfect choice given your specifications. It's not downtown, but it is in SF, and it's easy to get to on the MUNI streetcar. (Here is a topic on Incanto, and here is a topic on a dinner we had there a while back -- scroll down for the dinner posts, plus photos.) There's also a relatively new Italian place downtown, Perbacco, that I've heard good things about, but I moved before it opened, so I don't have any personal experience with it.

The Oxo one does look good (and it's certainly cheaper than my WMF strainer) -- what's the function of the black rubber piece on the back? John, is that the one you have, or does Oxo make another?

I've been on a search for a nice looking, yet functional cocktail strainer. For a long time, I used the basic one you see everywhere -- small, stainless and ugly. It worked okay, although I always found that there was nothing to funnel the liquid, so it was easy to spill as I poured. Mostly, though, it just looked and felt cheap and flimsy. I like my bar tools to look nice as well as function well; hence the search. The problem was that most of the "nicer" strainers, in sets or sold singly, had major design flaws -- the spring wasn't large enough to keep the strainer in the shaker securely, or the handle was long (what's the point of that?). That was the main reason I never bought the Rosle strainer -- that and the price, although I could have gotten a substantial discount. I finally found one that I'm happy with -- this one by WMF. It looks nice (it's made of brushed stainless), fits the strainer snugly and pours well. But I'd still like to know if there are others out there worth getting -- after all, I can always use two good strainers. What does everyone else use?

While I agree that a lot of horseradish makes a Bloody Mary too much like cocktail sauce, I'd argue that a little (I use less than 1/4 tsp. per drink) adds a second layer of heat that you can't get from chile-based hot sauces. Made with just a touch of horseradish, a Bloody Mary doesn't taste like cocktail sauce, or even like horseradish -- it just has a nice fresh burst of heat. I like it.