Richard Kilgore

It is not important. You do not want to let the coffee stand in the french press after brewing. You plunge and then pour. If you have made more than you will drink immediately, put the extra in a thermos or some such.

Fifi -- another alternative: if you get a plain white one, you can always paint little green okra around the base. Cool!

Toy?! These are serious instruments of food science!

Another alternative -- does anyone know how to replace the heating element so that Fifi can keep her prized grapes?

Fifi - Check it out before blowing it off. The "Recipe Smart Pot" apparently gives a lot of control that the other smart pots don't. You can set it in 30 minute increments at either high or low temp, and you may be able to combine those during the cooking process. There is some point at which it goes to "warm" (not "off") as a fail safe. I don't know if you can over-ride that; you'll have to look through the instruction book. But even if it did cut back to Warm after say 10 hours...exactly how long are you planning on sleeping overnight? At any rate one of these techno-pots and a traditional high-low pot would probably cover all possible needs.

Thanks Fifi, I fixed my Rival products link above. Looking them over, I like best the 6.5 oval "Recipe Smart Pot". You can really control the process over time. Otherwise I think I would go for the 5 qt round for something smaller. My grapes of wrath are still cookin', but I would like to replace it sometime this year. These things are a bargain given what they will do for you.

Ah, the garland of grapes vs the happy blue geese decision. I too opted for the grapes. I use it at least a couple of times a month (but in private, shhhh). They have them in most sizes now in white and stainless. The only newer functional option that appeals to be is the warming setting, not that the more sophisticated settings wouldn't possibly be helpful: you can set them to cook at high or low and then drop to warm after a preset number of hours. The ones with the most options seem to be the large (4.5 qt?) ovals. I suspect that any of the rivals are fine if they have the functions you need. I have no experience with the fancy models and also would be interested in hearing from someone who has a years worth of miles on theirs. Check out Rival Products website..

Great thread! I roasted a cauliflower for the first time last night and used it in a pasta dish: florets with EVOO, salt and pepper at 400 degrees for about an hour in a large LC baker. Linguini coated in EVOO, salt and pepper with Romano Pecorino and the cauliflower. Very nice.

In Dallas The Empire Bakery is still the best for breads. There are other good bakeries in the area, any one of which shows the chain grocery store fake "artisan" breads to be exactly what they are. Central Market has a wide variety of breads and even The Corner Bakery chain is quite good. There is the newer Atlanta Bakery chain, but I don't know it well. There must be some other small bakeries in the DFW I am missing. What are your favorites in your part of the state?

Elie -- I am impressed. If you do Robb Walsh's Quail in Rose Petal Sauce, please take pitctures (I know you will) and let's put one in with his article/recipe in RecipeGullet.

Someone who has an appetite like a bird.

Especially for Valentines Day, you may want to consider Robb Walsh's Quail in Rose Petal Sauce, based on a scene in the novel Like Water For Chocolate. (The link takes you to an excerpt from his new book, Are You Really Going To Eat That?, including the recipe.)

Thanks, Karen. I'll check out Chef's Catalogue, too.

Thanks, Karen. I think that's the one I've been looking at. Here it runs about $400 in stainless, less in paint. How's the clean up with it?

How about a convection oven with rotisserie? I have been thinking about one of those, because of the flexibility given countertop space for a convection oven anyway? Anyone use one? Good results?

You don't "have" to have both, but it's better to have the shape of the pan fit the shape of the meat. So if you are doing a stew, it does not matter. But if you're doing a leg, or elongated roast, or two meats each with a round shape, then oval is an advantage. And many people do with one round oven for everything.

Cusina -- your Volvo clearly requires a 13 1/2 qt LC!

I don't have any Staub, but have looked at them. They are definitely cool looking. The lids fit well. The spikes are the same as on Lodge, so if basting is what you want, it's great; if you're braising, it's not (but you're probably going to be protecting it from any drips anyway). The only real objection I have to them is the black or very dark interiors.

deleted -- off topic

Kim - No. Who would have receipts after 20 years anyway? W-S is the best in my experience. If they stocked it at any point in time, they will take it in and give credit for the last price the item sold for...or they did last year. So if is a discontinued item that they sold off cheap, you will only get that much credit. Actually, it did not occur to me to do this, until some one in these very forums suggested it. I had forgotten about the lifetime guarantee. So I took back a couple of pieces to see what they would say. They took them, so the next day I stuffed two or three large bags with old Calphalon and took that in also. No problem. As I recall I ended up with a couple of pices of All-Clad, a set of pasta bowls, and a 13 1/2 qt Italian hammered copper/tin-linned stock pot w/lid. Fine with me. I just filled in a few missing pieces with inexpensive ChefMate at Target.

Take it easy and don't try to get up and about too quickly. I managed to turn my flu into Pneumonia, which I can't recommend.

And Carolyn, I did not mean to imply that you were disparaging. Phlawless -- much will be revealed in the two thread links above.

In addition to Carolyn's fine thread, you also may want to look through Foodman's Cassoulet thread. And yes, do let us know how it goes. Whether or not it's a "true" Cassoulet, it should be delicious.

Snowangel -- is that the set with aluminum disk bottoms on stainless (I think they call it their "Professional" line) or the plain stainless. Either way it's a good to fabtastic price. I do, however, recommend the disk bottoms so you can sweat ingredients when making stock and soups. I think the usual price for the set w/ disks and vents is about $69, and the 16 qt. w/disk runs about $29.95 (corrected). Edited to correct the price of the 16 qt. -- should be only $29.95 at Target. No sets available in the local store here.

W-S is the best about returns. Last year I turned in some wrecked 20 year-old Calphalon, which they accepted despite obvious signs of dishwasher damage in addition to more or less regular damage. They gave me my choice of replacement pieces or store credit. I took the credit.