dscheidt

My freezer is full of vacuum bags of cookies ready to bake. I put a sheet pan's worth of cookies in each bag, but you could do fewer if you want smaller batches. Labeling is important; it's pretty hard to tell many cookies apart when they're in frozen balls. I also label with full date and baking instructions. In a good vacuum bag (I have a chamber machine) and a cold frreezer, they seem to be good for at least four months, probably quite a bit longer but we turn them over faster than that. Oh, if you ever need to get a two year old really mad, let her help you make cookies and then not bake any!

It's about 15 or 20 a quart, at RD. it takes an ounce or less to do a pan, though, so not expensive on a per use basis.

There's also a product called 'carbon off' that does a fantastic job at this. It's also safe for aluminum pans. (But not skin, eyes, or lungs...) Restaurant depot has it, I think. Get the brush on stuff, the can is not the way to go.

Cake flour, at least in the US, is typically treated with chlorine gas, which does something to the starch that makes the starch more absorbent, so it can absorb more water and sugar, and slows the starch gelatinization which gives better risen cakes. So a mixture of the two isn't just AP flour, even if the protein content is close.

I never got a response to my first request. i run the mail server the mail would have come to, it never was attmepted to be delivered. I did get a blade. Because I never got an email confirmation, after a week or so, I made a second request, using a different email and my office shipping address. That one did get emails, including the most recent home for christmas message.

They're now sending spam to the address I used to register for the blade recall. Boo!

I don't own a froschner chefs at the moment (I have in the past), but I've sharpened a few dozen of them. They sharpen easily, take a wicked edge, and keep about 10 minutes. Well, a bit longer than that, but they're in the need constant work category of knife. I have a number of their paring knives, and they're also in the constantly needs sharpening camp. Easy, though, a couple passes on fine diamond stone does the job.

I made two claims; one on 14 DEC, which I didn't get an email confirmation for, another on 22 DEC, which I did. I got the first blade on 4 JAN. I have not received the other. (they're going to entirely different addresses, so I'm sure that's the one I got.) I'm sure they've exhausted their initial supply of replacements and are waiting on the factories (or the ships).

A fan pointed into your freezer will get that ice to melt a lot faster than just leaving the door open.

There's a bunch of delightful chemistry in a rinse aid. First, there are a collection of surfactants (detergents are surfactants, as well) which reduce the surface tension of the rinse water, so it sheets off your dishes better, and a thin layer of water evaporates faster from hot dishes then the same amount of water in big drops. Second is citric acid, which binds with calcium ions; calcium both forms spots, and interferes with the surfactants. There's usually a second agent for mineral removal, EDTA, which works on other polyvalient ions; again, if they're not in the water, they can't be making spots. Then there's some real magic chemistry, 'sodium polycarboxylate', which is a whole range of potential chemicals, the exact composition of which varies from brand to brand, and is probably trade secret. sodium polycarboxylate is a anti-redeposting agent; it keeps crud that's been removed from being put back. It's one of the big reasons that modern laundry detergents work as well as they do, as well. rinse aid is used in pretty small amounts (my dishwasher seems to use about 10 ml per load, if I turn it all the way up), and lead to cleaner dishes, require you to use less detergent, and save me from having to use the electrically heated drying cycle. it costs something like a nickle a load, which is nothing, if it keeps the dishes looking good longer.

The stickyness of my lodge skillet decreased dramatically after I took a flap disc on an angle grinder to it. Not that I'm going to buy a $200 piece of cast iron for that, though.

most wastewater plants attempt to remove phosphates. They do not do a terribly good job, and phosphate removal is expensive, increases sludge volumes (which is expensive to dispose of, and has other expenses). There are biological methods, but they're not wide spread, and much of the phosphates in detergents are not readily available for biological processes until they've broken down. That happens slowly, and after the effluent has been discharged. Use a better rinse aid, and use less detergent. That goes a long way towards reducing cloudy dishes.

One concern is condensation. If you take your beans in and out of the freezer, they'll get condensation on them. If your roaster puts them in good bags with a vacuum or modified atmosphere, they'll do fine going into the freezer, and coming out once when you use them. The other concern is dehydration in the freezer, but again, a good sealed bag takes care of that too.

cost. Commercial gas ranges are cheap (cheaper than residential, in some cases, because they have no bells or whistles, insulation, and lower levels of fit and finish); induction costs a lot more. They do find a place where the costs of installing ventilation, etc are relatively high, for example in big city buildings and retrofits.

That looks like a cambro (or similar) food pan. If you get a lid, you can drill a 2 3/8 inch hole in it. That's the diameter of the metal part of the annova, and so it will rest on the lip that the clamp does. Works great, lids fit tight, can be taken on and off in the cook, and is much easier to deal with than plastic wrap.

I am not allowed to store food containers in the bedroom.

4 quarts is just a little to small, 6 quarts is a little too big. So six quarts is probably the right one.

camsquares fit better on the shelf. Smallest is two quarts, though, which is too big for some thing.s

Chicago area people might be interested to learn that Tom and Patty Erd are giving a lecture 'The Lure and Lore of Spices' at the Albany Park branch of the Chicago Public Library on Jan 31. event link. I'm planning to attend, as that's my local library.

My problem has always been other people not keeping things up to date, and for inventories that give a location, moving stuff around.

The vollrath tribute stuff is made in the USA. sur la table's pans are Chinese.

It appears you need to be a member of that forum to download the spread sheet.

Not unless it failed to include the string 'cuisinart' in it. I did check, before submitting another request, using my work contact details. That got an email pretty much instantly.

Mine showed up today. I have a 14 cup model. The blade is marked DLC 001BIB. It looks like Rotus's. I suspect they've got different factories making them, with different designs. Incidentally, I never got any confimation that they'd received my replacement request, until the blade showed up. j

Loose neutral is what the symptoms sound like.