Yiannos

Wow super super cool, all that stuff is amazing!

Have you tried removing and then repacking the old grease? I would look into this, especially if yours is an older Hobart-era one, as those should last forever. My newer model started sort of surging and slowing down a few years ago, I cleaned out and repacked the grease around the transmission and that took care of it. I remember I had a little trouble finding the grease, but the job itself is not too difficult outside of being very messy. Edit: I should also add that I have owned a 7qt KitchenAid Pro Line for a few years. It is great for large batches of things or bread doughs, but I find that smaller volume recipes usually need a few stirs by hand to get everything incorporated as the bowl is huge. They make a paddle with a silicone scraper attached and it works pretty well, but I still find myself getting the smaller 4.5qt model out (the one I replaced the grease on) for just a normal batch of cookies or whatever.

@Eatmywords do you have any idea where that one is made? It seems so cheap compared to almost every other one I've looked at, but I have only looked at Japanese made models. This one says "Japanese style" all over the place but at that price I wonder what it's really like. Seems nice and overall has good reviews, but at the same time I am so skeptical about star ratings online, they are manipulated so easily, it would be nice to hear from someone outside of the Amazon bubble that has used one for a bit. Like you said though, for $55 maybe worth a try.

I don't know about the rest of the cooking competition world, but these things have been ubiquitous on Masterchef Australia for years. The only knowledge I have is from watching contestants use them, but they seem super versatile. It feels like I have seen EVERYTHING cooked on them, from small pieces of veggies to getting a nice char on huge bone-in steaks. Like you I am sort of interested in picking one up to use in the kitchen, they are relatively inexpensive as far as some of these toys go and seem like a fun way to mix it up. The only thing holding me back is the ventilation issue as @Eatmywords mentioned, charcoal is usually a big no-no indoors because of the carbon monoxide it can give off, and they can get extremely hot apparently. I have a nice range hood which I think would be fine, but would also love to hear from others with any experience.

I just went through the same thing as you, there are so many out there my eyes would just glaze over every time I began searching. Eventually what I learned is that unless you are going with a custom or commercial unit they are all very similar. Not sure how big your kitchen/home is, but do a little reading to help calculate the approximate CFM rating first, and then I would start digging around online for shops that carry them. ABT and AJ Madison come to mind, much more variety than the usual Home Depot or Lowe's offerings. Find a style that you like, most, if not already set up for non-venting, will offer some kind of conversion kit. If money is really no object Vent-a-Hood makes amazing units, but you will pay. I ended up buying a Zephyr from AJ Madison I think it was, the name came up a few times with some positive experiences and they had a style and size that we liked so that was all it really took. Broan are also good like @ElsieD mentioned, it's the one we just removed and strangely we had the same experience as her re: it sticking out a tiny bit far. It was also mounted a little low in our kitchen so that might have been it, just weird to hear the exact same complaint from someone else.

My philosophy too, especially once in a lifetime events like these, we should all be so lucky to celebrate a 90th. Personally, I am quite comfortable with some surprise and a great reputation.

I feel like it's 80, but don't quote me on this I am not an expert by any means.

@paulraphael how much of this do you think is subjective? For example, I used to have maybe a can or two of soda in any given week, but as I grew older for whatever reason it lost it's appeal and now I rarely drink any soda at all. BUT, when I do happen to have the odd Coke, it now tastes almost unbearably sweet to me having not had it on my palate for a long period of time. I wonder if our diets in general skew sweet, there is sugar in everything it seems any more, and the ice cream and dessert recipes of our time reflect that. While I have never been a fan of sickly sweet anything, I have not found much of say Lebovitz's ice cream to be too bad, and I wonder if we are able to tolerate different levels depending on what kind of sweetness is included in our normal eating patterns.

Man it is so hot and gross here, I feel like I'd make the 8 hour or whatever drive down if this offer is extended to the rest of us. Your popsicles look amazing!

I did this the first few times I made these recipes. Now I add just a little bit of the hot milk at first and whisk thoroughly to get any lumps out, adding the rest slowly after it has smoothed out. This makes me sad.

I believe I read somewhere that this is exactly why she uses this step. I have made many of the ice creams in her book and have always been very happy with the custardy texture sans eggs, though I have nothing against eggs at all. Her lemon recipe is fantastic and I find I like it better than those recipes I have made with a traditional custard base.

That Guinness/chocolate is one of the best flavors in that book, everyone loves it, even those who don't drink any kind of beer at all. That sweetness of the chocolate countering the bitterness of the beer and then the creaminess shared by both... Wonderful combination.

Toasted coconut is given as a topping at the end, with no toasting of the coconut before steeping or anything like that. I've only made it using toasted coconut ala @David Lebovitz, and usually take the toasting a little farther than I maybe should because I really love the flavor.

@JoNorvelleWalker I just got the Beranbaum book in the mail today thanks to the praise you guys have given it, and coconut is the first to try on my list but I am currently waiting to get my kitchen back in service as it is being updated. Coconut is my favorite flavor of ice cream and I'm excited to get a different take on it.

Wow WTF

I feel like someone out there speaks the same language as me all of a sudden

Thank you guys for mentioning Rose Levy Beranbaum's ice cream book, I just ordered a copy as I am curious for some of her interesting flavor combinations. I have a couple of her baking books which I find really interesting so hoping for some good ideas.

I'm in California just outside of Sacramento, and I believe at least a couple of the natural food stores around here sell raw milk. We are among a handful of states that allow retail sales, according to a quick search. Have never tried it but this site always has a way of piquing my curiosity...

Hm, good thing there are lots of other shows available for you to watch then I guess 🤷‍♀️

This is correct, I totally get what you're saying and of course I do this. The same thing happens to me as a musician listening to music, I can't help but dissect and analyze. But I find I am always happiest when I am able to just listen.

I feel like if you are eating something that someone got right, and it's delicious, questions like this don't even come into the equation.

I don't want to speak for @Margaret Pilgrim but I think what she is trying to say, and I agree in a sense, is that you can make truly exceptional ice cream without ever having to add anything else. I'm not good at much in this life, but I have made ice cream countless times at this point and have never felt the need to introduce anything but the usual suspects as far as ingredients go. I do play with different qualities of ingredients, ie chocolates vanillas fruit flavors etc etc, or more or less or no eggs, that kind of thing, it is a balance always... But I've always felt like I have been able to manage the attributes of ice cream with a little less of this or a little more of that. Now I'm not particularly adventurous as far as flavors go, I can understand needing something exotic to balance out some peculiarities of an ingredient that might affect texture or intensity of flavor or whatever. But I feel like I have made some of the best ice cream I've ever had using nothing but milk cream eggs sugar etc. I get this argument too, and you are right, but this applies to literally EVERYTHING on this planet... While there are many "chemicals" that may subjectively improve an ice cream, I can't imagine you want to just toss whatever into your food that makes it better just because deep down in its molecular structure somewhere it originated naturally on Earth, if that makes sense.

"I was at karate class, I swear"

Alton Brown has a recipe for something he calls Orange Delicious which is pretty close to what I remember Orange Julius being like back in the day.

Yeah I feel you completely, it's the same here, onions as big as your head most of the time, especially red ones for some reason.