Slim W

My clear ice maker of choice, 2 layers of cardboard, when enough is frozen take out of the freezer for a good 15 to 20 min then a bread knife and mallet to divide. Been doing this for 5 plus years. A cheap cooler with the top removed works well. With the correct ice even cold brew coffee and tonic tastes great in 40C + weather.😉

Depends on which deck, but yes I believe it was 1A.

Not all airline food is bad. Dom Perignon 2013 and some snacks, caviar and a Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2012.

https://stefangourmet.com/2017/11/01/how-to-prevent-a-bad-smell-with-long-and-low-sous-vide-cooks/ I know this is starting to drift, but I have tried to above method and never had the "puffy" bag or off smell on 48+ hrs sous vides since.

I used to own a Miele combination steam oven. They are great as a 2nd oven, well engineered (like most Miele products), easy to use and I had it 6 years with zero issues. My only complaint was the max temperature of 225C/437F. I found it a bit low for some breads, had more consistent results with the Lodge Combo Dutch Oven in a conventional oven 290C/550F. I have used the Anova Precision Oven (max 480F?) and personally I would get that if I had the counter space. On the fridge, is there such a thing as too much fridge space? 🤣

Years ago I had a Toddy system, Toddy® Cold Brew System | Toddy Cold Brew Coffee (toddycafe.com) It worked well enough, just a bit too big for 2 of us. Since then I've used my chamber vac or Isi to do enough for the day. Quick cold brew: how to make one in just 60 seconds - Perfect Daily Grind

Thanks for the great insights!!

Not disputing your assessment of the steels. But would the surface (cladding) of the blades make a difference? Damascus cladding can be a little "sticky"? If the drag on the surface of the blade cladding on the grape is greater than the drag of the grape against the board its bound to slide? Beautiful blades by way!! The Takeda is very impressive.

I have never seen that! I was outside the other day frying at 39deg C with it set to MAX.. My unit in Canada is in Newfoundland, high ambient temperatures are not a problem there

Hello, Have been following this thread for awhile. I would like to add my observations, nothing scientific. First I have had my freak for a couple years at least, hard to recall life before! I live in the Middle East and have a 220V model from what I assume is Hong Kong, serial number ends in HK and has a UK plug. I also use one in Canada which is the lower voltage /wattage model. I have learned to only use MAX or Fast(Canadian model) when using a pot/pan full of water or oil. For anything else I use the lower settings to avoid wild overshoots, burnt milk etc. This also seems to be pan specific, my cast iron or carbon steel appear to be very excitable, Scanpan, All-Clad and Le Crueset less so. I think I would only use slow or medium with a very thin pan. Deep frying is a joy now!! Sauces, eggs breads etc a breeze. When deep frying or any high temp smoky cooking, I always do this outside. I have never had the unit overheat or shutdown, it's 41C/106F out right now and I would not hesitate using it. Maybe the 220V model has better cooling? Again these just my observations. CHC, thank you for all your experiments and what you have documented, great resource!!!