Toliver

I say, well done, Sony! If ever there was a perfect picture for this discussion, that was it. Be proud.

Hi Ellen! Ah yes, crunchy potato air. I eat it and it's like I haven't eaten anything. I've gone through the motions but my junk food craving soul is not satisfied. I wonder if it's an east coast thing then. They were around when I was growing up so I am familiar with the chip but they never made my Top 10. We had: Ruffles have ridges....Lays Potato Chips (betcha can't eat just one) and even Granny Goose. There was also Bell Brand but I think that was a local brand. Fritos were THE chip to eat but since they're not a potato chip (technically speaking, Munchos aren't either), I'll leave them out of the discussion. That's fine. I'll be in the minority in this discussion. Even if you're all off your junk food rockers.

I just received an email from Cooks Illustrated where they rated slow cookers/crockpots. Their winner is the ALL-CLAD Stainless Steel Slow Cooker with Ceramic Insert, It'll only set you back about $150.

I don't "get" Munchos. I've tried them before and because of this discussion, I tried them again. I must be lacking something in my genes because they just taste like potato air to me. They have no substance. They're almost ethereal. Give me a chip with a crunchy thickness to it instead of Muncho wispiness (or is that wimpyness? ). Sorry if these are fightin' words, but with Munchos there's just no there there.

Yes. In this post and in this post.

I think that accurately describes some processed chicken tenders/patties you can buy. edited to add: And Goldfish crackers are sculpted, too.

As I understand it, "crockpot" is a trademarked name of the Rival Company and "slow cooker" is what other companies call the same thing. ← I always assumed a crockpot was one with crockery whether it had a crockery insert or, like the ancient model my mom has, is made of crockery and has no insert and is a pain in the ass to wash and rinse since it's not immersible in water. And if it was a non-crockery cooker than it was called a slow cooker. Ya learn something new everyday. Thanks Anna!

For additional help, you can find a step-by-step tutorial for seasoning woks in the eGullet discussion: A Pictorial Guide To Seasoning New Woks in the "China and Chinese Cuisine" forum posted by the esteemed Ah Leung (hzrt8w).

This reminds me that some Costco's will offer local items that aren't available at other locations. For instance, some of the San Diego Costcos sell a two-pack of salad dressing from a local restaurant chain called Pat & Oscar's. It's a sort of lemony Greek-style dressing that is quite good. I always stock up when I visit my family since I can't get it at my local Costco. A friend swears by the pre-made ribs (in the frozen section...not the hot ones next to the rotisserie chickens). She also enjoys the frozen salmon filets. She can take out what she needs and leave the rest in the freezer. I like the Foster's twin pack of cooked chicken strips. Although they have those fake looking grill marks I find that the meat comes in handy for everything from stirfrys to chicken salad.

There's another option: a slow cooker. Here's one similar to what I have: Westbend Slow Cooker It doesn't have programming...just a knob with numbers representing different heat settings. One of the benefits of this kind of slow cooker is that the non-stick pot is made of metal and can be used on the stove. So you can brown your meat in the pot and then move the pot onto the base for slow cooking. The base is also non-stick and can be used as a mini-griddle.

Oh. My. God. Hardee's New Breakfast Mega-Burrito The emphasis in the quote is mine. I think this is the breakfast burrito that could finally kill Homer Simpson. Has anyone tried it, yet...and lived to tell about it?

On a recent episode of Martin Yan's PBS series "Martin Yan's Chinatowns", he made rice (fun) pancakes in a bamboo steamer. The reason I mention this is because it looked like you could use a similar method to create fun noodles. He took a glass/Pyrex pie plate and lightly brushed the inside with oil for easy removal of the fun pancake. His fun mixture was water, rice flour and a little bit of wheat flour/starch (consult his book for the actual recipe at your nearest bookstore). He ladled enough of the mixture into the pie plate to just cover the bottom. The batter was quite thin. He steamed it until is was no longer liquid and then added a filling on top of it and made a sort of egg roll/mu shu type "burrito" and steamed that until the insides were cooked through. In the episode there was a cutaway shot of different fun noodle dishes and I thought I saw what looked like a sheet of fun noodles steamed on a large leaf. If you have enough steamers inserts so you can steam multiple sheets at a time, it seems like it could be worth the effort.

With that many pomegranates, have you tried making a pomegranate reduction/syrup? There are a lot of uses for that, too.

You seem to be really stressing about the frozen patty vs. fresh patty. Ladies and Gentlemen of the court, I give you Exhibit A (post #129) Exhibit B (post #164) Exhibit C (post #260) and Exhibit D (post $286) Your customers seem to have no problem eating your burgers that started out as a frozen patty. It's not as if your patties stay in the freezer for 6 months before they're cooked and consumed. No, they're "fresh-frozen" and then cooked within a relatively short period of time. Do the taste test and then move on...you have other matters that deserve your attention. You do realize that even if you decide to just serve fresh patties at your brick & mortar place, you'll still have to have some frozen patties on hand in case you sell out of the fresh ones (see the above Exhibits)? I don't know if you've signed off on the name of your joint, yet. I'm favoring "Classic Burgers" as opposed to "Classic Hamburgers". Why? Because hamburgers are just beef burgers, but "burgers" can be beef burgers, chicken burgers, fish burgers, etc. You may start out your business selling beef hamburgers but your ultimate goal is to eventually expand into other kinds of burgers. The difference in labeling may be minor but in the long run, it can go further. As for burger names, don't forget "The Cloud 9". Sounds heavenly, no?

You can find it on the menus of a lot of "true" Mexican restaurants (as opposed to the Americanized ones). Of course, you're near the wrong border for that.

What Jack said is correct. When boiling eggs, it's the one time where fresh eggs are not the best thing to use. As for the blue garlic, it's still edible. Here's a previous discussion on the phenomenon: My Garlic turned blue!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you've tasted a cooked-from-fresh burger and a cooked-from-frozen burger and there's not a major difference, keep doing what you're doing. It's all a matter of spin. You need to think like a PR flak. Your burgers aren't just frozen, they're "fresh-frozen". Your top secret blend of spices and beef are fresh-frozen to meld into a first class burger unlike any other. Then they're put directly on the grill where they transform into the juicy No. 9 Original burger that's in so much demand. There's no charge for that ad copy. As for smoothies (as discussed a while ago), do they take any longer to prepare than a shake? If they're more bother than they're worth, 86 'em. Frankly, if you're going retro, I'd say don't do them. My mom & dad didn't have smoothies when they went out to eat in their younger days and they turned out just fine. You could even do what Carl's Jr./Hardee's is doing...their current TV campaign has them mocking smoothies which suggests retro (shakes) is better. The advertising angles are endless. Regarding wanting to offer a variety of cheeses on your burgers... I'd say keep it simple as others have suggested since this discussion first began. Save the variety of cheeses for your "Freestyle Fridays" specials. If they prove to be popular, then go ahead and move them to your main menu.

There's a local Albertson's grocery store that has a small free-standing freezer for just ostrich meat (provided by an ostrich meat purveyor who, I believe, raises the birds in the mountains east of town). I haven't priced it so I don't know how it compares to beef, etc. I had ostrich meat at a company Christmas party (along with deep-fried alligator, rattlesnake and turkey "Rocky Mountain Oysters" ) The ostrich meat tasted good, more like beef than fowl and was quite lean.

It took me a while to find this discussion so I could post another multi-use cooker-thingy I saw on cable TV: The Hamilton Beach Multi-Cooker It fries, it steams and it boils. Of course, not all at once. As Steven (Fat Guy) first posted in this discussion, it's basically a pot with a heating element. It's also as ugly as sin. I'm trying to think of a reason why this appliance is any better than using a sturdy stock pot on the stove to do your frying/steaming/boiling.

Sounds like a good excuse for a side by side taste test. I'm sure you'll be able to find volunteers to do the tasting.

Well, that wouldn't cut in the Southern United States. Proper green beans are simmered for quite a long time with some bacon or fatback and more salt than is good for you. "Crisp" they ain't. Where's Racheld when you need her to wax eloquently about this southern side dish?

"Taking the Junk Out of Junk Food" The article also states that they wanted to switch to sunflower oil in their products but there wasn't a source that could provide the volume they needed. It's not stated but it's sort of implied in the article that they were able to persuade farmers to grow sunflowers and provide a steady source of the oil. The trend for creating more nutritous snacks seems to be benefitting not only the consumer but growers and suppliers, as well. Is anyone currently in a test market for the Flat Earth line of products?

Instead of starting a new discussion on appliances, I thought I would post this article from MSN featuring some new ranges, ovens and cooktops in this discussion. "Appliance Trends: Ranges, Ovens, Cooktops" Of course, most are quite pricey. I'm not loving the sensor feature on the third appliance (Kenmore Elite's SensaCook cooktop) where the cooktop shuts off when the pan is removed or is turned on when the pan goes on. Once in awhile when cooking you need to remove pans to add ingredients off the flame and then put it back on the cooktop to finish. Will the on/off feature impact my cooking? The 11th oven (Viking's Combi Steam/Convect Oven) sounds like a winner. Does anyone have it or something similar? The 12th picture shows LG's over-the-range microwave where the door lifts open and goes up above the microwave. My sister-in-law, who isn't very tall, would have major problems reaching up above the microwave to close the door. And how cool is the last appliance, Insight Pro Microwave Drawer from Sharp? A microwave in a drawer. What will they think of next? edited to clarify

Just a reminder that if you use a quote from another eGullet member in your signature you need to get their permission first. See Avatar, Signature, & Member Biography Guidelines>Signatures That being said, some of my favorite eGullet quotes: “I don't get jello "salads" either. But white sausage gravy over a biscuit is a poem in pork.” – fifi “Never underestimate the power of pork.” – tejon “I should mention that the morning always begins with bacon.” - snowangel “They can have my bacon when they can pry it from my cold, dead fingers.” =Mark “A world without pork is not a world for me.” – fiftydollars “…it is very difficult to transcend the quality of your ingredients.” - chocopihle “Torn roasted peppers make Jacques Pepin cry. That's my code for a bad thing. As in: 'Washing chicken makes Jacques Pepin cry.' Or: 'Holding the knife like that makes Jacques Pepin cry.' " – jinmyo Another gem from jinmyo: “Psh. I don't care about the people. Some you like, some you don't. I won't cook food I don't love.” “Sure I can grill…I can also make a dress out of a floursack and a man out of you.” – Maggiethecat in the GGWotS (Great Grill War of the Sexes) discussion

Toliver, you actually have uneaten bacon once it's cooked? ← I have to put at least some of it in the freezer. Just the thought of eating a pound of bacon in one sitting, though doable , hardens my arteries. Along those lines, I intentionally don't buy ice cream because if I buy it, I know I'll eat it. I'm single and I've been thinking about buying a FoodSaver. I bought the Pro series (someone on eGullet posted about a great deal for it on Amazon) for my brother and his family last Christmas and I just found out they haven't used it yet! Now I wish I had kept it for myself.