Laurentius

Oh, you can clean and polish it to a mirror finish if you want--just like copper cookware. But depending on where you live, and how often you use it, you may be spending a lot of time... For a fast, slightly brushed look, a quick scrub with Barkeeper's Friend might please you.

Great, please post about how well it works for you. You probably already know this, but these will quickly become scuffed, stained and patinated to a deep gold-brown. Nothing really to be done about that. Enjoy.

I think what you're talking about about is extending a few feet at most--from counter outlet to a point up or down the counter. And for truly small appliances, e.g., 1500W. So the amperage draw shouldn't be a big issue. Still, I would favor buying the flat "appliance" cords (usually grey) that are sold for large-r appliances, e.g., refrigerators, ACs and countertop ovens. One thing to consider is a heavy-duty power strip IF you're compliant with only powering one appliance at a time. I have such a 4-foot strip with 8 spaced outlets that I use on my shop bench. It's screwed to the wall for security. So many of these short cord issues are because the makers think their buyers are going to get something wet and cause injury or casualty.

If true, these would not be fresh eggs. Fresh would have transpired their water through their shells, leaving only dry residue inside. And fresh would have spoiled long before that. Perhaps the story is about eggs that were alkalized and sealed in clay or ash, the so-called Century Eggs. That might be possible.

Real eggs take a long time to go rotten. Yet their quality for cooking drops off much faster. Is there a huge difference between refrigerated and unrefrigerated 3-day-old eggs for poached? Probably not. Not so sure for 14-day. Neither would be "rotten" after a fortnight, and both would be fine for scrambles, omelets and fried. Still, you can see a difference with a fried egg, where the white of a fresh egg will stay tall and cohesive, while those of one that's got some age will trickle away and run in the pan. IMO, refrigeration slightly extends the benefits of freshness. Ideally, we'd all have nearby sources for fresh eggs, buy fewer more often, and keep them out. But when they're sold by 12, 18, 3 doz on up, we tend to keep them longer, not knowing when or for what they'll be used, so I'll refrigerate.

I fail to understand either the wide disparity in reported egg prices or seemingly everyone's obsession over them. In most stores, I've seen what I consider quite high prices. But those brands/sizes sit right alongside others that are priced much, much lower. This has continued to be the case even after my state required all laying hens to be pasture-raised, which edict caused the doomsayers to predict prohibitive pricing.

At least these kids are going outside to play.

FYI: https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/g42673818/best-water-flavorings/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mgu_ga_mnh_md_pmx_hybd_mix_us_18445115990&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvvO7BhC-ARIsAGFyToXhqjKqiFWAWP_fYeNdun-ChXJf_fB8AXsf23vA4lGFzb5aKh7-44YaAtoeEALw_wcB

Just be aware that carbonated beverages leave your mouth awash in carbonic acid. Drinking a lot of them isn't great for tooth health. Neither is the citric acid from a lot of lemon water.

Good choice. People often also consider getting a rectangular one that straddles two hobs.

Yes, it's been done. But not any 'ol heat pipe will do. I'm barred by NDAs from saying much more.

This is good information, and an especially good price for a round--normally shops charge more because they can't just shear those.

Diffuser plates serve two possible purposes: moderating head and/or spreading it. It sounds like your intended purpose is the latter. Having said that, electric hobs are often the most even choice. Are you finding yours to be uneven? If there's unevenness within the footprint of the hob, the element probably needs replacing. Unfortunately, coils do develop dead spots, and if you have hobs with two nested coils, one can fail entirely. If this is the situation, a conductive diffuser (and/or very thick bottoms) can help, but not a lot. However, if what you're trying to accomplish is to even out larger cookware on a smaller hob--mismatched--then a diffuser might be helpful. As far as I know, there aren't specialized diffuser plates for electrics. I think the rec of Bella Copper or similar is a good one for several reasons, not the least of which is that high heat can soften and delaminate aluminum ones. But they do not have handles, so you need to be careful wrangling the flat sheets. I have a VonChef clad (3mm aluminum core) plate marketed as an induction converter that functions ok as a spreader on small hobs on lower heat. Inexpensive.

It's vernacular. Used to distinguish fruit woods from other hardwoods.

You are correct, I think. However, there are a lot of other variables that affect smoke levels in the finished product--probably too many for the hard-vs-fruit to be very useful in buying. My preference is for a light hand with smoke.