Laurentius

The thermal bond is practically perfect. It is with all clad. Thermal grease is nearly so. If your point is that 5 aluminum core layers of slightly different conductivities aren't as conductive overall as one layer of the highest, yes, you're right.

Maybe not to you, but to the folks forking out $1,500 for a $500 PIC it is.

It's not too serious. Yes, it can be fixed. But either send it back to Shun, or find a knowledgeable service. I can recommend Murray Carter in Oregon. The reason I caution you to find the right service is that the chip is deep enough that the entire edge needs to be reworked. And to do that right, it needs to be done slow and cool. Depending on several factors, the entire blade may also need to be thinned in the process. And THAT may mean permanently changing that pretty fake "Damascus" look. Not to rub anything in, but your mishap is also a cautionary tale about steel hardness/brittleness. Too often and for too long, higher-end buyers (and the sellers who cater to them) have worshipped at the altar of high RC alloys and heat treat. Thinner J-style blades, high RC edges, and very acute bevels do not make for durability in normal kitchen work. You might have to touch up a vintage Sab K more often, but it's far less likely to chip out like this. Good luck. Please post with how the fix works.

Not according to the potato farmers I know. At least for fresh market spuds. My county grows 95% of the red fresh market potatoes in my state. You can go as low as 38F for fresh market and seed. 45F is only the minimum if you want sugar conversion/recondition; if you get this wrong, your fries and chips end up too dark. I suspect your restaurant's pantry and walk-in were not controlled for humidity. When they're fist dug, if you want them to heal, 60-65F is recommended, but the shed coming down to storage temp usually takes long enough to do that.

Part of the problem may be storage of the tubers. For healing and longer term storage, different temperatures are important, as is air movement. Basically, potatoes should be stored at 40-45F,95% humidity, and 10-20cfm airflow.

It depends on the Al alloys used. Most 7-ply clad have cores of "5" core layers. In Demeyere's case, two of those layers are silver, but there's not enough thickness there to even count. That takes us down to three substantial layers of aluminum, of different alloys. The layer)s) that are essential to bonding and dimensional stability are usually of slightly lower conductivity than the remaining one which is closer to pure aluminum. Also, the only clad line I know that utilizes a single layer of near-pure aluminum is W-S (Hestan) Thermoclad. But we're talking about a total core thickness of approximately 2mm, which is being generous except for Proline. Run the differential equations, and you'll see that 7-ply clad doesn't suffer for conductivity.

Yes, this is an advantage. Most temperature settings on most induction appliances are complete and utter jokes. But again, the single-digit precision of CF is mostly illusory. Plug it in to a Kill-A-Watt, and watch it cycle. You likely can also see a very short sine with a very sensitive thermometer. If your power settings are sufficiently granular, and you learn them, you get to the same place. But in either case, you have to put up with (or overcompensate for) the intrinsic unevenness.

It depends on what the layers are. If only the lining and bottom are steel (the remainder being some combination of aluminum bonded with silver), then counting layers doesn't mean much. There's no practical evenness advantage from such a layup--it's done to help dimensional stability. If the core is high conductivity, the basic judgment should be thickness, not the number of layers.

Why are there bars on the windows of a highrise? Is this normal?

No, it's highly dissimilar. A calrod or radiant hob is quite even by comparison. The similarity would be between an induction coil and a resistive coil that is dead in the center. Also, adjusted for thickness and weight, cast iron's specific heat isn't much greater than copper or aluminum. This is a myth that stays current because truly thick copper and aluminum pans aren't as available as thick cast iron.

Yes, there are several. You might start with Franz's work at CenturyLife. Most of these evenness comparisons don't take into account the rate of heating or look at it from a point of thermal equilibrium. PID isn't going to help much with downward responsiveness, because the Ceran itself holds heat. The whole "control" aspect is far more imprecise than Breville and some zealous users claim. One little thermocouple at the center outside of a pan bottom is, practically, a pretty coarse approximation. 1F precision is largely illusory. You can pick up a Mirage Pro (100 power settings) for 1/3 the price, and that's plenty granular and with better case and fan. But hey, spending C.F. money, you'll be predisposed to like it. Have fun.

You're not gonna want to hear this, but your $1500 PIC is as uneven as an $80 PIC. You can go with an uber-thick pan bottom to try to compensate for this, but what little you will gain from going to 8mm from 6mm isn't going to make a huge difference. And there is a very large downside: heat adjustments--responsiveness--will be slower. The only countervailing advantage is that sears are less likely to crash at the flop. This is heresy on these boards, but if you must use a PIC, I'd favor a converter plate with 2-3mm of aluminum, and then straightgauge conductive-sidewall pans. But you'd still better plan on moving the pan. Edited to add: The cited review is limited and superficial. If you're going uber thick, you might also search Cristel and Ballarini lines. And A-C's G3 line offers enhanced lateral conductivity in a lightweight form.

Now you need the companion Jerky Shooter. While you're at it, order a 2-gun Western rig from El Paso Saddlery and you're all set.

OK, that's normal stropping. What grits are you using this way?

Are you handy, or do you know someone who is? You might be surprised how easy and cheap it is to lay down a free-floating vinyl floor. You may not even need to tear up the existing. Likewise, given your timeline, prepping and painting cabinets is really easy. As far as countertops go, as long as you are replacing (i.e., not changing shapes), that can be done inexpensively, too. This is what many owners do prior to sale anyway, so why wait? Please yourself now, and you won't get hurt.

This is a very tall order. What keeps you in this house? I humbly suggest you look for one that has more kitchen space and nicer amenities. Whatever you put into yours now to improve the kitchen, you're unlikely to make back. I once lived next door to a house that flipped 3 times in 6 years. Every single time, the buyers sunk $$$$ into different appliances, countertops, cabinetry and flooring.

So the sharpening stroke is across the sheet, toward the clamp/block, or what?

Good tip! I'll try that. Thanks.

Well, if it were smaller enough to be better at, e.g., toast or air-frying, it wouldn't accept a 14" pizza or a 9x13 pan. "A jack of all trades is master at none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." I think the problem with the Breville for air frying is the size is too large for its 110/120VAC limits. If it had the fans and elements of a 220/240 conventional oven, it would air-fry just fine (and probably burn down entire neighborhoods).

Most of it is marketing--the latest thing. The answer will depend on what you mean by "better" convection ovens. Fan speed and air exchange rates for dedicated air fryers are typically better/higher than for most home convection ovens. The air fryers also tend to have pre-programmed settings, so if you want to, e.g., re-crisp fries or pizza slices, there may be one button to press. Not so on any conventional oven AFAIK. I have one of the Breville toaster ovens with air fry mode, and while I like using that, it's not all that quick or powerful at air-frying vs. convection mode.

Sure. People seldom appreciate how abrasive even "soft" materials can be on a steel edge.

As if a rounded edge is a bad thing! Some of the sharpest edges I've ever seen are convex. The reason you don't see many is that few pro and almost no at-home sharpeners have the skillset and feel to do them right. Also, there's a huge difference between a traditional barber's strop (essentially slack belt grinding) and a truly flat backing (i.e., against a wheel or platen). Frankly, sharpening to extremely fine grit size is mostly fetishistic. A little tooth gets the job done. A worn, coarse (e.g., 80 grit) belt does a surprisingly good job--if you can hear a hiss on the belt, that's all the pressure needed.

Yes, you would--you pull the edge off the leather (or the strop off the edge). It's pretty funny to see strops in junk and antique shops, because they usually show the cuts imparted when someone got it backwards.

You push your knife edge-first across a strop? You must buy strops pretty often!

Do they cook any better than other bowls? I think someone found an aesthetic niche in a marginally useful corner, and branded themselves well. There are many things I'd prefer be made in borosilicate, but these aren't those.