Laurentius

From what waters?

Again, I hope I'm wrong; I'd love to try toast in a CSO. But the further away the bread is from the elements, the poorer the general toast outcome, IME. You're right about individual tastes varying. Although, there's a large cohort out there that's never toasted in a real toaster.

Compared to a toaster oven, sure. Let's put it another way: any toaster generally will make better toast than will a toaster oven. This for the simple reason that the elements are closer to the bread, making for a faster toast with a moister center. Better toasters have more "turns" in their resistive wire. The T-20 and successors judged darkness and shutoff via an early but effective IR sensor. Most toasters before and after have used a variant of the crude thermal spring.

Maybe you're right. I've never tried CSO toast. My parents made "Beach Toast" in an ancient Frigidaire oven at their cabin. As a kid, I loved that--by association. But it wasn't toast. It was rusks. BSO toast is on the road to ruskdom IMO.

1. No. Second-guessing gear reviews on sites like this is pretty useless. 2. I've already tested this. A 1500W or 1800W PIC will struggle to boil more than about 3 quarts of water. From there on down to about 3 cups, the water will boil, but you may not make it to 212F. 3. Not sure what you (or they) mean here. It's critical THAT water boils, and if we're talking about boiling in restaurant volumes, an appliance that draws the same wattage as a blow-dryer is a nonstarter.

I think that many people now have never had or used a quality toaster. The key word is 'quality', If a $20 Black & Decker is the only data point, maybe the BSO isn't terrible. But if you grew up with a Sunbeam T-20, the only reason to prefer a toaster oven is the oven part.

This comports with my toasting experience in the large BSO. Disappointingly uneven. There are variables for rack position(s), bread shape, dough, etc., but it's not very good at toasting, IMO

Yeah. Major differences in browning, depending on placement on the mesh tray. If I want even browning, I have to both turn and rearrange. And if there are many pieces you can never get that 100% right.

I think I'm on my 3rd or 4th large BSO, and I agree they suck at toast. The toast cycles take forever for any breads with no sugar, and the toast comes out too dry for my liking. Toast from the smaller sizes may be better. The air frying function I find seriously uneven.

Yeah, I see that now. Considering that those modes include Roast and Bake, I wonder if you boost the temperature in those (after starting at 210F), the appliance shortens the cutoff time. I sure hope so.

You sure this isn't the cutoff for dehydrating?

As Mark Twain wrote, secrets are either too good to keep or not good enough. So give it up.

You thinking maybe a knife sharpening angle guide?

A canning rack lifter, or an oven rack puller?

Absolutely. As you know, their store in Pike Place Market is quite small, but they more than make up for that with their vast selection and fresh product.

Market Spice in Seattle sells packets on line. Est. 1911. https://marketspice.com/ Penzey's though they'd do well opening a store 2 blocks away. Didn't work out that way.

Ok, so I had a Magic Bullet for a time (maybe I still do, somewhere). While it's certainly not a Vita-Mix, I thought it was OK for light smoothies and passable for processing small volumes of softer veggies. The blade was very lightweight. My big problem with the MB was the cheapa$$ zippered bag it came with. Made storage completely unmanageable.

My, that's pretty and organized. I have to ask, though... Did you buy all these bottles at once, or did you settle early on one brand/format, and just keep adding? Or--more like me--did you change formats/racks several times along the way to make things uniform?

So it's fair to say... you bit the bullet?

Thanks. I added two Thermoworks small spatulas to this morning's order. I see they now have a silicone turner and a ladle. If they're stiff enough, these would be great for use with tinned copper.

I have, yes.

Spice bottles and holders have always been a racket. To do it House Beautiful, you'd need 10 matching racks and 150 matching bottles. And they should be hidden in the dark anyway! I long ago got a dozen smaller cheap plastic tubs, and labeled them alphabetically, plus extras for salts, peppers, vinegars, rubs, oils, etc. Everything--bags, bottles, tins, jars--gets tossed inside. If I'm feeling fancy, a magic marker records the purchase date.

Me, too. Not that there's necessarily any carryover to silicone tools from themometer stuff, but I love this company. I've found their Customer and Technical Service people to be very knowledgeable and helpful. All the base units and probes (Type K) I've used have been first rate. I once had an issue with a broken connector on a base, and rather than being without it for a repair, they offered me a very favorable discount on an upgraded base unit with fan control capability. That courtesy ended up saving me hundreds of dollars.

Yeah, I saw that. But you said "some may be serviceable." What do you think of the Thermoworks ones after having used them?

Have you tested the spatulas offered by Thermoworks? https://www.thermoworks.com/hi-temp-silicone-spatulas/ Many colors and now 3 sizes.