Gotten any fun stuff lately?

[heidih]

I enjoyed a similar product as a kid - the plain peanut one. We'd stick it in freezer and then whack it on the sidewalk. Thanks for the memory  https://annabellecandy.com/pages/big-hunk

[blue_dolphin]

In my search to replace my rapidly disintegrating iSi silicone spatulas, I ordered one of these Rose Levy Berenbaum reduction spatulas. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

Not exactly an iSi replacement but it could come in handy.  It's long and narrow.  The leading edges are nice and thin and it's graduated to provide a rough measure to note when reducing liquids.   

 

Unlike the photo on Amazon, mine doesn't have white lettering, and I don't recall seeing that when I ordered it, though it's been quite a while.  Amazon reviewers report the same. Just as glad, as I'd be worried about it chipping off. 

The graduations appear on both sides of the spatula. 

 

Edited to add that I used to put a mark on a wooden chopstick for this purpose though I sometimes missed that there was already a mark on it and wasn't sure which one was correct!

Edited August 30, 2023 by blue_dolphin (log)

[heidih]

Treated myself to these dried wild mushroom. First date wil be in a spinach and pea blended soup with chewy Austrian dumplings. I may go off road and use the very flavorful lamb stock I ended up with from 2 more lamb shanks.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006EY0XR6?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image&th=1

Edited September 8, 2023 by heidih (log)

[liuzhou]

Yesterday, I was given a new waiter's friend corkscrew. Nothing special or fun in that, you may think, but ...

 

 

...  for the last 27 years, I've always smiled when I use one because, in Chinese, they are called 海马开瓶机 (hǎi mǎ kāi píng jī) or 海马刀 (hǎi mǎ dāo). The former means 'seahorse bottle opener'; the second means 'seahorse knife'. I can see why.

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

Screams colorful parrot to me - incl beak

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

The former means 'seahorse bottle opener'; the second means 'seahorse knife'

Looks more like a parrot to me.

 

Oops, looks like Heidi beat me to it.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[heidih]

10 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Looks more like a parrot to me.

 

Oops, looks like Heidi beat me to it.

I think you and I are more useed to seeing live colorful parrots as opposed to the seahorses of TCM.  Fun item either way.

[liuzhou]

25 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Looks more like a parrot to me.

 

 

 

Not many parrots here*, but dried seahorses are commonly used in TCM so I guess they went with something they were more famiiar with. These can be quite expensive with prices reaching up to $100 or more USD a pair. They always come in pairs, one male, one female.

 

Image from Taobao online shopping site.

 

* There are a couple of parrots living wild in a local park, but these are recently released or escaped pets.

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

$100 or more USD a pair

I remember buying some dried seahorses at a museum when I was a kid. I think I paid a quarter a piece for them.

[liuzhou]

A few months ago, the local gas supplier, shockingly called China Gas, decided to upgrade all the gas pipes in my apartment building (as well as all the other buildings around me). They did the outside piping first, then went door to door to change the piping inside the apartments and install new meters. When they were doing mine, a clumsy fitter managed to knock my kitchen clock off the wall, smashing it beyond repair.

 

I was a bit annoyed but just decided to let it go and replace it. Alas, I coudn't find the same clock anywhere. That is until three days ago! I ordered it immediately and it turned up today! The universe is back in balance.

 

 

¥44.47/ $6.11 USD

 

 

[Smithy]

A dear friend went to Ireland  late last fall, and brought me this tea towel from Ulster Weavers. 💕

 

 

 

[ElsieD]

That's adorable!

[Kim Shook]

On 11/14/2023 at 1:57 PM, Smithy said:

A dear friend went to Ireland  late last fall, and brought me this tea towel from Ulster Weavers. 💕

 

 

 

I adore tea towels that that one is especially lovely!

[DianaB]

Whenever we acquire a new piece of kitchen equipment, this is the first place I visit to seek advice.  Last year it was wonderful to read the experiences of other Ninja Creami users just after we bought our own.

 

A few weeks ago we took delivery of a Dreo Chefmaker, discovered via a YouTube channel that we follow (Sorted) and then followed on Kickstarter.  This link is to the Dreo website:

https://www.dreo.com/chefmaker-combi-fryer

 

i have searched eGullet but haven’t found any reference to this little marvel.  Perhaps I am not using the search function properly, any pointers in the right direction will be much appreciated.

 

In the month or so since we received our machine we have cooked the best ribeye steak, leg of lamb and chicken breasts to ever come out of our kitchen.  There are various users on YouTube demonstrating some of the possibilities that the Dreo offers, certainly not limited to meat - we have had beautiful baked potatoes over the past couple of weeks.  
 

Has anyone else tried the Chefmaker?  Decided against buying?  
 

Here is George the cat demonstrating our Chefmaker, he finds fitting the probe a challenge having paws rather than fingers 😁

 

 

 

[chromedome]

So it's... the CSO of air fryers?

[rotuts]

@DianaB 

 

as you work w this

 

please consider posting your result // evalution

 

possibly i  a separate thread just for this unit.

 

looking forward to your results

 

looks quite interesting

 

$ 278 US   can't find shipping charge , if any 

 

seems to he probe // software cooking.

 

dont know if it replaces an air fryer re tater tots etc.

 

love to see more from eG

 

YouTube tends to be too much hype sometime for click-views.

Edited November 28, 2023 by rotuts (log)

[kayb]

On 8/16/2023 at 2:23 PM, weinoo said:

 

Finally broke down after using a water boiler this past weekend, and reading some good reviews.  Don't really have the space for it to sit on the counter, so I'm playing around with that. Works great (so far), holds a liter (as opposed to the cool looking Fellow units), and comes with that nice 3-year warranty.  

This one just got Wirecutter's "best" rating in the NYT.

 

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, DianaB said:

Whenever we acquire a new piece of kitchen equipment, this is the first place I visit to seek advice.  Last year it was wonderful to read the experiences of other Ninja Creami users just after we bought our own.

 

A few weeks ago we took delivery of a Dreo Chefmaker, discovered via a YouTube channel that we follow (Sorted) and then followed on Kickstarter.  This link is to the Dreo website:

https://www.dreo.com/chefmaker-combi-fryer

 

i have searched eGullet but haven’t found any reference to this little marvel.  Perhaps I am not using the search function properly, any pointers in the right direction will be much appreciated.

 

In the month or so since we received our machine we have cooked the best ribeye steak, leg of lamb and chicken breasts to ever come out of our kitchen.  There are various users on YouTube demonstrating some of the possibilities that the Dreo offers, certainly not limited to meat - we have had beautiful baked potatoes over the past couple of weeks.  
 

Has anyone else tried the Chefmaker?  Decided against buying?  
 

Here is George the cat demonstrating our Chefmaker, he finds fitting the probe a challenge having paws rather than fingers 😁

 

 

 

Clearly nothing gets past George. "Only I decide what goes in this thing. And if you try to put me in it you will regret it for the rest of your life."

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

looks quite interesting

 

$ 278 US   can't find shipping charge , if any 

 

I entered my address and it came up as free shipping.  Not that I'm buying one today - I'd never heard of it until just now!

Though, if it comes with the cat, I may consider! 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by blue_dolphin (log)

[DianaB]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

@DianaB 

 

as you work w this

 

please consider posting your result // evalution

 

possibly i  a separate thread just for this unit.

 

looks forward to your results

 

looks quite interesting

 

$ 278 US   can't find shipping charge , if any 

 

seems to he probe // software cooking.

 

dont know if it replaces an air fryer re tater tts etc.

 

love to see more from eG

 

YouTube tends to be too much hype sometime for click-views.

We bought our Chefmaker after watching this preview:

 

The unit hadn’t been launched when this was filmed so we followed the Kickstarter project through to completion.  We paid £150 having committed to the purchase before the product was available.  Frankly, had it been twice the price I think we would still have thought it a great purchase.  
 

The Chefmaker has a range of cooking modes including air fry and sous vide.  Unlike most air fryers there is a water tray in the top so that steam can be introduced during cooking.  We have an Anova sous vide set up but I think that most things that we might have cooked that way will now go into the new machine.  The beauty of the pre-programmed options is that meats are seared as well as cooked to probe temperature.  
 

I understand reluctance to use YouTube but would just say that the short video cited above gives a better overview than I can provide having had the machine for just a couple of weeks.  
 

The only limitation that I can see as a real negative is that the cooking basket is quite small.  One of the pre-programmed recipes is for boned leg of lamb.  I bought the top half of a leg, removed the bone but it was still too large for the cooker.  I cut the meat in half and tied each up into a roll.  When cooked, the meat was perfect and each half would have given 3 or 4 good portions.  Last night we did 2 chicken breast portions “sous vide” (there is a choice of cooking style where appropriate), I checked the temperature at the end of cooking with a Thermapen and it was spot on.  The meat was absolutely perfect, tender with crispy skin.

 

There is no obligation to use the pre-set programmes, one can establish ambient temperature, probe temperature etc to suit different cooking methods.

 

Lots of experimenting yet to do.  Dreo shipped Chefmakers to US customers before European distribution began, hence  I was sure that I would find lots of discussion here, it must be the first time that I have been at the beginning of something!  

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by DianaB (log)

[rotuts]

@DianaB 

 

your posted video was very helpful.

 

my guess is that size wise , it does 2 ( generous ? )  portions at a time.

 

for a main item , ie a protein 

 

w single button cooking.

 

and that's not necessarily bad .

 

the salmon in the video did look interesting :

 

skin had crackle and the thickest part did not seem over done.

[ElsieD]

It sells on Amazon.ca for $500.00 Cdn.  On Amazon.com it's $359 US.

[rotuts]

@ElsieD 

 

on their site its on sale , $ 80 off.

 

ships to Canada :

 

[ElsieD]

@rotuts. I refuse to be enabled.

[rotuts]

@ElsieD 

 

I completely agree with you.

 

should the reviews from @DianaB 

 

continue to be positive ,  this would be ' protein for two ' 

 

sort of item , w maybe some air fryer work , etc 

 

of course , a probe-less  WiFi less CSO , patina and all 

 

might do the same thing , but w the CSO you would have to pay some

 

attention , distraction from Kitchen Wine Studies 

 

while cooking.  

 

for some reason , Id like to see this item meet its expectations .

 

possibly because they have added ' steam '

Edited November 28, 2023 by rotuts (log)