Gotten any fun stuff lately?

[weinoo]

5 hours ago, kayb said:

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

 

 

I'm enjoying using it; holds temp perfectly and water boils fast!

[chromedome]

6 hours ago, rotuts said:

@ElsieD 

 

on their site its on sale , $ 80 off.

 

ships to Canada :

 

 

[DianaB]

23 hours ago, rotuts said:

@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.

About right @rotuts, for a couple it is fine, might be frustrating for a larger household.  Results are magical for us, we don’t have an extraction fan so searing steak involved taking it outside, not always ideal in North Yorkshire 😁.  Now the machine does this for us without filling the kitchen with unwanted aromas.  

[DianaB]

We bought our Chefmaker through their Kickstarter campaign, I understand that the official launch day is tomorrow, 15th December.  Thought it worth posting as they may have special offers.  There is a Facebook group that is quite active, if tainted by personal sniping at times.  A pity that people don’t have better things to do.

 

We continue to use our machine regularly, it really does manage proteins better than anything else we have tried to date.  No more finishing chicken breasts with butter.  Hoping to find time to try other things over the holiday period, someone posted a YouTube video on using the Dreo to make bread.  I’m wondering also if it might help with tempering chocolate.  

[Porthos]

I got my start in sous vide in early spring 2020. I purchased an Anova PC 1.0 circulator. This year my Sweetie found a good deal on the Anova Wifi 1000 Watt circulator. We discussed it for a few minutes and I decided that would be a nice Christmas present. I like the slightly smaller dimensions. I don't care about the wifi at all. Tuesday for dinner I broke it in on some pork loin chops.

[liamsaunt]

I got a couple of cooking related things for Christmas gifts.  My husband gave me an Ooni.  I have been wanting one for years, so I am excited to figure it out.  It's the Ooni Karu 16.  I am sure many pizzas will be burned on the learning curve, and it's about to be too cold to do anything outside, but maybe by next summer I will be cranking out some nice pizzas.  

[Katie Meadow]

Miroco milk frother. The quietest electric appliance on earth!. Heats and froths in short order, with various froth settings. I long ago gave up on those little stick frothers which are far too frustrating to deal with in the morning. My husband claims I said something a few months back about wanting one,  however i swear I don't remember. The joys of memory loss! You get stuff you want that appear like magic. This toy is totally fun.  I'm trying to limit coffee and increase calcium, so this is a win win, and perfectly timed as one of my gifts to him this holiday was.....coffee.

[lindag]

My best gift was this.

Not directly food related except for use after meals.

I have always hated the chore of teeth flossing and this thing is brilliaant.

No real effort involved, it's fast, easy and rather pleasant to use.

I wish I'd had it long ago.

This isn't like the old Waterpiks, it lightyears ahead.

 

[haresfur]

More of a give than a get, although I did benefit. Bought some real wasabi, grown in Tasmania, to try out because someone was wondering how different it was. About a 3 cm piece of stem vacuum packed and shipped express with a cold pack. Along with a grater and threw in some dried mountain pepper berries since I was spending so much on shipping anyway.

 

The grater seemed a bit small and not the easiest to use. The wasabi was spicier than I had imagined so the flavour difference seemed more subtle. It was better than the horse radish stuff but didn't exactly rock my world. There is no really good sushi where I live so we made do on that end.

 

Have plenty left over so need to think of ways to use it up. I read somewhere that it actually freezes ok after grating but of course couldn't find the website again.

[rotuts]

@haresfur

 

Ive never had fresh , real wasabi/  keep that in mind.

 

I did see a show from GB that discussed and tasted the difference.  its grown in some sort of secret place

 

as its so expensive .  the tour of the facility was interesting , green house , flowing water etc

 

and the taster was someone that Id seen before and agreed with on other topics.

 

the take away was the it had to be grated freshly , and the flavors were very transient 

 

I free ginger , and horseradish whole , and grate from frozen.

 

Is consider doing that rather than grate and freeze.

 

based on the show and my experience w ginger and horseradish.

[haresfur]

1 minute ago, rotuts said:

@haresfur

 

Ive never had fresh , real wasabi/  keep that in mind.

 

I did see a show from GB that discussed and tasted the difference.  its grown in some sort of secret place

 

as its so expensive .  the tour of the facility was interesting , green house , flowing water etc

 

and the taster was someone that Id seen before and agreed with on other topics.

 

the take away was the it had to be grated freshly , and the flavors were very transient 

 

I free ginger , and horseradish whole , and grate from frozen.

 

Is consider doing that rather than grate and freeze.

 

based on the show and my experience w ginger and horseradish.

 

Everything I've read says not to freeze it whole because it turns to mush. The instructions and what I read elsewhere said to grate using a circular motion, push into a lump and wait 5 minutes.

 

It came vacuum-sealed and I resealed the remainder in a new bag.  

 

Australia has very strict biosecurity rules so I'm not sure it would be allowed in from outside the country. So I'm glad they can grow it in Tassie. I don't know if Japanese wasabi tastes different.

 

Definitely got our entertainment value even though the shipping doubled the cost.

[btbyrd]

This holiday season brought an embarrassment of riches, and I’m feeling a lot of gratitude these days. Now that epiphany has passed and all the reindeer have landed, here’s my holiday haul:

 

 

The starter set of Chef's Presses, the Everyday set of Anyday microwave cookware/bowls, the Zyliss/Olive Garden parm shredder, a Victoria tortilla press, a Takamura 150mm petty knife, tongs and a ladle from Rosle, and a Chopula from Dreamfarm.

The 1.4oz ladle nicely rounds out my Rosle collection.

 

I also got a set of 2qt nesting strainer bowls for washing rice and berries.

 

[Laurentius]

3 hours ago, btbyrd said:

Everyday set of Anyday microwave cookware/bowls

 

I got one of these for Xmas 2023.  I like it, but don't see it being an improvement over any other glass bowl for the MW.

 

What do you think so far? 

[lindag]

I love the Rosle ladles...they're the best.

[haresfur]

Used up the rest of the Wasabi in a soba-prawn salad that was great except for the soba which turned to a soggy mess. I put in finely julienned carrot and raw red cabbage. I will continue to pursue the salad with fake wasabi, possibly without the soba

 

I decided that the wasabi grater was too hard to use so I chopped it finely then processed it in the mortar and pestle. I think that worked much better.

[btbyrd]

On 1/8/2024 at 11:27 PM, Laurentius said:

 

I got one of these for Xmas 2023.  I like it, but don't see it being an improvement over any other glass bowl for the MW.

 

What do you think so far? 

 

I am very pleased with them so far. The materials, build, and fit/finish are fantastic and merit the prices they charge. Though much of the Anyday mojo is in the lid, the glass bowl itself is thick and heavy borosilicate glass that's nicer than anything else I've ever had in my kitchen. I like the fact that I can pop them in the actual oven and not worry about them cracking. Their shape is designed to be picked up with oven mitts, and the external surface of the bowls has this very fine, grippy, almost bead-blasted finish. It kind of feels like the abrasive surface of a 250 grit Shapton Glass stone. Anyway, the microtexture on the outside makes the bowls nice and grippy. It's also what makes the bowls take on that patinaed look as thought he glass wasn't quite evenly frosted. 

 

All that's to say nothing of the lids, which are some of the nicest lids I've seen for anything. The gaskets just work how you want them to. Pull up to vent and cook, push down to store. The glass and metal are beautiful and the fact that they can also go from refrigerator to microwave and oven (and back again) makes the package very compelling. Prior to this, I'd been using some Pyrex bowls in the microwave with a silicone pig otoshibuta drop lid (or plastic wrap). The Anyday seems to work better (I don't know why) and it's nicer and more convenient to use and store food. Two big thumbs up for Anyday from me.

 

On 1/9/2024 at 10:37 AM, lindag said:

I love the Rosle ladles...they're the best.

 

They are my favorite out of all the ones I've ever used. Lots of refinement in the details. Having a little set like that is kind of a luxury, but it is very nice to be able to match ladle size to pot size or application.

[lindag]

Love the look of the m/w bowls....I've been enabled to buy one, the medium size.

I'm puzzled by the metal rims on the lids.  Is that no longer an issue?

 

 

 

Edited January 15 by lindag (log)

[DesertTinker]

43 minutes ago, lindag said:

Love the look of the m/w bowls....I've been enabled to buy one, the medium size.

I'm puzzled by the metal rims on the lids.  Is that no longer an issue?

 

 

 

This is from Anyday’s FAQ

Is the metal on the lid safe to use in the microwave?

 

Yes, you can put our metal in the microwave! We’ve designed the stainless steel in our lids to be 100% microwave-safe due to its smooth, curved shape.

It sounds nuts, but some metal is totally safe in microwaves. If the metal is rounded, it won't arc. A metal bowl, for example, is fine! But don't put in metal that is super thin (e.g. aluminum foil) or has multiple sharp corners (e.g. a fork). Science doesn’t lie!

FYI: Make sure your Anyday dish is placed at least one inch away from your microwave's wall. If the stainless steel rim of your lid gets too close, it can cause sparking.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I seldom rave about the gadgets I get from Amazon, but I've found something that works exceptionally well for me:

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

For the first time in my life I am able to cleanly open sardine cans.

 

[lindag]

I've always used a church key for beer and pop cans...I don't eat sardines so I don't know if that would work for them.

[Laurentius]

6 hours ago, btbyrd said:

They are my favorite out of all the ones I've ever used.

 

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.

[liuzhou]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I seldom rave about the gadgets I get from Amazon, but I've found something that works exceptionally well for me:

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

For the first time in my life I am able to cleanly open sardine cans.

 

 

Wouldn't work on any of the sardine cans I buy, either here in China or in the UK. Wrong shape.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Wouldn't work on any of the sardine cans I buy, either here in China or in the UK. Wrong shape.

 

Odd?  I thought the shape of sardine cans was the same most everywhere.  The cans I was opening were these:

https://www.conservaspinhais.com/

 

Sardine cans I see on Alibaba look the same.  Sardine cans here used to come with a key on the side for opening, but I've not seen that style for many years.  All available to me have pull tabs.  The cans with the key were the same shape though.

 

Checking the UK, I found cans with the pull tab on the corner rather than in the middle of the narrow edge.  But again, the UK cans appear to be the same shape.

https://www.john-west.co.uk/products/fish-type/sardines/

 

 

 

[liuzhou]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Odd?  I thought the shape of sardine cans was the same most everywhere.  The cans I was opening were these:

https://www.conservaspinhais.com/

 

 

For some reason, I can't open either of the links in your post, but I think you mean this shape.

 

My confusion arises from the imagery in the Amazon ad you linked to showing only this shape.

 

 

I don't see how it would work with the flat cans. Maybe I'll have to buy one.

 

By the way, anything being available on Alibaba doesn't necessarily mean it's available here. A lot of their stuff is export only. 

Edited January 16 by liuzhou (log)

[OlyveOyl]

@JoNorvelleWalker 

Thank you so much for posting the link to the lid lifter, it works wonderfully well!

I had been using wooden spoon handles, etc. , whatever would fit in the ring to get some leverage, this is a delight! Much thanks!!