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Gotten any fun stuff lately?

Kim Shook

By Kim Shook
in Kitchen Consumer

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am extremely happy. Carlos took me to a Chinese store that I haven't been to in ages. It's about 20 miles from us and what they carry isn't exactly the best but I don't want to go downtown San Jose to get that. I lucked out and got everything that I needed to get back into cooking Chinese food. Good Chinese food that is. Rice vinegar, rice wine, good sesame oil, mirin, some Chinese vegetables and some Char Siu Bao. Probably not as good as what I make and cost about five times as much but I didn't have to make them.

20241020_121907.thumb.jpg.92b9d950dafb2a39436dcd2251aabb38.jpg

And the best part about it was that it only cost me about $50 to get back out of the door.

Edited by Tropicalsenior (log)
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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

It’s international sausage day! Says who? Well, me. It might not be international internationally but it is here in my apartment.

 

As you know. China has sausages which you probably know as lap cheong, but few people in China do. They are 腊肠 (là cháng) to 96% of Chinese people. That literally means ‘preserved intestines’ and applies to all sausages no matter what type they are or which passport they carry.

 

Now, I don’t really like 96% of the Chinese variety, but they are all I can usually get – usually too fatty and horribly sweet. In fact the only ones I regularly buy are blood sausages, which I DO like.

 

So, I was delighted a few days ago to discover an outfit offering me this selection of “international sausages”. Well, they actually offered me what they described as German sausages, but they lied.

 

What they offered me was:

 

Debriciner.jpg.6be3aa6cae1c9c3e0832c3cfb4fd14e7.jpg

Debrecener

 

280g of 德布勒森肠 (dé bù lè sēn cháng) which means Debrecener sausage which originates in the city of the same name in eastern Hungary but popular around the former Austro-Hungarian Empire; then 

 

Mexican.thumb.jpg.2f388779dee3b9055e6853c02c0ee46b.jpg

Mexican

 

240g of 墨西哥肠 (mò xī gē cháng), Mexican sausage which I’m going to guess is popular around Mexico; followed by

 

piquillo.jpg.d51f7ebf74bfba36222c73f39b83cea4.jpg

Piquillo sausage

 

330g of 皮丘乐辣肠 (pí qiū lè là cháng), Piquillo sausage which are named after the piquillo chilli, a Spanish cultivar popular around Spain; and finally,

 

GermanBierbisser.thumb.jpg.77e78fee51e186b3609d35b99a83317f.jpg

Bierbiser

 

240g of 风干啤酒肠 (fēng gān pí jiǔ cháng) meaning Air-Dried Beer sausages but labelled as Bierbiser, the German for Beer Drinker. They may be German but could be from anywhere that has air and beer.

 

All delivered to my door for ¥177.33 which is equal to $24.93 USD. Of course, I ordered them. They arrived today.

 

On closer examination, it turns out that they are all made by a company using the suitably German brand name Bahnhof, meaning Railway Station, whose factory is in Guangdong, southern China. Very international.

 

bahnhof.thumb.jpg.b2b86290f499fe22d51ba7b99a05487f.jpg

 

I’ll have fun playing with them over the next few days or weeks.

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

  • 5 weeks later...
gulfporter

gulfporter

Posted
Posted

Hesitated to post this as it's not a cooking gadget.  But the end result of cooking is clean-up.

 

We have a d/w but we often hand wash items either because it isn't dishwasher-safe or it's too bulky (sheet pans).  

 

Hand-washing we use Dawn liquid; we've had it in a pump bottle as well as just the squeeze bottle it comes in.  Either way, when you need a bit more of soap on the sponge, you have to put down either the item being washed or the sponge to pump or squeeze the soap. 

 

So an early Xmas gift from Amazon was this.  It's great!  Works perfectly, no after-use drips.  

 

 

soaper.jpg

  • Like 6
Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, gulfporter said:

So an early Xmas gift from Amazon was this.  It's great!  Works perfectly, no after-use drips.  

 

 

soaper.jpg

 

Can you post a link or provide the name or other details?

 ... Shel


 

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, gulfporter said:

Hesitated to post this as it's not a cooking gadget.  But the end result of cooking is clean-up.

 

We have a d/w but we often hand wash items either because it isn't dishwasher-safe or it's too bulky (sheet pans).  

 

Hand-washing we use Dawn liquid; we've had it in a pump bottle as well as just the squeeze bottle it comes in.  Either way, when you need a bit more of soap on the sponge, you have to put down either the item being washed or the sponge to pump or squeeze the soap. 

 

So an early Xmas gift from Amazon was this.  It's great!  Works perfectly, no after-use drips.  

 

 

soaper.jpg

 

I have a couple of automatic hand soap dispensers that work well, but can you actually use Dawn in yours?  Dawn is so viscous that it would not work in my dispensers.

 

  • Like 1

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

gulfporter

gulfporter

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yes.  The ad said dish soap would work and so far Dawn is working well.  

 

I also like that the battery is a rechargeable via USB cord.  Says 1 charge will last 3 months.   

 

Also you can set the amount of soap dispensed. 

Edited by gulfporter
added info (log)
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Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted (edited)
22 minutes ago, gulfporter said:

Yes.  The ad said dish soap would work and so far Dawn is working well.  

 

I also like that the battery is a rechargeable via USB cord.  Says 1 charge will last 3 months.   

 

Also you can set the amount of soap dispensed. 

 

Sounds real good. Thanks for the information. @gulfporterDoes it work if you run a sponge under it rather than just a hand?

Edited by Shel_B
Additional information (log)

 ... Shel


 

Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Those automatic soap things have a short life in our house

 

Why is that? Have you found issues with the product or is it the manner in which you use them? Would you not recommend them, in general, or have there been specific issues with particular brands or designs?

 ... Shel


 

gulfporter

gulfporter

Posted
Posted
52 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

 

Sounds real good. Thanks for the information. @gulfporterDoes it work if you run a sponge under it rather than just a hand?

 

Yes, that's how we are mostly using it.  I did some research and there are some dispensers that won't work with certain colors of sponges, though this one wasn't listed or mentioned.  I buy my kitchen sponges at Dollar Stores in multi-colored packs.  We are using a blue sponge now and working fine.  When I toss it out I will try to remember to try a yellow sponge.  

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted
59 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

 

Why is that? Have you found issues with the product or is it the manner in which you use them? Would you not recommend them, in general, or have there been specific issues with particular brands or designs?

 

They just stop working.  We gave up after three failures.

 

 

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
On 11/22/2024 at 5:12 PM, gfweb said:

 

They just stop working.  We gave up after three failures.

 

 

 

In my kitchen I've had three.  The first did not last long.  (Falling off the wall may have had to do with it.)  The  other two have been working reliably for about a year so far.

 

  • Like 2

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

lindag

lindag

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've been using these  ffor years.

They work perfectly and the suction cup on the base keeps them from tipping.

Edited by lindag (log)
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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

On a recent day trip to Hong Kong, I came across these fellows.

 

truffle.thumb.jpg.b30a9fded909f642954d6e3d29cd5087.jpg

 

Alba Truffles. Those prices are Hong Kong Dollars; not USD.

 

7,950 HKD = 1,022 USD
8,160 HKD = 1,048 USD

 

Did I buy? Of course! Both! Well, I had fun imagining I did.

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
  • Haha 3

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted (edited)

Goodbye to an old friend:

 

I wouldn't necessarily call this "fun stuff," but the pot I purchased over the weekend is one I love to use.

 

One of my favorite pots is the All-Clad D5 1.5 quart saucepan.  I've had it for years and use it almost every day, sometimes more than once a day.  It practically lives on my stovetop.

 

A few days ago I ruined it.  Left it on a high burner with some water in it, got distracted, and when I discovered the pot, it was toast.  Sadness and depression ensued followed by a visit to Amazon to get a replacement. Amazon said it was unavailable and didn't know when it would return to stock. No big deal, off to All-Clad, where it was also unavailable. Uh Oh, this was getting serious.

 

Further checking led me to Williams-Sonoma where I found it at a very good price.  W-S has saved me $$ on All-Clad before. Pot should be here in a couple of days.  Resting forlorn in the trash is the old D5.

 

So, is this a fun stuff posting, or just a shopping post, or a sad kitchen tale post?

Edited by Shel_B (log)
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 ... Shel


 

TdeV

TdeV

Posted
Posted
On 12/2/2024 at 11:22 AM, Shel_B said:

So, is this a fun stuff posting, or just a shopping post, or a sad kitchen tale post?

 

A good result. So that's a win on all counts by my reckoning.

  • Like 1
Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted
48 minutes ago, TdeV said:

A good result. So that's a win on all counts by my reckoning.

I like your poitive attitude. 😃

  • Like 1

 ... Shel


 

Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Laurentius said:

 

Did it delaminate?  Warp?

No. I was surprised by how well it held up. However, the outer stainless shell was grossly discolored and the bottom of the pot became quite rough. The pan no longer moved smoothly over the hob.

 

The bottom of the interior was partially covered with what looked like carbon, but it seemed like it was embedded or mixed with the stainless. It couldn't be removed with the techniques I knew.  The area not damaged by this carbon-like element was grossly discolored and looked like a light bronze color, quite similar to the exterior bronzing on the side of the pot.

 

It broke my heart to see such a nice pan meet such a sad demise.

 ... Shel


 

Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Shel_B said:

I was surprised by how well it held up. However, the outer stainless shell was grossly discolored and the bottom of the pot became quite rough. The pan no longer moved smoothly over the hob.

 

Don't be too hard on yourself.

 

I have destructively tested pans by heating them empty.  There's all sorts of things that can happen.  Aluminum cores can melt in places, and if there's anywhere for the molten metal to go (e.g., out at the disk), it will wormhole.  Copper bimetal can delaminate.  Carbon steel can grossly warp.  Copper can sag.  Only cast iron and pyroceram are close to heatproof.

 

On the UNintentional side, I've done what you did with boiling dry a tinned copper saucepan.  The same pan, in fact, twice.  Both times it got so hot it glowed.  But strangely, after a slow cooldown, the pan was fine, and it's still in service.  The weird part is that the tin didn't just melt or burn away.

  • Like 3
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Laurentius said:

 

Don't be too hard on yourself.

 

I have destructively tested pans by heating them empty.  There's all sorts of things that can happen.  Aluminum cores can melt in places, and if there's anywhere for the molten metal to go (e.g., out at the disk), it will wormhole.  Copper bimetal can delaminate.  Carbon steel can grossly warp.  Copper can sag.  Only cast iron and pyroceram are close to heatproof.

 

On the UNintentional side, I've done what you did with boiling dry a tinned copper saucepan.  The same pan, in fact, twice.  Both times it got so hot it glowed.  But strangely, after a slow cooldown, the pan was fine, and it's still in service.  The weird part is that the tin didn't just melt or burn away.

 

I'm guessing solid copper should be safe.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I'm guessing solid copper should be safe.

 

In ways, yes.  Unless the pan itself is unsupported and sags, it would be very hard to destroy.  The worst that might happen is that the lining is shot.

 

Very high heat can also burn out any gunk that's made it into the rivet holes.

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
On 12/4/2024 at 2:41 PM, Laurentius said:

 

In ways, yes.  Unless the pan itself is unsupported and sags, it would be very hard to destroy.  The worst that might happen is that the lining is shot.

 

Very high heat can also burn out any gunk that's made it into the rivet holes.

 

I was speaking of unlined solid copper.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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