Also I finally understand that an air fryer is just an extremely convenient mini-convection oven.
As of five seconds ago, I now know this too.
Boiling some potatoes in a pan, or as I call it a "water fryer"
Boiling some potatoes in a pan, or as I call it a "water fryer"
I'm going to go fry some coffee grounds for my morning cuppa.
Check if there's any milk left in the ice fryer.
There isn't. I'm going to have to run out to the commerce fryer.
We've been fully on board with the air-fryer wave for a while, but it wasn't until I started using one that I fully understood that it really was just a very quick and efficient fan-assisted oven. That said, it has been a total game-changer for us: quick to preheat, makes crispy things crispy, creates less smell in the kitchen, and you can put the whole basket in the dishwasher.
Wait I thought this was about stand mixers.
Boiling pasta in my open pot, or as I like to call it the sans vide cooker.
The Breville one looks like a toaster oven. I think the basket kind has benefits, but the Breville does look cool.
I had a cheap milk frother that worked pretty well. Tim bought me the top-of-the line Breville one which is induction. What's great about that is that I can put the pitcher in the dishwasher.
7: I do roast chicken in my basket air fryer. It's fool proof. Done in 50 minutes and less cleanup.
I've got an 8 quart from instant, but I think a 6 quart one would be fine.
I not only knew but dismissed air fryers as nothing more than mini convection ovens before a nifty Chris Young video brought me around. The smaller compartment volume and reversed airflow seem like nontrivial advantages.
I not only knew but dismissed air fryers as nothing more than mini convection ovens before a nifty Chris Young video brought me around. The smaller compartment volume and reversed airflow seem like nontrivial advantages.
Why don't all ovens have a built-in fan? Tradition? It could have its own on-off switch if you wanted normal cooking times.
15: I think most new ovens do.
When I get a new oven, I'm hoping to get a battery boosted induction range. But I also want a combi steam oven.
We really need a new kitchen, but aren't going to spend the money now. Our oven has many issues and our refrigerator is forty years old. But they both still run.
I've already discussed on these pages my love for my Cuckoo multicook rice cooker. I don't even use all the functions, but it makes it so easy to make brown rice, and it comes out soft so that even M (who previously refused to eat brown rice) enjoys it. I also really love my Dyson cordless stick vacuum. I think I have the V11? I used to absolutely hate vacuuming, and now it's a totally painless task.
I would love to get a Breville air fryer, but I don't have the counterspace for it. My toaster oven is not that great, but it has a tiny footprint.
Why don't all ovens have a built-in fan? Tradition? It could have its own on-off switch if you wanted normal cooking times.
They do, now, I think. Mine has a rotary switch thing that gives you the option of oven, or fan oven, or grill, or fan grill, or even "don't do anything but turn the light on so it looks like it's cooking". And most recipes seem to include both, though the fan doesn't so much mean shorter times as lower temperatures.
I'm in the process of planning a kitchen remodel (because I love pain, and because I want to more counterspace so I can get that air fryer). Does anyone here have an induction stove, or thoughts born of (borne of?) direct experience?
18: If you buy a new fridge, it won't last as long, for sure.
An induction cooktop was the last thing we got in March 2020 before the world shut down, and I've loved it ever since. Handles just like gas but quicker. Watched pots boil. No downside other than not being able to use crappy aluminum cookware.
There is definitely some older thread where this came up because it's my second favorite thing to talk about.
Seconding everything 24 says. Super responsive cooktop cooking. I never want to go back. It was stupid expensive because we had to upgrade the electrical panel at the same time, but otherwise, so worth it.
Does it get scratched easily? I'm worried that in a few years it will look a mess.
Sure, the glass surface can scratch. Mine's a few years old with some scratches. You can use a silicon pad underneath a pot, which helps keep your pot/pan still when stirring but also serves as a scratch barrier. Way easier to clean that a gas top.
The Dyson cordless stick vacuum was fine until it needed a new battery, and we realized that as with all such things, the battery is most of the cost (and was also impossible to buy for most of a year - I had Dyson email me when they were back in stock, and within minutes they'd be sold out again).
After five years there's some light scratching but you have to squint; it's far from being the most banged-up thing in our kitchen.
Is the most banged-up thing in our kitchen the coffee grinder whose dial broke, so we stuck a paperclip and an old Gibson tone knob on it?
We have some really old things in our kitchen, including a still-used coffee grinder from 1996 or so.
It's used daily, but used to be a weekend only thing back when we had offices.
Pros as noted. It's super fast, so much so that preheating a frying pan on high gets it smoking within 20 seconds or so. It's easy to burn things if you're used to a gas stove where you can crank up the flame for a bit and most of the heat isn't captured. I definitely use a wider range of the stove knobs than I did with old electric or gas.
One negative is that even the biggest hob doesn't heat evenly out to the edge of a 10" frying pan. Something like crepes or pancakes where you want a pretty uniform heated surface you have to preheat low and wait for the outer edges to heat by conduction. I might be imagining it but I think the heavier the pan you use the better the heating, which seems counterintuitive since it should take more energy to heat a larger mass but I guess more iron captures more of the magnetic field.
or even "don't do anything but turn the light on so it looks like it's cooking"
That doesn't seem like a very useful feature.
So you have a teleological view of kitchen appliances?
34: Do you have the thing which bridges two burners? I'm kind of intrigued by the idea of getting a square griddle.
24, 26, 28, 34: Thank you! Induction cooktop brand recommendations?
Does David Hume have an appliance brand?
35: well, the light is useful when the oven is on because you get a good view of what's inside through the door. When the oven isn't on it is helpful for cleaning.
even the biggest hob doesn't heat evenly out to the edge of a 10" frying pan
Yeah, my old griddle that spans two burners doesn't work on an induction stove. The middle part doesn't heat.
Regarding "Cadillac of X," I wouldn't know. I buy junk. I bought a junk Cuisinart air fryer at Costco. It broke in something like six months, and I bought the same one again. I like it.
But it's only you old white people that talk about Cadillacs in connection with quality. Snoop instructed us on this in "The Wire" when she bought a nailgun.
"The man said if you wanna shoot nails, this here's the Cadillac, man. He mean 'Lexus' but he ain't know it."
This clip itself is something like 18 years old, so the quality reference has probably been updated again. BMW? Maserati? I wouldn't know.
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Basically every comment from 25 onward would be well served by adding a "laydeez" or two.
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42: definitely not Maserati -- I read a description somewhere that it has the biggest gap in esteem between people who know cars and people who don't. Lexus is pretty much always at the top of reliability ratings, with such consistency that I'm suspicious.
Does David Hume have an appliance brand?
Kant specialized in alarm clocks.
Doctors buy Lexi. I'm not sure that's the vibe I want to give off as I drive.
I also have a Cuckoo rice cooker, love it.
Though environmentally problematic, grilling with lump charcoal is unrecognizably better than with briquettes.
Green coffee beans roasted in a pan outside are cheaper and better than preroasted coffee.
Nazu's Seylan is the best Earl Grey tea.
jms, if your dad's still locked out of email, either editing the drivers license image digits or supplying an additional document that has the relevant date might be steps forward.
I grill with propane and propane accessories.
47.5: Thank you, lw. I really appreciate it.
This impulse labs battery boosted induction cooktop is like the Breville Control Freak only it has 4 burners. It's founded by a bunch of Silicon Valley types, so I don't trust them. The Copper one looks really cool and hot favorable reviews from Wirecutter. They also seem inclined to help people navigate rebates and have a contract with NY public housing.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/copper-charlie-induction-stove-review/
Wirecutter's reviews have gone downhill, but it sounds cool even though they compared it to a Tesla. Samin Nosrat was a consultant on the design.
29: I just bought the most old-school German bagged vacuum, because the stick one can't keep up with the dog's hair.
The Sebo is treated as a luxury item in the US (presumably because of tariffs). It's way cheaper in Canada, in Canadian dollars, not just when you factor in the exchange rate. I thought Tim should visit his mother and buy one, but I think that would void the 10-year warranty. I'm not sure whether it's marketing or tariffs that make it a luxury item in the US. But the individual parts are affordable, and you can repair it. Plus I got to support an independent shop.
If you haven't done that with document images before: find an image of the right characters on a similar document, cut and paste rather than trying to alter. You may need to use images of someone else's document to get those. A bit of a crapshoot if they've already seen a doc with the useless date-- an automated system will pass the corrected one, but a motivated person might detect the change. A renewed license with a different expiration date might be a solution, alternately alter expiration date also to be submitting a completely new document without bureaucracy. Good luck, frustrating position.
I just grabbed whatever was the $600 cooktop at Ikea. It does the job but I imagine capacity would expand with a larger budget, laydeez.
31: it's either that or the microwave you dragged home on your bike 15 years ago.
It's easier that way. The microwave rescue people ask too many questions before they'll rehome one with you.
35: You wouldn't say that if your wife put damp sportswear into a not-fully-cooled oven to dry it out, forgot about it, and you preheated without looking inside a few days later. Didn't burst into flames, did leave the the burnt polyester scent in the kitchen for weeks.
1up bike rack is worth the expense. I also have a stupid expensive pair of skis that I bought for next to nothing (in ski terms) so now I have expensive ski tastes.
There's also some Swedish stand mixer that I want but the KitchenAid has to die first.
We have an LG studio induction range and both the oven and cooktop are pretty good aside from the burner size issue above. It wasn't cheap (about $4k I think) but cheaper than other decent quality models available at the time. Plus since we also have an LG TV, when the oven is preheated a window pops up on the TV to inform you.
58: What's the Swedish one? THere's some fancy food processor that's supposed ot be better than a Cuisinart. Magimix?
58: What's the Swedish one? THere's some fancy food processor that's supposed ot be better than a Cuisinart. Magimix?
Induction would be great, but replacing the wall gas oven (with bonus illegal-in-MA flame sensor) would do more for quality of life. All of this seems like a waste unless we're totally re-doing the kitchen, which seems like a waste if we don't take out the unused chimney, but that requires re-doing two other rooms and part of the roof..... so no induction.
In terms of Cadillac of X, for kitchen stuff:
* Microplane graters
* Good quality 8" or 10" chef's knives (there's a gazillion good brands, I've had the same relatively inexpensive Sabatier K one for 20 years and it's still great)
* Victorinox peelers
In terms of other stuff that I use all the time:
* Vintage Parker fountain pens. 1940s or 1950s. A used Parker 51 with a good nib is cheap as shit, and you aren't going to get anything better to write with.
* Good quality notepads: I like Midori MD (https://md.midori-japan.co.jp/en/products/mdnote/) or Stalogy
It's this one: https://www.ankarsrum.com/us
Oh I have an on-topic question. Does anyone have a can opener recommendation? I can't find one that won't rust, and this includes fancier and higher end ones, and ones that have been recommended by Wirecutter or whatever. Ideally it wouldn't require that much strength to operate, because I have noodle arms and crumbling wrists.
They don't rust if you never wash them.
I got really sick of having a manual can opener when I make chili and have like 6-9 cans of beans to open. So I got this one. It's very good at handling the tiny radius of a tomato paste can.
Couldn't you get bigger cans of beans?
I never go anywhere without my trusty P-38 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener
I like my KitchenAid mixer, but it doesn't inspire evangelism the way my vacuum and rice cooker do. It's the standard size (5 quart) but it isn't always up to handling denser doughs -- it jitters around on the counter and makes a lot of noise, and sometimes the dough climbs up the hook and onto the arm. But when I'm mixing a batter that doesn't require a lot of power, I just use my cheapo Oster hand mixer, because it's so much easier to clean. Also, the enamel on the paddle attachment is starting to chip, for no good reason that I'm aware of.
My previous housemate had a long handled can opener that I still miss.
67: you can address this problem by switching to Ogged's Traditional Chilli Recipe, which is excellent and includes no beans whatsoever. Since he posted it here I have used no other.
https://www.everydaysouthwest.com/authentic-chili-recipe-a-k-a-bowl-of-red/
P-51! CADILLAC OF THE SKIES!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekv_mUb3yuo
re: can opener
We use: https://www.amazon.com/Lantana-Safety-Smooth-Opener-Bottle/dp/B07464F5WN
It open with a smooth edge and the cut is so precise that at first you don't think it's opened it.
After reading ATK for too long, I default to Oxo kitchen stuff and kind of love my Smooth Edge can opener that cuts below the lid. Like ttaM's experience, you can't tell the can is open until you lever the top off. Otherwise, my Swiss Army knife is my favourite (non-rusting) can opener and I rant about single use tools that fail at their single-use every time I use it.
For Cadillac things, I used some Swarovski binoculars for a job and priced myself out of birding.
But generally I'm also on Moby's Unwashed Team
Re chili, great even if fake. "beans r not woke. How could u do this?"
Beans may or may not be woke, but are they (like potassium, zinc, hydrogen, the Caspian Sea, and the M70) gay?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMdPj3HXMgQ
65: I really like the American-made one, but I think I found it on Wirecutter. EZ Duz IT or something.
We also don't open cans very often. I don't know what kind of can opener we have, but it's almost 30 years old and unrusted.
67: Get dry beans. If you cook yhem using the slow cooker function on the instant pot it's super easy and much cheaper.
I'd prefer to live my life where I would never have to choose between telling a lie or saying "I'm moistening my beans."
I hadn't seen 79 before and it is very well played.
83: That's a perfect response for when you need an excuse not to go out on a date.
"Sorry, I'm busy that night. I'm moistening my beans"
83: that is no longer a 15 minute dinner though.
True. Oggeds Traditional Chilli takes about 4 hours to do properly.
And the following aircraft are gay: P-38 Lightning, De Havilland Mosquito, Lavochkin La-5, Focke-Wulf 189 A-2.
Beans https://x.com/chillbutvibrant/status/1767736726829613465?s=46&t=nbIfRG4OrIZbaPkDOwkgxQ
Since this is the Cadillac of X thread, I'm looking for men's dress shoe recommendations. All the shoes I've bought recently have fallen to pieces before their time. Maybe I don't need the Cadillac of shoes, but a solid Toyota pair would be nice. I'm sick of all these Chrysler products.
I have some very old Allen Edmund shoes that have lasted twenty years. But I don't know if the new ones are still good.
Yeah, thats my concern. I bought some Rockports because when I was young, I had Rockports that lasted me many years. But today I guess they make Rockports out of shitty material. Or at least the ones I bought didn't last but a few months.
Same with the last pair of Sperry boat shoes I bought. I probably wore them a dozen times before the sole started coming off. Those used to be good.