GeezerGourmet's Profile
Multipurpose kitchen thermometer
Go Thermopen!
Pricey, but with a fast and accurate super thin probe: -50F to 572F.
I've had mine for more than 10 years.
At thermoworks.com.
It was pretty pricey... and you don't use it!
Just add .com to my name. Indeed, there is a resotto/evasée recipe there.
It was pretty pricey... and you don't use it!
A real bargain, indeed. Your pan is called an evasée or chef's pan. They are really quite versatile. Bourgeat is the best and you should learn to use it. Space it too limited here to sing its praises but here are the bottom lines from my Web site article. "Why bother [with it]? Well, if you have always wanted to toss and flambé your cognac-finished steak sauce in a skillet over a raging gas fire like the line cook in the LeRoy Neiman painting—without having to call 911—this is the safer pan. If you are outfitting a small kitchen, substitute a large evasée for a saucepan and wok. If a two-pan galley is the limit on your yacht, select a skillet and an evasée. Or, if you must get by with only one good pan in the Winnebago, go evasée!
Our Blue Star range has been installed!
I have no hard data on that. Contact the manufacturer.
Our Blue Star range has been installed!
Clean it, but leave the igniters alone. A fast wipe of a burner bowl, done carelessly, can whack an igniter. Putting the cast iron stars and bowls in the dish washer works, but they're very heavy and should be removed and replaced with attention. It's easy to scratch the stainless steel back splash panel in the process, for example. Instead, go to the hardware store and buy a steel brush (not copper or brass) --TOOTH BRUSH sized. Between heavy cleanings, a steel brush nicely removes splater from the burner tops.
That said, I alone clean the stove. It's off limits to both the cleaning lady and The LIttle Woman, both of whom are more than happy to leave the thing alone but not without comments, such as "we think it's maybe time for you to clean the stove top."
Our Blue Star range has been installed!
I've been lovin my 36" Blue Star for four years.
Some tips based on experience and gleaned from various threads online might be of interest to you: I agree with the owner who said that "Blue Stars don't like to be cleaned." That said, when they are really greasy, the cast iron cook top pieces clean well in the dish washer. Don't wipe, clean or even touch the igniters: trying to clean them will likely break them; touching the tip will give you a shock. Allow plenty of time for the oven to heat up--at least ten minutes beyond when the oven blue light turns off. Sheet pans of cookies and pastry do best if rotated, even with the blower on. The oven door and the plate beneath it get quite hot.
Enjoy!
Tajine -- Thoughts?
It is helpful to think of the tagine as a stovetop Dutch oven for two. The LC and others with a cast iron bottom are the most versatile. There's a lengthy thread on tagines on this site. And lots more info and recipes on my non-commercial Web site.
Kitchen sink recommendations?
Whatever you buy, get one without a partition. A partition serves no purpose other than to make a large sink smaller.
Technivorm, yea or nay? Husband sick of weak Keurig coffee...
GO Technivorm!
The best coffee brewer I've ever had.
Bourgeat Flared Saute - Saucier?
olmpia,
This from my Web site:
The pan shown is a hybrid pan of relatively new design. It is aptly called an evasée (from Fr. evaser to open out; to flare). Its called a chef's pan here. I describe it as follows:
Evasée or chef’s pan—an arched long-handled hybrid sauté pan/sauce pan/skillet with a flat bottom less broad than a sauté pan, with deep, deep sides that flare out from the bottom more gradually than a skillet and then rise to vertical at the rim like a sauce pan. This pan is designed to sauté, stir and toss veggies and small cuts of meats and fish with larger quantities of liquids, without spilling. The rim is flared for non-drip pouring. It is the ideal pan to start and finish pilafs, to construct and reduce sauces and to prepare products that require stirring or whisking, such a risotto, crème anglaise and cream puff dough (pate au choix) for your profiteroles. It also serves nicely as a wok. Size is specified in quarts (1 to 5), which suggests that it is closer in concept to it’s sauté and sauce pan brethren than to the skillet or wok. If you can have but two pans on your yacht or Winnebago, get a large evasée and a non stick skillet for breakfast eggs. That's all you'll need.
No preferences on braziers.
Thermapen @ Sur la Table for $15?
No.
It's real features are the ultra thin and sharp probe with the thermister at the very tip, and high recording range.
Buying Brisket for TX BBQ
I've recently bought two from The Organic Butcher in McLean. So fresh they were not even cryovac'd. Trimmed, but still with lots of fat, one at 12 lbs and the other at 9.5. Locally raised and high quality. Pricy too, but you get what you pay for, which is not always the case on things labeled organic.
Deep Lasagna Pan Shopping
Two sheets wide: can't help you.
One sheet wide, that is lasagna for two, can be done in the cast iron enameled Le Creuset pate pan. I didn't buy it for that purpose , but it works wonderfully.
Three Pigs / McLean Tavern construction in McLean?
No. But I hope it's Mexican . . .
Birthday Mission
You were right!
We went to Flavor Soul last Saturday, for The Little Woman's birthday, and enjoyed every bite of their classic deep fried chicken. We'll go back for their fish ("bone in is best" we were told by the regulars). They had a good crowd that night, too.
Thanks for the steer.
UNICORN MAGNUM PLUS
As noted by smkit, the worn loading door opening with spilled pepper corns all over the work station is a real annoyance. I got so fed up with it that I installed in each peppermill a small stainless steel screw to keep the darn door closed. Works fine. Once tapped, the screw backs out easily with a proper sized screwdriver.
Problem solved.
Birthday Mission
Where in NoVA can I take The Little Woman for deep fried chicken? It's gotta be county class, at least--the real deal!
Copper Cookware Thickness
Matfor Bourgeat, who arguably make the best copper pots on the planet, uses 18/10 stainless steel bonded to 2.5mm red copper. Matfor claims that 2.5mm red copper gives the best connectivity and control. When asked at a trade show, Matfor engineers reportedly said that if thicker copper worked better they'd use it.
Yes, copper stock pots are thinner than 2.5, at least all three of my tin-lined are.
Skewed skewers
Well, someone has come up with a better idea.
We came across some grilling skewers made of 3/32" stainless steel pre-formed cable. They have a loop on one end and a fixed probe on the other. With meat and veggies strung on the cable, the loaded cable can be dangled, loop-side-down, and formed to fit onto the grill any which way that works best, straight out, serpentine or circled--with the probe end extended over the edge of the grill grate, if you wish. They are really long--30 inches! Sufficient to load enough food for two on each skewer. Manufactured by Inno-Labs (firewiregrilling.com), the Firewire won a kitchen accessory award last year.
McLean, Va
Cafe Tati is good and unpretentious, their Monte Cristo sandwich is a classic. Asian Corner is better than OK. Pucinelli's has good Italian food and great pizzas. House of Fortune is touting a new executive chef--we were there last week and it is improved with much better wait staff. The McLean Family Restaurant is the power breakfast spot and quick and cheap the rest of the day. All of these are in downtown McLean and reasonably priced.
Cuisinart DLC7
After the switch tab broke on our DLC-7 many years ago, the Cuisinart people said, in a phone conversation (pre email era), that the pusher tube must be disengaged before twisting the bowl on or off or, sooner or later, the switch tab will break. "It's a design fault and we know it." So, lift the tube first, then twist on the bowl counterclockwise and then push the tube down hard to engage the switch. To take it off, lift the tube first then . . .
Restaurants in Key West
We just returned from a week of so-so weather in Key West. For what it's worth, from our short experience and talking with local foodies, the two best restaurants in town are Cafe Marquesa and Pisces--both in the $$$ range but worth it. We had great breakfasts at Pepes Cafe, classic Italian dinners at Antonia's, and good Cuban pulled pork and beef at El Meson del Pepe.
Belgian Waffle Maker Recommendations, Please
We're delighted with our 2 square Belgian waffle maker by All-Clad. See a brief review on my Web site. Friends have the 4 square and like it too.
Blue Star Range
Good insightful post, Ted.
Your observation that the BlueStar doesn't like over zealous cleaning is right on.
No one in this household, save me, is permitted to clean or even wipe our BS or the interior of the hood.
Of course, my high handed dictum promotes pointed observations from The LIttle Woman and the Cleaning Lady as to their perceived less than immaculate condition of the stove grates.
Advice Needed - CFM Minimum Requirments
Lot of questions, but one thing bothers us: Duct work for a hood is about the same regardless of CFM--the motor and its housing (on the roof or wall) are bigger (and cost more), but that doesn't add up to an extra $5K for duct work. 1200 CFM is a lot of draft. If it's too much you can run it at a lower speed (less noise too). The only times we crank ours up all the way is when we pan fry a steak in a very hot cast iron skillet and when using the iron wok.
Blue Star Cooktop problem - No tech support??
When we installed our Blue Star, the gas plumber voiced the opinion that the simmer burner, at "all the way low," was a good test of gas pressure coming from the street into the stove, through the meter. If, after starting the simmer burner on high and then slowly turning it all the way left to low, nothing clicks--you have good gas pressure. Conversely, if other igniters keep clicking, it may be because the gas pressure is below specifications required of the stove(some specified "water level in inches" figure).
New cleaning product
We're with you on Sheila Shine. We have stainless steel countertops plus the usual stainless steel appliances.
Smells great.
We buy it by the half case through Amazon.
What is your favorite vintage kitchen item?
An aluminium star-patterned colander--my mom's--going back, for sure, ninety years.
