Your Newest Cooking Gadget/Cookbook/etc.

[Vader]

My newest gadget is this coffee dispenser with milk frother/cappuccino creamer - a real bargain.



Apart from my wife and daughter the love of my life: my 5 flame gas range.



Last cook book I purchased: Antonio Carluccio's Italien - Die 125 besten Rezepte aus allen Regionen (Antonio Carluccio's Italy - the 125 best recipes from all regions).

[Menolly]

Apart from my wife and daughter the love of my life: my 5 flame gas range.

Between your range and danlo's I am suffering from severe range envy here. Especially considering I am stuck with an electric one, with two of the four burners, including the single large element, not working...

When the landlord finally comes to deal with this, since we do have a gas water heater and dryer, I am hoping to convince him to install a gas range rather than another electric one. But, I'm not holding my breath, either...

[Vader]

It still hasn't enough power. The so-called wok burner has 3.5 kW (kilowatts - don't know if you use this unit in the USA).

A real wok burner should have 11kW plus - preferably up to 30kW. Still looking for a bargain since the real professional wok burning all-in-one solution is around 2,000€ ($2,500) over here. And these are jet burners, ready to melt your average pan into a clump of scrap metal. Maybe I should use white gold ...

Btw, did I tell you that my wedding ring actually is white gold? And since I recently suffer from a cervical herniated disc my right hand is half numb ... hmmm ... maybe I should be prepared for a journey ...

A normal oven will take 7-8 minutes to bring 1 liter of water to the boil.
A real jet burner does it in 1:30 minutes. Me wanna it

[Menolly]

Alton Brown suggests using the burner from a deep fry turkey rig.
Works really well.

From the transcript of his show, Squid Pro Quo...

C:Whoa! Say. What's with the wok?
AB: Well, the wok's kind of the ideal squid-cooking vessel, Chuck. And it's also really great for tailgating.
C: What makes it so special?
AB: Well, two things. For one, the metal. The very best woks which are also some of the cheapest, are actually made out of a high carbon steel and it's an excellent heat conductor. But the real secret's the shape. This bowl shape means that no matter what you have in it pools down to the bottom which is closest to the fire so you can cook large amounts, you can cook small amounts, doesn't matter. Oh, did I mention stir frying? Because this is the stir frying pan.
C: You know, I tried that once but it really didn't taste, um, right.
AB: Well, you probably didn't have any wok hey.
C: Oh, where can I get some?
AB: Um, no. It's, it's a word. It's a Chinese term that means the flavor of the wok.
C: Okay, but where can I get some?
AB: Oh, well, there's only one way to get wok hey and that's heat, lots of heat.
AB: Gentleman, why can't you get wok hey at home?
N: Wok what?
C: It's the flavor of the wok. Come on.
AB: You can't get wok hey at home because the average home range burner doesn't have enough oomph to get a wok really, really hot. This does, just an outdoor burner from a turkey fryer setup. I think this is going to revolutionize tailgating.
C: Yeah, this is all great. But shouldn't we look for Patty?
AB: Let the aroma of our stir fry lead her home.
N: Do you need this [fire extinguisher]?
AB: Oh, I hope not. But if you're going to play with fire, you've got to be protected. Are we clear on this?
C & N: Crystal.
AB: Okay, good. Now this is the procedure for lighting this bad boy.

• Number 1: all tubes are tightly connected.
  Number 2: valves are in the off position.

There's always going to be two valves: the one on the tank and one in between the tank and the burner. Okay? Next we open the valve on top of the tank, right? But this one's still closed. Next we apply fire to the burner. Do not use a short lighter. Use a long lighter or a long match. And always bring your hand in underneath. Okay? [imitates what would happen if your hand was on top] Aaaah! Brrrggggh!
C & N: [chuckle]
AB: Also, don't look down. Okay? You're not going to like the view very much. What are on?
     Number 5 now? Number 5: light and then slowly open the valve. Take your time. There. Now. That is a big flame. But it's a yellow flame. That means it's pretty but it's ineffective combustion so it's not as hot as it could be. So, reach down on the side of the burner you'll find a little disk. Turn it. It's the carburetor. And just turn it until the flame is as blue as the back end of a F-16. Gentlemen. Wok this way.
AB: A stir fry is not so much a recipe as it is a procedure. That means there's an order to things which is ...
N: [tries to interrupt]]
AB: ... this is important ... there's an order to things and you've got to stick with that order if you're really going to have a stir fry. Now a stir fry is also a lot like a, um, a chain reaction. It happens very ...
N: [tries to interrupt]]
AB: ... just a second ... it happens very, very quickly. And once it starts there isn't any stopping it. It's like a roller coaster. You get in the car, the bar comes down, you pull out of the station. You're committed. That is ...
N: [tries to interrupt]]
AB: ... just a second ... that is what stir frying is. You are committed. This means that we must be fully prepared. All the ingredients must be laid out, pre-chopped, pre-sliced, pre-measured, ready to go. Even your serving pieces had better be in place because once this starts ...
N: [tries to interrupt]]
AB: ... what!?
N: Um, shouldn't we put something in it? Some oil or something?
AB: Ned, one of the major tenets of stir frying is the wok must heat alone.
C: I think it's starting to glow.
N: Cool.
AB: Indeed. I would say that we're ready to cook a little thing I call Squid Vicious…

I'm serious. It really does work well for wokking...

[Vader]

Is kilowatts (kW) a unit used in the US as well?

[Menolly]

For electricity.
I'm pretty sure flame out put is measured in btu's...

But on this I am definitely not an expert.

[Vader]

How much btu / KW do these turkey fryers have? Do we have any gas experts here? How much mbar do they have? Is it low or medium pressure? Questions, questions, questions ...

[Menolly]

They really have a wide range of btu output. It is one thing you have to research by brand. I've seen them as low as 35,000 btu, and the highest I have heard is 200,000 btu output.

This thread on the Chowhound boards (another favorite forum of mine, although I do more reading than posting there) discusses this very topic. The initial post says first-class commercial wok set-ups put out an average of 140,000 btu's.

Hope this helps.

[Vader]

That makes sense. The formula is btu divided by 3414 = kW (or kW multiplied by 3414 = btu). I think this is exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you.

[Menolly]

*soft smile*

Welcome.

[aliantha]

Yes, I am yogurt obsessed.

For those of you without a yogurt maker and/or gas oven, but who *do* have a crockpot, here you go.

BTW, I recently ran out of my homemade yogurt partway through the week, and got lazy and bought some plain nonfat Dannon. That's the last time I'll do *that*. Compared to homemade using Greek yogurt for the starter, the Dannon was *way* too sour.

[Menolly]

Yes, I am yogurt obsessed.

For those of you without a yogurt maker and/or gas oven, but who *do* have a crockpot, here you go

huh.
Somehow I totally missed that post before.
Thanks ali. This I will definitely try.
Perhaps I'll even splurge on the "not-for-human-consumption" organic raw milk for this...

I dropped into this thread because I guess it is as close a thread to post where I was today as any.

A new branch of the regular chain grocery store I frequent, Publix, opened recently. Not much different than the other locations.
...except.

They have a "British" foods section in their "ethnic" foods aisle.
None of the other locations have had this.

HP Sauce.
Real imported, not manufactured in the USA, Cadbury chocolates.
Something called black current concentrate that a kiwi friend has told me about.
Only one brand of malt vinegar, but a brand I've never seen before. I don't recall the name off hand; I think it started with an "S."
Marmite
Bovril
...all sorts of products I'm anxious to try.

Oh!
Mars Bars...

Guidance will be much appreciated.

[aliantha]

If they have Boost candy bars, I know a certain college kid who will be pestering me for a ride to Florida...

[Menolly]

I'll check.

I don't recall seeing those, but I did have an anxious teen with me who wanted to practice driving some more, so it was only a quick scan...

[aliantha]

There's no need to encourage her, you understand...

[Vader]

[stonemaybe]

[stonemaybe]

oops double post

[Cagliostro]

My guess is that this has been presented already, but here is the LOTR Cookbook.

I figured Menolly would be particularly interested with the sample recipe named after her son's namesake.

[Menolly]

My guess is that this has been presented already, but here is the LOTR Cookbook.

I figured Menolly would be particularly interested with the sample recipe named after her son's namesake.

Ooo!
Thanks Cag!!

Beorn’s Twice-Baked Honey-Cakes

1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
4 eggs
1 cup strong coffee (cooled)
1 cup honey
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 and ½ cups raisins and or other dried fruit
¼ cup slivered almonds

Whisk together the coffee, butter, and honey. Add the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated. Stir in the dried fruit and nuts. Pour your batter into a 9 by 13 inch pan. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cut the cake into thick slices and return them to the oven to bake a second time for 10 to 15 minutes more.