replies@to.here wrote
>>> Marsha (mas@ves.org) writes
>>>> Itchy wrote
>>>>> Bread machine mixes cost more than a loaf of bread!
>>>> Don't use a mix. Make it from scratch in your bread machine.
>>>> It takes time, but at least there isn't any garbage in it.
>> No garbage in the mix I buy.
>>> These mixes have come up a number of times here recently, and I
>>> can't say I've seen them in the store. It boggles my mind that
>>> people have been led to believe they need a mix to make bread in a
>>> bread machine.
>> No one said anything about need. Its just a convenience, like any other.
>>> I buy flour in as large a bag as I can get at the grocery store,
>> Bread flour isnt any old flour.
>> I buy big sacks of mix, 10Kg.
> Americans buy "bread" flour
Some do, some buy breadmix.
> as their regular stuff doesn't have enough gluten to make bread.
What I said.
> Gordon wrote
>>> I got a Fry Daddy.. I don't like that thing..
>>> it's dangerous, and doesn't seem to get hot enough..
>>> the steak fries I made.. well they weren't the best.
>> Anything you can fry up in a frydaddy you can bake up in a toster oven. And
it will be healthier
>> for you without the fat.
> Often you can, but I can think of a few counterexamples.
> Like, for instance, funnel cake.
>> Crock pots are nice. I like mine.
> I don't fully understand crock pots. I haven't ever had one, but
> is there anything you can make in a crock pot that you can't also
> make in a big stock pot on the stove with the lid on and the heat
> set to low or "warm"?
Nope, but a crock pot simplifys things.
>> Bread machines?? Nope. If I want bread I bake it in the oven.
> You can do that, and often it comes out better (the loaf is shaped like a
loaf, for instance...),
That isnt necessarily better.
> but bread machines do have one huge advantage: they work the dough for you.
Well, actually, two
> huge advantages: they also allow you to dump in all the ingredients and
> come back 3 or 4 hours later with everything done.
In spades when breadmix is used, just toss in the mix,
then the water and the yeast and press the button.
Leaves doing it by hand for dead.
> That means making fresh bread is much less of a time commitment.
And a hell of a lot less effort too.
I dont even bother to wash anything, the coated tin in the bread
machine is so clean that there isnt any point in washing it.
>>> I am thinking now of a electric skillet.. those seem to be quite useful.
But lots of the other
>>> stuff seems.. not worth it.
>> A good skillet on the stove top would work juat as well.
>> And for the price of the electric Skillet you can get
>> several skillets of various sizes.
> And the skillets that go on the stove can also go in the dishwasher. I'm not
sure if this applies
> to all electric skillets,
Yes it does.
> but the ones I've seen need to be washed by hand.
No they dont.
> Which is a pain in the butt.
> Anyway, here's my list of essential kitchen appliances:
> 1. electric mixer, not the portable kind, but the kind that stands up
> 2. oven
> 3. stove
> 4. microwave -- actually, having two microwaves is not bad if you have the
space for them
Overkill in my opinion.
> 5. dishwasher -- washing dishes by hand is against my principles :-)
Yeah, me too. I'm not stupid enough to wash clothes by hand either.
> 6. fridge with ice maker -- I drink LOTS of cold drinks with ice
I just use tap water, dont even bother to put water in the fridge.
> 7. waffle iron, because you can't make waffles without it
Dont eat waffles.
> 8. blender, because once again, certain things you can't do otherwise
> And then the useful ones:
> 9. toaster oven -- can do things quickly without waiting for the regular oven
to heat up
I dont bother with the one I got free.
I'd add
10. toaster - much prefer the automatic pop up when its done.
11. manual onion chopper. Too much farting around doing it with a knife.
12. freezer. Much more convenient to make much more than a single
meal and freeze the rest in meal sized portions with stuff like curry etc.
13. Digital scales. So cheap its pointless doing without one.
> I have a Fry Baby and an air popcorn popper, but I never use them,
> because you can fry stuff and pop popcorn on the stove just as easily.
Dunno, I dont fry anymore, but when I did, I didnt bother to clean
it out every time it got used, just when the fat had been used a bit.
And I only ever ditched the old fat and added new fat, didnt bother to wash it.
> I guess in theory the Fry Baby would make it easier to get the oil
> to the right temperature, though, which is important for frying
> things correctly (i.e. keeping the food from absorbing too much grease).
Yep, and rather more convenient too.
> I also have a George Foreman style "grill" (actually, mine is made
> by Hamilton Beach). It's really not a grill, of course, but it does
> cook meat, and it has two nice features: (1) because it half cooks
> the food by contact and half by steam (remember, it's not really a
> grill), the meat doesn't usually dry out, and (2) you can put meat
> on there and leave it for the entire cooking time without having
> to turn it, flip it, or even look at it, which makes cooking meat
> more convenient and gives you time to work on other things.
I prefer a conventional grill for that, comes with the oven.
> I don't fully understand crock pots. I haven't ever had one, but
> is there anything you can make in a crock pot that you can't also
> make in a big stock pot on the stove with the lid on and the heat
> set to low or "warm"? <snip>
I don't like most foods prepared in a crockpot, but I do make a couple kinds
of soup and sauces in mine. In theory you should be able to get the same
effect from a stovetop burner, but you'd have to be lurking over it and
stirring for 6 or 8 hours--especially if what you're preparing is a thick
consistency. The advantage of the crockpot is that you can leave it for a
full workday and come home to prepared, piping hot comfort food.
I've never even thought about owning an electric skillet, though. And I
agree with the other poster about the Fry Baby (which I got for free). It
just doesn't get hot enough to approach the utility of a "real" deep fat
fryer.
XML site map
>>>> Itchy wrote
>>>>> Bread machine mixes cost more than a loaf of bread!
>>>> Don't use a mix. Make it from scratch in your bread machine.
>>>> It takes time, but at least there isn't any garbage in it.
>> No garbage in the mix I buy.
>>> These mixes have come up a number of times here recently, and I
>>> can't say I've seen them in the store. It boggles my mind that
>>> people have been led to believe they need a mix to make bread in a
>>> bread machine.
>> No one said anything about need. Its just a convenience, like any other.
>>> I buy flour in as large a bag as I can get at the grocery store,
>> Bread flour isnt any old flour.
>> I buy big sacks of mix, 10Kg.
> Americans buy "bread" flour