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Post by pairesta on Oct 17, 2017 6:02:43 GMT -5
Friend of the Food Board Kenji Lopez-Alt's List of Top 10 Kitchen gadgets.WTF is a timer doing on there. Does no one have a smartphone? I'm always conflicted between getting a mandoline and keeping a layer of skin on my hand. I'm fairly confident those two are mutually exclusive. For the kind of cooking you seem to do alot of, you could probably really use one. They do make the best cut of French fry, too. But rest assured: you WILL get a nasty slice one of the first times you use it.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Oct 17, 2017 7:30:45 GMT -5
I have had a mandolin for years and have never once injured myself with it. Of course I can't count the number of times I've severely lacerated myself with my knife.
I don't use it often, but for those times I do, the mandolin is a godsend. They're not expensive, and just for the help it provides slicing 10 pounds of potatoes for my holiday whippers it's worth it.
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Gumbercules
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Post by Gumbercules on Oct 17, 2017 8:30:30 GMT -5
I have had a mandolin for years and have never once injured myself with it. Of course I can't count the number of times I've severely lacerated myself with my knife. I don't use it often, but for those times I do, the mandolin is a godsend. They're not expensive, and just for the help it provides slicing 10 pounds of potatoes for my holiday whippers it's worth it. I take pride in making thin slices of potatoes and sweet potatoes, but I definitely throw out at least 1 in 10 slices for being too thick or uneven (even worse for making chips). So maybe I do need to invest in one. My previous girlfriend had one, and I used hers maybe twice, both times without injury, but I was always scared of hurting myself. Good to know that it can be done.
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Post by Pastafarian on Oct 17, 2017 8:38:57 GMT -5
I have had a mandolin for years and have never once injured myself with it. Of course I can't count the number of times I've severely lacerated myself with my knife. I don't use it often, but for those times I do, the mandolin is a godsend. They're not expensive, and just for the help it provides slicing 10 pounds of potatoes for my holiday whippers it's worth it. I take pride in making thin slices of potatoes and sweet potatoes, but I definitely throw out at least 1 in 10 slices for being too thick or uneven (even worse for making chips). So maybe I do need to invest in one. My previous girlfriend had one, and I used hers maybe twice, both times without injury, but I was always scared of hurting myself. Good to know that it can be done. Get one of those chainmail-like gloves you occasionally see on TV cooking shows. Then when you're done making chips you can go hunt for treasure in a dungeon somewhere.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 17, 2017 8:40:16 GMT -5
I have had a mandolin for years and have never once injured myself with it. Of course I can't count the number of times I've severely lacerated myself with my knife. I don't use it often, but for those times I do, the mandolin is a godsend. They're not expensive, and just for the help it provides slicing 10 pounds of potatoes for my holiday whippers it's worth it. I have a mandolin and have never sliced myself on it. It came with a guard, but I hate the guard, so I use it to slice whatever (potatoes, mostly) down to 1/3 or so of the potato and then slice the rest by hand. I am extremely cautious about getting my fingers anywhere near the blade. (I do have a scar on my finger from about 10 years ago when I was a moron with a knife who tried to cut an onion the wrong way and nearly took a chunk out of my left index finger.)
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Post by Liz n Dick on Oct 17, 2017 8:57:00 GMT -5
My mandoline experiences have been uniformly terrible, but reading Kenji's hard-sell on that particular model on his list has me wondering if I need to give it another try. Years and years ago I got whatever mandoline Williams-Sonoma was selling, this sort of weirdly rickety model with a blade that always felt to me like it had no edge at all. It never yielded a thinner or more consistent slice than I could do myself, because it was such a clunky, useless asshole of a gadget, and on top of its ineffectiveness at its job it was also a major pain in the ass to clean. And despite its inability to slice an onion, it was fantastic at rending human flesh. God, I hated that stupid thing.
And I agree about timers. Who needs a timer when they have a smartphone?
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Post by Ben Grimm on Oct 17, 2017 12:44:01 GMT -5
And I agree about timers. Who needs a timer when they have a smartphone? I just don't understand this attitude at all. Maybe I'm just not that smartphone-centric, but a timer is much easier to use for this than a smartphone, and, on top of that, any holiday is likely going to need multiple timers. Plus a timer isn't going to go off in my ear while I'm on the phone.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 17, 2017 13:01:09 GMT -5
And I agree about timers. Who needs a timer when they have a smartphone? I just don't understand this attitude at all. Maybe I'm just not that smartphone-centric, but a timer is much easier to use for this than a smartphone, and, on top of that, any holiday is likely going to need multiple timers. Plus a timer isn't going to go off in my ear while I'm on the phone. I like having a separate timer, too, and an oven timer requires me to get up and turn it off and check on whatever. I rarely use my phone timer, tbh. I like having a separate alarm clock too, I don't want my phone right next to my bed.
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Post by Liz n Dick on Oct 17, 2017 13:09:10 GMT -5
I just don't understand this attitude at all. Maybe I'm just not that smartphone-centric, but a timer is much easier to use for this than a smartphone, and, on top of that, any holiday is likely going to need multiple timers. Plus a timer isn't going to go off in my ear while I'm on the phone. I actually don't ever use my smartphone as a phone -- it's basically just my Instagram device and my kitchen timer! (There are apps that let you run multiple timers at once.)
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Post by pairesta on Oct 17, 2017 15:10:20 GMT -5
And I agree about timers. Who needs a timer when they have a smartphone? I just don't understand this attitude at all. Maybe I'm just not that smartphone-centric, but a timer is much easier to use for this than a smartphone, and, on top of that, any holiday is likely going to need multiple timers. Plus a timer isn't going to go off in my ear while I'm on the phone. I fell into using my smartphone timer because I always have my phone with me. If I set my kitchen timer, chances are I won't be in the vicinity when it goes off. But I'll have my phone with me. If it's an iphone just do a verbal command to it and it's set. And if you need multiple timers, ask someone else in the kitchen to set theirs.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Oct 17, 2017 15:13:34 GMT -5
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Post by Ben Grimm on Oct 17, 2017 15:15:09 GMT -5
I just don't understand this attitude at all. Maybe I'm just not that smartphone-centric, but a timer is much easier to use for this than a smartphone, and, on top of that, any holiday is likely going to need multiple timers. Plus a timer isn't going to go off in my ear while I'm on the phone. I fell into using my smartphone timer because I always have my phone with me. If I set my kitchen timer, chances are I won't be in the vicinity when it goes off. But I'll have my phone with me. If it's an iphone just do a verbal command to it and it's set. And if you need multiple timers, ask someone else in the kitchen to set theirs. Or I could just set the timer that's on the side of the fridge. If I need a second we can use the one on the microwave. And I can hear both from anywhere in the house. And they won't spontaneously restart due to an update or crash suddenly.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Oct 17, 2017 15:36:19 GMT -5
*Hangs head in shame* I have a sous... ahem, immersion circulator and a homebrew kit. I'd never heard of a Searzall, but now I want one.
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Post by pairesta on Oct 17, 2017 15:38:02 GMT -5
I fell into using my smartphone timer because I always have my phone with me. If I set my kitchen timer, chances are I won't be in the vicinity when it goes off. But I'll have my phone with me. If it's an iphone just do a verbal command to it and it's set. And if you need multiple timers, ask someone else in the kitchen to set theirs. Or I could just set the timer that's on the side of the fridge. If I need a second we can use the one on the microwave. And I can hear both from anywhere in the house. And they won't spontaneously restart due to an update or crash suddenly. Fine. I'd argue more but I've rather badly cut myself on my mandoline again and need to get to the ER.
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Gumbercules
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Post by Gumbercules on Oct 18, 2017 5:51:53 GMT -5
"If you are a dude, is it okay for you to own and use a sous vide machine? Yes, of course! I hear they are best used for perfectly soft-cooked eggs, the sort that jiggle hopefully in a bowl of ramen then gently splooge into the broth when opened." Yup. I basically just have a $120 egg cooker.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Dec 20, 2017 12:13:14 GMT -5
Owlette got me an off-brand Instant Pot for Christmas, so I guess I'm going to be all about that cult now.
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