Basic Kitchen Equipment

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Nancy Young said:

"sarah bennett" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've never seen a suburban apartment that did not have a working stove
and
oven.

I don't think I've ever lived anywhere it wasn't required
by law to have a working oven.

show ... law? please?

a friend of mine in college lived in a efficiency without a stove or oven.

Perhaps they lived in an illegal apartment, not that that
would ever happen to a college student.

nancy

In article <[email hidden]>,

~patches~ said:

Quoted message said:

Cooking was pretty much the last thing on my mind...

I used the pressure cooker and the toaster oven, and lived on rice
cooked in bone stock, salads and roast chicken or turkey and instant
breakfast (slimfast) drinks for my entire senior year. :-P

In our appliance gathering years, I picked up a toaster oven. It was a
real novelty until it caught fire. DH refuses to get another one so I'm
out of luck. I use the pressure cookers a lot. During the hot months
they are really good if you want a quick stew or soup without heating
the kitchen much!

I use it quite a bit for tougher cuts of meat.
I'm feeding a 74 year old with bad teeth so I only grill really tender
stuff like rib eyes or fish. Turkey, a lot of chicken and other chewier
cuts of meat get slow braised or pressure cooked. I'm finding that
pressure cooking hard veggies like carrots has been nice too, and MUCH
faster and easier than steaming. I sometimes use the nuke' with a
corningware for veggies too.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'd make stock meals on my days off and heat them up during the week.

A pressure cooker is one of the fastest ways to make stocks! Even
though I use pressure cookers, my kids so far haven't bought them. I
have them on next year's Christmas list. We try to get at least one
practical gift that they wouldn't buy themselves so I think the pressure
cookers would fit the bill. They do know how to use mine and one has
even borrowed one of my pressure cookers for a couple of weeks at a time.

I grew up with one with mom. :-) I don't make stock any other way now.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Salad makings were pre-cut and stored in individual bins in the 'frige
for the week. Shredded lettuce in one bin, sliced tomatoes in another
and mixed veggies and shredded cooked chicken in a third. Rice was good
for awhile in frozen portions, nuked. Bone stock and rice was made on my
days off then portioned.

Food was not a priority. Getting sleep and passing what was left of my
classes was. I lost 35 lbs. that year.

My only priorities while getting an education was maintaining our family
lifestyle and staying on the dean's list.

Only made the Dean's list one semester. <sigh>
Graduated with a 2.98..... Oh well! :-)

What do you call an MD that graduates at the bottom of his class?

Doctor. <lol>

I just have a BS degree tho', it works for me.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not a bad thing. ;-)

--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Nancy Young said:

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I don't use the cleaning cycle... All that does is burn in stains.

I clean by hand using oven cleaner.

Could not stand the smell in the house for 3 days the one time a
housemate used it. :-(

You buy your appliances at the crappy appliance store?
Dishwashers suck, self cleaning ovens suck. (laugh)

I don't own a dishwasher.....

Oh! Yes I do! It's called a sink and a pair of hands. <lol>

Quoted message said:

Self cleaning stinks the first time, after that no, but I still
keep the windows open. I wouldn't want to do it with
the windows closed.

I'll never clean an oven by hand again, the fumes would
slay me, and I just don't work that hard for something
you can get as a feature anymore.

I can't imagine why you have stains burned in unless
you'd already messed with the finish with oven cleaner.

No, my ass hole house mate used the cycle without consulting me, and
without cleaning out the gross... He used the oven more than I do. I
rarely bake.

He does not live here anymore. Thank gods!

Quoted message said:

nancy

--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Nancy Young said:

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Nancy Young said:

"sarah bennett" <[email hidden]> wrote

> I've never seen a suburban apartment that did not have a working stove
> and
> oven.

I don't think I've ever lived anywhere it wasn't required
by law to have a working oven.

show ... law? please?

a friend of mine in college lived in a efficiency without a stove or oven.

Perhaps they lived in an illegal apartment, not that that
would ever happen to a college student.

I think the whole building was being run by a college...

Lena

notbob said:

Holy freakin' [censored]! Hell hath frozen over. Doug Kanter has has
proven he Kan!

Thank you kindly, Doug, for trimming 120+ lines of Lena's previous
post. Keep up the good work. 🙂

That's a rampant disease (the not trimming) on this newsgroup, that's
for sure. One of the worst for that of any except those where
top-posting is the norm.

It's not that hard to do. I used to trim when I used trn and had vi as
the editor. Of course, trn was a stern taskmaster, and enforced things
like no more than 50% quoted lines to new lines and things like that.

Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)

~patches~ said:

I have a lot more than the following list but I thought a basic list of
kitchen equipment for new cooks might be helpful.

small saucepan
large saucepan with lid
frying pan
roasting pan - size based on household size
muffin tin
cookie sheet
spatulas - lg & small, preferrably silicone
sharp chef's knife
paring knife
manual can opener
toaster
strainer
lg spoon for stirring
measuring cups
measuring spoons
storage containers (recycled food jars with lids are free)

That should get most new cooks cooking and I know a lot of the things
listed are available at our local dollar store. Others could likely be
found at a second hand store so very little money would be needed. Am I
missing anything? Anyone else what to add to the list?

Is this heresy? I would leave all the baking/oven stuff out, event he
toaster. But then I'm from a culture where breakfast is sandwiches.

jake said:

~patches~ said:

I have a lot more than the following list but I thought a basic list
of kitchen equipment for new cooks might be helpful.

small saucepan
large saucepan with lid
frying pan
roasting pan - size based on household size
muffin tin
cookie sheet
spatulas - lg & small, preferrably silicone
sharp chef's knife
paring knife
manual can opener
toaster
strainer
lg spoon for stirring
measuring cups
measuring spoons
storage containers (recycled food jars with lids are free)

That should get most new cooks cooking and I know a lot of the things
listed are available at our local dollar store. Others could likely
be found at a second hand store so very little money would be needed.
Am I missing anything? Anyone else what to add to the list?

Is this heresy? I would leave all the baking/oven stuff out, event he
toaster. But then I'm from a culture where breakfast is sandwiches.

PS I think I'd add a whisk. For pancakes, cream, egg whites.

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You buy your appliances at the crappy appliance store?
Dishwashers suck, self cleaning ovens suck. (laugh)

I don't own a dishwasher.....

Yes, I know, you said. They have all these horrible flaws.
That all the ones I've ever used don't.

I love the oven self clean thing, too. Not saying you have
to have one, that's fine. But I've never had one burn stuff
on, so your experience isn't universal, that's all.

nancy

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Nancy Young wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Perhaps they lived in an illegal apartment, not that that
would ever happen to a college student.

I think the whole building was being run by a college...

No, dorms often don't have cooking appliances, that's
common, and they aren't apartments.

nancy

In article <[email hidden]>,

Doug Kanter said:

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Doug Kanter said:

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
>
>
>>>Invisible garlic. Can't be done with scissors or a paring knife. Back
>>>to
>>>your room before the orderly notices you've gone missing.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Geez! What has gotten into you today?
>> You are wearing a Sheldon disguise?
>
> He was getting on my nerves so I did that little click of a button
> thing
> 😉 My personal experience has been that the garlic press gets more
> flavour followed by smashing the garlic head on the chopping block
> followed by simply chopping the garlic. I think it depends on what you
> are using the garlic for.

Have you seen the movie "Goodfellas"? The guy using a razor blade to cut
garlic insanely thin? That's on its way to being invisible garlic.

It'd get everything all sticky...

No, grasshopper - there's a trick involved. First, you get the knife really
sharp. Preferably a paring knife, not a serrated chef's knife (which doesn't
exist anyway, and is the product of delusional minds). Then, you hold the
bottom of the garlic clove and make many thin slices downward from the top.
Next, you rotate the clove 90 degrees, and make another set of slices
perpendicular to the previous ones. BUT...as you make these cuts, you don't
go all the way down through the bottom (where your fingers are). The root
end holds all the slices together for the moment. Finally, you rest the
close on its side on the cutting board, while whispering sweet nothings to
it in Italian, and slice across all the previous cuts. The little bits will
stay on the knife and you can transfer them to where ever you want them
next. Not messy at all.

In the movie, the guy used a razor blade, which works even better.

A press is faster.

Drop the clove into the press.

Squish.

All done. ;-)
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

jake said:

~patches~ said:

I have a lot more than the following list but I thought a basic list of
kitchen equipment for new cooks might be helpful.

small saucepan
large saucepan with lid
frying pan
roasting pan - size based on household size
muffin tin
cookie sheet
spatulas - lg & small, preferrably silicone
sharp chef's knife
paring knife
manual can opener
toaster
strainer
lg spoon for stirring
measuring cups
measuring spoons
storage containers (recycled food jars with lids are free)

That should get most new cooks cooking and I know a lot of the things
listed are available at our local dollar store. Others could likely be
found at a second hand store so very little money would be needed. Am I
missing anything? Anyone else what to add to the list?

Is this heresy? I would leave all the baking/oven stuff out, event he
toaster. But then I'm from a culture where breakfast is sandwiches.

same here. sammiches, frenchfries, corned beef. leftovers are far, far
better than breakfasts, imho.

Lena

cathyxyz said:

~patches~ said:

cathyxyz wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I would add a grater, otherwise not a bad list.... and maybe a kettle
to boil water for tea etc. - or is that not what you were thinking
about?

Quoted message said:

Exactly what I was thinking. Now and enterprizing person would use
one of the saucepans to boil water and you could always make camp
coffe using coffe grounds and one of the sauce pans.

That's why I asked... we have an electric cooker (as do a lot of people
in this part of the world) so, for me, I go for the electric kettle for
boiling water for tea - its faster (and I think more energy efficient -

That was tested by a Dutch journalist. A gas stove + kettle turned out
to be much cheaper and energy efficient for boiling water than an
electric boiler. But it might be different in other parts of the world.

Quoted message said:

as long as you only put in the amount of water required) than waiting
for water to boil in a pot or pan on the stove. A new kettle here costs
around US$9, which I don't think is too bad an investment - I have had
my current one for over 4 years.

I forgot the grater.

Quoted message said:

That would be really useful.

Use mine regularly...

Cheers
Cathy(xyz

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is this heresy? I would leave all the baking/oven stuff out, event he
toaster. But then I'm from a culture where breakfast is sandwiches.

same here. sammiches, frenchfries, corned beef. leftovers are far, far
better than breakfasts, imho.

Lena

I really meant just sandwiches! Nothing hot! Or cooked (other than
occasional boiled eggs, typically on Sundays). No porridge, no dinner
types of foods.

Classics: bread with PB, or jam, or cheese, or chocolate sprinkles, or
cold cuts. End of story.

Nancy Young said:

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Nancy Young wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Perhaps they lived in an illegal apartment, not that that
would ever happen to a college student.

I think the whole building was being run by a college...

No, dorms often don't have cooking appliances, that's
common, and they aren't apartments.

off campus dwellings that sure seemed to be considered apartments by the
college. despite it being okay to pay the college money to live there --
look up CMU's housing arrangements sometime.

Lena

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Nancy Young wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

No, dorms often don't have cooking appliances, that's
common, and they aren't apartments.

off campus dwellings that sure seemed to be considered apartments by the
college. despite it being okay to pay the college money to live there --
look up CMU's housing arrangements sometime.

Oh, so anyone can rent there? Even if they aren't attending
the school?

At any rate, I don't know if the law is for everywhere, just
everywhere I've lived.

nancy

Nancy Young said:

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Nancy Young wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

No, dorms often don't have cooking appliances, that's
common, and they aren't apartments.

off campus dwellings that sure seemed to be considered apartments by the
college. despite it being okay to pay the college money to live there --
look up CMU's housing arrangements sometime.

Oh, so anyone can rent there? Even if they aren't attending
the school?

yeah there were some doctors living there.

Quoted message said:

At any rate, I don't know if the law is for everywhere, just
everywhere I've lived.

where is that? and i'd really like to see the text of the law...

lbk

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Nancy Young wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

off campus dwellings that sure seemed to be considered apartments by the
college. despite it being okay to pay the college money to live
there --
look up CMU's housing arrangements sometime.

Oh, so anyone can rent there? Even if they aren't attending
the school?

yeah there were some doctors living there.

No, I mean anyone. Not connected with the school. Just
Joe looking for a place to rent.

nancy

Nancy Young said:

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Nancy Young wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> off campus dwellings that sure seemed to be considered apartments by the
> college. despite it being okay to pay the college money to live
> there --
> look up CMU's housing arrangements sometime.

Oh, so anyone can rent there? Even if they aren't attending
the school?

yeah there were some doctors living there.

No, I mean anyone. Not connected with the school. Just
Joe looking for a place to rent.

Anyone can rent there. There are a lot of hospitals nearby, and the rent
is skyhigh. but anyone can rent there.

lena

~patches~ <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I have a lot more than the following list but I thought a basic list of
kitchen equipment for new cooks might be helpful.

small saucepan
large saucepan with lid
frying pan
roasting pan - size based on household size
muffin tin
cookie sheet
spatulas - lg & small, preferrably silicone
sharp chef's knife
paring knife
manual can opener
toaster
strainer
lg spoon for stirring
measuring cups
measuring spoons
storage containers (recycled food jars with lids are free)

That should get most new cooks cooking and I know a lot of the things
listed are available at our local dollar store. Others could likely be
found at a second hand store so very little money would be needed. Am I
missing anything? Anyone else what to add to the list?

I think a large pot for making soups and stocks is a necessity. I've
gotten so much stuff over the years I'm really not sure what's essential
but a stew pot is mandatory in this house. I have 3 of them, different
sizes collected over the years. One is pretty much Steven's for his Jewish
cooking. The second is used for sauces (when I make in quantity to
store in the freezer) and last but not least is my fave. I don't know how
many quarts it is. I got it probably 30 years ago. I went into a Kmart
and bought the biggest one I could find. It's my favorite. It's huge.

Oh, and a couple of different sizes of casserole dishes. I use almost all
my Corningware on a regular basis. Oh, and baking soda to clean the non
stick cookware if you have any. I got the baking soda tip from someone on
here a long time ago. I am forever grateful. It gets the sticky bits right
off without damaging the pan.

Michael

--
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she
served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been
found."

--Calvin Trillin

Lena B Katz <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

What do you use your paring knife for?

The last three uses or so for mine were -- opening a package of corned
beef, opening th3e spicesn inside the corned beef, and opening a bag
of dried potato flakes.

for me, scissors work better.

Lena

Well, I peel potatoes with it. I also peel fruit and cucumbers with it.
I'll use it to do a large dice of onion. I use it a lot. I also use my
meat cleaver a lot. I pretty much use all my knives a lot. Once a year
they go to the knife guy who sharpens and does whatever else needs to be
done to knives. I've had them almost 20 years. Even Steven knows not to
mess with my knives. He uses them but doesn't abuse them.

I actually threw the meat cleaver at his step mother once. I won't tell
the story again but she said I almost hit her. I said if I wanted to hit
her she would be dead. It landed in the sink where I wanted it and told her
to finish dinner. We had friends in from the UK and she was being
ignorant.

Michael

--
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she
served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been
found."

--Calvin Trillin