Basic Kitchen Equipment

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Lena B Katz said:

Nancy Young said:

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

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Nancy Young wrote:

>
> "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

That's called a "dorm" and they usually have a central kitchen.

Not the same thing as an apt.
--
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:

"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 don't think that was me...
The only things I have against dishwashers is the waste of space,
electricity and water.

Other than that, they are fine. ;-) I just don't feel the need for one.

Quoted message said:

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

Granted.

I don't like to use the cycle.

That's all.

Quoted message said:

--
Peace, Om.

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

In article <[email hidden]>,

jake said:

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.

Oh gee that sounds healthy!

Not...
--
Peace, Om.

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

"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message 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.

nancy

I have absolutely no idea about the laws. I do remember looking at a house
to rent, when I first moved to St. Louis. The house had NO appliances. No
stove or fridge. I didn't rent it and bought a condo instead. I wonder if
the laws have changed.

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

In article <[email hidden]>,

Michael \'Dog3\' Lonergan said:

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 use 3 knives the most frequently.
The cleaver, the paring knife and my small fillet' knife.

Quoted message said:

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.

Remind me never to [censored] you off. <G>

Quoted message said:

Michael

--
Peace, Om.

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How do you make toast?

Take a loaf of half-stale bread, yank off a hunk, butter it, and then
toss
it in the oven. Comes out warmer -- and is less burnt. Last time I
had
toast was last year, and at someone else's house. <<

This particular phrase is only exemplary for many I just don't get in
your posts. I flounder among the choices 1) she lives in some country
I don't know at all, 2) she lives in some country I do know but is
eccentric and 3) she'll say anything to back up a mistaken point.
Nobody I know thinks a hunk of buttered bread baked in the oven is
toast. Not in the USA, not in the UK, not in Italy or France or
Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Lebanon, India nor Germany-- in short
without listing every single country in which I have acquaintances-- no
one I know at all.
So if you don't use frying pans, skillets, whatever you call them, that
means you don't sauté sofritto or mushrooms or make pancakes or
crepes. OK, that means only that your food wouldn't work here. For
me, if you had an iron skillet you could also have real toast made in
it. But how can one crisp, brown, caramelize or fry anything without
some kind of frying pan?
Anyway, this thread is far too dedicated to a one country-one lifestyle
kitchen. I just don't get which cuisine you are into.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Ok, so what are you criticizing for?

The thread is aimed at the MINIMAL needs.
--
Peace, Om. <<

But clearly the minimal needs are slowly being defined as N American.
If I were actually given the responsibility to outfit a minimal
kitchen, I'd try to give the user some scope for real cooking, which
would be impossible with one pot of any size. I certainly wouldn't
provide a steak knife and no other, no matter than anyone here used or
uses a steak knife exclusively. And I would know that using a
vegetable peeler won't get you far with an onion, for example. Or a
whole pepper. Or an orange. And before someone says use a chef's
knife, let's remember that a tool that is too big, not sharp enough or
otherwise not right for the job is dangerous.

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

jake 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.

Oh gee that sounds healthy!

Not...

Why do you find it unhealthy?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

small cutting board -- anything too large is difficult to fit on the

counter and is a pain to wash in my tiny sink. <<

Right and this recognizes that minimal kitchens have minimal
counterspace, so a toaster oven could take all there was!
Mine is hardly minimal, but I need the workspace more than a microwave
and therefore don't have one. Know yourself and know your kitchen.

Judith Umbria said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Ok, so what are you criticizing for?

The thread is aimed at the MINIMAL needs.
--
Peace, Om. <<

But clearly the minimal needs are slowly being defined as N American.
If I were actually given the responsibility to outfit a minimal
kitchen, I'd try to give the user some scope for real cooking, which
would be impossible with one pot of any size. I certainly wouldn't
provide a steak knife and no other, no matter than anyone here used or
uses a steak knife exclusively. And I would know that using a
vegetable peeler won't get you far with an onion, for example. Or a
whole pepper. Or an orange. And before someone says use a chef's
knife, let's remember that a tool that is too big, not sharp enough or
otherwise not right for the job is dangerous.

Judith, I started the thread as an extension to the thread "food snob"
where we are discussing the poor and one possible problem being lack of
equipment and cooking skills. A basic list is nice in that it might
help someone see that they don't need a lot of equipment to start
cooking. Many of the items I initally listed can be found at a dollar
store as well. So if you take away the high cost of equipment there is
even a greater incentive to start cooking. A college student on their
own or a teenage mom with limited funds or someone on welfare could look
at this list and say ok, it isn't complicated and it isn't expensive - I
could do that. That is what my intentions were. I mentioned that this
list is significantly less than what my equipment is but everyone has to
start somewhere.

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Lena B Katz said:

Nancy Young said:

"Lena B Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
>
>
> On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Nancy Young wrote:
>
>>
>> "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

That's called a "dorm" and they usually have a central kitchen.

Not the same thing as an apt.

.... for the love of god. fine. i'll post the link
http://www.housing.cmu.edu/buildings/cathedral/
the efficiencies do not have ovens, and at least one didn't have a
functioning stove.

Lena

if you want, i can pull indie apt. listings...

Judith Umbria said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> How do you make toast?

Take a loaf of half-stale bread, yank off a hunk, butter it, and then
toss
it in the oven. Comes out warmer -- and is less burnt. Last time I
had
toast was last year, and at someone else's house. <<

This particular phrase is only exemplary for many I just don't get in
your posts. I flounder among the choices 1) she lives in some country
I don't know at all, 2) she lives in some country I do know but is
eccentric and 3) she'll say anything to back up a mistaken point.
Nobody I know thinks a hunk of buttered bread baked in the oven is
toast. Not in the USA, not in the UK, not in Italy or France or
Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Lebanon, India nor Germany-- in short
without listing every single country in which I have acquaintances-- no
one I know at all.

to me, it comes out toasted, therefore I can call it toast. does that make
sense? But you might
have guessed that I don't particularly like well done toast.

Quoted message said:

So if you don't use frying pans, skillets, whatever you call them, that
means you don't sauté sofritto or mushrooms or make pancakes or
crepes. OK, that means only that your food wouldn't work here. For
me, if you had an iron skillet you could also have real toast made in
it. But how can one crisp, brown, caramelize or fry anything without
some kind of frying pan?

I've done french fries in a wok.(not a good wok, mind). And I've
definetely used a wok for browning stew beef. [you can also carmalize
things in a saucepan, or by roasting...]

Quoted message said:

Anyway, this thread is far too dedicated to a one country-one lifestyle
kitchen. I just don't get which cuisine you are into.

me? hmm... I like fusion. I'm rather fond of creating dishes that would
offend all of the countries where i'm drawing inspiration from. Italian,
Indian, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, English. I like 'em all!

I'll agree with you that this thread seems... a bit tilted toward an
american audience. I think that "a rice cooker and a pot for doing a few
veggies" would probably suit Chinese cuisine a bit better...

Lena

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Judith, I started the thread as an extension to the thread "food snob"

where we are discussing the poor and one possible problem being lack of

equipment and cooking skills.>>

First I'd think you have to get them out of motels and cheap innercity
hotels! But really, I don't live in N America and the list that has
goings on about toast at length would mean nothing here.
If people in NA are to get healthy home-cooked meals, they need
vegetables plus proteins and therefore most times more than one pot.
Toaster ovens are a luxury product I think and I have never had one in
the US or anywhere.
Each culture has its own list. Some eat rice every meal, for others
pasta is non-negotiable, for others tortillas.

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

Quoted message said:

Judith Umbria said:

Quoted message said:

>Ok, so what are you criticizing for?

The thread is aimed at the MINIMAL needs.
--
Peace, Om. <<

But clearly the minimal needs are slowly being defined as N American.
If I were actually given the responsibility to outfit a minimal
kitchen, I'd try to give the user some scope for real cooking, which
would be impossible with one pot of any size. I certainly wouldn't
provide a steak knife and no other, no matter than anyone here used or
uses a steak knife exclusively. And I would know that using a
vegetable peeler won't get you far with an onion, for example. Or a
whole pepper. Or an orange. And before someone says use a chef's
knife, let's remember that a tool that is too big, not sharp enough or
otherwise not right for the job is dangerous.

Judith, I started the thread as an extension to the thread "food snob"
where we are discussing the poor and one possible problem being lack of
equipment and cooking skills. A basic list is nice in that it might help
someone see that they don't need a lot of equipment to start cooking.
Many of the items I initally listed can be found at a dollar store as
well. So if you take away the high cost of equipment there is even a
greater incentive to start cooking. A college student on their own or a
teenage mom with limited funds or someone on welfare could look at this
list and say ok, it isn't complicated and it isn't expensive - I could do
that. That is what my intentions were. I mentioned that this list is
significantly less than what my equipment is but everyone has to start
somewhere.

So you're somehow operating under the impression "the poor" have computers
and are reading usenet?

I do taxes. We ask two questions during the course of the process. One,
"do you have an email address," almost universally answered "no." Second,
"do you have a checking or savings account," also almost universally
answered "no."

So how is it you think your little exercise is helpful to anyone?

I personally don't think there are more than a handful of people on this
list that have ever even been poor.

Ms P

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

Quoted message said:

Doug Kanter said:

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

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006, Doug Kanter wrote:

>"~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.

here's the transcript of what we were talking about:

1. I say i'd rather have kitchen scissors than paring knife
2. You say "are you crazy" followed by some thigns that I agreed with
and others I did not.
3. I ask what you do with paring knife that you don't do with scissors.
4. You say invisible garlic -- which you follow by saying can't be done
with either.

I did not say it could not be done with either tool. I said it could not
be done with scissors. If you believe otherwise, please point to the
precise words you misunderstood.

Doug Kanter said:

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

Quoted message said:

>>What do you use your paring knife for?
Lena

Invisible garlic. Can't be done with scissors or a paring knife. Back to
your room before the orderly notices you've gone missing.

I think you typed "or a paring knife" instead of "or a serrated chef's
knife".

Yeah...I fixed that writing mess a little bit afterward. 🙂

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

Quoted message said:

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" <[email hidden]> wrote:

> "~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. ;-)

It really doesn't have the same effect.

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

Quoted message said:

Doug Kanter said:

I can make pancakes over a campfire.......

Ooooh, ...sorry... wrong answer. Go to jail without passing go
for not trimming a jillion lines of useless txt.

So sad. And you were doing so well. 🙁

nb

CTRL-END is your friend. Go back to one of the long posts and try it. On
other other hand, I *do* know what you mean. How's that for balance? :-)

"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.

Lena

In that case, it wasn't an "efficiency". Is was mislabeled.

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

Quoted message said:

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" <[email hidden]> wrote:

> Oh please....what adult can't make friggin pancakes? If you don't spot
> your
> mistakes after the first three tries, and either fix them, or consult
> a
> book
> and THEN fix them, you're an idiot.

Pancakes ain't rocket science...

but neither are hard boiled eggs.

How many threads about hard boiled eggs have appeared on this list just
in the past 2 years??????
--
Peace, Om.

You know my policy on failure to consult resources available to everyone.
No
further comment is necessary.

Except that if everyone looked up the resources, the cooking discussion
list would not exsist. ;-)
--
Peace, Om.

Sure it would.

ms_peacock said:

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

Quoted message said:

Judith Umbria said:

>> Ok, so what are you criticizing for?

The thread is aimed at the MINIMAL needs.
--
Peace, Om. <<

But clearly the minimal needs are slowly being defined as N American.
If I were actually given the responsibility to outfit a minimal
kitchen, I'd try to give the user some scope for real cooking, which
would be impossible with one pot of any size. I certainly wouldn't
provide a steak knife and no other, no matter than anyone here used or
uses a steak knife exclusively. And I would know that using a
vegetable peeler won't get you far with an onion, for example. Or a
whole pepper. Or an orange. And before someone says use a chef's
knife, let's remember that a tool that is too big, not sharp enough or
otherwise not right for the job is dangerous.

Judith, I started the thread as an extension to the thread "food snob"
where we are discussing the poor and one possible problem being lack of
equipment and cooking skills. A basic list is nice in that it might help
someone see that they don't need a lot of equipment to start cooking.
Many of the items I initally listed can be found at a dollar store as
well. So if you take away the high cost of equipment there is even a
greater incentive to start cooking. A college student on their own or a
teenage mom with limited funds or someone on welfare could look at this
list and say ok, it isn't complicated and it isn't expensive - I could do
that. That is what my intentions were. I mentioned that this list is
significantly less than what my equipment is but everyone has to start
somewhere.

So you're somehow operating under the impression "the poor" have computers
and are reading usenet?

I do taxes. We ask two questions during the course of the process. One,
"do you have an email address," almost universally answered "no." Second,
"do you have a checking or savings account," also almost universally
answered "no."

So how is it you think your little exercise is helpful to anyone?

I personally don't think there are more than a handful of people on this
list that have ever even been poor.

Dude, when i was on food stamps, i was posting here.

Lena