OT: Kitchen appliance weirdness...

[Don Y]

On 8/31/2020 3:57 PM, Tabby wrote:

On Sunday, 30 August 2020 15:19:06 UTC+1, Don Y wrote:

Cookers that switch power between different loads to stay under 13A are
found at the cheap end of the scale. I remember using one decades ago.
IIRC

Ah -- so the load management is done within that single appliance? I\'m
not

yup

sure how hard it would be to cook under those constraints. E.g., we
often have all four stovetop burners in use when prepping a meal -- though
the oven only sees real use when baking (and it\'s too hard to manage
cooking and baking at the same time!)

Most folk never use more than 2 rings anyway. They\'re not for everyone.
\'Baby belling\' is the best known of these. An early variant:

You can also get 13A limited 4 ring hobs, it saves calling an electrician

We\'d (personally) have to change our cooking style to adapt to just
two burners. We often have all four in use (some stovetops have 5 & 6!)
as we try to arrange for everything to be \"ready to serve\" at the same
time. We\'d likely have to resort to other \"appliances\" to do some
of the work (or, a large *grill*!)

 

[Tabby]

On Tuesday, 1 September 2020 17:15:13 UTC+1, Don Y wrote:

On 8/31/2020 3:57 PM, Tabby wrote:
On Sunday, 30 August 2020 15:19:06 UTC+1, Don Y wrote:

Cookers that switch power between different loads to stay under 13A are
found at the cheap end of the scale. I remember using one decades ago.
IIRC

Ah -- so the load management is done within that single appliance? I\'m
not

yup

sure how hard it would be to cook under those constraints. E.g., we
often have all four stovetop burners in use when prepping a meal -- though
the oven only sees real use when baking (and it\'s too hard to manage
cooking and baking at the same time!)

Most folk never use more than 2 rings anyway. They\'re not for everyone.
\'Baby belling\' is the best known of these. An early variant:

You can also get 13A limited 4 ring hobs, it saves calling an electrician
We\'d (personally) have to change our cooking style to adapt to just
two burners. We often have all four in use (some stovetops have 5 & 6!)
as we try to arrange for everything to be \"ready to serve\" at the same
time. We\'d likely have to resort to other \"appliances\" to do some
of the work (or, a large *grill*!)

I often cook a lot at once, but rarely use more than 2 of the rings. I think that\'s true of most families really. 5 & 6 burners have gotten more popular, but I wonder what percentage of people actually make good use of them.


NT

 

[Don Y]

On 9/1/2020 3:44 PM, Tabby wrote:

On Tuesday, 1 September 2020 17:15:13 UTC+1, Don Y wrote:

We\'d (personally) have to change our cooking style to adapt to just two
burners. We often have all four in use (some stovetops have 5 & 6!) as we
try to arrange for everything to be \"ready to serve\" at the same time.
We\'d likely have to resort to other \"appliances\" to do some of the work
(or, a large *grill*!)

I often cook a lot at once, but rarely use more than 2 of the rings. I think
that\'s true of most families really. 5 & 6 burners have gotten more popular,
but I wonder what percentage of people actually make good use of them.

If we were constrained to just 2 burners, meal prep would take a lot longer.
E.g., tomorrow\'s meal will require sauteeing jicama, onions (separately)
while slow cooking a \"rice mixture\" (for want of a better term) and stir frying
some diced chicken. Neglect the effort to make my tea.

The \"rice\" takes the better part of an hour to cook, so gets started first.
While it\'s on the burner, the jicama is prepared and sauteed (jicama has the
consistency of a raw turnip -- very hard). While that is being sauteed,
the onion is prepped and sauteed separately. And, while THAT is being sauteed,
the chicken is prepped and stir-fried to coincide with each of the other
items coming done.

With two burners, the \"rice\" would occupy one. I\'d have to prep the jicama
and take it off the stove when done -- so the onions could have their turn.
Then, remove those and ALMOST finish the chicken. Finally, reassembling all
of them to reheat them coincident with the chicken coming done.

So, instead of the \"rice\" being the long-lead item, it would be this sequence
of other items being prepared and set aside -- for later integration.

[There are some veggie meals we make that are considerably more involved...
you lose weight while eating veggies -- cuz there\'s so many frigging things
to WASH afterwards!! :< ]

 

[John Doe]

I have the wattage meter connected to it now.

Seems to start out near 1200 W, then very slowly decreases. I suspect
that\'s a natural electronics thing, nothing to do with the thermostat.

It probably doesn\'t even measure cooking temperature. It just blows hot-
air. How relatively hot depends on the \"temperature\" setting. That\'s the
cheap way to do it. And it\'s no problem since one always must adjust
cooking times anyway.

I will adjust the temperature down and see if the wattage is reduced. If
it does as expected, I won\'t bother to post. It\'s kinda obvious to me.

 

[Chris]

On 09/01/20 17:14, Don Y wrote:

On 8/31/2020 3:57 PM, Tabby wrote:
On Sunday, 30 August 2020 15:19:06 UTC+1, Don Y wrote:

Cookers that switch power between different loads to stay under 13A
are found at the cheap end of the scale. I remember using one
decades ago.
IIRC

Ah -- so the load management is done within that single appliance? I\'m
not

yup

sure how hard it would be to cook under those constraints. E.g., we
often have all four stovetop burners in use when prepping a meal --
though
the oven only sees real use when baking (and it\'s too hard to manage
cooking and baking at the same time!)

Most folk never use more than 2 rings anyway. They\'re not for everyone.
\'Baby belling\' is the best known of these. An early variant:

You can also get 13A limited 4 ring hobs, it saves calling an electrician
We\'d (personally) have to change our cooking style to adapt to just
two burners. We often have all four in use (some stovetops have 5 & 6!)
as we try to arrange for everything to be \"ready to serve\" at the same
time. We\'d likely have to resort to other \"appliances\" to do some
of the work (or, a large *grill*!)

Stovetop boiling of vegetables, for example, is so last century
and the usual way in the uk is to use a steamer. Up to three stacks
high, one for each type and the food is cooked, not boiled to death.

Never need more than a couple of burners here, just stuff that doesn\'t
cook well in the steamer, preboiling potatoes for roasting. Microwave
fill in the other gaps...

Chris

 

[Tabby]

On Monday, 14 September 2020 23:17:09 UTC+1, Chris wrote:

On 09/01/20 17:14, Don Y wrote:
On 8/31/2020 3:57 PM, Tabby wrote:
On Sunday, 30 August 2020 15:19:06 UTC+1, Don Y wrote:

Cookers that switch power between different loads to stay under 13A
are found at the cheap end of the scale. I remember using one
decades ago.
IIRC

Ah -- so the load management is done within that single appliance? I\'m
not

yup

sure how hard it would be to cook under those constraints. E.g., we
often have all four stovetop burners in use when prepping a meal --
though
the oven only sees real use when baking (and it\'s too hard to manage
cooking and baking at the same time!)

Most folk never use more than 2 rings anyway. They\'re not for everyone.
\'Baby belling\' is the best known of these. An early variant:

You can also get 13A limited 4 ring hobs, it saves calling an electrician
We\'d (personally) have to change our cooking style to adapt to just
two burners. We often have all four in use (some stovetops have 5 & 6!)
as we try to arrange for everything to be \"ready to serve\" at the same
time. We\'d likely have to resort to other \"appliances\" to do some
of the work (or, a large *grill*!)

Stovetop boiling of vegetables, for example, is so last century
and the usual way in the uk is to use a steamer. Up to three stacks
high, one for each type and the food is cooked, not boiled to death.

Never need more than a couple of burners here, just stuff that doesn\'t
cook well in the steamer, preboiling potatoes for roasting. Microwave
fill in the other gaps...

Chris

I think most of us nuke veg these days, except for roasting.


NT

 

[whit3rd]

On Monday, September 14, 2020 at 5:58:26 PM UTC-7, Tabby wrote:

> I think most of us nuke veg these days, except for roasting.

Or browning; brussels sprouts or broccoli really benefits from a little
hot-oil excursion.

 

[Don Y]

On 9/14/2020 3:17 PM, Chris wrote:

On 09/01/20 17:14, Don Y wrote:

Most folk never use more than 2 rings anyway. They\'re not for everyone.
\'Baby belling\' is the best known of these. An early variant:

You can also get 13A limited 4 ring hobs, it saves calling an electrician
We\'d (personally) have to change our cooking style to adapt to just
two burners. We often have all four in use (some stovetops have 5 & 6!)
as we try to arrange for everything to be \"ready to serve\" at the same
time. We\'d likely have to resort to other \"appliances\" to do some
of the work (or, a large *grill*!)

Stovetop boiling of vegetables, for example, is so last century
and the usual way in the uk is to use a steamer. Up to three stacks
high, one for each type and the food is cooked, not boiled to death.

Never need more than a couple of burners here, just stuff that doesn\'t
cook well in the steamer, preboiling potatoes for roasting. Microwave
fill in the other gaps...

We don\'t \"boil\" anything (in water), other than potatoes (prior to mashing)
and pasta noodles. Potato sticks (to make \'fries), wontons and eggrolls
are boiled in various types of oils.

The only veggies that we steam are carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. We
use a sauce pot and a steamer basket (on the stove top!) so we don\'t have
to store a \"specialty appliance\" (and the counter space to USE it!) to
do something that can be done just as easily using more \"conventional\"
methods. But, we rarely eat more than one \"steamed\" veggie in a meal.

Rice, lentils, dried veggies are rehydrated in a similar sauce pot -- also
on the stovetop -- to likewise avoid the need for a \"rice cooker\" (it\'s
relatively easy to make \"perfect rice\" if you do it more than once or twice).

Every other veggie (often 3 or 5 at a time) is sauteed -- though rarely
in \"oil\": snow peas, sugar snaps, jicama, onions, bok choy, Julienned
carrots, pineapple, broccoli (after steaming), etc. This allows us to
keep the veggies crisp as well as imparting specific flavors to each
that will stand out when assembled into the eventual meal. E.g.,
the carrots are excellent lightly sauteed in chili oil!

*Frozen* veggies are typically nuked to bring them up to temperature.
But, aside from corn and green beans, we don\'t find most frozen vegetables
to be very tastey.

 

[Don Y]

On 9/14/2020 6:45 PM, whit3rd wrote:

On Monday, September 14, 2020 at 5:58:26 PM UTC-7, Tabby wrote:

I think most of us nuke veg these days, except for roasting.

Or browning; brussels sprouts or broccoli really benefits from a little
hot-oil excursion.

Asparagus spears baked in a light oil wash with diced garlic and
cayenne pepper -- server under linguine. Though your piss stinks,
afterwards!

(steamed asparagus in a dijon vinaigrette is also very tastey!)

 

[Chris]

On 09/15/20 03:27, Don Y wrote:

On 9/14/2020 3:17 PM, Chris wrote:
On 09/01/20 17:14, Don Y wrote:

Most folk never use more than 2 rings anyway. They\'re not for everyone.
\'Baby belling\' is the best known of these. An early variant:

You can also get 13A limited 4 ring hobs, it saves calling an
electrician
We\'d (personally) have to change our cooking style to adapt to just
two burners. We often have all four in use (some stovetops have 5 & 6!)
as we try to arrange for everything to be \"ready to serve\" at the same
time. We\'d likely have to resort to other \"appliances\" to do some
of the work (or, a large *grill*!)

Stovetop boiling of vegetables, for example, is so last century
and the usual way in the uk is to use a steamer. Up to three stacks
high, one for each type and the food is cooked, not boiled to death.

Never need more than a couple of burners here, just stuff that doesn\'t
cook well in the steamer, preboiling potatoes for roasting. Microwave
fill in the other gaps...

We don\'t \"boil\" anything (in water), other than potatoes (prior to mashing)
and pasta noodles. Potato sticks (to make \'fries), wontons and eggrolls
are boiled in various types of oils.

The only veggies that we steam are carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. We
use a sauce pot and a steamer basket (on the stove top!) so we don\'t have
to store a \"specialty appliance\" (and the counter space to USE it!) to
do something that can be done just as easily using more \"conventional\"
methods. But, we rarely eat more than one \"steamed\" veggie in a meal.

Rice, lentils, dried veggies are rehydrated in a similar sauce pot -- also
on the stovetop -- to likewise avoid the need for a \"rice cooker\" (it\'s
relatively easy to make \"perfect rice\" if you do it more than once or
twice).

Every other veggie (often 3 or 5 at a time) is sauteed -- though rarely
in \"oil\": snow peas, sugar snaps, jicama, onions, bok choy, Julienned
carrots, pineapple, broccoli (after steaming), etc. This allows us to
keep the veggies crisp as well as imparting specific flavors to each
that will stand out when assembled into the eventual meal. E.g.,
the carrots are excellent lightly sauteed in chili oil!

*Frozen* veggies are typically nuked to bring them up to temperature.
But, aside from corn and green beans, we don\'t find most frozen vegetables
to be very tastey.

To each his or her own, but there is an article in the paper today
saying the fast frozen or even tinned food loses less vitamins and
nutrients than supermarket veg, which may take a week or more before
it reaches you to be cooked.

Still don\'t understsnd why you need six burner rings at a time, which
is what prompted my initial comment...

Chris

 

[Don Y]

On 9/15/2020 4:49 AM, Chris wrote:

On 09/15/20 03:27, Don Y wrote:
On 9/14/2020 3:17 PM, Chris wrote:

Every other veggie (often 3 or 5 at a time) is sauteed -- though rarely
in \"oil\": snow peas, sugar snaps, jicama, onions, bok choy, Julienned
carrots, pineapple, broccoli (after steaming), etc. This allows us to
keep the veggies crisp as well as imparting specific flavors to each
that will stand out when assembled into the eventual meal. E.g.,
the carrots are excellent lightly sauteed in chili oil!

*Frozen* veggies are typically nuked to bring them up to temperature.
But, aside from corn and green beans, we don\'t find most frozen vegetables
to be very tastey.

To each his or her own, but there is an article in the paper today
saying the fast frozen or even tinned food loses less vitamins and
nutrients than supermarket veg, which may take a week or more before
it reaches you to be cooked.

It\'s not about nutrients but, rather, taste and texture. Many frozen veggies
taste like crap.

At the start of the \"lockdown\", we brought a bunch of frozen veggies in
thinking we could store them in our \"big\" freezer (colder than the
freezer compartment of a traditional refrigerator). This would, in
theory, save us the hassle of having to venture out every couple of
days to buy fresh produce.

With the exception of things like corn niblets, we were universally
disappointed in the results. We\'ve resolved ourselves to making frequent
(but highly focused!) trips to the store for fresh items.

Still don\'t understsnd why you need six burner rings at a time, which
is what prompted my initial comment...

We don\'t have 6. I commented that *some* STOVETOPS have 6. We manage
well enough with just four. We carefully plan what we\'ll cook at each
point so we can maximize use of the available burners and not have to
\"reheat\" anything prepared too far in advance.

But, having just two burners would lengthen our meal prep time in many
cases as we\'d have to serialize many of the activities.

 

[Tabby]

On Tuesday, 15 September 2020 14:20:04 UTC+1, Don Y wrote:

On 9/15/2020 4:49 AM, Chris wrote:
On 09/15/20 03:27, Don Y wrote:
On 9/14/2020 3:17 PM, Chris wrote:

*Frozen* veggies are typically nuked to bring them up to temperature.
But, aside from corn and green beans, we don\'t find most frozen vegetables
to be very tastey.

To each his or her own, but there is an article in the paper today
saying the fast frozen or even tinned food loses less vitamins and
nutrients than supermarket veg, which may take a week or more before
it reaches you to be cooked.

It\'s not about nutrients but, rather, taste and texture. Many frozen veggies
taste like crap.

I do hope that\'s not the well informed voice of experience

At the start of the \"lockdown\", we brought a bunch of frozen veggies in
thinking we could store them in our \"big\" freezer (colder than the
freezer compartment of a traditional refrigerator). This would, in
theory, save us the hassle of having to venture out every couple of
days to buy fresh produce.

With the exception of things like corn niblets, we were universally
disappointed in the results.

Curry them, it doesn\'t matter too much then.


NT