Sprenzy Shopping Blog: Category Kitchen

Taylor Oven Guide Thermometer - Don't Overcook Your Turkey

Chuck — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:01:00 -0500

As you prepare for Thanksgiving, make sure your oven temperature settings are calibrated correctly. To test the accuracy of your oven, pick up a Taylor Classic Oven Guide Thermometer. It’s Cook’s Illustrated’s top rated oven thermometer and costs around $15. It has a four inch base, which makes it easy to read and difficult to knock over. And don’t worry about toxic mercury; the Taylor Oven Guide uses blue-dyed alcohol in the thermometer.

I have an old gas-powered oven and noticed it ran hot after over baking an apple crisp. After testing the temperature settings using the Taylor Oven Guide, I discovered my oven is off by 45 degrees on the low end (200 degrees) and 25 degrees off on the high end (500 degrees). I plan on keeping the thermometer in the oven all the time and using it as the official temperature rather than the oven dial.

Where’s the best place to position the thermometer? From Cook’s Illustrated…

“We put this question to Karen S. Yaggie, a marketing representative at Taylor Precision Products, maker of the oven thermometer that won our test (the Taylor Classic Oven Guide). “The best place to get a reading,” Yaggie told us, “is the center–exactly where you place the baking dish for the food that you are preparing.” She emphasized that the thermometer should not be positioned within 6 inches of any oven wall or of the oven ceiling, floor, or door. Our tests showed that ovens do indeed have hot and cold spots. Tests on a gas range, for instance, showed the temperature differential between the bottom and top of the oven to be close to 50 degrees.

We suggest that you place the thermometer at the dead center of the oven–right in the spot where the food will be cooking – as it preheats to get a good reading. When it’s time to put the food in the oven, you can move the thermometer to the side or hang it from a rack such that it hovers over the food. If it ends up sitting fewer than 6 inches away from the interior surface of the oven, remove the thermometer until the food is finished cooking. (We also learned from Taylor that it is safe to keep the thermometer in the oven at any time except when the dial is set to “clean.”)”

If you are looking for a new instant read thermometer, Cook’s Illustrated highly recommends two models…

THERMOWORKS Super-Fast Thermapen
Price: $95.00
Average Response Time: 5 seconds
Comments: Simply the best: fast, accurate, and easy to use. The Thermapen also has the widest temperature range (-58 to 572 degrees).

CDN ProAccurate Quick Tip Digital Cooking Thermometer
Price: $17.95
Average Response Time: 9 seconds
Comments: The CDN Quick Tip was fast and accurate and had every feature we deemed necessary, including a calibration button. Not quite as fast as the mighty Thermapen, but fast enough.

Make sure you don’t overcook your turkey by picking up an oven thermometer and/or instant read thermometer. Happy Thanksgiving!

OXO Good Grips Mango Splitter

Chuck — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 01:50:00 -0400

I love eating fruit but I hate peeling it. I tend to stick to simple to eat fruit, such as grapes, cherries and nectarines. Peeling a banana is as much peeling as I’ll do.

The problem is… I enjoy melons, kiwis, jack fruit and especially mangos. I have always been fortunate with someone in my life (mom, aunt, girlfriend, etc.) who doesn’t mind peeling fruit for me. Some folks say that I have been spoiled all my life with a bounty of freshly cut fruit. I won’t deny it.

To change the spoiled perception, I recently bought an OXO Good Grips Mango Splitter to cut mangos on my own. On the rare occasions when I’ve peeled and cut a mango, I have always left too much fruit on the seed and skin. As a kid, I enjoyed eating the fruit off the seed but these days I have to floss immediately afterwards to get the fibrous strands out of my teeth.

I’ve used the OXO mango splitter several times and it works perfectly to remove the seed and split the mango in half. I still had to score the halved mangos and cut the fruit from the skin. However, using the mango splitter and removing the fruit from the skin is easier and faster than doing it the traditional way… for me at least.

For the OXO mango splitter to work well, here are two tips…

Don’t buy extra large mangos - small to medium sized mango seeds are easily removed by the splitter. Larger mangos have big seeds that won’t pass through the splitter and will dull the blade. I was able to de-seed a very large mango but it required a lot of force to cut through the seed and the halved mango had seed chunks. It’s definitely not a recommended practice.
Forget the over-ripe mango - using the mango splitter on an over-ripe fruit will remove the seed but you’ll be juicing the mango too. Avoid the mess and stick to ripe but relatively firm mangos.

I’ve only tested the OXO Mango Splitter on the mango variety that’s widely available in the U.S. I believe it’s the Tommy Atkins variety. I don’t think the splitter is useful on a Manila mango because it’s a smaller fruit with a small seed. But I’ll test it out and report the results on the Manila mango.

I usually prefer multi-taskers to specialized kitchen tools, but I’m trying to overcome my anti-peeling fruit stigma. If you have room in your kitchen for another tool, I definitely recommend the OXO Mango Splitter. It maybe hard to believe for some of my friends, but they might get freshly cut mango the next time they come over.

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called 2007 June - Oxo Mango Splitter. Make your own badge here.

Digital Kitchen Scale - Chef's Tool or Weight Weenie's Toy

Chuck — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 23:23:00 -0400

For the last several years, I’ve been thinking about getting a digital kitchen scale, mainly for baking. I really like the idea of dumping ingredients by weight into one big bowl versus using multiple wet and dry measuring cups, which means faster measuring, less cleaning and more precise quantities.

Besides cooking or baking, you can also use the scale to measure food serving sizes. I have a portion control problem so it would be interesting to see how many servings I actually consume. Additionally, being a weight weenie, I can finally weigh my bike parts and verify the actual part weight versus the manufacturer’s claimed weight.

The editors of Cook’s Illustrated recommend the Soehnle 65055 (shown below).

“With the combination of an easily deciphered display, generous capacity (to 11 pounds), and roomy platform, the attractively modern Soehnle Futura has been our favorite digital kitchen scale since our 2003 testing. Recently, the Futura has been replaced by Soehnle’s new model 65055 -an even sleeker, lighter scale. Though the new model loses just over a pound in maximum capacity, it offers a more durable on-, off-, and zero-setting tare button alongside a gram/pound conversion button-conveniently relocated from the scale’s inaccessible underside-and, to a baker’s delight, extends the measurement reading one decimal place farther, into the hundredths, starting at 1 gram (or 0.05 ounces). It’s our new scale of choice.”

Cook’s Illustrated’s runner up model is the Salter Baker’s Dream Aquatronic Kitchen Scale. I opted for a less expensive model and purchased an Escali Primo Digital Kitchen Scale (shown above right). It’s a rare event that I don’t purchase the recommended/more expensive item but I decided to go with the value choice and went for the $25 scale. It has received positive feedback from Amazon reviewers.

Here are some buying tips to consider before purchasing a digital scale.

Display - for ease of reading, choose a scale with a large display with a good viewing angle. The display should also be good distance away from the weighing platform. Otherwise, a large bowl will obstruct the digital read out. The Soehnle 65055 is a good example of these features. My Escali’s display can be blocked by a very large bowl.
Large Weighing Platform - if you plan on weighing ingredients directly on the scale (no bowl), pick one with a large platform.
Capacity - choose a scale with a capacity of at least 11 lb or 5 Kg. If you’re using a heavy bowl, the amount of ingredients can be limited with lower capacity scales.
Decimals - make sure the scale can display at least one tenth of an once (0.1) weight increments.
Buttons - choose a scale with buttons that can be easily accessed with a large bowl on the platform, particularly the tare button.
Auto Shut-Off - is a great feature to extend battery life but it can be annoying if it’s too short and does not allow you to finish adding the current ingredient being measured. Pick a scale with at least a 4 or 5 minute auto shut-off time.

I haven’t baked using my new scale yet, but I learned that I ate more than twice the serving size of my favorite granola. Sure, I could have used a measuring cup to determine a serving size but it’s much easier to place a bowl on a scale, tare it out and weigh the serving size. I also discovered that the 55 gram Topeak pump that I bought recently is actually 62 grams. That’s seven whole grams that I didn’t account for on my bike!

So far, I’m very pleased with my Escali scale but the real test will come during my next baking session. I’m thinking… thick and chewy chocolate chunk cookies with BIG chunks of Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate.

Super Bowl Party Time! Who Will You Cheer For?

Chuck — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:31:00 -0500

One more week until Super Bowl XLI, so there’s plenty of time to get ready for a Super Bowl party. If you are headed to a friend’s place and need to show your team colors, check out our selection of Chicago Bears clothing or Indianapolis Colts apparel. If you plan on hosting your own Super Bowl party, we’ve got you covered with everything from Bears and Colts car accessories to home furnishings, kitchen stuff and slippers.

Now let’s move on to the best part of any Super Bowl party, the food! Check out the football party recipes from Epicurious and Food Network. There are a ton of great recipes, from savory dishes to dessert.

The Carolina pulled-pork sandwiches are making my mouth water. Unfortunately, it takes 6 hours to smoke the pork shoulders. Don’t worry, there are simpler recipes, like these 18 chili recipes. I love guacamole and Alton Brown’s guac recipe looks pretty good, but I would get rid of the cumin and cayenne. Put in the real stuff and add a jalapeno or better yet a habanero if you dare. The habanero guacamole can be “accidentally” served to the obnoxious guest rooting for the wrong team.

Speaking of teams, which team will you be cheering for, da Bears or the Colts? As a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, I’m indifferent about the teams and just hope for an exciting game. However, as someone dating a Bears fanatic, I must be a defacto Chicago fan next Sunday, although I do like Peyton Manning. Who doesn’t like a 6’5” 230 lb quarterback with a laser, rocket arm?

But, I know better than to root against her Bears. There would be many serious consequences for me if I cheered for the Colts. Thankfully, as a die-hard Penn Stater, I can justify being a Bears’ fan because Chicago has three former Penn State players on the roster. Tight end John Gilmore is pictured above. The other two players are placekicker Robbie Gould and guard Tyler Reed (practice squad). There are no Penn State players on the Colts. So I’m not really rooting for the Bears. I’m cheering for Penn State!

As far as my Super Bowl party, it’s just going to be the Bears fanatic and me. She doesn’t want to deal with non-Bears fans interrupting her focus and concentration on the game. So in honor of the Chicago Bears, we will be partaking in a deep dish pizza from Little Star Pizza, arguably the best deep dish pizza in the Bay Area. The “Little Star” pizza, which is spinach blended with ricotta and feta, mushrooms, onions, garlic, is our favorite deep dish pie.

This post has taken a circuitous route from da Bears, the Colts, food, Penn State and back to food again. I told you the food is the best part of a Super Bowl party. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the game while snacking on delicious food.

GO BEARS!!!

Note: I was forced by the Bears fanatic, who also proofreads most of my posts, to add the last sentence.

Fuzzy Logic Rice Cookers - Not Your Mom's Rice Cooker!

Chuck — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 02:18:00 -0500

“Rice cooker? Who needs a rice cooker? Just give me a measuring cup and a pot and I can make you some good rice.”

I have heard that from many of my non-Asian friends. I have no doubt they can make fine rice using a good old reliable pot. But given a choice between a rice cooker and a pot, I’m going to use a rice cooker every time. Who wouldn’t want to just wash the rice, fill the water to the correct line, push a button and walk away? If you are making rice several times a week, you shouldn’t live without a rice cooker.

Rice cookers have come a long way in the last 30 years. Back in the day, I remember my mom showing me the knuckle method. As an analytical person, I just never understood it because everyone’s fingers are different lengths. Nevertheless it always worked for me. I guess you never question mom and her cooking secrets. Knuckle method? Here’s an explanation from Chow.com:

“Every Asian kid was taught the so-called knuckle method to determine how much water to add when cooking rice. It’s an old-wives’ tale that’s supposed to do away with the need for voodoo inventions like measuring cups or kitchen scales. Here’s how it’s supposed to work: wash your rice, pour off the excess water, level the rice, stick your index finger straight down until the tip barely touches the top of the grains, then add water until it just reaches your first knuckle. Cook and you’re supposed to get perfect rice every time. It doesn’t always work. I think the correct rice to water ratio is 1:1.5.”

These days fuzzy logic rice cookers are the rage…

“The old kind of rice cooker works like this: add rice and water, then press a button. A heat sensor in the bottom knows when your water has evaporated and the rice is done (if you put the right amount of water in to begin with), and the cooker shuts itself off. It knows because boiling water stays at a constant temperature of 212°F, whereas solid matter—rice—gets hotter. Computer-controlled fuzzy-logic cookers allegedly sense how fast your rice is cooking and adjust their temperature accordingly to cook the rice more perfectly.”

The Chow article reviewed the Zojirushi ZUTTO Neuro Fuzzy 5.5 Cup Rice Cooker (shown above) which is stylish but expensive. We have a Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy 5.5 Cup Rice Cooker and it completely rocks. It’s not inexpensive by any means, but less than the ZUTTO. The fuzzy logic makes perfect brown rice, semi-brown rice, sweet rice, mixed rice, porridge (jook, conjee or cháo), white/sushi rice, and pre-washed rice (rinse free rice).

I love sweet/sticky rice but I hated making it on the stove because it takes so long. Although, I do miss the crusty sweet rice at the bottom of the pot. But I digress. If you like different kinds of rice perfectly cooked, then I highly recommend getting a Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker, otherwise stick to a traditional one button rice cooker.

Egg and Muffin Toaster

Chuck — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 02:22:00 -0500

Do you like egg muffins or egg and bagel sandwiches in the morning? Well, here’s a kitchen gadget from Back to Basics, the Egg & Muffin Toaster, that can make an egg and sausage breakfast sandwich in four minutes.

I usually don’t like these infomercial type products. Ok, I admit that I bought a Flavorwave oven five years ago and it actually works pretty well. Anyway, the Egg & Muffin Toaster has received a lot of buzz and an average customer review of 4.5 out 5 from Amazon (139 reviewers). This toaster allows you to cook an egg, warm-up pre-cooked meat and make toast. From Back to Basics,

“The Egg & Muffin Toaster brings you the drive-thru breakfast without the drive! Simultaneously toasts and steam poaches an egg to create one of America’s favorite breakfast sandwiches in about four minutes. Meat-warming tray included and even boils up to four eggs! Wide toasting slots and a crumb tray too.”

There is a video demonstration at eggandmuffintoaster.com. Click on “How To” at the top. The Egg & Muffin Toaster is pretty cool from a gadget standpoint. However, I still prefer making my eggs and breakfast meats in a nice All-Clad frying pan. But, I can definitely see this toaster as a good present for a college/grad student or someone who wants a quick breakfast sammy without pulling out a fry pan. For under $40, the Egg & Muffin Toaster could be a great gift for this holiday season.

KitchenAid Stand Mixer - Cakes, Cookies and Dough, Oh My!

Chuck — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 03:56:00 -0400

I bought my KitchenAid Professional Series Stand Mixer over 4 years ago. It’s one of my favorite kitchen tools. Over the years, I’ve made many delicious cakes, cookies and doughs with a KitchenAid Stand Mixer.

Not only is it a great kitchen gadget that will improve and speed up your baking and cooking tasks, it can also add some style and color to your kitchen. I have a red mixer that is the center piece of my kitchen. I friend of mine calls it the “red wonder” because of the great baked goods it produces and the beauty of it.

Last month, I lost a bet on the Penn State vs. Notre Dame game. I’m a die-hard Penn Stater and unfortunately we were beaten badly in South Bend. I had a bet with a Notre Dame alumnus over my chocolate chip cookies versus her chocolate chip tofu cookies (sounds strange but they are actually very good).

Today, I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer to make chocolate chip cookies to pay off the bet. It pains me that I made cookies for a Notre Dame fan, but I’m a man of my word. Good thing I’m not a big gambler. Some people like to win money, I prefer baked goods.

If you are looking for a good value, the KitchenAid Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a great stand mixer for the money. A stand mixer is an essential kitchen tool and can be a great show piece in your kitchen. It also can assist you in settling college football bets!

Baking Stones for Pizza Lovers

Chuck — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:31:49 -0400

Last week I watched an old Seinfeld episode, ”Male Unbonding”, where Kramer first came up with the idea of “a pizza place where you make your own pie.” Jerry completely pooh-poohed the idea. I thought it was a brilliant concept and still do. Good thing there are baking stones to make delicious pizza at home.

From CooksIllustrated.com, “baking stones (also called pizza stones) are prized for their ability to retain heat and lessen the effects of hot spots and temperature fluctuations in home ovens. Usually made of clay or ceramics (although soapstone and composite cement stones are also available), baking stones, when coupled with extreme heat, absorb moisture, thus producing crispier, drier pizzas, breads, and calzones.”

I love making my own pizza and controlling the quality of independents and the amount of cheese to make them a bit healthier than store bought pizza. By using a pizza stone, the pizza crust is nice and crispy and is superior to soggy delivery pizza crust. The good folks at Cooks Illustrated reviewed seven stones of different sizes, materials and shapes ranging from $20 to $90. The results of their testing were:

“We judged the stones on two main criteria: design (including ease of use, installation, and storage) and performance (including heat conductivity and evenness of browning and crispness of baked goods). There was little issue with heat conductivity. We took the surface temperature of each stone, and each one exceeded 500 degrees after 60 minutes of preheating. Also, with little variance, all seven stones produced evenly colored and crisp crusts on pizzas and calzones.

Although performance was similar in all models tested, some designs were much easier to work with. Lipped edges inhibited easy placement and removal of food from a peel, and stones with this feature were downgraded, as were stones that were extremely heavy (one weighed a whopping 19 pounds). We did not like clay tiles (they seemed easy to lose and were hard to install), and stones that were either too big to fit in most home ovens or too small to handle a large pizza received low marks. Our recommendation: Choose a good-sized stone (14 by 16 inches is ideal) with smooth edges.”

The recommended pizza stone was $30, a 14 inch by 16 inch baking stone by Old Stone Oven. One thing to note is more expensive stones are not necessarily better baking stones.

Some of you maybe intimidated by making your own pizza dough but it’s actually very simple. Here’s a pizza dough recipe from the Food Network. If you are still gun shy about making your own dough, you can pick up pizza dough at grocery stores such as Trader Joe’s or just purchase dough from your local pizza shop.

You may also want to pick up a pizza peel to slide your pizza on and off your baking stone. The hard part is getting the pizza onto the stone. Once it’s baked, the pizza is relatively easy to remove. If you don’t have a pizza peel, just use the back of a cookie sheet with some cornmeal on it to transfer your pie.

I have had dinner parties in the past where everyone made their own pizzas. I supplied the toppings, cheese, dough and my guests did the rest of the dirty work. The dinner parties were always very fun and the pizzas were absolutely delicious. The best part is the pizzas can be as healthy or unhealthy as you want them to be!

LIVESTRONG Tableware - 10% to Lance Armstrong Foundation

Chuck — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 20:49:00 -0400

Chantal Cookware Corp. recently released a line of LIVESTRONG tableware. LIVESTRONG is a trademark of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) which “inspires and empowers people with cancer.” From the Chantal website…

“Having survived cancer for more than 18 years, Chantal’s Founder & CEO Heida Thurlow believes in living strong every day. Because of her belief in the education for battling and coping with cancer, Chantal Corporation has partnered with the Lance Armstrong Foundation. We are proud and honored to be the only housewares manufacturer to offer this opportunity. We have designed an exclusive line of ceramic items featuring the LIVESTRONG logo. A portion of every sale goes directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.”

10 percent of sales of Chantal LIVESTRONG products goes to LAF, except for the teakettle (only 5 percent). Yellow is not one of my favorite colors but the tableware looks really nice and will help a great foundation. I think the tableware could be great gifts for friends and co-workers during the holiday season. The Chantal product line includes:

Loop Teakettle
Teapot
Tea Mug with Infuser
Coffee and Latte Mugs
Extra Large Plate
Snack Bowls and Snack Plates (not offered by our merchants yet)

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), in 2006 “about 564,830 Americans are expected to die of cancer, more than 1,500 people a day. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the US, exceeded only by heart disease. In the US, cancer accounts for 1 of every 4 deaths.” These statistics are very grim but the good news is “of adults diagnosed with cancer today, 64% will be alive five years from now” up from 50% in the 1970s. This is partly due to the work of non-profits like LAF and ACS.

I’ve been wearing a LIVESTRONG bracelet every day for over two years. Sometimes I forget I have it on but the cancer stats from ACS are a quick reminder of why I still wear the bracelet. It’s a scary thought that “one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime.” My extended family has been impacted by a cancer death and I’m sure your family has been too.

If yellow tableware isn’t your thing or doesn’t match your decor, you can help fight the battle against cancer by donating to LAF. And if you are not a Lance Armstrong fan, then donate to the American Cancer Society.