Recently in Kitchen Equipment Category

Popular Science has a cool article for the gadget geeks. It's a infrared radiant fryer that sounds very promising:

It's essentially a glorified heat lamp, using 10-12 infrared emitters with different wavelengths. Each has a different purpose -- some cook the middle, some heat the surface, and so on. Jalapeno poppers work well because the inside can be cooked at a much lower temperature than the exterior, for instance. "We just literally change the dial on our emitter setting," Keener said.

Even if it's years before we can have them in homes, as someone who's drained a lot of fryers, I'm all for it!

No idea where you can get one, but thanks to Dan for emailing it!

... but it's cool and I want one! Thanks to John in Chicago for the email.

Chilebrown sent along a picture of his wife and her friend taken at a chile cookoff they recently entered. "Mrs. Goofy" is sporting our stylish Desert Island Foods® apron for the world to see.

They're only $15.99 for an all cotton, Teflon® impregnated apron with our snazzy logo on it. Super comfortable, too.

I'm really looking forward to having dinner with the Dynamic Duo next week. We'll see how much energy they have after a 12 hour drive!

(If you were to invest $6.00 or so in one of these babies by buying it through the above link, I would receive a royalty of $19,320. Okay, maybe if you bought a few million...)

I'm not a gadget freak, though for some reason family members and friends feel compelled to share cool things that come their way. I'm grateful for that, actually, it's how I was first exposed to the E-Z Hook® we've been carrying at Desert Island Foods®.com for a few years now, and I truly use one nearly every day.

Here's a gadget I got from my mother in law recently that while kind of nifty, I wouldn't call it a "must have" item because we don't eat a lot of soft boiled eggs. It has given me something to play with though, and that's always fun.

The Amazon link looks a lot like the unit I got, but I don't have the box anymore so I can't say for sure. Close enough, really. The idea is that it saves you a lot of time heating up a bit pot of water every time you want to poach an egg. Normally, if you were to just put an egg by itself in a microwave, you'd have egg-colored walls in no time, but the aluminum reflector the eggs sit in presumably keeps the heat focused on the water, which steams the egg.

Okay, time to fire this thing up. The water's in and I've got a nice brown egg loaded.

Hello, what's this?

Duly noted.

I gave it 4 1/2 minutes in a pretty peppy microwave for just one egg, and it was a bit firm for me. I guess I'll try 4:15 next time:

All in all, a fine gadget. It would definitely take a while to dial in the appropriate cooking times, but if you frequently need to cook a few eggs for salads or egg salad it might be just the thing for you.

(Photo: Electronic House)

From my friend Phil, after receiving our latest newsletter, which I'll post in the extended entry:

Hey Scott,

You know I design this stuff, and I came across this in one of my affiliates mags. Thought it would work for your kitchen/bbq theme today. Check out this rather uncomplicated build but elegant design on a great outdoor entertainment room. Open up the thumbnails and imagine all of us slammin down the ribs while Maximus "wins the crowd".

phil

It's a terrific layout. Other than wanting something other than just a gas grill, I'd love to have it! Check out the article and more pictures here.

I'm mentioning this again because we've had a comment from Richard Martin, the designer:

It is so refreshing to hear people are still saying positive things about the barbecue that I designed: Yes you heard right, it was and is my baby. As for the trading status bit, don't write me off completely because when I get the opportunity, I intend to come right back at the market.

The original post can be found here. It sounds like a great design, I hope Richard can make it available again some day.

Looks like Paul's found himself a new BBQ toy to play with:

I saw it and said what the heck. I am always interested in new Barbeque products. The website http://lokkii.com/ says it is organic.(Whoopdiedoo). I think Mesquite charcoal is the same. I ordered a six pack. The shipping ended up the same as the product.

I had a Corned Beef Brisket and some Beef Ribs. I rubbed them with Survival Spice™ and started cooking it with one brick. I wanted to cook low and slow. When you first light these suckers it smells like pine. Maybe that is there secret ingredient. Once it is lit the smell goes away. I had to light a second log after an hour. They claim it will cook for two hours. I had it in a Weber Kettle.

What do I think?. Can you trust a product from China? Do you want to pay shipping? I give it a thumbs down.!! I would only recommend it you were backpacking because of the convience. It had a Pine smell when you lit it. I do not trust that this was an organic lighting system. There was some chemicals. The only plus I found was convience.

Now to the Highlights of the Dinner. Corned Beef and Beef Ribs rubbed with Survival Spice. Creamed Corn with Bacon (A&B Market,Bend Or,) Tomatoe with Pt.Reyes Blue Cheese, and a whole lot of Lovvin!!!!! Peace, Paul.

I wonder if that smell was resins they probably add as a binder, to keep it from falling apart during shippping. Interesting idea, if wonder if they're selling a lot of them? It is a great idea for campers, and people using public grills that don't want to haul around a bag of charcoal. Chile said that they're about 4 1/2" across.

Man, those ribs look good enough to eat!!! Ribs + Survival Spice® = good times.

John in Chicago sent along a link to a Chicago Trib article about a gadget I'd love to play with:

Just imagine: A holster grip like a handgun, a long thin barrel from which the smoke shoots out, and a wooden pipe bowl only Cheech and Chong could love. Among the top chefs brandishing The Smoking Gun, count Grant Achatz of Alinea and Charlie Trotter.

From the manufacturer's website:

•Excellent for finishing products that are cooked Sous Vide or other methods where food is not normally directly exposed to fire or smoke

•"Marinate" foods in smoke before cooking

•Use classic flavors, such as mesquite, hickory, apple, cherry wood, or let your imagination take over with things like Lapsang Oolong tea, lavender, or clove.

•Also great for adding a smoky aroma to your dining area

I can't help but thinking that somewhere that someone is "infusing their dining area" with one of these and saying "Dude. It's Gnarly!!!!!!!!!!"

Whatever that means... thanks for the tip, John!

This one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year- a set of 3 measuring spoons labeled "Smidgen, Pinch, and Dash." I did a little research and found out that traditionally a dash is 1/8 teaspoon, a pinch is 1/16 t, and a smidgen is 1/32 of a teaspoon. Do you think our grandmothers knew that?

Here's an Amazon link, if you've got to have a set of your own!!! Bear in mind, I would make a big fat honkin' dime if you were to buy them through this link, so obviously the promise of riches could be clouding my judgement...