Gravy's Cooking Thread

popsicledeath said:

Seems kinda choppery. Maybe it's a personal failing, but I've never been able to get used to that style knife. Even Santoku knives feel clunky to me. Probably too white.

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you cant chop w/ em with the wood handle weighs more than the entire knife, they have different styles

popsicledeath said:

But that's like a standard style that gets general use in kitchens? Have any handy links to good knife videos using that thing. Genuinely curious.

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it's good for food prep kitchens b/c it's super cheap even compared to the regular food prep knives of mercer and victorinox, and the steels are super soft, which is good for food prep cuz they means you hone everytime.

but thats the difference between a home chef that cooks AT MOST 3x a day and probably whips out the chef knife once a night, vs a food prep line cook using a knife for 4hours straight.

popsicledeath said:

To clarify my too white comment. I use Asian knives and think the design is inferior to just about every European or American design. That seems mighty white of me. Too white to see things any differently, probably. Because I grew up whitely.

I have no issues cutting green onions through with my very Aryan Victorinox chef knife as an amateur who has above average knife skills but never learned the speed techniques perhaps necessary for commerical prep work.

Are people unable to cut things well on average until they get into the latest Asian knife craze?

That's always my confusion. I'll see some chunky, asian chopper style knives and be told it's superior in function. But high end knife skills are a product of practice, not the knife. But it's never get a knife you're comfortable with then practice until your skills meet your needs... It's always some declarative statement about how some super expensive or conversely some super cheap knife is inherently better. And often Asian knife superiority I just don't believe.

I'll go look for a video of someone cutting green onions with a $2 Kiwi knife to see what I'm missing.

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it probably has to do w/ the way you were taught, western knife skills is the slice rock and chop

where you do most of your cutting w/ the belly and it's it's curved for the rocking motion

chinese and japanese knives are just a diagonal cut

Made korean bulbogi for the neighborhood watch game


Then i theew in some wood chunks and made brisket for myself


really liking this vertical smoker, i can grill (thats why the grill plate is so low on the first pic, then i can smoke (replace that grate w/ a huge water bowl)

don't think i'll be using the pellet grill any time soon, gonna try out lump charcoal next

so i guess since we're in egg pocolypse, egg accesories are on sale,

i bought different of these (to test out)

(this one didn't have a rating when i bought it, and yes it sucks but it's the best designed)

so the one i'm going to keep is also a 14egg capacity (7 per tier) thats the max from what i've seen, none of the "auto shut off" seems to work, so i just chose the one w/ a hard physical rocker button.

of course youre saying "another gadget lanx?", ok, but now ya'll know i've been doing ramen eggs for a year now, my wife and i will eat a ramen egg in the morning, simple recipe 1/3 each of mirin/soy/sake, and recently i've added 2 tbps of sugar. i also then use the marinade for chicken teriyaki so like nothing is really wasted.

anyway, i prefer these eggs steamed in this cheapo device, i still poke a hole on the butt end (if you boil eggs don't assume all eggs come butt side up, examine), it's easier to prep, i don't have to boil 2 qts of water... but the most pro is that subjectively, it's easier to peel.

it's so much easier to peel, i didn't have to use the ice water shock (but it is still even easier if you do use it).

(along w/ being easier to prep)

so if you do boiled eggs, try the steam method.
yes you can of course just boil water in a pot to get steam and have the egg separators but that takes time and you have to constantly monitor the eggs within 1minute of pulling it out (depending on how you want the yolk).

with this, it just boils/steams the water away and you control the yolk by the amount of water you add (it's minimal like 3 tbsps? theres a cup)

this is the one i decided to go with
BELLA 17288 Double Cooker, Rapid Boiler, Poacher Maker Make up to 14 Large Boiled Eggs, Poaching and Omelete Tray Included, Stack, White

moonarchia said:

Dude definitely has a problem.

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but i have easy to peel eggs now

Dr.Retarded said:

Yeah I kind of look at it as a cheat code for what kitchen gadgets not to buy. It's at least fun to read his results with Amazon Chinese shit. God bless you Lanx

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the egg steamer is objectively one of the weirder single purpose gadgets i have laying around but it gets more use than say my rice noodle maker


it's just taking up space, haven't used it since i moved here and it's in the cabinet i desinated for "grains" (rice cooker/pasta maker/bread machine) are all there.

i think the next fun thing to test out is if i want to get a hibachi grill