See my post above yours that you may have missed as we posted about the same time.
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Espresso Enthusiasts
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Yes. Aluminum will impart faster. I'm not a fan of it myself. I don't necessarily buy the brain affecting it can do mumbo jumbo, but it does affect flavor. I learned the unfortunate truth with SS, too, in a very expensive high quality pan that I made a tomato sauce with and left alone for a few hours. I thought it tasted funny and rang up my mother. This was years ago and I was still single at the time. It hadn't quite occurred to me why cooks on TV would transfer from SS to ceramic based pots soon after cooking. Younger brother is more sensitive to the tastes of metals interfering with food. The worst offenders are electric kettles made of stainless steel. We don't keep water left in them overnight or more than a few hours.
I'm not suggesting people don't use them, just not to keep food in them for more than a few hours. I remember a baked chicken dish with lemon, tomato, herbs, etc. I made years ago on a stainless steel baking sheet. When it cooled down, I put the entire thing in the fridge and wondered later that night why it tasted a bit strange. Also single at the time. Fridges were larger then.
Anyway, I'm going into work late tomorrow because our microwave decided to explode today after dinner. By explode I mean sudden glass explosion. It never occurred to me that the front of a Microwave is made of glass. Fortunately, it was an under cabinet one and not one of the built ins because it would be a pain to find a replacement without having a custom trim made. We'd had this one since 2006. I paid an absurd amount of money for a microwave then. As the brackets were simple to remove and no visible holes, we're considering replacing it with a large countertop one and put it in the butler's pantry so it isn't an eyesore. And then we can move some of our coffee equipment into the kitchen. That said, despite previously having 3 microwaves, now two, we didn't use them much. Anything that couldn't be easily reheated in a pan or pot, was reheated with one of them. I'll be heading to Lowes (large home improvement store) and ordering a GE model I've got my eye on. 2 cubic feet, 1200 watts, SS front with black medials. Nothing fancy. It's got a high number of good reviews on the internet. Quite cheap at only $150. I probably paid more than double that for the one that exploded. I cleaned up all the glass I could find. The size of the pieces varied widely. Used a broom, wet spot and then a shop vacuum for the entire kitchen. I've now realized what a pain it is to clean a kitchen of that size from top to bottom. I feel I've gotten all the pieces, but apart from using sticky tape on everything, I think we'll play it safe for a few weeks and walk with shoes or slippers in the kitchen, and cordon it off from the children when they're on their... I don't know what they're called, but it's like a mobility crawler.
This week isn't shaping up to be a good week so far. I've never enjoyed glass breakage in the kitchen. It's always a pain to clean up. Sometimes you lose a wonderful piece you bought or was a family heirloom.
Ah.
Microwaves.
Strange perhaps to relate, but I have never, ever, had one. I never owned, used one, or cooked with one. Even when they came as part of the equipment in some flats I have rented, I never used them.
I use cookers, - where I cook from scratch - or tend to eat cold platters.
Now, to plot and source my afternoon coffee.
Microwaves.
Strange perhaps to relate, but I have never, ever, had one. I never owned, used one, or cooked with one. Even when they came as part of the equipment in some flats I have rented, I never used them.
I use cookers, - where I cook from scratch - or tend to eat cold platters.
Now, to plot and source my afternoon coffee.
As I was composing my post, I recalled you never owning one but wasn't sure if it were appropriate to mention me remembering that fact. I personally avoid using them because they're clunky and nothing is ever heated right; it's always either under or scalding hot.
By cookers, do you mean the pots with an electrical cable? I'm afraid I've never used one myself. I never found myself to be trusting of them not to undercook and land me in pain for a few days with food poisoning. We do own a rice cooker, though. Which I bought at least 20 years ago and it still works. Probably because it's used a few times a year at most. I prefer to make rice on the stove.
One of my favorite cold platters is English cheddar, kalamata olives, a dirty vodka martini made with the brine and spices, and some crusty bread. Oh, and some salamis. We had some wonderful imported Australian cheddar tonight. There's a commercial version available stateside but this was bought through a cheeseshop. Good crystallization; satisfying crunch under the teeth. I do like my kalamatas... I snack on them often, sometimes at dawn. Sometimes in between sips of coffee.
Another morning started with a most remarkable cup of French Roast blend. However, a disastrous and horrific problem exists in that I am running out of all of my beans. I have an order in to Atomic Cafe, but the notoriously inaccurate USPS site says that they have not yet received the shipment.
Oh, woe is me!
And momentarily off-topic… if I didn't have a microwave I'd starve to death.
Oh, woe is me!
And momentarily off-topic… if I didn't have a microwave I'd starve to death.
I think this is another case of a confusion caused by a common - indeed, almost identical - but, yet, still different vocabulary.
No, I do not mean "pot with an electric cable''. (What is that?)
Anyway: "Cooker" is what we in the British Isles call that large solid piece of equipment with one, or two, or three ovens, and between four and maybe six or seven oven rings (electric, gas, ceramic, whatever) that is found in most kitchens. It is what we use when preparing dinner. Sometimes lunch. Occasionally breakfast.
I have no idea what word is used to describe that Across The Pond.
Now, strange to relate, but - as we have lengthy journeys, some travelling, and - I think - meetings tomorrow - we are already planning espresso stops, wherever we might find them.......
That's usually [in the US] referred to a 'range' (specifically when it's a single unit**), or less common, a 'stove'. The interior cooking area is still an oven, plus a cooking surface / cook top / "stove top".
** There are setups that use separate components for the oven(s) and cooking surfaces, and in our case, our microwave is also a convection oven.
That's usually [in the US] referred to a 'range' (specifically when it's a single unit**), or less common, a 'stove'. The interior cooking area is still an oven, plus a cooking surface / cook top / "stove top".
** There are setups that use separate components for the oven(s) and cooking surfaces, and in our case, our microwave is also a convection oven.
Ah, very interesting, and thanks for the explanation.
Hm. Fascinating.
Anyway, here in the British Isles, what we call a 'range' (meaning a range cooker) is a very specific type of cooker, best seen in the AGA range style of cooker.
Stove is an older word, used to describe an older form of kitchen appliance, and is rarely used nowadays.
However, what you refer to as the 'stove top' - and yes, that is referred to sometimes as in 'stove top cooking', is, something we more generally would describe as the 'hob'.
Same. Sometimes a <type_of> cooker, i.e., pressure cooker, rice cooker, slow cooker.
We use our slow cooker all the time
That is what we used to call a 'pressure cooker'; they were very fashionable in the 70s and 80s, here, (no, we never had them, and I, personally, have never used one), but are hardly ever seen these days.
Actually, now that @D.T. has mentioned what people in the US understand by the noun 'range', I do recall having read American cook books which referred to the 'range'.
Reading these books, as a student, I was open-mouthed with barely suppressed envy, thinking that everyone in the US had access to AGA style range cookers, (although the TV shows I watched gave the lie to that idea).
Yeah, pressure cooker, but we usually just shortened to cooker (especially at home, where English isn't always spoken, and it is a borrowed word referring specifically to the pressure cooker). I probably use it 4-5 days a week.
I'll be running out of the Atomic Coffee "Diesel" blend today leaving me with only two beans left (at home), the newly arrived "French Roast" and the "Colombia Bella Vista." I just ordered a new blend of beans from Atomic again, this time the "Black Velvet Dark Roast." It should be roasted tomorrow (Thursday) and I anticipate I'll receive it on Monday.
AGA ranges are nice, but they're very rare in the Americas. There's 3 types of complete stoves here in the US. Basic, typical suburban and enthusiast/professional. AGA is in the same ranks as Wolf, Thermadore, BlueStar and Viking. We have a large Viking. Some models have restaurant strength burners. Which means your pots and pans will eventually warp from the heat output.
Midrange complete stoves have improved vastly in the last decade, and you now see some features that were typically only available at pro/enthusiast grade stoves that had a starting price of several thousand USD.
I first came across AGA ranges back in 2012 or 2013, and found them to be quite nice. Classic touch on something modern. Good design language. Anyway, per the Viking, it looks nice but as someone who doesn't necessarily see the appeal of a gargantuan stove unit, I get along just fine with something simpler. It's not the tool you use but how you use it.
Midrange complete stoves have improved vastly in the last decade, and you now see some features that were typically only available at pro/enthusiast grade stoves that had a starting price of several thousand USD.
I first came across AGA ranges back in 2012 or 2013, and found them to be quite nice. Classic touch on something modern. Good design language. Anyway, per the Viking, it looks nice but as someone who doesn't necessarily see the appeal of a gargantuan stove unit, I get along just fine with something simpler. It's not the tool you use but how you use it.
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Classic AGA ranges are stunning, and it is a dream of mine to own one some day. Meanwhile, Rangemaster (AGA-Rangemanster - the company that makes AGA), introduced a somewhat smaller 'cooker' - designed for smaller houses - t to their range (all puns intended) two years ago, and I bought one last autumn when our old cooker died.
And yes, I am thoroughly enjoying using it.
Meanwhile, tomorrow brings another espresso......
And speaking of coffee
...I like the Black Velvet, although I like the French Roast and Diesel better. I'm going to try the Intensi blend that you had been using.
Gotta love that dark roast. When I was roasting my own I tried to get it dark without burning the beans. Atomic is doing it for you...no risk!
So glad that you are enjoying it!
And how did that work out?
My issue with dark roast is the bitterness, (and sometimes that 'sharpness'), neither of which I like in coffee, though I love both in fruit.
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When I was roasting my own, I was able to get it right most of the time.
Not all dark roasts are bitter, although given your preference for light roasts the more intense flavor of the dark roast might well come across as bitter given what you are used to.
(Sorry about the dangling participle...too lazy to construct the sentence properly.
)
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Bitterness and sharpness? Not in coffee. Sounds like my personality!
I went hunting for our French press this evening as I hadn't seen it in years.
Looks like it didn't survive one of Mrs AFB's sort outs.
Just received an antique Japanese demitasse which is good for doppio's.
Beautiful! I love Japanese motif.
I'd use them for double espressos...but you can use them for whatever you want.
I sort of have my bedroom done in a Japanese motif with some art and other decorations on the walls. I love Japan and asian culture artwork. I was cruising eBay over the weekend for espresso cups and came across this one and decided to buy it.Beautiful! I love Japanese motif.
I'd use them for double espressos...but you can use them for whatever you want.
That is just gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. Enjoy using it.
Bitterness and sharpness? Not in coffee. Sounds like my personality!
I went hunting for our French press this evening as I hadn't seen it in years.
Looks like it didn't survive one of Mrs AFB's sort outs.
A half decent French Press is probably the least expensive - and the most forgiving - way with which to make coffee.
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When I was roasting my own, I was able to get it right most of the time.
Not all dark roasts are bitter, although given your preference for light roasts the more intense flavor of the dark roast might well come across as bitter given what you are used to.
(Sorry about the dangling participle...too lazy to construct the sentence properly.
With the sort of dark roasts (such as are often used in espresso), some sugar (preferability brown, organic, unrefined, etc. etc.) usually takes care of that.
But I am curious as to whether there are dark roasts that are actually smooth, and sweet (which are flavours I like in coffee); the lovely additional notes that Ethiopian coffee offers - coffees that are 'clean, clear, and bright' are specific to Ethiopian coffees, and are not replicated even elsewhere in other African coffees.
Re coffee made from Ethiopian beans, I can take that without sugar, as I tend to take tea in Asia - which is usually excellent - without sugar.
A huge thanks to @SandboxGeneral and @Scepticalscribe for their feedback regarding channeling and the Chagga Peaberry beans, it's much appreciated! I'll respond later on when I actually have a free moment.