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Old January 8th, 2012 #1
Alex Linder
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Default Efficient Cooking

[just lost big post. will redo it later today.]
 
Old January 8th, 2012 #2
Steve B
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Linder View Post
[just lost big post. will redo it later today.]
I've been having the same problems. If I make a short post it works but a long one doesn't and I get a security token missing message.
 
Old January 8th, 2012 #3
Mike in Denver
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve B View Post
I've been having the same problems. If I make a short post it works but a long one doesn't and I get a security token missing message.
Typically this happens when you've been taking a long time to compose the post in the "Message:" box. I think there is a time out. Select the whole thing and do a CTRL-C. Then CTRL-V back into the box and try again. It works the second attempt.

Mike
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Old January 8th, 2012 #4
Alex Linder
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve B View Post
I've been having the same problems. If I make a short post it works but a long one doesn't and I get a security token missing message.
Mine was due to PC crash, not forum sw. I've seen what you're talking about but very rarely. Not sure what it is. Sometimes it takes a long time to load long posts.
 
Old January 8th, 2012 #5
Mike in Denver
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And, assuming we are supposed to be posting in this thread at all. This is the most efficient cooking apparatus I've ever owned:



It costs about $100 on Amazon.com. I paid more years ago. It will pressure cook, brown, and simmer. Other stuff too, but that's all I use it for. I use these three features. The damn thing will (on the browning setting) fry potatoes quicker and easier than a frying pan. I cook the potatoes, remove them, and drop in a couple of eggs. Breakfast. It will also fry bacon.

As I type this, I'm simmering a beef soup. On simmer, it is similar to a slow cooker, but takes about two hours, rather than eight.

It also cooks rice, but that's not its best use. Buy a cheap rice cooker and you've got just about everything.

Mike

Late edit: The alternative is to just do the traditional stuff. Get a cast iron fry pan and a couple of cheap stainless steel pots.

The option I posted about though is walk away and let the food cook while I do something else. That's what I'm looking for.
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Last edited by Mike in Denver; January 8th, 2012 at 03:02 PM.
 
Old January 8th, 2012 #6
Steve B
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike in Denver View Post
Typically this happens when you've been taking a long time to compose the post in the "Message:" box. I think there is a time out. Select the whole thing and do a CTRL-C. Then CTRL-V back into the box and try again. It works the second attempt.

Mike
I already tried copying and pasting it, didn't work. Also tried cleaning out cache, didn't work. If I use opera it works sometimes but with firefox or ie, nuttin.
 
Old January 13th, 2012 #7
Alex Linder
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Quote:
Late edit: The alternative is to just do the traditional stuff. Get a cast iron fry pan and a couple of cheap stainless steel pots.

The option I posted about though is walk away and let the food cook while I do something else. That's what I'm looking for.
So it's like a glorified crock pot?
 
Old January 13th, 2012 #8
Mike in Denver
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Originally Posted by Alex Linder View Post
So it's like a glorified crock pot?
It's advertized as a pressure cooker, and I do use it as a pressure cooker. You can cook a stew in about 15 minutes, start to finish. But unlike stove-top pressure cookers it has a browning setting which will fry stuff and the stuff won't stick to the non-stick surface. It also has a simmer setting which is a quick crock pot. On the simmer setting it will also make cooked cereals, such as oatmeal.

Mike
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Old January 13th, 2012 #9
Alex Linder
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike in Denver View Post
It's advertized as a pressure cooker, and I do use it as a pressure cooker. You can cook a stew in about 15 minutes, start to finish. But unlike stove-top pressure cookers it has a browning setting which will fry stuff and the stuff won't stick to the non-stick surface. It also has a simmer setting which is a quick crock pot. On the simmer setting it will also make cooked cereals, such as oatmeal.

Mike
That's wild. Sounds like it does it all. I've never used a pressure cooker. Done a fair amount of crocking. I know people can do virtually everything with a crock, but I just do vegetables and meat. That's really something, to cook a whole stew in 15 minutes. How does it taste? My one crock complaint is it tends to make everything taste the same.

Last edited by Alex Linder; February 12th, 2013 at 10:08 AM.
 
Old January 13th, 2012 #10
Alex Linder
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Exciting preview of future post!

This was the post I lost. I will show you how the noble white man uses every part of the whole chicken. We will call it Yardbird, Aryan Style...
 
Old January 13th, 2012 #11
Mike in Denver
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Linder View Post
That's wild. Sounds like it does it all. I've never used a pressure cooker. Done a fair amount of crocking. I know people can do virtually everything with a crock, but I just do vegetables and meat. That's really something, to cook a whole stew in 15 minutes. How does it taste? My one crock complaint is it tends to make everything the same.
The weakness with any pressure cooker is that meat does not cook at the same rate as vegetables, and vegetables don't all cook at the same rate. With any pressure cooker, even this plug-in model, you have two choices. Cook the meat first; add and cook the harder vegetables; add and cook the softer vegetables -- in short, more trouble and less efficiency over just cooking the stew in a pot on the range. Second choice, the one I use, is just put up with something not quite as good as you might want. If you can tolerate this, the plug-in model is better than a range top model. With a range top there is just too much piddling and adjusting, and, the chance of having the thing blow up.

The pressure cooking option is not the one I use most. Sometimes though, I just want some meat and vegetables cooked like a stew or soup, and it's late...so I put up with less than perfectly cooked stuff. No exaggeration, start to finish, 15 minutes and I've got beef, carrots, garlic, celery, onions, potatoes. And then, should I want gravy stew, add some flour or cornstarch, set to browning and in ten minutes I have gravy with the stew.

The option I use most is the simmer. It lets me cook the way a crock pot cooks, but in much less time. I've always thought that crock pots should have a higher temperature choice so that you can cook in say two hours instead of six or eight.

Mike
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Old January 13th, 2012 #12
Steven L. Akins
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Linder View Post
Exciting preview of future post!

This was the post I lost. I will show you how the noble white man uses every part of the whole chicken. We will call it Yardbird, Aryan Style...
Ugh, not every part, I hope. There are certain parts of animals (and certain animals) that I wouldn't touch.
 
Old January 13th, 2012 #13
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Ugh, not every part, I hope. There are certain parts of animals (and certain animals) that I wouldn't touch.
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Old January 15th, 2012 #14
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A good purchase when it comes to cooking is a good cast-iron pot. I can highly recommend staub. Some meat, vegetables and let it boil for a couple of hours.

Also a good cast iron pan. You have it until you die.
 
Old January 16th, 2012 #15
Mike in Denver
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As we await the chicken bone recipe...

Electrical cookware gadgets vs. traditional cookware.

I posted a picture of an electrical pressure cooker/fryer/crockpot above. I like it.

This morning I cooked shredded potatoes, bacon, eggs. I cooked them in a 12 inch stainless steel fry pan. I was impressed. I started frying the shredded potatoes. After the bottom browned, I turned them over and put the bacon beside the potatoes in the pan. When the second side of the potatoes were browned I moved them to a plate and dropped in the eggs. Everything was cooked perfectly, in one pan, and pretty much at the same time. It got me to thinking.

This is how I compare the two ways of cooking:

Electrical gadgets -- Easier and always in less need of attention. Also, more forgiving. For instance, to cook the shredded potatoes -- cook them two minutes too long and you can barely tell the difference. Bacon -- the same. Timing is not quite as crucial. However, the results may be acceptable, but rarely quite as good as traditional cooking. Also, there is one problem you will always face. Eventually (sometimes within months) the damn thing breaks. Usually the motor burns out. I had a great electrical griddle once. It worked fine until one day the damn thing stopped working. I dismantled it hoping to find a fuze. I couldn't find one. I like the little pressure cooker I wrote about above, but one day it will stop working. A hobbiest could fix these things. I won't.

Traditional cookware -- More difficult and usually requiring attention. Often cooking this way means you stand there and piddle and stir and turn through the whole preparation. This sucks, but the results can be much better. Versatile by definition. You can cook anything with traditional cookware. It's what people have cooked with for thousands of years. You don't need much either. 12 inch stainless steel fry pan. A larger cast iron pan for bigger meals and deep frying. A few pots...some of them stainless steel, a few cast iron. Some auxiliary utensils for stirring and cutting and scooping...and you're done.

If there is a tie breaker it is this. What happens when the power goes out? If you can make a fire, and I can, you can still cook on the traditional cookware. You can throw your electrical gadgets at squirrels and hope you kill one, but you still can't cook the squirrel.

I'm lazy enough that I will still use the electrical gadgets that I own, but as they burn out, I won't ever buy another one. I still like my small electrical pressure cooker.

Now! What about that chicken bone recipe?

Mike
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Last edited by Mike in Denver; January 16th, 2012 at 03:51 PM.
 
Old January 16th, 2012 #16
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Something to help the meal go down

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Old January 16th, 2012 #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike in Denver View Post
As we await the chicken bone recipe...

Electrical cookware gadgets vs. traditional cookware.

And what will you do when the grid is down?

Wooden stove with a pot that is slowly cooking your meat.

Fuck yeah
 
Old April 24th, 2012 #18
Alex Linder
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[The following is how I cook a whole chicken. I do not claim it is the best or only way. I claim it produces a very tender chicken, and that it makes a very high-quality low-cost meal. I'm just giving it a name to hang memory on, not because it means anything. I will tell you exactly how I do it, and why, which is perhaps more important. I will not follow any standard recipe format because this is not just a recipe, itz a way of life. Well, that's grandiose, perhaps, but we will find involved here the upholding of proud (German) Aryan traditions of frugality and efficiency, as well as love of good eating. 8-17-12: edition 2.1: substitute skillet in oven for drippings pan. remove small rack. so you just have chicken on middle rack, and skillet on rack below it to catch drippings. not sure why it took me 50x to think of this way of removing the middle man, possibly because i was worried the thick skillet might interfere with the cooking, but it does not. just makes the process that much more efficient.]

1) One-Hour Chicken

The question is: how do we get a tasty whole chicken on a plate in the shortest possible time? Here is one way to do it. Take a whole chicken, which you have ideally got for perhaps .69 to .99 a pound, or about $3-$4. Let it defrost. When it's defrosted and you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 450. Not 350. 450.

Now, at the sink, remove the chicken's giblets and any internal mess or bags. Cut off its tail if you like, I do. Cut off any largeish chunks of yellow fat. Wash the chicken out. Smash its breastbone down, so the chicken is flatter rather than rounder. Now...and this is important...dry your chicken. Don't leave it wet. Dry it off.

Now you're ready to spice it. Salt it liberally, very liberally all over and in the cavity. Pepper it same, less liberally. Use whichever other spices you like, and don't be stingy, use lots of them. I use Italian seasoning, thyme, rosemary, sage, whatever I have on hand. And some paprika. Even some red pepper flakes maybe. It really doesn't matter much what you use, but use a lot. The dryness and the heavy spicing will create a nice shell, in which the oh-so-tender meat will reside.

Now the chicken is ready for oven. On the bottom rack place a big cast-iron skillet. Directly over it, in the middle of the oven, place the chicken, directly on the rack. Its fat will drip into the pan, and the drippings will make a very tasty gravy.

Bake the chicken in your preheated oven at 450 for 45 minutes. Don't open the door to check, just trust the oven. As long as the chicken was thoroughly defrosted and the oven properly preheated, you will have no problems. You can throw in potatoes if you like. After 45 minutes, turn the oven off, but don't remove the bird. Let it cook internally another 15.

While the chicken is baking at 450, prepare sides. Perhaps some green beans. Perhaps some mashed potatoes. Perhaps some corn. Dish these out on plates for what you'll be eating tonight; have the leftovers properly set up for storage in plastic containers. While the chicken is still cooking, wash out any dirty utensils and throw away all raw chicken parts and sides cans in a dumpster or garbage can.

When the chicken is done, pull out both oven racks simultaneously. The chicken may be dripping, and you don't want it dripping directly onto the oven. Jam a wooden spoon up the chicken ass and lift the chicken free at the same time as your other hand removes the skillet. Place the skillet on a burner and the chicken leaning at 45 degrees in the skillet propped up against the side. Juices will leak for a brief while into the skillet and mix with the fat drippings. Cut and serve the chicken. Pour the fat drippings over the meat as gravy, if you like.

The chicken will have very spicy crisp salty skin, and the tenderest possible breast meat. It will make two large meals: one for each breast. And a third meal or snacks from wings and thighs. You can remove the rest of the meat with your fingers, store it in a plastic container, and use it with a commercial can of soup, to fortify it so that it has lots of meat in it. And the dark meat is much tastier in soup than by itself.

The last thing you can do is take the bones of the chicken and boil them for 3-4 hours, until the marrow comes out. This broth can be eaten by itself, with a little salt, as a salubrious broth. Or it can be used as the basis of a stock. You can get a good 3-4 cups of stock. You can use as much or little of that as you want for gravy. Pour it in skillet, boil it, add flour, add butter, add some seasoning. You can add corn starch too. Good for use with mashed potatoes.

So in this way, a white man can eat a $4 chicken for four days, with just a couple more bucks for spices and butter and vegetables. Personally I never get tired of eating whole baked chickens. People claim chicken is bland but I don't find it so. I find it moist, salty, tender and delicious...when it is cooked correctly, as indicated above.

You will notice that not only is this dish cheap, say $6 bucks for 2-4 days of eating, you clean up as you go, so that everything is put away the minute it's done, and the sides are prepared and ready while the chicken is still cooking. So in one hour you go from damn-I'm-hungry to having an extremely moist, tender chicken dish with two sides, and all off the cookware and chicken detritus cleaned up and put away. Simple, efficient, cost-effective, delicious. Extending our life by fortifying our innards, and confirming our traditions of frugality, efficiency; advancing the science of gastronomy -- all these things correctly cooking a whole chicken can do for you.

Last edited by Alex Linder; February 12th, 2013 at 10:11 AM.
 
Old April 24th, 2012 #19
Rick Ronsavelle
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Default pre-cooked

I buy 'em at Costco for $5.00.



My grandfather owned a chicken ranch in Chino during the depression. He cleared $16,000 which was BIG in the day. Maybe a good business when this depression gets serious.

My father was born in Pomona Valley Hospital (1921). I saw the bill- $25.00, maybe $500 in today's money. Thanks, government.
 
Old April 24th, 2012 #20
Steven L. Akins
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And what will you do when the grid is down?

Wooden stove with a pot that is slowly cooking your meat.

Fuck yeah
I've found out that portable charcoal barbeque-grills come in quite handy for extended power outages. I had to cook on one for several days following the tornado outbreaks we experienced last April which took out electrical service over several counties and took quite awhile to restore.

Can't say I enjoy cooking that way; but in a pinch it's better than nothing.
 
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