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July 25
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April 12
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I put in some tea to heat, and it heated the tea just fine. Then a few minutes later, I went to heat more tea, and noticed the panel was dead. This had happened before, usually when someone plugs something in upstairs like a vacuum cleaner when the microwave runs. The circuit blows, so thinking this was the issue, I reset the breaker. But then when the UPS on my Internet gateway suddenly beeped in protest, I realized that the circuit was NOT tripped after all (because the former owners used different sized breakers, you can't tell what's tripped by looking at them).
I tested the outlet, and it was fine. I plugged in the microwave. Dead. Not even a flash on the LED timer display. It had died quietly after making tea. I only had the bloody thing for 4 years, what the hell?
But now that I think about it, a few weeks ago I heated a hot pocket in one of those "crisping sleeves," and when I wasn't looking, it burst into flame. I am not exaggerating. Seriously, the crisping sleeve was erupting with shooting flames like a freshly lit match.
Fuck! What unpredictable behavior for a hot pocket! I must have heated hundreds of things in crisping sleeves or plates, and nothing happened more than a weakly filled promise of crisping.
I immediately shut off the microwave, and the hot pocket was actually burning like a hot ember. Like that chunk of "evil" from the ending of "Time Bandits." Dark smoke billowed into the kitchen as I grabbed a set of salad tongs, opened the microwave, and tossed the black and red coal into the sink and poured water on it. When the water cleared, I saw the burning was only on the crisping sleeve (now ashes) and the outermost layer of flaky and damp crust of the hot pocket. The center was still frozen. It had only been cooking for 30-40 seconds.
Since then, my son and I have cooked several more hot pockets, and nothing more than a hot and loosely defined "crisp crust" occurred. But now I suspect that the microwave was trying to tell me something, or an error in the crisping sleeve manufacturing process had reached a statistical inevitability, given how many hot pockets we eat around here, which might have been the killing blow to the microwave emitting tube.
A minor silver lining: it was almost due for the monthly cleaning, and now I won't have to. Heh. Posted in: appliances , cooking , fire , mircowave
My microwave just died (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))
This sucks. I mean, yeah, and new one is like $100 from BJ's, but I don't want to spend $100 now. The joke it that it would probably cost $150 to repair. I could look at it myself, but there's this HUGE capacitor in the back of these kinds of appliances, and that's like saying you'll remove a rattlesnake from your basement on your own: best left to those who know what they are doing.I put in some tea to heat, and it heated the tea just fine. Then a few minutes later, I went to heat more tea, and noticed the panel was dead. This had happened before, usually when someone plugs something in upstairs like a vacuum cleaner when the microwave runs. The circuit blows, so thinking this was the issue, I reset the breaker. But then when the UPS on my Internet gateway suddenly beeped in protest, I realized that the circuit was NOT tripped after all (because the former owners used different sized breakers, you can't tell what's tripped by looking at them).
I tested the outlet, and it was fine. I plugged in the microwave. Dead. Not even a flash on the LED timer display. It had died quietly after making tea. I only had the bloody thing for 4 years, what the hell?
But now that I think about it, a few weeks ago I heated a hot pocket in one of those "crisping sleeves," and when I wasn't looking, it burst into flame. I am not exaggerating. Seriously, the crisping sleeve was erupting with shooting flames like a freshly lit match.
Fuck! What unpredictable behavior for a hot pocket! I must have heated hundreds of things in crisping sleeves or plates, and nothing happened more than a weakly filled promise of crisping.
I immediately shut off the microwave, and the hot pocket was actually burning like a hot ember. Like that chunk of "evil" from the ending of "Time Bandits." Dark smoke billowed into the kitchen as I grabbed a set of salad tongs, opened the microwave, and tossed the black and red coal into the sink and poured water on it. When the water cleared, I saw the burning was only on the crisping sleeve (now ashes) and the outermost layer of flaky and damp crust of the hot pocket. The center was still frozen. It had only been cooking for 30-40 seconds.
Since then, my son and I have cooked several more hot pockets, and nothing more than a hot and loosely defined "crisp crust" occurred. But now I suspect that the microwave was trying to tell me something, or an error in the crisping sleeve manufacturing process had reached a statistical inevitability, given how many hot pockets we eat around here, which might have been the killing blow to the microwave emitting tube.
A minor silver lining: it was almost due for the monthly cleaning, and now I won't have to. Heh. Posted in: appliances , cooking , fire , mircowave
December 18
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Wearever Hard Anodized Non-stick Cookware Review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken
I have owned some apparently very nice clad stainless steel cookware made by Cuisinart. I bought them on the advice of my (at the time) boss, who swore up and down that stainless steel was the best way to go. I shouldn’t have listened him, about the pots and pans or about buying a home, as the cookware proved a pain in the ass for day to day cooking, and he laid every last one of us off four months later.
I spent a pretty penny back then. The Cuisinart set was great at conducting uniform heat, but sucked as far as stuff sticking to the pan. I had to use a fair amount of oil or butter to keep even simple things from adhering to the surface like a mother of nine to her welfare check. Sure, the pots looked pro but the burnt remains of food did not.
I wanted something different, something non-stick, and most importantly, something cheap. I asked Starbuck for help in picking something out. She’s my go-to-gal for anything cooking related. She thumbed through some of her cooking magazine back issues and scoured a few culinary Web sites. She sent me links to a few sets, and I finally decided on the Wearever hard anodized non-stick cookware set.
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November 29
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ReadiVac 36104 12-Volt Wet/Dry Auto Vacuum review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken
Nothing like a new car to jumpstart the desire to keep things clean again. I have a kit in the hatch of my MazdaSPEED 3 with a quick auto detailer spray, an interior cleaner spray, two microfiber cleaning cloths, a wheel cleaner spray, a tire cleaner foam, and a dash duster. So, we have the exterior and the dash covered, but what about when I chow down on two “sausage” biscuits from McDonald’s while I am on the road? The biscuits are yum, but they get crumbs everywhere. I wanted a portable vacuum that would allow me to keep the carpet clean while I was away from home.
For $10 before shipping, the ReadiVac 36104 seemed to fit the bill. Even if it was junk, there aren’t a lot of items I can pick up for ten bucks and review for Gibberish. :)
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October 4
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Bissel Little Green Portable Deep Cleaner review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken
Sometimes I’ll buy something and will have to wait for the right time to review it. The Bissel Little Green Portable Deep Cleaner is a good example. I started thinking about buying a portable steam cleaner after I got Pearl. She had the shits off and on for her first month here, and after watching Lady Jaye spend nearly an hour get poo-spew out of the carpet I was like, “fuck this, I’m buying a steamer.” And then Pearl got better. Heh. I’ve used it a few times before I started this review, but I was waiting for some gnarly incident to happen. Luckily, Porter was willing to oblige by barfing up a nice present on my cream-colored carpet.
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August 14
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Upton Tea Imports multi-temperature electric tea kettle (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken
Ever since seeing one (out of stock) on Adagio.com, I’ve been on the lookout for an adjustable temperature electric tea kettle. The idea of a mult-temperature kettle intrigued me because different drinks require different temperatures. 160 - 180F for white and green teas, 190F for Oolong tea, and 212F for black teas, herbal teas and coffee. The vast majority of electric kettles, especially in the US, are set for one temperature only, which is 212F. Not bad for when I drag out the French press, but way too hot for the white and greens I like to drink. I’ve had to resort to playing games such as listening to the sound of the water starting to boil, or the appearance of the bubbles on the inside of the pot. Most of the time, I don’t even care and just steep the tea in water that is too hot.
Unfortunately, Adagio’s UtiliTEA kettle has been out of stock since December of last year. The only reasons I could dig up were production and quality control issues. Not sure if either of those are correct; the important thing is that I’ve been on their auto-notify list for over eight months, every expected restock date has been pushed back. I thought I was screwed, and was about to write a rant here on Gibberish about it when I found out about the Upton Tea Imports variable temperature electric kettle.
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May 30
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Adagio IngenuiTEA shootout (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken
I’ve been a big fan of online tea purveyor Adagio.com for a long time. My first order with them was a green tea starter set in August 2005. I received a sixteen ounce IngenuiTEA teapot as part of the package. The IngenuiTEA is a very handy way to make loose-leaf tea in small quantities. You add two teaspoons at the bottom, fill the plastic container with water, and wait. When your tea is done steeping, you place the IngenuiTEA atop a mug and the tea drains out the bottom. Very awesome. My friend roclar did a review of his IngenuiTEA in October of 2006, which includes a video. I didn’t notice it at the time, but we own different versions of the personal teapot.
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February 7
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Henckels Synergy Asian Knife Set review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken
Sometimes you get what you pay for. Sometimes you get more than you pay for. Sometimes you get much less.
Such has been my experience with Henckels knives. Introduced to this manufacturer of fine kitchen knives by my then-employer in Oregon, I picked up an eight-inch Henckels Twin Star Plus chef knife, to the tune of about $100. The Twin Star Plus had a very nice balance to it, plus a specially-coated edge that never needed sharpening. Seemed like a great deal at the time: a very good manufacturer, and a no-maintenance knife. The problem? The knife because dull in short order, and it is impossible to sharpen the special edge. The never-sharpen edge didn’t work.
Like my hairline, I didn’t realize how bad things had gotten until I gained some outside perspective. Lady Jaye’s folks Ramba and Steve® were here for Thanksgiving last year, and it wasn’t until I was carving the turkey that we realized how dull and borderline useless the Twin Star Plus was. They came to the rescue a month later with the Henckel Synergy Two Piece Asian Knife Set. The set includes a seven inch Santoku-style chef knife, and a three inch vegetable knife.
I use the Santoku knife all the time, but have only used the vegetable knife once. I’ll tell you this: the first time I cut a green bell pepper with the Santoku knife I said, “whoa.” It was so much sharper than my Twin Star Plus I had to dig the old chef knife out of the drawer and do a comparison. There was no comparison. Peppers, onions, poultry, cheese, the Synergy Santoku knife sundered them all with ease. I have used my Twin Star Plus once since, and that was to hack apart a pineapple.
The Synergy series is not without its faults, however. Henckles has to protect their (much) more expensive Four- and Five-Star lines, and the easiest way for them to do so is to use a lesser-grade of steel on the Synergy blades. The blades are thinner and will flex under pressure. I don’t know if it would be possible to snap the blade under extreme conditions. Mishandling such as trying to cut through a bone instead of a tendon might stress this blade to the limit. From an everyday standpoint, the Synergy blade collects water spots and at least one reviewer has stated that his knife set rusted. The Synergy line in particular is not dishwasher safe, but I don’t run my kitchen knives through the washer anyway. Lastly, the Synergy line is forged in China, unlike the rest of the Henckles line, which is made in Germany. I am not sure if this makes a big difference or not in the performance of the knives, but it would further explain Henckles’ pricing structure.
The grip on the Synergy blade is nice, but not as nice as the Twin Star Pro line. My TWP has heft, like you could use that junk in a fight to the death with a zombie. The Synergy? Not so much. I’d be afraid to do anything crazy with it aside from cutting off someone’s pinky finger for withholding information.
I am not sure about the long term durability of the Synergy line, but if you’re predisposed to spending $100 on a chef knife, you might as well buy three of these sets and come out WAY ahead in the performance department.
Henckels Synergy Asian Knife Set, I slice off:
Four out of five STFU mugs!
The Henckels Synergy Asian Knife Set can be found at Target, target.com and similar retailers for $39.99 before applicable tax and shipping.
Posted in: appliances , hardware , review
December 20
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If you’ve been thinking about buying a Dyson …. (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken
Check your mail. We’ve gotten some Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons for 20% off any item. Until recently, these coupons have excluded Dyson — but the last two we’ve gotten have no such restriction. If you’ve read about or seen me use my Dyson but have been unwilling to drop the scratch on one, here’s your chance to save around $100.
If you don’t have a coupon, let me know and I’ll send you mine.
Posted in: appliances , gibberish , home improvement