Althouse: Adding heat.

January 29, 2014

Adding heat.

At Meadhouse, this morning.

(The old crock pot's crock cracked, so we replaced it with this. Link goes to Amazon, where you can do a lot of shopping.)

32 comments:

madAsHell said...: Cal-rod heating elements??

I had to look them up. I didn't think they made them anymore. You can buy them from GE for $86, and direct from Jenn-Air for twice that.

....but I'm ready if they ever resurrect Go-Go boots!!; 1/29/14, 1:51 PM
Anonymous said...: Dylanology with a Splash of Thin Man, Springsteen Potshots, the President's Laverne & Shirley SOTU Address, Ginsburg Grocery List Poetry (that Rhymes!), an Awkward late-Nite phonecall from Woody Allen to Mia, Carol's Discovery that I am Meade: you are Feeling the Added Heat because Betamax has been on Fire.

I Have Also Taken My Hubris Pills; They Cause a Touch of Heartburn but it is Worth It.; 1/29/14, 2:08 PM
Anonymous said...: If the Hubris Lasts More Than Four Hours I Consider it a Plus.; 1/29/14, 2:10 PM
Unknown said...: We own that Cuisinart slow cooker. Love it. I think you and Meade will enjoy it, too.; 1/29/14, 2:41 PM
Bruce said...: I recently had to replace a CrockPot that I had owned for almost 30 years.

I had read reviews saying the slow cookers run at a higher temperature than they used to.

I found this to be true; 10 hours on "Low" in my old CrockPot lead to tasty, tender, moist meat. 10 hours on "Low" in my new CrockPot and I get a dark/burnt crust everywhere the food touches the crock, and somewhat overcooked meat. Even on "Low", the food is actually at a slow boil now.

I'm curious if you and others that have bought a slow cooker recently have seen the same, or if I just got a bad new CrockPot.; 1/29/14, 2:43 PM
FullMoon said...: How do you guys manage to make every photo look so good?; 1/29/14, 2:47 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I quit using my slow cooker. Slow cooker meat always tastes slightly off to me, so I gave up on it.; 1/29/14, 2:57 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/29/14, 2:57 PM
rhhardin said...: Anything that needs to be warm gets microwaved.; 1/29/14, 3:02 PM
Anonymous said...: I saw the best Crock Pots of my Generation destroyed by madness, Starving hysterical Slow-Cooked, dragging themselves through the Goodwill Aisles at dawn looking for an angry Repair, Angel-haired Pasta Makers burning for the ancient heavenly Spaghetti to the Noodle dynamo in the Kitchen of night, who Poultry and Taters and hollow-eyed Macaroni sat up Fizzling in the supernatural darkness of cold Granite Countertops floating across the tops of Sizzlers contemplating Jambalaya.; 1/29/14, 3:49 PM
rhhardin said...: Except rice. The rice cooker does rice.

Also spaghetti.; 1/29/14, 3:57 PM
Tank said...: Crock pot?

Short ribs !!!; 1/29/14, 4:14 PM
Tank said...: Got ours in1979 as a wedding gift. Works fine.; 1/29/14, 4:16 PM
Michael K said...: My cleaning ladies broke the lid of my ancient crock pot and I had to get a new one. Can't remember how I got to Amazon for it or if I did. I did buy something through your portal a couple of weeks ago but can't remember what it was.; 1/29/14, 5:29 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "How do you guys manage to make every photo look so good?"

1. Take shots you think will look good, 2. Throw out all the bad ones. 3. Tweak the good ones in iPhoto.; 1/29/14, 5:31 PM
David said...: The state of the Althouse-Meade union is STRONG. Strong, I say!

On the state of the other Union (that Union for which hundreds of thousands died) hear ye Jim Cramer. (Yes, that Jim Cramer.)

I find the State of the Union to be a painful speech. I think the president means well, but don't they all? It would be terrific if we really could cherry-pick, say, the good parts of globalization, and block the bad -- if we could force other countries to take more U.S. goods while not taking our jobs and polluting less with the jobs they do take. But we all accept or ignore that globalization means losing lesser-skilled jobs here to countries with less stringent pollution controls. They import our jobs, and they export their goods and their climate destruction. This is not all that investable, when you think about it.

The MyRA bond idea? Count me in. I want a risk-free bond with a higher return than those of other risk-free bonds. So do 310 million other Americans.

In other works, even the MyRA is a stupid idea, candy for the masses, that doesn't address a real problem in a real way.; 1/29/14, 5:32 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Cal-rod heating elements?? I had to look them up. I didn't think they made them anymore. You can buy them from GE for $86, and direct from Jenn-Air for twice that."

The cooktop dates back to 1991, when I renovated the kitchen. It still works fine, as it has, without repair, all these years. But one knob is sometimes a little hinky, so when we were buying the new dishwasher, we picked out a new cooktop too, just to avoid the trouble of having to do another shopping trip. We bought another Jenn-Air, but the "smoothtop" kind, with no knobs at all.; 1/29/14, 5:36 PM
bandmeeting said...: Slow cooker meat always tastes slightly off to me, so I gave up on it.

Sous vide.; 1/29/14, 5:45 PM
Bob R said...: We bought the Hamilton Beech model a few years ago. It works fine, but I was thinking of getting a combo slow-cooker/pressure cooker unit. Anyone tried one of those?

I'm holding off on Sous Vide. I figure the price is going to come down to the crock pot/rice cooker range in a year or two. I've tried DIY methods using the crock pot, and I really like it as a cooking technique. Too much of a cheapskate to pay the early adopter price.; 1/29/14, 6:12 PM
ajf said...: Althouse, I'm curious why you didn't go with gas for the replacement cooktop? Also, did you consider induction (though I have no experiance , I've heard good things)?; 1/29/14, 6:14 PM
Laura said...: Heat, redefined = random drug testing + executive public "servants."

Or should that be "savants"?; 1/29/14, 6:45 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Althouse, I'm curious why you didn't go with gas for the replacement cooktop?"

We like the smooth top. The way it looks. The cleanliness. And it would be more complicated to pipe the gas over to there. Not a huge deal, but over on an island (or peninsula) it would seem exposed, and I'm not keen on having all sorts of crazy exposed flames. The subtlety of the smooth top seems nice.

"Also, did you consider induction (though I have no experiance , I've heard good things)?"

Just not interested in figuring out what the hell it does. It costs more, and you have to learn how to use it. We're doing fine with the things we already know. Not really looking for a change.; 1/29/14, 7:02 PM
KLDAVIS said...: Have noticed the Hario kettle in a couple pics. Has Meade ditched the AeroPress for pour-over? I have to admit I prefer the simplicity of the V60, even if I think the AeroPress makes a better cup.; 1/29/14, 7:43 PM
KLDAVIS said...: "I'm holding off on Sous Vide. I figure the price is going to come down to the crock pot/rice cooker range in a year or two."

Unlikely, given how long sous vide has already been around. The electronics required to maintain exact and constant temperature are significantly more expensive than what goes into a Crock Pot, and for good reason...they're quite complex. I don't see it getting much more affordable than the SousVide Supreme anytime soon.; 1/29/14, 7:46 PM
CStanley said...: I had a smooth top and hated it. Far from being cleaner, spills were nearly impossible to clean. I am a messy cook though so maybe it was me, or maybe Jennair makes a more cleanable surface than the one I had.

I very much prefer gas for the heat control, anyway, and fortunately that is what I now cook on.; 1/29/14, 8:49 PM
Kirby Olson said...: We just got a slow cooker. I don't have patience for meat cooked over a ten hour period. But we have heard that you get nice dishes. This should be a time to trade recipes, and temperatures.; 1/29/14, 9:25 PM
CStanley said...: I use my crock pot for chili, pork ribs with sauerkraut, beef stew, and pot roast.

Best pot roast ever- Marinate the meat overnight in Catalina dressing + red wine. In the morning, cut up onions, celery, and carrots and toss them in the crock, and empty the bag with the meat and marinade on top of the veg. I usually cook it all day (8 hrs or so) on low but you could do high for a couple of hours and then turn down to low for a couple. You'll know when it's done when the meat is falling apart. Optional- To finish it off, take the meat out and pour the rest into a pot on stovetop and add a pack of brown gravy mix (or if you're not in a hurry make your own roux and then add some beef stock and the sauce mixture from the crock) and cook till it is thickened.; 1/29/14, 10:00 PM
madAsHell said...: I always marveled at my Mother's cooking top.

How did they do that?

...and then I found replacement Cal-rod coils at the neighborhood hardware store for $5. Of course, I was 8 in 1965.

I also learned the difference between a ball valve, and a butterfly valve at the neighborhood hardware store. They sold fractional HP engines, propellors, and football cleats.

In retrospect, I should have turned out for cross-country.; 1/29/14, 11:03 PM
Ann Althouse said...: The burners in the photo are not the coil type. Is that what calrod means?

They're solid metal.

As for cleaning a glass cooktop, this one is glass other than the burners, and it's very easy to clean. You can just windex it.; 1/30/14, 2:14 PM
Ann Althouse said...: What's clean about the smooth top is that there are no crevices for anything to sink into. A gas stove has to have a grid to hold each pot and so forth.

I don't really understand the point about controlling the heat, other than that you can see that it's immediately up or down. The visual might feel satisfying, but since the pan is holding or absorbing heat, the actual immediacy is illusory.; 1/30/14, 2:19 PM
Ann Althouse said...: A smooth top seems very modern and aesthetically pleasing, like an iPhone.

We chose the Jenn-air because it had the most minimal detail etched into the glass.

The Miele had an all-over pattern. Some models had an added stainless steel trim, which seemed to be for these people who want everything stainless.; 1/30/14, 2:23 PM
CStanley said...: Heat control- I found that I could never maintain low temperatures well on electric stoves. With gas I can put stuff on a low simmer and not need to stir it as often. It also seems to me that the pans cool down more quickly when I turn it down to preventis a boilover, and I think that's because of the air circulating aound the bottom of the pan.

Maybe some of the difference relates to the quality of the cooktop and the cookware, but it has been a notable difference in my experience.; 1/30/14, 3:37 PM