General Chat Thread II

Dial Hard

Was in the new (ish) FXB shop beside the restaurant on Pembroke St yesterday picking up a Too Good To Go bag. Mother of god, it's foodie HEAVEN. I practically ran out of the place once I got my bag, could easily have spent a hundred quid or more.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118191136#Comment_118191136

I was in the one in Clontarf a few weeks ago looking for a sliced pan. Oh how they laughed! 🙄

igCorcaigh

Just frying some sausages* now, to go with lentils and chard.

I find that it's a good idea, if your sausages are sold in those plastic trays that make the sausages into a square shape, to roll them in your hands before cooking, so that they become more cylindrical in shape, like a cigar. And keep moving them in the pan, so that they get an even colour all over. Nothing worse than a sausage that is black on one side, and raw looking on the other.

*It's good to see Cork's O'Flynn's sausages selling nationwide, they have made deals with some big supermarket chains. It's the Cumberland variety that I'm cooking now.

Dave_The_Sheep

I was allowed to open my Christmas present early (very early). New kitchen toy ... yes, I'm old.

(But not old enough that I don't smirk at the phrase nut butter every time I see it)

Smoothies, sorbets, properly blended soups etc. await. Anyone with any solid recommendations, go nuts.

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118217866#Comment_118217866

I havent fried sausages in a pan in about 4 years since getting the airfryer, it does a great job at giving them a uniform colour all around without the need for constant turning. The black and white pudding goes in there too for the last few minutes. Have done rashers in it before but they are problematic as they spit into the element and you can get lots of white smoke.

Graces7

Nothing beats a good fry up! Sizzling sausages.... Bacon... an egg... I drizzle honey on my fried bacon... MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

The Black Oil

210622_rck_hummel-hot-dogs_rck_5820x_custom-914dbe8738b571d5b406cbf357bb3513163cc7a6-s2600-c85.webp

That's a lot of sausages.

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118280001#Comment_118280001

My only suggestion would be that although it's very tempting to throw in some ice when making a smoothie, be aware that it is hard on the blades and they will bend or warp on some mixers. Chips of ice or part frozen fruit are ok, but we wary of hard frozen cubes.

It's maybe not what you were expecting, but I really like to make whipped goats cheese and I recommend the recipe here:- https://food52.com/recipes/24387-alon-shaya-s-whole-roasted-cauliflower-and-whipped-goat-cheese

pleasant Co.

Any suggestions for christmas eve/day & st stephans day picky treats folks? either easy shop bought or make yourself.

Faith

I moved into a new house and we have a brand new kitchen. I am so excited to start cooking and baking again. Have been in the most stressful living arrangements for the last 12 months so had totally lost my mojo, so really looking forward to recapturing the joy of cooking.

We have a lovely big American style fridge freezer (with ice maker!), an induction hob and a double oven. It feels like the world is my oyster 🤩

Patsy167

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118364893#Comment_118364893

There's a great selection of party food in most supermarkets at the moment - here's what Aldi have -

https://leaflets.aldi.ie/view/707935089/18/

Need a Username

Will Taytos (and other crisps/snacks) stay fresh (as fresh as in their original packaging) in resealable food bags like the Bacofoil SafeLoc freezer bags ?

woodchuck

Random question, but can anyone recommend an oven?! In particular, what brands would you recommend. Or equally, what brands would you avoid.

Ours went kaput this evening 🙈

Faith

We got a Bosch double oven a few weeks ago and I’m in love with it. I’m critical about kitchen appliances but I have had no reason to complain yet (except my soda bread didn’t cook but I think that was a recipe/baker failure!)

In one rental property, we had a Nord Mende oven and it was shîte. My MIL used to design kitchens and she would say Neff isn’t really worth the money. We had one in the past and the bloody light bulb kept blowing, which was very annoying.

oscarBravo

I've had good experiences generally with Bosch ovens. The one we currently have isn't great, but it's like 15 years old.

woodchuck

That's great, thanks a mill :) We're going to try a few appliance shops over the weekend.

It's actually a Neff that we have atm. It either doesn't have a light or it did at some point and it blew years ago (the oven came with the house). I really miss having a light when baking though! Just before the oven gave out, I actually saw a bright light inside and thought maybe there was a bulb in there after all that had come back to life! But I think it was the heating element badly overheating and then sparks flew 😬

I'll definitely keep Bosch in mind!

I just hope we can find something that fits, the dimensions are very confusing to figure out 🙄

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118436216#Comment_118436216

If you are in Dublin try giving Gas Electric on Camden Street, they sell all sorts of ex display items from the major retailers.

Apart from that Id try to get one that has a good user interface and an internal temperature probe for cooking roasts. It completely takes any guesswork out of how you want your meat cooked and the oven will bleep and switch off when it reaches the desired internal temperature. With my own one it has settings for rare, med rare and so on and it always gets it spot on, its a really handy feature.

the beer revolu

Electrolux all day long for me.

Perhaps not if you want advanced features and programs but if you want simplicity of controls, great heat and good build quality, they excel.

I have no interest in bells and whistles in an oven.

oscarBravo

I just hope we can find something that fits, the dimensions are very confusing to figure out 🙄

I think ovens are a pretty standard size?

woodchuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118440950#Comment_118440950

It seems like the part that goes into the cavity is pretty standard, but there are slight differences with the external dimensions 🙈 One we were considering (Electrolux) is 1cm wider than our current oven and we think it would be too tight a fit (would wedge into the press doors either side). Whereas another one that's only half a centimeter wider than our current model could be ok.

There was a Bosch I like the sound of that should fit, but the reviews say that the timer is very quiet. It sounds trivial, but we always have the radio on when cooking or even sit down to watch tv in another room. So I'd be afraid of missing the timer 🙄 I know we could buy a separate external timer, but feel we shouldn't have to for the price they're charging and it's just another thing that'll get misplaced.

It's all so bamboozling 😣

One guy was pushing us towards an oven with a pyrolytic cleaner... Didn't want to admit to him that I never clean my oven anyway 🙈

Faith

You can always set a timer on your phone? That’s what I do if I need it. With Siri (or equivalent voice assistants) you don’t even need to wash your hands if they’re covered in food so it’s even easier - just a quick “hey siri, set a timer for 20 minutes” and off you go.

ongarite

Recently moved to new home and bought a Siemens oven, part of the Bosch/Neff family.

Really excellent oven. Very quiet during use, soft open/close door with automatic internal light.

Huge amount of cooking options available and has Wi-Fi built in so poster above would get notifications on phone when timer is finished.

woodchuck

Yeah I know the timer is a trivial issue really and we'd find a work around 🙈 Haven't ruled that oven out anyway, but it's just frustrating cause you'd think it would be a very basic thing for them to address.

Another seemingly trivial thing that's getting to me is the lack of accessories that come with some ovens (e.g. one wire rack only, no grill pan!). I'm not sure how easy/hard it would be to get additional accessories to fit the particular ovens.

Good to know about Siemens, thanks a mill!

Anyone have opinions on pyrolytic vs catalytic cleaning functions?

We'll heading to the shops again today with a view to making a final decision... must remember the measuring tape this time 🙈 We were able to borrow a measuring tape in one place and turns out the dimensions listed are not accurate!

woodchuck

Ok, we've gone for a Bosch with a pyrolytic cleaner 🙈

We'll figure something out with the timer if it's too quiet! There was a fancy whirlpool one we were looking at that didn't even have a normal timer, it was all advanced stuff. It was too high tech for my liking though, it would just frustrate me 🙈 I'll be happy with my knobs!

oscarBravo

The use of digital assistants for timers is very handy. It's particularly nice to be able to say "hey Google, set a 45 minute timer called 'bread'" and then later "set a 20 minute timer called 'potatoes'" and have it tell you which timer just completed.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444739#Comment_118444739

That sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately Alexa has been consigned to the bin in our house.

Speaking of new kit for the kitchen. We had a Quooker tap installed when we got a new IKEA kitchen last month.

Costing a small fortune for the most basic model (€1400), we have just the boiling, hot and cold option.

I think it’s basically a very efficient flask that stores boiling water for long periods

It passes the tea test but where it really comes into it’s own is when you’re cooking.

Rice and Pasta are cooked so much quicker cos you don’t have to wait for the water to boil. And the best bit, you now have boiling water on tap to rinse them after cooking.

Glad we got it. 😋

woodchuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444739#Comment_118444739

I'll join you in the future... some day 🙈

oscarBravo

Oh gawd I want a Quooker so much. When we own our own place...

beertons

Was searching up recipes for seafood chowder. Dijon mustard? Would you?

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118446588#Comment_118446588

I saw the ad for it yesterday. I wonder does it have any child/distracted grownup/clumsy person safety features... I was also wondering how fast it was - a friend of mine has a water purifier installed by the kitchen tap, and it's quite slow.