The General Chat Thread

squonk · 30-03-2016 03:55PM

I've got an Instant Pot 7 in 1 cooker and I can honestly say it's the best kitchen gadget I've ever bought. I makie soups regularly which come out great. I've made amazing stews and curries as well. The steaming function works very well also and I've even gotten around to tyring the yogurt function which works very well. The one area I haven't had much luck is with rice and grains. Porritdge didn't come out well after being left overnight and rice was not great however I think my last effort with brown rice allowed me to uncover the secret. You need to quickly take the lid off once the timer stops from what I can see. It'll only stick to the pot otherwise.

All in all though I couldn't recommend the instant pot highly enough. The recipe book you receive isn't great however there are loads of sources with great recipes for you to try. Also, after a while you do get used to adapting recipes for the pressure cooker.

Whispered · 31-03-2016 01:45PM

Just to be clear I wasn't looking for food safety advice, I just wanted to make sure I didn't overcook them.

Thanks everyone for the tips, it turned out very nice! Milled by the two gentlemen of the house.

Gloomtastic! · 31-03-2016 03:29PM

I cannot get sweet potato chips to go crispy in the oven! A soggy mess, once again.... :mad:

Whispered · 31-03-2016 04:16PM

Whispered wrote: »

You know the bags of cooked and frozen prawns. How do you use them in hot dishes? I was going to make some sort of curry with them but I'm not sure if they will just break up, with them being already cooked. If I let them defrost then stir into an already made curry sauce to heat through would they taste better? I've never cooked with prawns before so haven't a clue. I also don't eat them so have no idea what the texture is supposed to be like, but I assume if i overcook them by putting them into the sauce too early it'll totally ruin the taste and texture?

Also, what veggies would go into a curry with them? I was planning on doing a sauce with garlic, ginger, Garam masala, cardamoms, tomato, coconut and coriander. Would that suit prawns?

Thanks.

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

MOD Whatever your motives, no food safety advice can be asked for or given here. Have a reread of the charter if you are unsure.

This is the post they were responding to, apologies if it caused trouble. I was hoping for a bit of guidance because I don't eat prawns and had no idea how to use them in a dish.

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

I cannot get sweet potato chips to go crispy in the oven! A soggy mess, once again.... :mad:

I got a great tip here, this is how I do mine. Cut them into chips, steam lightly until half cooked, I usually do this a day or so in advance when steaming other veggies. Pat dry.

Melt coconut oil in the over at 200 degs, toss in half cooked chips.

Timing can be very temperamental I find on them, anything from 20 mins to 40 mins! That could be my oven however.

Faith · 31-03-2016 08:42PM

Mod Note: Small thread tidy-up, due to a combination of food safety advice, misunderstandings and bickerings. Nothing to see now, move along

rsh118 · 31-03-2016 09:41PM

Who else has a severe addiction to the Phaidon country series cookbooks?

I don't have an unbowed shelf in the house. Total sucker for these behemoths.

Zelda247 · 01-04-2016 09:36AM

I have some Harissa paste and I was thinking of marinating some boned chicken breasts (with skin on) with it.

I don't want it to dry out in the oven, if I covered it with tin foil and then took it off for the last 5 minutes or so do you think that would work?

Dial Hard · 01-04-2016 11:21AM

Mix the harissa with a bit of oil and lemon juice, it'll help with the drying.

Personally, I think chicken fillets are better done on the pan than in the oven. I'd leave oven baking for bone-in cuts like thighs and legs.

Loire · 01-04-2016 03:02PM

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

I cannot get sweet potato chips to go crispy in the oven! A soggy mess, once again.... :mad:

Ditto here I'm afraid. I just usually chop into large cubes and roast.

Kovu · 01-04-2016 08:55PM

Lao Gan Ma has another convert. Sweet baby jesus....the crispy chilli in oil. I usually suck at doing wings but this time I baked them first after rolling in cornflour and seasoning. Tossed them in the LGM chilli oil and a small bit of honey. Ermagad. I'll be living off that for the next while I think!

B0jangles · 01-04-2016 09:10PM

ONE OF US
ONE OF US
ONE OF US

(I had LGM chili crisp noodles for dinner and it was very excellent indeed

)

Gloomtastic! · 01-04-2016 09:23PM

Sold! Where does one get this chilli oil? Your average Asian supermarket?

B0jangles · 01-04-2016 09:31PM

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Sold! Where does one get this chilli oil? Your average Asian supermarket?

Every asian supermarket should have chilli crisp - its the stumpy jar on the left in this image:

BTW The black bean one on the right is fecking fantastic with beef in this recipe:

http://jonoandjules.com/tag/fuschia-dunlop/

Edit: yes, I am an obsessive laoganma evangelical - what of it??? (angrily eats laoganma out of the jar with a tablespoon)

Kovu · 01-04-2016 09:33PM

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Sold! Where does one get this chilli oil? Your average Asian supermarket?

I'd say so, got mine in the one at the Jervis Luas stop. I went looking for the grumpy lady jar

Zelda247 · 02-04-2016 09:26AM

Dial Hard wrote: »

Mix the harissa with a bit of oil and lemon juice, it'll help with the drying.

Personally, I think chicken fillets are better done on the pan than in the oven. I'd leave oven baking for bone-in cuts like thighs and legs.

The fillets have bone and skin in, how long would it take to cook in a pan do you think and what's the best way of doing it?

Mrs Fox · 02-04-2016 05:50PM

Kovu wrote: »

I'd say so, got mine in the one at the Jervis Luas stop. I went looking for the grumpy lady jar

I didn't know it was a lady until BoJangles said so awhile back

rubadub · 02-04-2016 06:15PM

I always thought it was a guy too. Full story about the woman here
http://www.womenofchina.com.cn/html/report/1163-1.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_Gan_Ma

there are apparently fakes out there.

There are a few funny brands about.

Loire · 02-04-2016 06:59PM

My MIL bought a large (6.5L ?) slow cooker last year and it's never seen the light of day. Anyway, I am now the proud owner and have it stuffed to the gills with a bolognese since about 1 o'clock - used a mix of beef mince, lamb mince and sauteed chicken livers with loads of garlic, carrot, celery, passata, a stick cube and, of course, a fair ole dash of wine. It smells amaazing.

Whispered · 04-04-2016 03:03PM

When choosing an airfryer, what should one look out for?

I've been thinking of getting a nutri blender for ages now for my husband but I think we'd actually get more use out of the fryer.

rubadub · 04-04-2016 03:25PM

Whispered wrote: »

When choosing an airfryer, what should one look out for?

If you are only looking at philips then the choice is regular size or XL and digital or mechanical timer.

I would go for mechanical (the big one might only be digital). I read in reviews some digital ones broke, and in another thread someones digital one was turning on by itself. Also the mechanical one is seen as older and can go for cheaper.

The XL is usually cheaper on amazon.de but has been on sale on amazon.co.uk recently. Videos on youtube would give you an idea of the size difference.

It pumps out steam so I have mine on my cooker hob under the extractor fan. I thought this would be hassle moving it off when I wanted to fry stuff. But its very rare that I use the hob or the main oven since I got it.

Whispered · 04-04-2016 04:40PM

Thanks. About five mins after posting my oven door smashed so I'll have to get something today or tomorrow.

No idea where to even begin with a broken oven door! New oven? Replace door?

the beer revolu · 04-04-2016 05:22PM

Whispered wrote: »

Thanks. About five mins after posting my oven door smashed so I'll have to get something today or tomorrow.

No idea where to even begin with a broken oven door! New oven? Replace door?

Google. Manufacturer / model (if known) /replacement door.

Or Google appliance repair in your area.

Whispered · 04-04-2016 05:24PM

This sounds ridiculous but I don't know the manufacturer! It's not on the door and the oven was in when we moved in.

Gloomtastic! · 04-04-2016 05:41PM

Whispered wrote: »

This sounds ridiculous but I don't know the manufacturer! It's not on the door and the oven was in when we moved in.

Is it freestanding? If you take it out from the wall you should get a serial no. plate that could have the manufacturer on there. Where are you based? If it's Nth Dublin there's MasterCare in Killester that fix all ovens. There's also GasElectric on Camden St Lower that have parts for all sorts of electrical goods.

Good luck!

the beer revolu · 04-04-2016 05:46PM

Whispered wrote: »

This sounds ridiculous but I don't know the manufacturer! It's not on the door and the oven was in when we moved in.

Do you like the oven?
If not, maybe it's time for a new one.

Whispered · 04-04-2016 06:51PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

Do you like the oven?
If not, maybe it's time for a new one.

Yeah we just decided there, a new one it is. We really need one with a side opening door rather than one you open towards the floor. oooooh so I get to go oven shopping for the first time ever in my life.

Mrs Fox · 04-04-2016 08:39PM

Whispered wrote: »

Yeah we just decided there, a new one it is. We really need one with a side opening door rather than one you open towards the floor. oooooh so I get to go oven shopping for the first time ever in my life.

Serious envy.

Whispered · 04-04-2016 09:24PM

Mrs Fox wrote: »

Serious envy.

Ah it's a case of "what's the cheapest one we can get" to be honest, I'm just excited about a pristine clean oven without a load of elbow grease.

IvyTheTerrible · 05-04-2016 01:15AM

We're waiting for the oven to conk out so we can get a new one with an electric oven instead of gas. I can only do limited baking with the one that's here now because it heats unevenly (things get burned on the bottom and be barely cooked on the top - so I have to reduce the heat and increase cooking time to have an acceptable bake)

Dial Hard · 05-04-2016 01:07PM

Whispered wrote:

We really need one with a side opening door rather than one you open towards the floor.

Having had both, I actually way prefer a towards-the-floor door. I dunno if it was just the positioning of the oven in my first house but the side-opening door made it a bitch to clean.

I think the grill element in our current one is on its last legs so hopefully there'll be some oven shopping going on here in the near future too.

The General Chat Thread

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