What You've Done Today - Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life

[Bartimaeus]

36 minutes ago, Sarex said:

I crank up mine to max. I think that was an issue with the old teflon, the new mix doesn't have the harmfull materials. (as far as I know)

It seems like there's a disturbing trend of them coming up with new formulas that aren't proven to be harmful...until they are and then they come up with a new formula that also isn't yet proven to be harmful. Makes me that it's probably best to just stay away from these novel chemical coatings, or at least use them sparingly. I don't want to have to donate all of my blood to get those forever chemicals out of me. For what I cook for myself and not really needing anything beyond medium heat, I would think I'd be O.K. with any number of options, yet I keep coming back to the piece of crap non-stick pan I've been using for one reason or another. It's also specifically for myself in this case, because I'm more particular in how I want to a pot or pan to perform when it's my food than most other people seem to be. I'm sure that specific piece of information is a huge surprise to everyone here, given that I have such an established history of not really being particular about anything, .

Edited May 9, 2022 by Bartimaeus
several missing words

[Sarex]

6 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

It seems like there's a disturbing trend of them coming up with new formulas aren't proven to be harmful...until they are and then they come up with a new formula that also isn't yet proven to be harmful. Makes me that it's probably best to just stay away from these novel chemical coatings, or at least use them sparingly. I don't want to have to donate all of my blood to get those forever chemicals out of me. For what I cook for myself and not really needing anything beyond medium heat, I would think I'd be O.K. with any number of options, yet I keep coming back to the piece of crap non-stick pan I've been using for one reason or another. It's also specifically for myself in this case, because I'm more particular how I want to a pot or pan to perform when it's my food than most other people seem to be. I'm sure that particular piece of information is a huge surprise to everyone here, given that I have such an established history of not really being particular about anything, .

I guess I need to start donating blood. Haven't done it in forever.

[Gromnir]

observations:

is best not to go super expensive 'cause even the best non-stick pan is gonna wear out in a few years (as such, buying a set o' non-stick is kinda silly. choose a couple pieces you know you will need replace.)

ceramic actual wears out quicker

go above medium or medium-high is verboten even in 2022

you are gonna want a durable reinforced stainless steel base to avoid the warping which annoys bartimaeus 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited May 9, 2022 by Gromnir

[Guard Dog]

I've always loved cast iron cook wear. I have a full set in my storage back in TN. But it is definitely maintenance intensive.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

56 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I don't want to have to donate all of my blood to get those forever chemicals out of me.

The microplastics will never leave you.

[Gromnir]

@Guard Dogam a big fan o' cast iron cookware, and the enameled choices is not particular high maintenance. unfortunate, is a whole lotta terrible enameled iron. ironic, am also thinking some o' the problem with naked cast iron is people put in too much maintenance. the urge to clean is good, but cast iron don't want you to scrub and it dislikes anything but most minimal soap.  this is why we got a dedicated fish pan. the fish gets into the carbon surface and stays there until you cook something else... multiple something elses and at high temps to boot. so, we got a dedicated 10" cast iron skillet which we use for cooking fish on our outdoor grill. am knowing folks who literal have special cast iron pans which they will only cook a single dish and they has done so for decades. am not quite so finicky so yeah, every year or so we do need season the non enameled skillets, but otherwise, is not too bad. 

...

hadn't really considered previous, but particular considering @Bartimaeus concerns, am suspecting a good litmus test for a non-stick pan is to check and see if it is induction capable. if you got a meaningful stainless steel base, is gonna work with induction. am suspecting is uncommon a terrible nonstick pan is gonna have a stainless steel base.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Gfted1]

@Bartimaeus Have you ever tried a copper set (I havent): Amazon.com: Lagostina Martellata Hammered Copper 18/10 Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Cookware Set, 10-Piece, Copper: Home & Kitchen

[Bartimaeus]

Fish/seafood is always the thing that sticks the most for me as well. I don't like scrubbing stuff clean though (not because I don't want them clean, but because I don't want to ruin and/or eat the coating!), so I tend to underclean. With the particular pan I'm using, I went a bit too far with that, because now there's like...a coating of animal and plant matter death covering the entire thing, which is another reason I've been wanting to replace it. Non-stick is known to be bad, but the health ramifications of that can't be good either. I'm not strictly against buying a new pan every year for every day frying while having specialty pots/pans for more occasional uses, so ceramic isn't necessarily out of the question...but I think I'm going to try the Made In stainless steel to see how that goes before trying cast iron/ceramic given that I only need medium heat for what I'm frying.

@Gfted1 Negative, and nobody I know seems to know much about the different materials available and their ideal use cases, hence why I was asking here. Most people I know cook, but they don't seem to know why they cook with what they do for the type of food they make - a whole lot of "well, it's just what I've always used and it seems to work!"s when I tried asking.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

24 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

With the particular pan I'm using, I went a bit too far with that, because now there's like...a coating of animal and plant matter death covering the entire thing

Yeah, that's real bad. Toss that thing yesterday.

For stuff that sticks on pans (like animal and plant matter crust) I usually do baking soda and a brush to get the debris off and then a light wash on soapy water to clean it. For the most part this makes cleanup easy and doesn't seem to damage my cooking stuff, but you have to do the baking soda scrub fairly quickly after you're done cooking (for me, usually after I'm eating, maybe give 5 minutes).

For some reason, I very rarely use the dishwasher for stuff that I don't directly eat or drink out of. I haven't run a pot or pan through the dishwasher....ever now that I think on it.

[Sarex]

Just now, KP wants Blue Velvet said:

Yeah, that's real bad. Toss that thing yesterday.

For stuff that sticks on pans (like animal and plant matter crust) I usually do baking soda and a brush to get the debris off and then a light wash on soapy water to clean it. For the most part this makes cleanup easy and doesn't seem to damage my cooking stuff, but you have to do the baking soda scrub fairly quickly after you're done cooking (for me, usually after I'm eating, maybe give 5 minutes).

For some reason, I very rarely use the dishwasher for stuff that I don't directly eat or drink out of. I haven't run a pot or pan through the dishwasher....ever now that I think on it.

I like to fill mine with water and keep it soaking for a couple of...days

[Malcador]

Been drilled in to me to soak pots immediately and clean within an hour or so.

Another day in Initech, I have been flagged as an "expert" on something I was trained on last month. 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

20 minutes ago, Sarex said:

I like to fill mine with water and keep it soaking for a couple of...days

I don't usually do it for days, but that's a thing I usually do too. Big exception is for anything that leaves a crust, because the water doesn't soften it up enough and getting it off quick makes the job easier.

[Sarex]

I don't either, but sometimes they do stay the night.

[ShadySands]

21 hours ago, Gorth said:

Off topic, but I couldn't help but laugh. 25 years ago, my mum slipped down the front door stairs, as they were covered in ice. She was blue, yellow and black all over, really bruised. Being a good husband, my dad of course drove her to the hospital to have her checked out. You know, nothing broken etc. Well... when they got back home my poor bruised mum was laughing and my dad was fuming... "Next time you need to go to the hospital, you do it yourself!". Apparently everyone and their dog at the hospital had been convinced my dad was a wife beater and he was the one who had beaten her up with a crowbar or something and treated him accordingly. O...M...G... did he hear for that a long time after

 

(as for the truthfulness of it, i was there at the stairs when my mum fell, it really did look bad, so I can understand why he took her to the hospital)

Something similar happened to me once, my wife fell and I took her to the doctor and everyone kept giving me weird looks. I was so worried about her that I didn't fully realize the situation until they wanted to speak with her alone and that's when reality finally set in. 

[Raithe]

Long drawn out work day. Half crashing out.

Needed to call the phone engineers out, because while the phone line is good, nothing actually rings when someone calls the landline. I'd run through all the possibilities in the house, so looks like it's a power issue at the phone junction box doohickie.  Apparently a handful of houses in the area have called in with similar issues.

 

Still,  on other matters I primed and painted my armour carrier.. 

(It was that bright orange-yellow ToughMaster Tool Carrier)

And slapped a basic Imperial Stencil on it. Now I've got something safer and secure to transport cosplay armour on the train to London MCM comic-con at the end of the month.  Also found out I got accepted as a volunteer steward, so I'll be experiencing the con from that side of thing as well for the first time.

Also picked up some assorted tools and dyes for leatherworking. I need to sketch some time out to start experimenting and figuring out how to do stuff....

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by Raithe

[Gfted1]

Thats a beautiful lawn youve got there.

[Azdeus]

On 5/9/2022 at 7:58 PM, Malcador said:

Another day in Initech, I have been flagged as an "expert" on something I was trained on last month. 

 I've been working traffic for a week and 2 days now, and people have already started deferring to me. Again. -.-

[Raithe]

1 hour ago, Gfted1 said:

Thats a beautiful lawn youve got there.

Thanks. The benefits of a traditional English garden...

 

 

Or for when it actually does snow (as about 5 years ago last time)

[Gfted1]

Alternating heights on the grass rows! Fancy! I never had the patience for that.

[Gromnir]

On 5/9/2022 at 10:12 AM, Bartimaeus said:

 

@Gfted1 Negative, and nobody I know seems to know much about the different materials available and their ideal use cases, hence why I was asking here. Most people I know cook, but they don't seem to know why they cook with what they do for the type of food they make - a whole lot of "well, it's just what I've always used and it seems to work!"s when I tried asking.

overlooked this. apologies.

cast iron retains heat, but takes longer than the other choices to arrive at the temp you want and a pot or pan may have hot spots. takes a bit more skill and patience. stainless steel is a nice option as has higher conductivity than iron and is durable (no or minimal warping and unlike iron it isn't gonna crack) as well as light. aluminum is light and cheap and generally sucks compared to the other options, but good and thick aluminum is gonna heat as even as will a cheap layer o' copper. copper, btw, has fantastic conductivity (and anti microbial properties btw which is why adding a layer o' copper were so popular for the hulls seagoing vessels until cheaper paint solutions were discovered) but is difficult to keep looking pretty, is expensive and is not as durable... 'course you won't see all-copper pots and pans. will see pots an pans with a layer o' copper and the cheap stuff has a crap layer which is existing for no reason save for appearances. the sooper expensive copper actual includes a literal silver lining for even better conductivity. 

the qualities o' cookware is also gonna be dependent on your burner-type. for example, electric and non-induction hops/burners is gonna nullify some o' the benefits o' high-end cookware anyways and is why we initial asked 'bout your cooking surface.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited May 11, 2022 by Gromnir

[Raithe]

10 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Alternating heights on the grass rows! Fancy! I never had the patience for that.

It's not that dedicated. It's simply pushing the lawnmower up one way, then down the other... It always stripes the grass.

[Gromnir]

am knowing there is no sympathy for landlords hereabouts, but both o' our current tenants (sadly, our best tenant, the butcher, moved and we sold the property in question. no more free meat to make up the difference in rent) whom we provided more than a year advanced warning we would not be renewing leases, has informed us they ain't gonna be moving out by may 31 and june 30 respective.

...

at minimum is gonna take us 60 days to evict 'em, if we choose to do so. one o' the tenants is 85. am kicking an 85 year old woman out on the street? for chrissakes, we know her daughter lives w/i 2 kilometers and her sons are both in the sacramento valley. is not as if she has no family, but either our tenant refuses to move in with family or they don't wanna take her in, and her health/physical mobility is limited such that she no longer cooks for herself and family needs come check on her daily.

'course if we don't sell soon, the market is likely to change dramatic, which is exact what we anticipated. the thing is, if we let our tenants stay and collect rent after the end o' the lease, then am effective creating a new month-to-month lease, which means we are required to add another sixty days notice before starting the aforementioned eviction efforts; 120 days becomes the new minimum time frame to be rid o' would be squatters if we take rent. as such it makes more sense to not collect rent. how long am s'posed to not collect rents?

we were also serious considering moving into one o' our two remaining rental homes as our current place is too big by far for one person... even if is one person and multiple dogs. 

so yeah, am not expecting sympathy, but we never expected both remaining tenants would screw us after we gave 'em years o' significant discounted rent and an extra long advanced warning on non-renewal o' lease. no good deed...

HA! Good Fun!

 

[LadyCrimson]

^ Every person we know who has rentals or tried rental properties has a "horror" story of trying to evict a tenant, which took months and/or maybe court time. Some of them then sold their property/s and quit being landlords because of it. It's what rather scared me off re: trying to be a landlord of even one small property.

Technically we could long-term afford to not rent the Bay Area house and just eat the annual taxes/insur. of our new house (which aren't tooo bad since the purchase price was relatively "low"), but it would be a bit of a crimp, and certainly having the rent in elderly years would be very nice to bank on. It's still a tempting thought to leave it empty tho. Maybe we could just rent it a week or month at a time to hubby's workmates who need an occasional flop-house when they're in the area (many of them work remotely), vs. long term contract renters.

So, in terms of sympathy ... you can have mine. Rental property can be a boon and most of the time one might have good luck with tenants overall, but it's not without potential drawbacks. I am not looking forward to it and if we can crunch numbers to avoid it that doesn't throw us wildly off track, we probably will, frankly. Or at least, leave it empty for a few years at first at least.

Edited May 11, 2022 by LadyCrimson

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I can't reasonably afford to buy a house, and last time I tried it got picked up for several 10ks above asking with cash and is currently being rented out. My rent has been steadily increasing* and even making more now it's getting to be a struggle for me to keep up with. Comparatively, bad tenants is a problem I'd love to have. Green grass on the other side and all that.

*While nowhere in Texas is like the Bay Area, LA, or NYC level of housing costs, wages are lower and there are no (legal) limits to how much rent can be raised. Given the influx of (relatively) rich Californians looking to cosplay cowboy here, I have a feeling it's about to get even crazier in most major Texas cities.

[Sarex]

11 minutes ago, KP wants Blue Velvet said:

I can't reasonably afford to buy a house, and last time I tried it got picked up for several 10ks above asking with cash and is currently being rented out. My rent has been steadily increasing* and even making more now it's getting to be a struggle for me to keep up with. Comparatively, bad tenants is a problem I'd love to have. Green grass on the other side and all that.

*While nowhere in Texas is like the Bay Area, LA, or NYC level of housing costs, wages are lower and there are no (legal) limits to how much rent can be raised. Given the influx of (relatively) rich Californians looking to cosplay cowboy here, I have a feeling it's about to get even crazier in most major Texas cities.

Much the same thing over here, minus the wage standard, but I managed to luck out and find a catastrophically advertised apartment (the owners didn't want to post pictures on the internet), so I got it relatively cheap.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Sarex