Archive pour December 2008

Is Car Coffee Maker Necessary?

Wednesday 31 December 2008

I do not like to give recommendations on car coffee maker, this is because I do not think firstly they do justice to the coffee beans, then I am also aware of the many negative feedback associated with this machine.

Before going on to the negative reviews on car coffee maker, the thing to take note is this coffee maker is not much different from the usual drip coffee machine other than its voltage usage is lesser.

So, if you are curious about car coffee maker, do note that you are actually looking for a drip coffee brewer, no more than that. Personally, after learning so many things about coffee, I find it is a waste to brew one using drip coffee maker.

I am some one that started with the coffee bean types, trying out the different blends and different locality. While, I cannot really recommend the better blends, I have tried about all the famous blends, even Kopi Luwak.

I believe I am not alone in trying out the different coffee bean types, there would bound to be at least 1 such person out of 5 coffee drinkers. Which prompt me to ask this question, is the drip coffee maker the way to brew the coffee you painstakingly look for?

And after identifying the coffee blend, you would moved on to the next stage which is to get the roasted coffee bean you want. Sure, not all coffee drinkers would go through this process, but for those that are fussy about their coffee bean types, the types of roasted coffee bean is something that they would look into as well.

As mentioned earlier, there are probably 1 out of 5 such coffee drinkers, so to these coffee lovers and if you happened to be looking for a car coffee maker, my advice is that it would disappoint you.

For these coffee lovers, only the intense extraction of a pump driven espresso maker would fulfill the finer taste of coffee that you are looking for. And this is even before we start talking about the various drawbacks on the car coffee maker.

If you read until now, you would know that I have serious doubt about car coffee maker doing a good extraction. Then, the various negative reviews about this machines further convince me that this machine is not brewer. While there are many grouses about this coffee maker, I would just bring out two of them.

For a car coffee maker to brew a cup of coffee, it takes at least 45 minutes. That is the reason why you see some marketing leaflets promoting some brands of coffee makers on its ability to brew coffee in less than 30 minutes.

Other than its long brewing time, another of its main grouses is its lesser than hot brew temperature. Most user feedback that even after 45 minutes of brewing time, the coffee that they is at best luke warm.

There you have it folks, my take on car coffee maker. I do not think anyone would enjoy this machine.

Is The Classic Kitchenaid Mixer Truly A Classic?

Wednesday 24 December 2008

There are various KitchenAid mixers designed by the company and several of these machines are made to help prepare smaller portions of food. An example is the KitchenAid Classic stand mixer. This mixer is perfectly sized for a small family but it still works with ease to make satisfying foods and dough. Additionally, it can be used with many different KitchenAid products.

The KitchenAid Classic stand mixer includes a 250 watt motor. This motor works with a ten setting speed control to help mix your ingredients completely and properly at the most efficient speeds from a fast whip to a leisurely stir. This appliance also features a time-saving tilt-head design. With the tilt-head design, the head of the machine can be swiveled upward to make it easier to take out the beaters and to get easy access to the mixing bowl.

The KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer comes with a four and a half quart mixing bowl. This bowl is able to mix eight cups of bread dough. It can assist you in making three loaves of bread or six dozen cookies in a single use.

Another very useful part of the appliance is that it is covered with a brushed stainless steel finish. This finish covers the entire mixer and allows the mixer to be more durable and less demanding to use for years and years of regular use. This durability is further supported by the full one-year warranty where a full replacement can be provided for the rare occasion when a KitchenAid mixer breaks down.

Another useful accessory for the Classic is that it features “C” dough hook kneads. These attachments are engineered to knead bread dough at different speeds. It is indespensible for creating dough that you can make into bread and pizza. Other handy mixing components may be used with different foods also, and these include a wire whip and a flat beater.

The power hub located on the top of the mixer is usable for all sorts of additional features. These options from KitchenAid include a cereal grinder, a ravioli maker and a pasta cutter and roller and many more.

The last advantage of this excellent appliance is that it is amazingly within your means. The normal selling price for the KitchenAid Classic mixer is only $240, but most stores will have seasonal clearances where it can cost about two hundred dollars. This is a great value for a quality mixer.

The KitchenAid Classic stand mixer is one of the best mixers to use for any kitchen. The KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer is indispensible for kneading dough and combining other foods in an uncomplicated way. It can perform at many different speeds and is also well-made. The KitchenAid Classic is also very affordable for any home.

It Is Worth The Time?

Wednesday 24 December 2008

You can ratings on anything from the very big ticket items like house to small daily items like coffee. So, it should come as no surprise that there is something like coffee make ratings.

This brings me to the question if it is a waste of time to look for coffee maker ratings? What makes me say that? Well, these ratings and reviews are done by individuals no more different from you and me.

So, what makes them so special that we would have to look up to them for ratings and reviews. Then, wouldn’t they have their own biasness and their own likes and dislikes.

This preference and perspective thing is what I am most worried about. It would tend to sway the ratings to an angle that the individuals prefer. So, if that individual likes single serve coffee maker, then single serve would definitely not get any low coffee maker ratings.

I know some of you might be very skeptical about this, you do not have to take my word for it. Go to Google and check if what I am saying is correct, that it would be hard to see any negative feedback on these machines.

But, it is true that all coffee maker ratings on espresso maker is good? The truth is there are so many machines that are using steam driven pressure on espresso maker that is not able to produce a good cup of espresso.

Would you consider an espresso maker that is not able to produce a good espresso, a good machine? One that would be entitled to many stars? I doubt it right?

Now, here is where they evaluate these machines using other metrics, for example price. And suddenly a lousy espresso maker can be termed the most affordable machines, a title that is bound to attract some consumers.

This is what I meant folks, coffee maker ratings depends on who is doing it and how they are doing it. They are no clear lines on the metrics that one should use to measure a good machine, so why should you trust and even read this literature?

The fact is, choosing a machine is not difficult. It is all about knowing about your lifestyle and ensuring that this coffee maker would fit into your lifestyle. If it is does, no matter how bad the press or the reviews make it to be, it would never failed you, because it caters to your needs.

There you have it folks, I do not think it is worth the time to spend on coffee maker ratings, you would be better off evaluating yourself, your kitchen area then look for a machine that is a great fit into your lifestyle. One tip: single serve coffee maker is the easiest to fit into almost any lifestyle…

I Wonder If This Is Useful To You

Monday 22 December 2008

So, what is this “thing” that might be useful to you that leaves me wondering if you have heard it before? Well, this has something to do with the single cup coffee maker.

For those of you that do not know much about the single cup coffee maker, well, currently they are the most popular and in demand coffee brewer in the market. There are people that would trade in their perfectly working coffee machines for this brewer.

From there, you can see how popular is this machine. Of course the fact that I would be highlighting to you via this article would make this already popular and useful machine even better!

This has to do with this single cup coffee maker only weakness. Sure, I have just written about how popular this coffee machine is and how much market share they are enjoying. This is due to the double ease that they can bring to consumer’s life.

The first reason or ease that make this brewer so popular is the ease of use. It is very ease to use! All one need to do is to insert the coffee pods and press a button for the coffee, while there are some coffee makers that also very have simple operation, nothing come close to the single cup coffee maker

The second reason is the easy maintenance of the machine. The fact is, this machine hardly even requires maintaining! After brewing the coffee, all you need to do is to take out the spend coffee pods, wipe the single cup coffee maker and that is about it.

You must be thinking if this machine is so good, what weaknesses it could have. Only one and that is, it is a closed system. By being a closed system, it means that consumers that purchased the machine would have to use only the coffee that is allowed on the machine.

This really spoils the fun for a lot of coffee lovers. Can you imagine drinking only one type of coffee for as long as you own this coffee maker? Well, most of coffee drinkers cannot imagine and do not like the thought of it.

This is also the reason why there are so many articles about devices that would allow you to use any type of coffee on single cup coffee makers. Some of the names that frequently mentioned are perfect pod maker and coffee ducks.

Recently, most of the single cup coffee maker companies allow other coffee to be used on their machines. And this has see the rise of pod making devices such as perfect pod maker.

With this new development, the single cup coffee maker becomes better. Now, other than the ease of use that this machine has, you are able to enjoy practically any type of coffee on them.

So, don’t you think this is good news and something that should be shared? Of course, the folks that would benefit most are those that are using or looking forward to buying this machine.

A Salmon Recipe - Cook Supper At Home Tonight

Friday 19 December 2008

Right now, eating out at restaurants can be expensive. Why not prepare salmon recipes to make supper at home easy and tasty?

Raw salmon is a fleshy and hearty fish that is dark pink to red in color. As a fish, salmon is moist, easy to cook and is tasty to eat. Plus, there are many ways to cook salmon recipes. Since salmon is readily available on the market place, it is easy to cook and versatile.

Salmon is often considered the “steak” of fish. You can buy different varieties of salmon include Alaskan, king salmon, coho salmon among others at a fish market or even a local grocery store. Specialty health food stores, like Whole Foods, stock up on fresh, wild salmon which is free of farm-raised residues.

There are many different types of salmon recipes to choose from. Salmon is often grilled, baked, poached, blackened, sauteed and made into salmon patties.

Salmon is a a highly nutritious food. It is high in protein, and the “good fats,” including the omega-3 complex. A four ounce serving of wild salmon is one of the few foods that provides a full day’s requirement of vitamin D. That same portion of a salmon filet has more than half of the necessary B12, niacin, and selenium, and is an excellent source of B6 and magnesium.

The omega-3 fats found in salmon tend to reduce inflammation in our bodies. Since inflammation causes many health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, some types of cancers and arthritis, eating salmon is a wise choice. Omega-3’s also help prevent the blood clots which cause many strokes.

If you are concerned about how to cook it properly, watch salmon videos online. You can see seasoned cooks prepare exciting and tasty recipes like Teriyaki Salmon, which is perfect supper for a change of pace and a touch of the Orient at your dinner table.

Do you like to keep it simple? Watch a video on how to make simple sauteed salmon. Just use a little cooking oils, light spices and an iron skillet. Or prepare an easy bake salmon recipe. Very easy to do.

If you like a little exotic spice, why not cook Horseradish Encrusted Salmon or Pistachio Crusted Salmon dish. A salmon recipe video call for herbs and seasonings that make taste buds dance!

There are many different ways to cook salmon recipes. You don’t have to reinvent the stove or oven. Just watch salmon recipe videos and make a tasty supper tonight!

Do You Know Any Good Coffee Tea Makers Guide That Is Good?

Thursday 18 December 2008

To start with, how do you know if this coffee tea makers guide can be trusted? Not wanting to sound like I am better than those coffee gurus or food critic but can we really trust these folks?

These are the folks that have gained certain reputation because of their experience and probably are very good in certain areas. Being good in certain areas meant that they are weak in other areas. But, when they are writing coffee tea makers guide, was this taken into account.

I am not saying the coffee tea makers guide are lousy just based on personal opinion. I have read of folks that purchased machines recommended by experts and gurus, only to realized that their taste profile and lifestyle probably have too much from the experts to really enjoy the machine.

To be fair, the experts are human beings and they too have their likes and dislikes and when they do coffee maker ratings and reviews, it would be infused with their own biasness.

Let us take single cup coffee brewer as an example. It would be very difficult to find one negative review about this new darling of the coffee maker market. Most, if not all experts rate this genre of coffee makers highly.

Does that mean this coffee brewer is the perfect coffee machine? Actually, there are many flaws in the single cup coffee brewer, it is just that the focus is probably on getting more sales and experts being paid by these companies, tend to write good things about these brewers as well.

Here is a scenario that I witnessed to show that single cup coffee brewer is not perfect. There was a party and the machine that they have for serving coffee was a single serve brewer, guess what happened? Well, long queues and very impatient guest!

Let’s try another example, say mr coffee espresso maker. If you read its reviews, would you have read something negative about its espresso makers? I doubt so.

Personally, I think that only one Mr Coffee espresso maker is worth the purchase. And that is the ECMP 50. This is because, it is the only machine that is pump driven and the only one that is able to extract good espresso. The rest being steam driven, do not have enough pressure to brew a good cup of espresso.

The rest of the Mr. Coffee espresso maker being steam driven; do not have enough pressure to properly extract the coffee flavor to brew what is known as espresso. They are also plagued by frothing issue and long warm up timing.

All these negative or should I say real issues are something you would not see in a guide, or coffee maker review page. Most of the things that you see or hear are positive.

My personal view is good coffee tea maker guide is not easy to find and you would probably have better luck finding good reviews in google than in these reviews or guide. But if you really want to read up, my recommendation is to go for coffee tea makers guide or review that accept its user contribution. In this manner, at least you can read about many people instead of just a few person views on the machine.

There you have it, my thought on coffee tea makers guide and also ideas on how you can find a good one…

Getting An All-clad Copper Core 7 Pc. Cookware Set For Your Kitchen

Thursday 18 December 2008

The All-Clad Copper Core 7 piece cookware set is the showpiece of the All-Clad Copper Core collection of cookware. In their evaluations, posted on our websites, both casual and professional chefs have rated the All-Clad Copper Core 7 Piece Cookware Set products as being among the highest quality pots and pans on the market. This cookware uses the best traits of copper and stainless steel to produce a collection of pots and pans which warms your food evenly, yet can be cleaned easily.

Copper is depended on by restaurateurs and physicists as an efficient conductor of heat. Stainless steel is very uncomplicated to clean and doesn’t rust. Each individual part of the All-Clad Copper Core 7 Piece Cookware Set is purposely constructed with a core of copper inserted between the stainless steel outer surface, and an aluminum inside. The insertion of aluminum creates kitchenware that is appreciably lighter and easier to handle.

The engineering of each item features five distinct layers. From the inside to the outside, the order of materials includes a stainless steel, non-stick cooking surface, a layer of lightweight aluminum, the copper interior for even heating, a second aluminum layer, and the stainless steel exterior. Extended handles keep hands comfortably cool, and exclusive scooped edges facilitate no-drip pouring.

As expected from its construction, the All-clad collection warms quickly and evenly. Boiling food in All-clad kitchenware is an utter treat. Overcooked food does tend to stick to the cooking surface more than it would a teflon surface. Although monitoring your cooking will keep the food from sticking.

Easy cleaning is a particularly useful chartcteristic of this set. A short soak in dish water, proceeded by a quick scouring, removes all food, even food which was fried at too high of a setting. Towel drying will keep ugly water spots from forming on the outside. Stainless steel cleaning and polishing compounds will bring to the set back to its new, shiny appearance. To avert tarnish, the observable copper components should be occasionally polished.

The all-clad copper core 7 piece cookware set is easily acquired from major retailers along with the entire collection of the All Clad Copper Core assortment of pots and pans. Remember, too, that All Clad sells a fourteen piece set, a ten piece set, and a complete collection of single pots, pans and other cookware.

A Tasty Biscotti Recipe For The Festive Season

Monday 15 December 2008

My family has always had a custom of preparing marvellous seasonal biscotti for Xmas - we enjoy them with breakfast and as a really delicious snack with late afternoon coffee.

We had an old family recipe, which we relied on for decades, but last year we resolved to bring a little bit of variety and tried a different recipe that I found.

I learned it from a great recipe collection, and it turned out very tasty.

And here it is for you to try yourself:

Recipe for Christmas Biscotti

You will require :

Half a cup of butter or margarine
One cup of sugar
Two and a half cups of baking powder
One teaspoon of crushed aniseed
Two whole eggs
One egg yolk
One egg white
Three cups of flour
Half a cup of chopped candied red cherries
Half a cup of mixed candied fruit
One tablespoon of finely shredded orange peel
One egg white
One tablespoon of sugar

Directions :

Use an electric food mixer on med-high speed to beat the butter or margarine in a large bowl for 30 seconds.

Now add the cup of sugar, the baking powder, and the aniseed and beat until it is well mixed. Now beat in the whole eggs and the egg yolk.

Now add the flour, beating in as much as possible using the food mixer, and then stirring the rest in by hand. Add the candied fruit and orange peel and stir them in by hand.

Split the dough into two equal halves and shape each half into loaf shape of approximately 11″ x 2″ X 1″. Lightly grease a cookie sheet, and place both of these ‘loaves’ on the sheet.

Put the egg white and one teaspoon of water into a cup and stir well together, then brush the mix over the two dough loaves.

Now sprinkle the tablespoon of sugar over them.

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F, and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until they are light brown. Remove and place on a cookie sheet to cool for 60 minutes or so. When cool, cut each, diagonally, into slices of about half an inch wide.

Put these slices ‘cut side up’ onto an un-greased cookie sheet, and bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Flip the slices over and bake for another 10 to 13 minutes until they are crispy.

Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.

This recipe should make around 35 biscotti.

When they have cooled down enough, you can store them in a normal biscuit tin, or anything else that will keep them dry. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

If, like us, you want a change from your normal festive dishes, try looking through some of the online compendiums of Christmas recipes recipes, you may be surprised what you will find. Next year, I plan on discovering some nice new dessert recipes for christmas - anything will be better than christmas pudding.

Your Recommendation On These Two Machines

Saturday 13 December 2008

Being someone that writes extensively on coffee makers, from time to time, I would be faced with very difficult question which I do not have a direct answer to. And the choosing between this and that coffee machine is one of the toughest question.

One good example is recently, someone came to me and asked me if the coffee cuisinart maker does is so good that she should get it, or should she consider a Braun coffee maker with thermal carafe.

This is almost like a trap question to me. I have written on separate occasions about the merits of Cuisinart coffee maker, and why the coffee from one of its machines, the brew central is better (this is due to the charcoal filter) and of course, have written tons of good things about braun coffee makers as well.

I do not know how to answer this question, so I asked her what is the most difficult barrier she has when it comes to choosing a coffee maker. Amazingly, it has nothing to do with the taste or the length of coffee she intend to keep. She hates cleaning drip coffee maker.

That is understandable, because no matter how simple a coffee machine is, there are parts to detach and if you do not clean it properly, there is bound to be foul taste in your future brew.

From this simple question and answer session, I know that if she is someone that do not like to maintain drip coffee maker, neither the Cuisinart nor the Braun coffee makers would suit her lifestyle. She needs something that is very easy to use and maintain.

So, I recommended to her another Braun. Well, she did want to get one with braun coffee maker thermal carafe, so I thought I should introduce another Braun machine -the Tassimo. Personally, for someone that hates to clean up, nothing can be easier than a single serve coffee maker.

Receiving calls of thanks is the greatest achievement to me and that is what happened a few weeks later when my friend called in and thanked me for the great recommendation -she loves the Tassimo!

Many folks are like my friend, picking up bits and pieces of “good” coffee makers. For her, she heard that coffee Cuisinart maker does it good, so immediately it became one of her choice.

Along the same line, she also heard about some great things about the braun thermal carafe and so wanting to have braun coffee maker thermal function, she also list this machine as one of her must buy.

If this is the way that you choose your coffee makers, it is no different from going to the retail outlets and asking the salesman to bring you their recommendations. This is living in the shadows of what other people are evaluating.

To choose that “best coffee maker”, one should not go around looking at ratings or reviews, but decide on the type of lifestyle you have and then find a a coffee maker that would add value to it.

A Mango Chicken Slop

Saturday 13 December 2008

The other night I was with a friend of mine and we were feeling ambitious, so we decided to tackle a pretty tricky Mango chicken recipe , despite the fact we were missing a lot of the ingredients. The main ingredients are present chicken, mangos, onions, orange juice, soo the rest can be consider optional.

It seems we weren’t aware that lacking sufficient orange juice for the recipe would make a difference, therefore we went ahead with it. The best way to cook chicken is to thaw it first, cut it into desired sizes and deep fry until it turns golden brown.

When the chicken is almost ready add a half chopped small red onion. Now add a third of a cup of orange juice, leaving the rest for later, and that will sit for a while.

This is how the very bland sauce was started. When the water is sligthly bubbling add the mangos. If you don’t have fresh, used a frozen one. Still, everything was cooking nicely. We were getting there. I thought it was an easy chicken recipe. I was wrong.

The final step was to add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in hot water to thicken the sauce.
Lacking cornstarch, we substituted flour. Our mistake was not adjusting the water/flour mixture. Because we had very little orange juice we should have added less to the sauce even though it serves as the flavor for the sauce. The sauce looked pretty good despite the fact that it thickened too fast and had a consistency not unlike baby food.

When we tasted it we were surprised. In the orange juice sauce we had to look really hard the orange. The flaour captivate all the taste. Otherwise the recipe was nice, the chicken was cooked nice although it certainly could have used some spices.

More onions would have also improved the flavor. We finished up our bowls of mango-chicken-flour slop and marked the recipe. It sure would taste good if we had made it right! It tasted even better than the chicken wing recipe  my mother always prepared for us.


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