/ck/ - Food & Cooking

I'd be embarrassed to have an appliance called "ninja" in my kitchen, but if you have the extra storage space I guess you can throw it in with the bread machine and the juicer, right?

>>4961528
So only the aesthetic disturbs you? Or is it the brand that's questionable?

>>4961528
>if you have the extra storage space I guess you can throw it in with the bread machine and the juicer

I'm not the OP, but those items should be up on the counter since they get used often. Along with the toaster, rice cooker, waffle iron, and blender.

>>4961535

No, just the name is silly. But aside from that I don't understand the purpose of this. It seems like the slow cooker equivalent of a george foreman grill. How is it better than say, an oven or a slow cooker? Or a pot with a steamer basket?

I'm the last person to be bashing appliances around here (I actually do have a rice cooker which I use regularly, and even a bread machine which I use occasionally). I just don't see what this is supposed to help with.

>>4961559
I wouldn't know. I suppose it's an alternative to a oven/stove top with a slowcooker function added to it altogether. That's what I'm getting out of the description on the link. I can't say how it fares since I have no experience with it, let alone a slow cooker, so I'm here to ask for some advice. Slow cookers are good for people who work long hours, right?

>>4961523
>$100.

I'd take that $100 and go to the Salvation Army or any thrift store and buy a used $10 slow cooker that was once bought for $50-$100 as an xmas gift for someone like >>4961559 who decided to get rid of it and go out for cheeseburgers instead.

>>4961559
I have a conventional oven, a toaster oven, and a slow cooker. I use all 3 regularly.

>I don't own a microwave.

>>4961567
Oh.... that sounds pretty nice.

>>4961564

Slow cookers are for people who want to cook stuff without worrying too much about burning the food at the bottom of the vessel. That includes people who want to leave home while the cooking is going.

If you can't articulate a need for a cooking gadget then why spend the money on it? Surely there are other things with a defined purpose, that would serve you better.

Pressure cooker? Slow cooker? Better stovetop cookware? Dutch oven? French oven?

Lots of options out there. I think you're interested in it because it's a "good deal" which is never a good reason to buy something.

>>4961567
>who decided to get rid of it and go out for cheeseburgers instead.

I'll cut you, bitch. Let's go, right now, outside.

>>4961575
>dutch oven

>>4961575
Yeah, I suppose your right.

Ok, new question. As I am one without a lot of cooking utensils, are any of those which you listed of good use? The most I've used are a skillet and an oven. But I'm moving into a new place so I'd like to get some of my own things.

>>4961580
They are awesome. A French oven is just a crock you put in the conventional oven.

>>4961582
You need to ask yourself, "What foods do I like to eat that I want to start cooking that I have not been cooking up until now?" Then take that list and cross reference what devices, cookware, and utensils you need to make them.

>>4961582

They're all extremely useful. I use my standard cookware the most, followed by my dutch oven, followed by a rough tossup between the pressure cooker and the french oven.

In reality the french oven and the dutch oven could be used similarly, but I have a small dutch oven and a fuck huge french oven, and since I usually just cook for myself, the smaller one wins.

I don't own a slow cooker. I do own a rice cooker which I use 4 or 5 times a week on rice or steel cut oats.

A small amount of good quality stuff is always better than a million gadgets that you got because they were a good deal.

>>4961592
>>4961594
I better take this a step at a time. Would a simple slow cooker be good for someone who wants to tightly budget his meals?

>>4961597

You can't not have cookware. A slow cooker can't brown, and it's dangerous to use on some beans (kidneys) unless they're boiled for a time first.

It has its uses but start with good aluminum/stainless cookware, one teflon pan, and one cast iron skillet before you start buying appliances. I'm assuming you don't have these, if you do, then I apologize for presuming.

>>4961605
No, you're correct. Ok, thanks for the head's up. If I may trouble you guys for another question, do you have a recommendation for brand names of those items, etc., or is that irrelevant?

>>4961609

It depends on your budget. Am I to assume that since you were about to drop $100 on an appliance whose purpose you couldn't explain, that you have a fair amount of dough to throw around? Or was that going to be your one thing to cook with?

>>4961605
Most slow cookers have a "high" function that boils. Normally, you boil dry beans over night which renders ones like kidney beans safe to eat.

>>4961597
>Would a simple slow cooker be good for someone who wants to tightly budget his meals?

Yes.

I hope you like beans, rice, bacon end pieces, and roasts.

Here's some ideas:

>105 Slow-Cooker Favorites
http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-rated-recipes/slow-cooker-favorites-00400000038588/

>>4961605
>aluminum
>teflon

>Intothetrashitgoes.jpg

>>4961614

Oh good, the greasy cast iron neckbeard patrol has arrived. Tell us more about the magnetite, fags.

>>4961611
I have a varied budget, I suppose. I've saved up about 20k to move out, so some of that will go to cooking. I don't need anything extravagent. Entry-level, I guess?

I'm not really versed in cooking and it's appliances. Just the basics.

i have great respect fot true ninja or bushidida. talk a bout.. never mind sumurii. but a code. plenty that want to adopt that code. you dou note hurt others. ass wiipe. even with lretters de marqre. be carefule. attacking ar repeling. once attacted, all bets are off. .. but amaxing grace. so pay no atention to me.

>>4961609
>brands

It really depends on how much you cook and how much you are willing to spend. For myself, I have $400 presser cookers, $4k worth of dishes, a pile of cast iron, a Squeezo, several unitaskers both electric and not. I use everything quite often though. Things range from cheap to really expensive. It depends on the use and the amount of use. Pressure cookers can't be cheap. Strainers that run tons of vegetables though them can't be chap. Cast iron skillets, donut droppers, and food mills can be cheap.

>>4961620
Cast iron
Glass
Copper
Stainless steel

You choose aluminum and Teflon. Ge out of my kitchen.

>>4961626

If you want to start out with something nice you could get All Clad factory seconds from Cookware & More. At full retail they're sort of overpriced, but at those discounts they're a reasonable deal and pretty nice.

If you want bare bones, find a local restaurant supply and get single pieces. There won't be any especially good deals on branded products and the selection of stainless aluminum pans won't be great, but you'll get stuff that consumer-grade stores don't sell, like cheap rubber-handled teflon pans (which is fine since those are consumable anyway), and bare aluminum pans which tend to freak people out due to muh alzheimers, but they're used in a lot of kitchens.

Big box stores like Bed Bath & Beyond have good deals a few times a year on box sets, but those are a hodgepodge of shitty disc bottom garbage, thin crap, and overpriced crap, along with occasional really good deals.

>>4961634
I'd like to mostly cook all my meals and I'm willing to spend on things like pic related, seeing as it looks healthy and cheap.

>>4961636

So are you honestly suggesting a 100% pure stainless pan? Are you retarded?

Stainless lined aluminum is better than your glass garbage. Kill yourself.

>>4961653
>>4961636

See, these things I'm not knowledgeable in. Do they have benefits that differ and outweigh each other?

>>4961657
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/25717-understanding-stovetop-cookware/

This thread is getting flooded by filthy neckbeards and people who think that solid stainless is a legitimate cooking material, so just read the above thread. It's a bit dated but it's more informative than what this thread is about to get filled with.

>>4961644
Thanks for the info.

Heh, coincidentally, my grandfather died to Alzheimer's. Should I avoid the aluminum pans, or they just rumors?

>>4961648
>pic there's a good example.

That garlic press is Pampered Chef brand is and about $20ish new. It can go through 20-40 bulbs of garlic in practically no time, yet the cheaper brand I have gets tossed in the bin because it simply doesn't hold up to that kind of abuse.

Yet, those black enameled pots are actually fairly cheap. They aren't as good as similar sized stainless steel pots. They are not thick bottomed or clad and are really only good for water bath canning. A comparable stainless steel pot with a thick clad bottom would be over $100.

Then again, you could just make your own stuff.

>>4961666
Nice trips. I'll take a look at it.

Or should I, Satan?

>>4961669
No, it's not a threat in that respect.

Bare Al is somewhat reactive with highly acidic sauces though, so they're not as ideal as stainless/aluminum.

>>4961653
>So are you honestly suggesting a 100% pure stainless pan? Are you retarded?

No, but you must be to put words in my mouth like that.

>Stainless lined aluminum

It is called "aluminum clad" and it not lined. It is sandwiched between layers of stainless steel and is not exposed to food or direct flame.

You don't use stainless steel for the same things you use glass for.

>>4961666
>solid stainless

You're a retard for assuming.

>>4961675
I'd really like to make some stuff, too. It's a shame the few things I grew up learning, cooking and crafting are not one of them.

So how do you make them? Are you in a trade or is just a thing you did in your spare time?

>>4961669
It is a threat in that respect. You should not needlessly expose yourself to aluminum in your food. You already get enough naturally and unnaturally, no need to tip the scales.

>>4961699
>So how do you make them?

I think that image actually shows this.

>>4961705
Ah, yeah, you're right. My bad.

>>4961701
>>4961678

>>4961688

I'm not putting any words in your mouth. I said stainless/aluminum, which you stupidly took to mean "solid stainless steel or solid unlined aluminum" because you're too autistic to recognize any phrase except AlClad™

Fun fact: not all stainless lined aluminum pans have the steel on both sides. Most in fact are only on the inside surface that touches the food, hence "lined". There is no benefit to coating the outside, other than aesthetic. In fact it's detrimental to the performance of the pan.

There is no problem exposing aluminum to direct flame, unless it is powdered. You would not use powdered aluminum for cookware, because it is a powder.

>>4961675
How do I become a man like you? A man's man?

>>4961701

Fun fact #2: most times you eat out, you're eating at least some shit cooked in aluminum.

Most of the time you eat packaged cooked foods, you're eating shit cooked in aluminum.

The aluminum alzheimers link has been thoroughly debunked and ground into the dirt. It was considered hypothetical even at the time it was briefly fashionable to worry about, over 20 years ago. This is the kind of material you see in forwarded mass cc emails from elderly relatives, not people who know what they're talking about.

There are plenty of reasons not to use bare aluminum cookware; muh alzheimers is not one of them and talking about it just makes you sound stupid.

>>4961712
>stainless/aluminum

The / mark mean "or". As in "stainless OR aluminum". You'd need to use - as in "stainless-aluminum" to indicate both are together and integrated. If you don't know what you are typing out means then you really need to stop typing.

>not all stainless lined aluminum pans have the steel on both sides.

"Lined" pans only have it on one side, period. Clad, is encapsulated. See, you again have no clue what you are talking about because your terminology is beyond your knowledge.

>There is no problem exposing aluminum to direct flame

I mentioned it to better illustrate what I was describing to you. Yet, you have almost no reading comprehension so it rally doesn't matter.

>>4961722
I don't eat out or eat packaged foods. You are projecting your habits onto me. I also never said anything about Alzheimer's. I was referring to health. Don't use aluminum for your food. But, who cares about Alzheimer's when:

>Chronic ingestion of aluminum may cause Aluminum Related Bone Disease or aluminum-induced Osteomalacia with fracturing Osteodystrophy, microcytic anemia, weakness, fatigue, visual and auditory hallucinations, memory loss, speech and language impairment (dysarthria, stuttering, stammering, anomia, hypofluency, aphasia and eventually, mutism), epileptic seizures(focal or grand mal), motor disturbance(tremors, myoclonic jerks, ataxia, convulsions, asterixis, motor apraxia, muscle fatigue), and dementia (personality changes, altered mood, depression, diminished alertness, lethargy, 'clouding of the sensorium', intellectual deterioration, obtundation, coma), and altered EEG.

>>4961730
>The / mark mean (sic) "or"

Maybe you should learn grammar before attempting to teach it.

>"Lined" pans only have it on one side, period.

Yes? Are you agreeing with me now, or disagreeing? Or are you just too drunk to make a coherent point?

>I mentioned it to better illustrate what I was describing to you.

Which was what? That you got confused over a slash? It's time for you to go to bed.

>>4961718
>man

lulz

>>4961745
Take your pedantic ignorant trolling back to /b/ please.

>>4961748
A... trap?

>>4961744
>I don't eat out or eat packaged foods.

That's nice, so you're a hypochondriac who worries about chemtrails, but most people do these things. Like I said, there are reasons not to use bare aluminum, but it's not going to cause alzheimers.

You want to hear what happens when you eat too much iron?

>nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, melena, hemetemesis, lethargy, pallor, tachycardia, hyperglycemia, leukotocytosis, tl;dr

Worry about BPA before you worry about aluminum. It's a plastic, you've probably never heard of it.

>>4961751
>thinks traps aren't men

>>4961750

We've reached this stage now, have we? Make sure to invoke the Nazis while you're at it.

>>4961559
>This stovetop, oven and slow cooker in one features 6 convenient functions: steam roast, bake, sear, slow cook, simmer and saute

>>4961756
Biologically? Sure? But they aren't very masculine.

>>4961752
All plastics are bad for you. BPA isn't a plastic, it is used to make plastic. All plastics leach chemicals, it is just that BPA is well documented.

>chemtrails

No such thing.

Over my many years in cooking, I've found it's very difficult to have a successful "all in one" appliance. Yes, this sounds like a good product, but I wouldn't be too sure, it very much depends. I actually have a Ninja blender, which I love to death, but that doesn't really matter here. After reading the product information, it is my opinion that this would only be of real use to people who A. don't really know how to cook or B. have zero space in their kitchen/dorm/apartment/whatever and really, really need something that can multi-task. If I didn't have a fully stocked kitchen, I may have even considered it, but I already can produce the same results with what I have. Anyway, I hope, OP, you understand what I mean

>>4961764
This thread is now about how everything will kill you and food should only be cooked in glass (if at all). And I don't own a television. Have I mentioned I don't own a television?

>>4961764
Kind of. Things that advertise in multitasking are not as good as things that are dedicated to one task?

>>4961769
Wat

>>4961775
No, I mean if you don't already have a stocked kitchen or have very little space for kitchen equipment, I could see buying this. But, I do have to say that most appliances that claim to do everything, usually do a couple of things well and fail on other counts. Tell me, what exactly about this appliance appeals to you, as far as what you want to cook?

>>4961791
I don't have any appliances, so this could be a potential 2 birds with one stone kind of deal. I have no anecdotal evidence for this, though. I would imagine the price of this product is cheaper than the advertised products combined, unless I'm mistaken. And I'll be the only one using it and have no one to cook for.

If there is evidence that suggest against what I've described, then I will adhere. From this thread, I might just do so.

>>4961797
Based on what you just said, I could totally see you getting plenty of use out of it. Like I said, it's not for ME, but that doens't mean certain people won't get good use out of it. When I saw this thread, I looked up the product on Amazon, and the reviews were ultimately positive, with some negatives thrown in there too. The negatives were what helped me decide that it wasn't for me, but given your circumstance, I think there's a positive review I came across that you should consider.

"38 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Sailor loves this item.
By Brian on March 6, 2013
I have been stationed on a remote island and brought this cooker along as I figured I wouldn't have the kitchen stove and range that I had at home. I have used this to make many different things from Bread, dumplings to pulled pork butt, taco meat, spaghetti and meatballs, meatballs, meat loaf, fried rice, seared veggies and many other things. I have only used it for about 2 months and I love it. There are still things that you shouldn't do but that is common with all the products you buy. Please don't think you can steam something all day and not be there to attend to it, or think that the stove top setting will let you just walk away from it. I have other friends that have used my Ninja and they have decided they are getting their own as soon as they can. (once back in the states.) This product is great for a college student that wants to cook while studying, a busy family that wants to slow cook dinner for the evening without much fuss or even a great chef that might want to do everything in one pot and not have to worry about all the dishes. This pan fits nicely into the bathroom sink and washes easily. Be careful with metal as it is nonstick and it will scratch it up. It comes with grabbing forks for Turkeys or big pieces of meat, but they are metal and will gouge the nonstick surface. I said it once and I will say it a thousand times. I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!

>>4961806
I'm just too nonplussed about it. I don't need to save space, but I'd like to save space. I don't need its "convenience," but I'd like it. I don't know if I'm getting the better deal or not on this as well.

I might just stick with simpler items and hope I can find them for a better deal than this. It won't be the end of the world if it's the wrong choice.

>>4961815
Well, since you put it that way, I wouldn't get it. It's too expensive for that type of counter top item, unless you really needed to save space/multitask.

>>4961818
It's not a necessity for me.

Thanks everyone for helping me.

>>4961675
Is there an archive link of stuff you made?

>>4961523
>>4961523
Save your money and buy a large crock pot,