Comments on: Gift Week: The Big Guns

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:34:09 +0000

KitchenAid products are high quality and durable but 20 years is a long time! Lots of other good recommended kitchen gifts though. Got to go looking for some of them for my mom.

By: Eat It, Atlanta Holiday Gift Guide | Eat It, Atlanta

Eat It, Atlanta Holiday Gift Guide | Eat It, Atlanta — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:48:17 +0000

[...] Ruhlman and Reichl are doing it, and I’m sure everyone’s wondering, “hey, what’s Jimmy’s take on the must have items for the gourmand in my life?” [...]

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:26:24 +0000

Ruhlman, up there where you’re talking about AllClad pots and pans you lost me. I had to go over to the AC website and see for myself; only I could not find what you recommend. So, what is a “Pig Pot”?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:29:36 +0000

For anyone interested in the All Clad 3 qt saucier, you can find it for $15 less at cutleryandmore.com (no affiliation/referral fees/financial interest).

By: Season's Best Books and Others I Like | Michael Ruhlman

Season's Best Books and Others I Like | Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:30:28 +0000

[...] week posts: Big Ticket Gifts, Big Green Egg, Small Gifts, & Sous [...]

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:52:48 +0000

They describe it as “a proprietary soy-based vegetable oil” that’s applied at the foundry. The pans still need to be seasoned with use.

Our 12″ Lodge pan (purchased when we got married) pre-dates their use of such a coating. Given that it’s not that hard to season a pan, I’m not sure what the appeal is (other than to those who don’t know better).

By: Lee B-S

Lee B-S — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:52:57 +0000

Just a technicality, but induction burners use magnetism to create heat in the pan, not radio waves.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:17:27 +0000

Great list! I agree 100% on the KitchenAid mixer (I have the same model in imperial black), Wusthof knives, and All-Clad pans (particularly the D5). I would add that Wusthof makes a great sharpener keeps my 16-year-old chef’s knife sharp enough to make short work of ripe tomatoes.

By: ruhlman

ruhlman — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:59:33 +0000

thanks! i think twenty looks awesome on kindlefire

By: ruhlman

ruhlman — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:55:44 +0000

have only seen the lodge cast iron, and they’ve got some funny coating on them.

By: Julia

Julia — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:15:10 +0000

I completely agree about the Kitchenaid stand mixer. Do you know if the quality has changed much in the last ten years? (as opposed to 20) I have a roughly 10 year old artisan mixer, but the motor is giving some indications that it miiightt be dying soon (mostly surging while at higher speeds). I’ve been thinking of trying to convince someone to give me a new one this Christmas, but seeing everyone say that the older ones are better makes me think that maybe mine is able to be fixed/serviced back into shape!

By: Andres

Andres — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 02:11:41 +0000

I’ve always wanted a Blendtech blender, but was never able to justify their very steep price for home use. After a lot of research, I found the KitchenAid KSB560 blender to be an excellent compromise for me.
I bought it and fell in love with it instantly. Highly recommended.
http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-5-Speed-Blenders-Polycarbonate-Metallic/dp/B001F2COBK

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:06:40 +0000

Hey, don’t forget the Barnes & Noble Nookcolor and Nooktablet, and I won’t forget to recommend “20″ when I sell books this month! Equal or better to Kindlefire.

By: k

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:24:26 +0000

Couldn’t agree more with the Kitchen stand mixer. My mom had one when I was growing up and you couldn’t hurt that thing, no matter what three kids did to it. My dad surprised me my senior year of college (1992) and gave me the classic stand mixer. I love that thing to death. It made many cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls just last week! I have tried the lift models, but I love the old tilt back head of the 4.5 qt models. Definitely the best gift my dad ever gave me (ok, aside from the obvious life thing).

Elisabeth, I agree with you on the age issue. When Hobart stilled own Kitchen Aid those things were built to withstand any abuse hurled at them (and trust me we hurled much and often).

By: Elisabeth

Elisabeth — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:18:00 +0000

Also I totally agree about the Kitchenaid stand mixer. If I could have only one kitchen tool (besides the knives) that would be it. The old ones are better than the new ones, sadly. I bought one of those big new ones and hardly ever use it. But fortunately my 10 year old plus Artisan model is still going strong…

By: Elisabeth

Elisabeth — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:13:52 +0000

The terrine pan looks beautiful.

I wouldn’t recommend the old Kitchenaid food processors. The work bowls are made with polycarbonate which contains BPA, if you’re concerned about that. Also, they leak like crap when you put in a sizable amount of liquid or semiliquid food, like tomato sauce or soup (which is what I use it for most). My old model 760 just died after 4.5 years, too; won’t spin any more. Their new 13 cup (KFP1333OB) model is made with a BPA free work bowl and says it is leak free, so obviously they recognized the problems in their old model (good for them!) I’m thinking of buying one of the new ones, or maybe asking santa to bring it.

By: Jessica/ Green Skies and Sugar Trips

Jessica/ Green Skies and Sugar Trips — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:56:20 +0000

Kitchen aid’s can’t be beat.

All through my time at the CIA, they were the go to for pretty much everything we made in the bakeshops.

**Great tip** when reconstituting buttercream from a cold stage, you can actually take a torch to the outside of the bowl to heat it up. A LITTLE AT A TIME, no prolonged periods since we’re not trying to clarify the buttercream!

By: KristineB

KristineB — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:46:59 +0000

Is that “pig pot” just for pork?

By: cherylK

cherylK — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:24:25 +0000

I’m so glad you mentioned All-Clad! I need new pots and was puzzling over which to buy. We have a couple of Vita Mix blenders and you are absolutely spot on about them. This post is a wonderful resource. Thanks!

By: Attrill

Attrill — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:11:58 +0000

The knives are a definite must have. If someone already has those two a sharpening steel, and a bread knife are good gifts to get. A 6″ semi flexible boning knife comes in very handy too, especially for butchering and parting out chickens.

Wusthoffs are great, but if cost is an issue Forschner makes some great knives for the price. They take and keep an edge very well, and much better than any other knives in that price range.