[Sca-cooks] Hungry (OOP semi-recipe, and more questions)

[Dana Huffman]

I have a toaster oven that does that whenever it needs to
be cleaned. (Oh, there goes the smoke alarm, must be time
to clean the toaster oven again...)

Can't help much with the oven tips, since it's been awhile
since I had a reliable oven.  Do you have any other cooking
options than the convection/micro?  Crock pot?  Hotplate?
Barbecue?  Electric fry-pan?  I have a pretty good recipe
for "maggot stew" (technically a Hallowe'en dish, except I
eat it all winter) if you've got a way to heat a pot.  I'll
dig it out and post it Real Soon Now in case people are
interested.

Since you're getting the tops of things toasted, you might
like to try greek-style pita bread topped with cheese and
broiled/toasted until the cheese melts.  It's also good
with chicken in barbecue sauce under the cheese.  But I
don't know if you'd consider this Real Food or not.

I am also in the market for a stove, so will pass on the
advice my mom gave me:

1. You NEED the self-cleaning feature.  Standard clean is
not worth the savings.  If you must get standard clean,
make sure the door can be removed for cleaning.

2. Make sure the top lifts up so you can clean under it
without having to reach through the holes where the
elements are.

Other stuff you may already know:
The number of times the wire stuff that makes up the
element coils around is directly related to the
quality/speed of the element, so you'll want to factor that
into your decision.  Also, stoves with two large elements
are "in" again (for a while you had to get a Really
Expensive stove for that), which I personally am very happy
about.

HTH.

ON the same subject, does anyone have any
experience/knowledge about this "smart simmer" feature some
of them have?  It's apparently some kind of timer on an
element; does it actually regulate the temperature in the
pot, or is it like the thing where you can have the oven
turn on automatically, and would still let a pot boil over
if it wanted to?

Dana/Ximena

> >   Just over a week ago our stove decided to catch fire.
...
> >over cooked, and partially cooked food.  Does anyone
> have any tips for
> >making Real Food (tm) in a convection oven or microwave?
>  For some
> >reason the convection oven likes to toast the top of
> food and leave the
> >bottom end undercooked.  Recipes would also be
> appreciated.
> >
> >   Also, does anyone have any suggestions for features
> to look for in a
> >new stove?
> >
> >   Alas, gas is out of the question, as our kitchen is
> 3/4s underground
> >with inadequate ventilation.
> >
> >-M




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