Finally! A microplane

Tony P. wrote on 22 Jan 2006 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

After that - I do need to pick up a good microwave oven. The one I've
got now is barely sevicable.

Consider a Combo unit... convection oven & Microwave oven saves space as no
toaster oven needed.

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

"Tony P." <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I had been on a book binge, buying enough to read and then stack on two
6 foot shelves. Now I'm into the cooking tools phase. Next up is that
nice little invention called a one handed pepper grinder. Slick!

Mine broke, but I really liked it ... was nice to be able to grind
pepper all over chicken/whatever, without having to wash your
hands or otherwise avoiding getting meat juice where you don't
want it, between flipping over the meat. Good buy.

nancy

Tony P. said:

Picked up my first microplane. I'm in heaven.

Who knew you could grate a block of parmesian so fine,

Must be a very small block, microplanes are sloooow and require
substantial effort.... a 1/4 pound block requires about the same effort
as masturbating for fifteen minutes straight... and I haven't seen any
battery operated microplanes, gals.

Microplanes produce cheese dust, much too fine, not grated cheese...
microplaned cheese powder clumps, can't be sprinkled... makes hard
cheese the consistancy of flaked fish food, only much finer, not very
appetizing looking.

Quoted message said:

or create a spectacular garlic paste.

No better than a garlic press, and certainly no better than a whack
with the side of a knife... and microplanes are slow, messy, and by the
third clove fingers cramp... see first comment.

I looked forward to using my microplane too when I ordered it some 6-7
years ago, but after trying it on all sorts of foods I found at best
its only halfway decent use is for zesting citrus, and only good if you
want citrus zest snow, it produces zest that is far too fine for most
applications... so fine in fact that a substantial portion of the
volatile citrus oils evaporate while planing, mostly you get fiber,
fiber so fine it may as well already have passed through, twice.

My microplane hasn't seen kitchen use in years, mine now lives in the
bathroom, microplanes are great for removing foot calluses.

Sheldon

Tony P. said:

Picked up my first microplane. I'm in heaven.

Who knew you could grate a block of parmesian so fine, or create a
spectacular garlic paste.

I had been on a book binge, buying enough to read and then stack on two
6 foot shelves. Now I'm into the cooking tools phase. Next up is that
nice little invention called a one handed pepper grinder. Slick!

After that - I do need to pick up a good microwave oven. The one I've
got now is barely sevicable.

Parm is near glittering when grated with a mircoplane. Dad gave me a
Williams Sonoma GC for Christmas, among other goodies I piced up a
microplane box grater yesterday. I have yet to try it out, but think
I'm really going to like it.

Jessica

Nancy Young said:

"Tony P." <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I had been on a book binge, buying enough to read and then stack on two
6 foot shelves. Now I'm into the cooking tools phase. Next up is that
nice little invention called a one handed pepper grinder. Slick!

Mine broke, but I really liked it ... was nice to be able to grind
pepper all over chicken/whatever, without having to wash your
hands or otherwise avoiding getting meat juice where you don't
want it, between flipping over the meat.

Don't you own tongs... I'd buy tongs before buying some battery
operated pepper mill.

The turkish coffee mill sold by Williams Sonoma beats any pepper mill
by leagues... and has a reservoir to collect fresh ground pepper for
one handed sprinkling.

Sheldon

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Nancy Young wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Mine broke, but I really liked it ... was nice to be able to grind
pepper all over chicken/whatever, without having to wash your
hands or otherwise avoiding getting meat juice where you don't
want it, between flipping over the meat.

Don't you own tongs... I'd buy tongs before buying some battery
operated pepper mill.

Yes, but I like to use my hands to rub the pepper around
on the meat, heh heh. Plus, it wasn't battery operated. It was
a clear round ball, with rabbit ears, you just squoze them
together to grind.

Quoted message said:

The turkish coffee mill sold by Williams Sonoma beats any pepper mill
by leagues... and has a reservoir to collect fresh ground pepper for
one handed sprinkling.

Those are nice looking, too ... I think J*ff Sm*th used them,
I don't remember if they had the reservoir.

nancy

"

Quoted message said:

Parm is near glittering when grated with a mircoplane. Dad gave me a
Williams Sonoma GC for Christmas, among other goodies I piced up a
microplane box grater yesterday. I have yet to try it out, but think
I'm really going to like it.

Jessica

With a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, they are offering a free
microplane.
Just received it in the mail yesterday - 10 days to reply. Tempting, but I
already have one.
Dee Dee

Sheldon wrote on 22 Jan 2006 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

Tony P. said:

Picked up my first microplane. I'm in heaven.

Who knew you could grate a block of parmesian so fine,

Must be a very small block, microplanes are sloooow and require
substantial effort.... a 1/4 pound block requires about the same effort
as masturbating for fifteen minutes straight... and I haven't seen any
battery operated microplanes, gals.

Microplanes produce cheese dust, much too fine, not grated cheese...
microplaned cheese powder clumps, can't be sprinkled... makes hard
cheese the consistancy of flaked fish food, only much finer, not very
appetizing looking.

Quoted message said:

or create a spectacular garlic paste.

No better than a garlic press, and certainly no better than a whack
with the side of a knife... and microplanes are slow, messy, and by the
third clove fingers cramp... see first comment.

I looked forward to using my microplane too when I ordered it some 6-7
years ago, but after trying it on all sorts of foods I found at best
its only halfway decent use is for zesting citrus, and only good if you
want citrus zest snow, it produces zest that is far too fine for most
applications... so fine in fact that a substantial portion of the
volatile citrus oils evaporate while planing, mostly you get fiber,
fiber so fine it may as well already have passed through, twice.

My microplane hasn't seen kitchen use in years, mine now lives in the
bathroom, microplanes are great for removing foot calluses.

Sheldon

Umm... there is more than 1 size of rasp/microplane...Get the one that
fits your needs...hell get a mess of them. Look in woodworking tool shops
if your cooking tool shop doesn't carry them... You and even get drill
mounted rotory ones... battery or plug in drill is (of course) optional.

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

Nancy Young wrote on 22 Jan 2006 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

Those are nice looking, too ... I think J*ff Sm*th used them,
I don't remember if they had the reservoir.

nancy

It is a combo...resevoir & end cap/cover to stop pepper crumbs/dust from
being left on counters table tops etc....

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

On Sun 22 Jan 2006 09:19:42a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dee
Randall?

Quoted message said:

"

Quoted message said:

Parm is near glittering when grated with a mircoplane. Dad gave me a
Williams Sonoma GC for Christmas, among other goodies I piced up a
microplane box grater yesterday. I have yet to try it out, but think
I'm really going to like it.

Jessica

With a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, they are offering a free
microplane.
Just received it in the mail yesterday - 10 days to reply. Tempting,
but I already have one.
Dee Dee

I got that one and was delighted. Now I need to get one that's a bit more
coarse.

--
Wayne Boatwright Õ¿Õ¬
________________________________________

Okay, okay, I take it back! UnScrew you!

Mr Libido Incognito said:

Sheldon wrote on 22 Jan 2006 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

Tony P. said:

Picked up my first microplane. I'm in heaven.

Who knew you could grate a block of parmesian so fine,

Must be a very small block, microplanes are sloooow and require
substantial effort.... a 1/4 pound block requires about the same effort
as masturbating for fifteen minutes straight... and I haven't seen any
battery operated microplanes, gals.

Microplanes produce cheese dust, much too fine, not grated cheese...
microplaned cheese powder clumps, can't be sprinkled... makes hard
cheese the consistancy of flaked fish food, only much finer, not very
appetizing looking.

Quoted message said:

or create a spectacular garlic paste.

No better than a garlic press, and certainly no better than a whack
with the side of a knife... and microplanes are slow, messy, and by the
third clove fingers cramp... see first comment.

I looked forward to using my microplane too when I ordered it some 6-7
years ago, but after trying it on all sorts of foods I found at best
its only halfway decent use is for zesting citrus, and only good if you
want citrus zest snow, it produces zest that is far too fine for most
applications... so fine in fact that a substantial portion of the
volatile citrus oils evaporate while planing, mostly you get fiber,
fiber so fine it may as well already have passed through, twice.

My microplane hasn't seen kitchen use in years, mine now lives in the
bathroom, microplanes are great for removing foot calluses.

Sheldon

Umm... there is more than 1 size of rasp/microplane...Get the one that
fits your needs...hell get a mess of them. Look in woodworking tool shops
if your cooking tool shop doesn't carry them.

I did, got mine from Lee Valley... I got the coarse one and the fine
one... the thing is the various coarsenesses all cut to the same depth,
only the width of the cutting blades/teeth vary... coarser microplanes
remove material a bit faster but the texture of the chip is the same
regardless which.... wood chips don't fall apart so a coarser plane
does make coarser wood chips (just wider), but with foods, especially
cheese, I see no difference

Sheldon wrote on 22 Jan 2006 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

I did, got mine from Lee Valley... I got the coarse one and the fine
one... the thing is the various coarsenesses all cut to the same depth,
only the width of the cutting blades/teeth vary... coarser microplanes
remove material a bit faster but the texture of the chip is the same
regardless which.... wood chips don't fall apart so a coarser plane
does make coarser wood chips (just wider), but with foods, especially
cheese, I see no difference

Usually the tooth size is regulated with the hole size, making a chip that
fits thru the hole more fully. Such that a 3/8 tall and 3/8 wide tooth
makes a food chip of 3/8 X 3/8. And one that is 3/16 by 3/16 makes a 3/16
X 3/16 chip etc... Perhaps home hardware would better meet your needs?

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Sheldon said:

Tony P. said:

Picked up my first microplane. I'm in heaven.

Who knew you could grate a block of parmesian so fine,

Must be a very small block, microplanes are sloooow and require
substantial effort.... a 1/4 pound block requires about the same effort
as masturbating for fifteen minutes straight...

Timed it, have you? "-)
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 1-15-2006, RIP Connie Drew

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Tony P. wrote on 22 Jan 2006 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

After that - I do need to pick up a good microwave oven. The one I've
got now is barely sevicable.

Consider a Combo unit... convection oven & Microwave oven saves space as no
toaster oven needed.

Now you've done it. I would have been perfectly content with a microwave
oven. Now I'll be looking to spend more money.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

"Tony P." <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I had been on a book binge, buying enough to read and then stack on two
6 foot shelves. Now I'm into the cooking tools phase. Next up is that
nice little invention called a one handed pepper grinder. Slick!

Mine broke, but I really liked it ... was nice to be able to grind
pepper all over chicken/whatever, without having to wash your
hands or otherwise avoiding getting meat juice where you don't
want it, between flipping over the meat. Good buy.

nancy

Ah - there's the difference. I tend to be a hacker - so when I see a
weak design if I can modify it to either be more useful or more durable
I do so.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Nancy Young said:

"Tony P." <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I had been on a book binge, buying enough to read and then stack on two
6 foot shelves. Now I'm into the cooking tools phase. Next up is that
nice little invention called a one handed pepper grinder. Slick!

Mine broke, but I really liked it ... was nice to be able to grind
pepper all over chicken/whatever, without having to wash your
hands or otherwise avoiding getting meat juice where you don't
want it, between flipping over the meat.

Don't you own tongs... I'd buy tongs before buying some battery
operated pepper mill.

The turkish coffee mill sold by Williams Sonoma beats any pepper mill
by leagues... and has a reservoir to collect fresh ground pepper for
one handed sprinkling.

Sheldon

And there is where you made your first assumption. It isn't battery
power but human powered. Picture a small globe about 2" across with a V
shaped handle above. Compress the handle and the peppercorns get ground
up.

Or coffee for that matter.

Tony P. said:

Picked up my first microplane. I'm in heaven.

Who knew you could grate a block of parmesian so fine, or create a
spectacular garlic paste.

I have the one with interchangable blades. I use the coarse one for
ginger, garlic, and hard cheese. The fine one is for citrus zest and
nutmeg.

It's a great gadget.

Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sun 22 Jan 2006 09:19:42a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dee
Randall?

Quoted message said:

"

Quoted message said:

Parm is near glittering when grated with a mircoplane. Dad gave me a
Williams Sonoma GC for Christmas, among other goodies I piced up a
microplane box grater yesterday. I have yet to try it out, but think
I'm really going to like it.

Jessica

With a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, they are offering a free
microplane.
Just received it in the mail yesterday - 10 days to reply. Tempting,
but I already have one.
Dee Dee

I got that one and was delighted. Now I need to get one that's a bit more
coarse.

--
Wayne Boatwright Õ¿Õ¬

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. But about the only thing I think of that
I do on the long thin one (with a rubber-type handle) is
skin lemons, limes and oranges; do nutmeg, a little cheese, but it's too
fine;
(Then, of course, I always like anything "new and shiny"!!)

What else does anyone use theirs for.
Dee Dee
Dee Dee

"Tony P." <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Mine broke, but I really liked it ... was nice to be able to grind
pepper all over chicken/whatever, without having to wash your
hands

Quoted message said:

Ah - there's the difference. I tend to be a hacker - so when I see a
weak design if I can modify it to either be more useful or more durable
I do so.

I think I wound up with some clear tape holding the ball
together, really, I forget what made it really bite the dust.
I would buy another one, it's not as if they cost a fortune.

Funny, they come full of peppercorns, so I used them up.
Time to refill. Heh, thing was like a chinese puzzle box.
Finally turned out to have a sliding trap door on one side
of the globe.

nancy