Food and Cooking Thread

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SandyCoin
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by SandyCoin » Tue Oct 20, 2020 12:59 pm

Tomous wrote:Anyone got any recommendations for a bean to cup coffee machine? Keen to get one, as I do enjoy my coffee but don't really know where to start.


I've been looking at these recently, and it seems to get any kind of genuinely good one you have to spend about half a grand. For espresso anyway, though they will obviously never be as good as ones that cost thousands. The SAGE models are supposed to do a decent job https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sage-BES875UK-Barista-Express-Stainless/dp/B077YZXR1W/ref=sr_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=bean+to+cup&qid=1603195021&sr=8-20, but obviously pricey.

I just use my moka pot, aeropress or ceramic filter, and just go to a shop for a proper espresso as there's no way I'm gonna achieve anything like that at home sadly.

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Bunni
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by Bunni » Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:05 pm

You get get a decent Sage model on ebay (refurbished) for half the price. In fact you can get most things refurbished for half the price. My Nespresso machine came in a regular brown box and my digital radio came in a box with a different radio on the front.

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andretmzt
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by andretmzt » Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:51 pm

We got a Delonghi Autentica nearly a year ago and it has been fantastic. Only thing we need to do is keep the beans and water topped up, clean the drip/grains tray and periodically descale it. Does everything else itself at the push of a button and I've been impressed with the results. The coffee is better than when we were just using a cafetiere. The milk frother is pretty good too. Not up to par compared to a proper machine but good enough to make a good cappuccino.

We did get it at about half price though, using a gift and a Black Friday sale. However having had it for a while now, I think it would be worth paying the full price for, if I had the spare change knocking around.

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Microsoft win E3.
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Tomous
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by Tomous » Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:34 pm

Thanks for responses all :D

andretmzt wrote:We got a Delonghi Autentica nearly a year ago and it has been fantastic. Only thing we need to do is keep the beans and water topped up, clean the drip/grains tray and periodically descale it. Does everything else itself at the push of a button and I've been impressed with the results. The coffee is better than when we were just using a cafetiere. The milk frother is pretty good too. Not up to par compared to a proper machine but good enough to make a good cappuccino.

We did get it at about half price though, using a gift and a Black Friday sale. However having had it for a while now, I think it would be worth paying the full price for, if I had the spare change knocking around.



How long do you usually take to clean it out of curiosity?

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andretmzt
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by andretmzt » Tue Oct 20, 2020 11:55 pm

I've never bothered to note it down, but I think the machine signals the drip tray needs emptying every 8-10 single espressos (might be 16-20 if the machine makes two espressos from a single grind). It's only for the grounds really. The drip tray could be left for the next clean as it only tends to get water in when the machine cleans itself when turned on/off.

I empty the grounds and water, give everything a wipe down and dry. Takes a couple of minutes. Or 15 seconds if you are like my girlfriend and only do the grounds. :dread:

Descaling takes ~15 minutes and it's mostly automatic. All we need to do is refill the water a few times during the process. Difficulty here is actually finding a container that can fit on the tray and hold ~750-950ml of water (the capacity of the water tank). We've had to descale it, 6 times in 11 months I think.

HSH28 wrote:No Last Guardian.
No new exclusive PS4 games.
No longer free MP for PS4.

Microsoft win E3.
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Errkal
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by Errkal » Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:21 am

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Vegetarian Carbonara made with Vegan Sausages, it was very very nice, I can recommend the Tesco PlantChef Cumberland Style Sasusages enough they are brilliant.

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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by Albert » Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:15 am

Tomous wrote:Thanks for responses all :D

andretmzt wrote:We got a Delonghi Autentica nearly a year ago and it has been fantastic. Only thing we need to do is keep the beans and water topped up, clean the drip/grains tray and periodically descale it. Does everything else itself at the push of a button and I've been impressed with the results. The coffee is better than when we were just using a cafetiere. The milk frother is pretty good too. Not up to par compared to a proper machine but good enough to make a good cappuccino.

We did get it at about half price though, using a gift and a Black Friday sale. However having had it for a while now, I think it would be worth paying the full price for, if I had the spare change knocking around.



How long do you usually take to clean it out of curiosity?


Also have a Delonghi (magnifica S), and would recommend. https://www.delonghi.com/en-int/products/coffee/coffee-makers/bean-to-cup/magnifica-s-ecam-22110sb-0132213029

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Tomous
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by Tomous » Sat Jan 02, 2021 3:13 pm

Ended up geting the Delonghi Eletta model which I absolutely love :toot:

Anyone got any bean recommendations? Looking for a variety to try.

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brandonkaren
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by brandonkaren » Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:32 am

What knives do you guys use to usually cook?

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LewisD
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by LewisD » Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:24 pm

brandonkaren wrote:What knives do you guys use to usually cook?


You only ever need three.
Good paring/vegetable knife, a good boning knife and a good chef's knife.

I use these:
  • Victorinox Tomato Knife £6 approx:
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    Absolute work horse of a knife, stays sharp and my current one is six years old. Great knife. Almost a "does all" knife, you can peel, chop, dice, bone, skin with this thing. Utterly indispensable. Get two.

  • Global G21 Boning knife - £90 approx
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    Good to have, but I hardly use this anymore. But good and flexible and great if you do lots of meat work.

  • Global G55 18cm Chefs knife -£120 approx
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    Between this and the tomato knife, this is my most used knife. Treat it well and you'll not need a new knife for a decade.

My Cadillac of knives, though looking a bit old and tired now, is my Damascus steel Shun knife.
Beautifully made and feels like an extension of your fingers when you hold it. But cost is about £180 off the top of my head. Honestly won't get a better knife without spending £500+

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Last edited by LewisD on Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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rinks
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by rinks » Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:34 pm

That's an impressively detailed post, seeing as you're replying to a bot.

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LewisD
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by LewisD » Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:35 pm

... :slol:
Well, strawberry float.

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Tomous
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by Tomous » Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:37 pm

Feel Lewis was just waiting for someone to ask there, bot or not, he was ready to go with an informative knife post

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KK
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by KK » Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:43 pm

In the Metro a couple weeks back they were giving away free La Famiglia Rana Recipe Kit Italian ready meals. I decided to pick up the Gnocchi version, and as reasonable as it was (if somewhat too salty for my tastes) I couldn't believe these things normally retail for £4 each!

Aside from the Gnocchi, which can be picked up anywhere, the sauce was just chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, extra virgin olive oil, onion, garlic, chilli flakes and some salt and pepper. There was also a small sachet of dried basil and cubes of mozzarella. It's a meal kit because everything comes in excessive packaging and you've then got to combine everything yourself, place it back in the cardboard box, put the lid back on, and microwave for around 4 minutes.

I spent more time faffing around and reading the instructions than if I'd cooked it on a hob myself.

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SandyCoin
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by SandyCoin » Thu Nov 18, 2021 2:08 pm

KK wrote:In the Metro a couple weeks back they were giving away free La Famiglia Rana Recipe Kit Italian ready meals. I decided to pick up the Gnocchi version, and as reasonable as it was (if somewhat too salty for my tastes) I couldn't believe these things normally retail for £4 each!

Aside from the Gnocchi, which can be picked up anywhere, the sauce was just chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, extra virgin olive oil, onion, garlic, chilli flakes and some salt and pepper. There was also a small sachet of dried basil and cubes of mozzarella. It's a meal kit because everything comes in excessive packaging and you've then got to combine everything yourself, place it back in the cardboard box, put the lid back on, and microwave for around 4 minutes.

I spent more time faffing around and reading the instructions than if I'd cooked it on a hob myself.


These kind of things just piss me off. I'm also surprised that there are new products like this considering the attention placed on needless plastic packaging. You can literally cook a delicious pasta dish from scratch in about 15 mins without the need for silly DIY kits. Hell, you could even do a tasty rushed Bolognese in a large batch that will be better than a packet of this stuff. It's like those strawberry floating Uncle Ben's quick rice things...rice takes 25 mins to make.

Also...dried basil? Jesus Christ.

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KK
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by KK » Thu Nov 18, 2021 2:22 pm

Tthere's currently one customer of it on the Sainsbury's website that has left 2 reviews that simply defies belief...

Cooking instructions are suspect

Is it me or is my product missing some of its packaging?
The ingredients are all in plastic bags, in a flimsy cardboard tray. There is no lid to this tray, just the cardboard packing wrapped around it instructing me to save the tray and the lid (what lid?), then microwave.
Am I really supposed to pour all the ingredients into a cardboard tray then improvise a lid? Clingfilm?
I haven't yet found a microwaveable alternative large enough so might have to cook this dish in a 1-pint Pyrex pudding dish, in two separate batches. I hope it works because I bought two of this item.

I'm still not happy with this product

A couple of days ago I posted a review about this product, wondering why the cooking instructions mention a 'tray' and 'a lid'. Neither was provided so I used a Pyrex pudding dish to reheat it. I wish I hadn't bothered. The gnocchi were hard even after using the correct microwave setting.
Also I noticed that previous reviews are all written by 'A customer on Giovanni Rana'. Who are these customers? They all posted brilliant reviews and I would really like to hear from one of these Giovanni Rana customers who seem to have had a better experience than me.
My second purchase of this product is going in the bin.

The lid literally is the lid the product comes in on the shelf.

All this idiot-proof, overpackaged, over-priced bullshit to cook some gnocchi in a basic tomato sauce and it's still designed in such a way that there are apparently idiots out there that still can't figure it out. 4 QUID.

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aayl1
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by aayl1 » Thu Nov 18, 2021 2:54 pm

LewisD wrote:

[*]Global G55 18cm Chefs knife -£120 approx
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Between this and the tomato knife, this is my most used knife. Treat it well and you'll not need a new knife for a decade.[/list]


I have this one :datass:

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Bunni
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by Bunni » Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:49 pm

I was gunna reply basically the same then realised it was a bot. Got a full set of global knives and they're wonderful. Also a whetstone to keep them sharp. Would recommend

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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by Albert » Thu Nov 18, 2021 6:21 pm

Don't worry Lewis, I'm in the market for a good knife at the moment so found your bot post very helpful.

oh my god what a loser

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rinks
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PostRe: Food and Cooking Thread
by rinks » Thu Nov 18, 2021 6:25 pm

You don't need a fancy knife to cut through sandwiches, Alb.


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