Posts Tagged ‘kitchen’

Hotpoint Side By Side Fridge Freezer – An Easy 7 Point Guide

Monday, May 17th, 2010

This article is for someone that is thinking of buying a Hotpoint American fridge freezer. There are 6 versions to choose from and I will give you an easy 7 point list of what to look for in the different units.

1. Cost

They really are not too costly if you compare them to other side by side fridge freezers. They range in price starting from approximately 690GBP for the Hotpoint MSZ 801 to 1000GBP for the MSZ 806 DF. If you are shopping for one with a water and ice dispenser then the least expensive one is the Hotpoint MSZ 802 DF, which goes for roughly 850GBP.

2. Size

Each one of the 6 models has the same external dimensions, namely: 177cm high, 90.2cm wide and 68cm deep (although with the handles it will be 75.2cm deep). You should also leave another 2cms all around the unit in order for it to function optimally. With these large fridge freezers, you really have to check that your kitchen is adequate for them. Check also that the entrance to your house is wide enough for them to enter through.

3. Storage Capacity

Each of the 6 units has the same net storage capacity for the fridge – 335 litres. However the net freezer capacity varies depending on whether it has a water and ice dispenser. With a dispenser, their net freezer capacity is 187 litres and without one it is 206 litres. Even the 187 capacity is much bigger that a typical freezer that comes with a fridge freezer.

4. Colours

There is a choice of 4 different colours amongst the Hotpoints: Stainless steel, white, silver and black. The Hotpoint MSZ 802 is stainless steel, MSZ 802 is white, MSZ 803D DF is silver and the MSZ 806 DF is black.

5. Water and Ice Dispenser

Apart from the Hotpoint MSZ 801 and 802 all the models have water and ice dispenser. This is a really great feature of the American fridge freezers, well worth taking advantage of, although you will need to have the plumbing capacity for it.

6. Energy Ratings

This is an important consideration for both you and the environment when you are running such a big unit. All Hotpoint side by side fridge freezers have an ‘A’ rating with an annual energy consumption of 507 Kwh.

7. Extra Features

* Super Cool will lower the temperature of the fridge to its lowest level. This is useful after a big shop when the door is left open for a long time.

* Super-fast freezing will take the freezer down to very low temperatures. Fresh food which is being frozen will keep its full flavour when this feature is activated.

* Holiday setting can be activated before going on vacation. It keeps the freezer at its normal temperature but runs the empty at fridge at 12 Celsius to save energy.

* Digital display makes it possible for simple and accurate reading of your refrigerator and freezer temperatures.

With these 7 points this article should provide you with a broad outline of the Hotpoint American fridge freezer range.

Time is precious. Searching is time. Narrow your search and click here to see the Hotpoint USA Style American Fridge Freezer range. Or see more brands of Us Style Fridge Freezers

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Onions Make A Great Addition To Many Crab Soup Recipes?

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Do you like crab meat? If you do, then you will probably love the taste of some crab soup recipes. Many of these recipes have many additional ingredients that compliment crab and make for a taste that is awesome. If you are ready to try one of the best ever kinds of crab soups, then you should try she crab soup. This recipe comes from the coastal city Charleston in South Carolina and is one of the best tasting foods you will ever eat.

If you would like to make your own pot of she crab soup, there is one ingredient that you will have to include to get the taste that is associated with this fine soup. Many people do not know that the reason she crab tastes like it does is because of the ingredient roe. Many recipes list this ingredient as orange roe. This is due to the fact that crab eggs are orange and that is what roe is.

One thing you need to know is how to pick the she crab to get the meats and eggs you will need for your soup. If you do not know how to do this, you can find many great sets of instructions online. You should also make sure that you always discard of the lungs because they are toxic. Blue crabs are one of the best for a lot of meat.

The kind of base that you choose for your soup means a lot in the taste and in the texture. If you would prefer a bisque for your crab, then you will need to add milk or cream. With most recipes that call for milk or cream to create a bisque, you will also need to add butter and black pepper. These two ingredients compliment milk and cream.

Some crab soups have a beef or chicken stock as a base. You might prefer to use a fish stock. No matter which of these you choose, you need one of them if you decide to concoct a crap soup that includes vegetables. You might decide to include potatoes or celery. You can also use okra and tomatoes. Always make sure to wait to add the crab meat at the end of cooking after the vegetable are completely done. If you do not, your meat will fade into the stock.

Choosing the vegetables to use for your crab soup depends on what you like. Many people include tomatoes and okra to their crab soup. Some like to have plenty of shallots or Vidalia onions included. Celery and bell peppers are two additional vegetables that taste good in crab soup. For the kinds of recipes that include crab meat and vegetable, you should go online. You can find hundreds of recipes using crab meat with a lot of vegetables.

One recipe might call for Dungeness crab meat while another might call for blue crab. If you are unable to get one kind of crab, you can use other ones to replace it in a recipe. As long as you use the right amount, you will be able to exchange them.

In addition to learning how to stem and pick crabs, you can also find many other tips online for crab soup recipes. The greatest thing about finding some of these recipes online is finding one that has a video with it.

Locate those crab soup recipes by searching online. There you will find many crab salad recipes that will be the hit of the meal. Head online today and learn more.

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Perfect Way To Prepare Salmon Marinade

Monday, May 17th, 2010

When it comes to preparing salmon, a marinade is an easy and quick way to add to the tasty flavor of the fish. Marinades are a time tested technique for imparting flavor and tenderizing a meat. The term marinade actually used to apply only to fish but any meat is common these days. Many of us are now preferring to marinade to add more flavors to their dishes.

Marinades generally can consist of a liquid mixture of a paste consisting of seasoning and other ingredients. If you are going to grill, a practical suggestion for a salmon marinade is to make it sweet along with a pinch of saltiness which will help contend with the flavor from the smoke. Use a nice wine or a lemon for that citrus kick to give the dish real bite.

The best way to actually marinate the fish is to place the meat inside a zip locked plastic bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal it. Gently work the mixture around the salmon to ensure an even coating. Place the bag in the refrigerator and turn it a couple times as it sits overnight.

There are a lot of marinade recipes out there! There is no lack of guides for a fantastic salmon marinade it seems. The great thing about crafting your own is that there are no hard and fast rules. Have a sweet tooth? Try adding some honey and orange. The only guideline is that marinades usually have three ingredients: oil, seasoning, and an acid.

Using a salmon marinade is a great way to preserve the juiciness of a great cut of salmon. Though this particular fish stands well on its own it never hurts to add a kick to the old recipe. Marinades are also fantastic because they’re easy and allow you to be imaginative with ingredient choices. Try a marinade next time and save the dry rub for that other white meat.

Want to find out more about Salmon Marinade, then visit John Mines’s site on how to choose the best Salmon Marinade for your needs.

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Knowing A Bit More About Shopping For A New Cookware Set

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

Choosing a cookware can be a very challenging task, as there are many types, and each has its own unique properties that by knowing some basic things about them can help you in making better decisions on buying cookwares. As there was a saying : ” an unskilled artist blames his tools”, so as the choice of tools determine the greatness of the artist.

The stainless steel cookware, as the name suggest, is one of the most versatile cookware as it is of tough material. The tough feature of the stainless steel contributes to its safety as a cookware, and from here, it can used be prepare dishes which requires long time cooking. Despite its toughness, it does not distribute heat evenly as it has low heat conductivity, thus making it unsuitable for bakery.

As seen in the previous paragraph, heat conductivity is a main concern in choosing cookware. Cast iron is very good in this aspect. It is excellent for oil related dishes, frying and browning. The lack of practicability is the aspect that turns the cast iron away from being the ‘one’ cookware. Specifically, it requires frequent coating with oil. The purpose of this seasoning is to thwart rusting and reactivity to result in a non-stick surface.

A very special example of the cast iron is the Chinese wok. Contrary to the regular round or wide cylindrical shape many other cookwares, the Chinese wok is the only one with an inward curve shape. This shape contributes to better heat distribution as the center of the wok is close to the energy source. With better heat conductivity, consumers can save a lot on fuel bills. Unfortunately, like the cast iron, it requires seasoning to maintain wok quality.

For saving cost, the aluminium cookware fits into this category very well. Not only it is inexpensive, it also conducts heat very well and it is very light. However, it does pose to threat to human health, as it is easily corroded in acidic or high heat environment, and leak into the cooked food. Excessive intake of aluminium poses a high risk to Alzheimer’s disease.

Copper cookware are traditional cooking utensils and it serve as an excellent heat conductor too, thus making it requires moderate heating for cooking. Copper has about ten times the heat conductivity of stainless and glass, and twice that of aluminum. So watch the amount of heat you give it. Its primary disadvantage is that it is reactive to acidic foods, so it is usually lined with another metal, the most common and practical of which is tin, unlike stainless steel or nickel, can be readily refurbished.

For the weight or waistline watchers, non stick cookware is a good choice, as no cooking oil is involved in cooking. Perfluorocarbon resin, the main constituent of non-stick cookware, contributes its resistant against corrosion and stability. Long period of cooking is not suitable as the materials are quite vulnerable. From here, forceful method like stir fry is also not suitable.

As stated above, each has its pros and cons. For overall goodness, stainless steel, that is if you do not mind the heat issue. For high quality cooking, cast iron would be good. If the seasoning is a concern, you can buy the cooper ones, or the aluminium ones to save budget. Do remember to choose those with coatings or metal additives. If you always cook simple dishes, a non stick will do.

Susan Miller writes a best cookware sets blog. Her blog contains many articles about cookware and reviews for Cuisinart cookware, Rachael Ray cookware, Lodge cookware and many more.

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Getting To Know About A Bread Machine

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

What is a bread machine? The first thing that comes to mind is a huge machine with paddles like a giant mixer, used to mix the ingredients in making breads. Lo and behold, bread machine can do more than mixing and kneading the ingredients, and it is not as huge as imagined.

A bread maker is a compact sized countertop home appliance that mix, knead and bake breads. The microchip powered machine is able to do all the above with only pushes of button. The compatibility of the bread maker has enabled everyone at home to bake their own bread at ease with less of the hassle.

A bread maker is no doubt a user friendly device. One only need to load the entire ingredient into the machine and pushes buttons to start the process. There are few settings embedded in the microchips. You can choose the machine to do all the mixing and kneading and stop there to fill in fillings to make a filled bun. It is all up to your creativity. And when all the preparation is done, pop the dough back in and you will have fresh buns. Be aware that a bread machine is fully controlled by a microchip, so if the ingredient is not correct in ratio, it may cause the failure of making perfect bread.

A bread maker is suitable for everyone, even beginners. There is no need of experience of working in bakery to use a bread machine. This device is perfect for anyone who wants to bake bread but is dread of the energy consuming process. For those who have severe allergy for nuts, have no worries. Ingredients are 100% under your own supervision. You can take out anything that you are allergic of and still make a loaf of yummy bread, allergy free I would say.

Bread makes a healthy meal anytime you want to and make it very easy and cheap at that, perfect for recession. Bread or buns making at home can generates side income for homemakers and a platform for brushing up baking skills. To make a more healthy type of bread, whole meal bread is one of the choices and recipe is available online.

Bread machine helps you to bake your own bread without too much hassle. You can save a lot of energy and time having a bread maker at home. How, you ask. As a 2 in 1 machine, kneading, proofing and baking is done in 1 machine. Dishes that need to be washed will be reduced as you only need to wash the bread maker alone. Imagine the painstaking energy that you will need to use if you hand make your bread. Mixing the ingredient, than let it rise, kneading the dough and leave to rise again. All this is done by the machine itself.

Bread machine is a commercialized home appliance. You can get bread machine in most of the medium to high end electrical shop. Retail price is starting from RM299 according to brands that the machine carries. This is very affordable and savings are to be made in the long run. The ingredients of bread can be found in most of the hypermarket specifically at the baking section. Bread machine recipes are available free online.

Bread machine is made for everyone who has the passion to bake. So why not make a small upfront in this investment and start making your own personalized bread. Imagine passing by a bakery shop and smelling the fragrant fresh baked bread, only its better when it is from your own kitchen. What a great way to start your day with a slice (or two) fresh baked bread.

John McKain is a restaurant owner and an experienced baker. He owns a breadmaker reviews blog and aims to help his readers find the best bread making machine for baking bread.

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