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Cheap Way to Try a Ceramic Knife

I have always been curious about ceramic knives but not curious enough to pay a steep price for what reviews say is a deft, but fragile, instrument. Ceramic is very hard, so they never need sharpening. Indeed, they can't be sharpened so the edge had better last forever. Unlike metal, ceramic is easily chipped. And once damaged, they're trash because unlike a metal knife, chips and nicks can't be ground away. So I am reluctant to spend hundreds of dollars to augment the knives I already love.

Then I stumbled on a ceramic paring knife — for about $9. Dealextreme is an Internet seller of very inexpensive gear. They sell computer and camera accessories, toys, gadgets, and household items that are manufactured on the cheap by Asian manufacturers. Most of what they sell is pretty good quality and the prices are amazing. Shipping is free but it usually takes a couple of weeks. I ordered one and I have to say, I was impressed. The quality is pretty good and it is quite sharp. It will presumably remain sharp for years, and so far hasn't been damaged.

I also bought a ceramic vegetable peeler and was less impressed. A peeler has to be very sharp and this wasn't quite sharp enough. Still, it was mere $3.

All that said, I still am not a ceramic knife fan. They don't need to be sharpened but I don't find sharpening my knives much bother. I use a steel on them every time and only need to sharpen them a couple of times a year. Except for the eversharp edge, a ceramic knife is no better than a well-sharpened metal knife. So I'll probably buy another cheap ceramic knife but they won't be displacing my favorites.

More:

• If you're in the market for a knife, be sure to check out my article on knives, with recommendations.
• Learn more about sharpening knives.

Starbucks VIA, a Coffee Surprise

Coffee lovers love to scorn Starbucks, and I am no exception. But we should give Starbucks their due. Since Howard Schultz's return, the company has returned to their roots as a mass purveyor of consistent, pretty-good coffee products, with efficient, courteous service. They still over-roast their beans, losing the nuances of flavor, but in the end, they're better than what most Americans drink. And we have to credit them with elevating coffee — could my favorite places (like Barefoot in Santa Clara) charge $3-something a latte without Starbucks' marketing?

I was curious about Starbucks' latest venture. The proposition is intriguing: Instant coffee that tastes as good as brewed? Is this possible? In a word: Yes!

On October 2-4, stop by Starbucks and you can taste their new VIA against their standard Pike Place blend. You'll get a coupon good for $1 off a purchase and another for free coffee plus a sample of VIA. (I had to ask for these. Don't be shy.)

I tasted the VIA and was impressed. It's a good cup of coffee and miles away from any instant I have ever tried. There is none of the stale taste or funky odors instants usually carry. The coffee flavor was deep and rounded, and it tasted fresh. I didn't taste a lot of complexity or nuances (no "nutmeg overtones with a cocoa and mulberry finish here") but it's a credible cup of coffee you can make with nothing more than a cup of hot water!

At about  $1 a cup, VIA is considerably pricier than other instants.

Would I make this my "house" coffee? Probably not. Would I stock it for a coffee quicky at the office? You bet. 

For my morning brew, I am staying with my beloved Aeropress, brewed from fresh Barefoot beans run through a burr grinder. But as a convenient, credible (but costly) shortcut, VIA is a winner.

Portable Pizza

 

I'm a bit of a snob about pizza. To me, unless it's from New York, Chicago, or Naples, it's not really pizza. And one of the most important pizza characteristics is a hot, hot, hot oven, preferably wood-fired. A proper pizza oven runs at 750 degrees F or more (many top 900) and turns out a pizza in a couple of minutes.

At an outdoor event sponsored by the East Bay Nation of Men, dinner was "gourmet" pizza. Now, I think the Bay Area is one of the finest food locations in the world and the pizza here is often very good — but never excellent and I didn't expect much at an outdoor venue. But my preconceived notions about pizza in the park were about to change.

Around  2 PM, a truck showed up with a trailer carrying what looked like an igloo. It drew a lot of attention and guesses. No one guessed that it was a wood-fired pizza oven, made by our friend Tom Gerstel. Yes, "made by." It turns out Tom's new business is wood-fired pizza catering, using the "portable" oven he built.

A crowd gathered as Tom lowered the trailer (whrrrrrrrrr, men love machinery) and wheeled the oven into place. Whrrrrrr again as a hydraulic lift raised the oven to working height and he attached the legs to its custom-welded frame (men love welding: Fire and molten metal, what's not to like?).

He started a fire with just a few pieces of hardwood (men love fire, too). The thickly insulated box takes a surprisingly small amount of wood to get to working temperature. But it does take a couple of hours.

It gets mighty hot in there but the temperature is not the whole story. The pizza sits on the brick floor and heats by conduction, the way your feet do on hot sand at the beach. It also gets a blast of hot air, like a convection oven, since the flue is a third of the way down from the top of the dome, creating a constant swirl of hot air from the fire, around the top, and out the chimney. A third heating mechanism comes from radiant heat, the way a toaster works. The dome delivers radiant heat from all directions.

Tom built this himself. The oven interior is from purchased parts, most of the rest is from scratch.
The oven is extremely well insulated. It was cool to the touch even while an inferno ran inside.

But we're not here to talk about fire brick and welded stainless steel. This is about the food.

Tom believes in good ingredients. He uses organic flour and an array of prepared toppings. He makes a thin pizza which crisps up like a cracker in the high heat. We had an array of pizzas with pesto, marinara, a four-cheese blend, pepperoni, basil, mushrooms, roast garlic, anchovies, feta, and more. Most of the pies were simple and sophisticated with two or three ingredients. But the beauty of this is that he'll make what people want. He even had some tofu — not a hit, I have to say.

He can turn out a pizza in 90 seconds and run at least three at a time, meaning he can feed many hundreds of people.

Sound good? You can reach Tom via his website, Copper Top Ovens.com (it's a pretty primitive site right now — I think he's been busy welding). But right now, I will close with some glamor shots. Click to see them full-size.

 

 

 

Maker Faire, May 30-31, San Mateo

I have attended this for the past couple of years and it is awesome. Huge -- they had over 50,000 people last year. Hundreds of exhibits, mostly by people or small clubs, show off cool things they have made. A little art, a little science, a little magic. Fire, electricity, and some serious welding skills.

The site gives details. I think they make it seem like it's for kids (and it is a great event for them) but really, it's for anyone. Plenty there to interest adults. The video (scroll down the page) does a good job.

http://makerfaire.com/

I wouldn't miss it!

Amazing bicycle stunts in this well-made video. Worth the time:

Bacon iPhone Case

OK, even I think this is over the top.

Bacon iPhone case, via Gizmodo.

Car Skin Revisited

What is the skin of a car were more like skin? Instead of sheet metal, a stretchy fabric? Do you really need the skin to be rigid? What does the skin really do?

BMW's answer is a design idea they call GINA, documented in an article on Autoblog. When you get there, click on the photo to see more and scroll down to see the video.

For Faster Service, Choose the Right Time

Recently, I went to the DMV. The parking lot was full and the line went to the door. The wait would be over an hour! I left.

A day later, the place was nearly empty! They called my number before I could complete the forms and there were no lines at any station. I was driving away 16 minutes after I had arrived. 

Most people look for service at the same times. By avoiding the busy hours at clinics, government offices, warehouse stores like Costco, and other crowded places, you can generally get faster service. Hints:

• Avoid the weekends, Mondays, and Fridays. Tuesday through Thursday are the least busy.
• Mornings are generally better. I usually go an hour or so after they open (avoiding the rush of people who stop by on their way to work).
• Mid-afternoon, after lunch hour and before 3 PM, is sometimes a good time. However, many service staff take their lunch at 1 or 2 PM, so you may wind up arriving when they are short-handed.
• Ask! The staff is happy to advise you when the least busy times are.
• Immediately after the office opens can be a very good or a very bad time. At Costco, for instance, the hour before closing is often an excellent choice. But at some places, people often arrive at the last minute, so it's a good idea to ask the service staff.

TCHO Spells Chocolate

I have been meaning to write for some time about TCHO, a chocolate from a company founded by high-tech types. They consider their product in "beta" right now. It comes in a brown wrapper and they invite you to comment via their website.

The FoodGal (whom I happen to know is a chocaholic and whose tastes in chocolate match mine) posted a really good article on TCHO.

The only one I have tried is their “Chocolatey” bar. As I read, I was thinking, “I’ll bet FoodGal gives this a 9!” And she did. My comments are that the balance is perfect. The aftertastes keep coming — for many minutes.

At $10 for two 50 g bars, plus $5 shipping, they're a little pricey but this is super-premium quality. FoodGal says there is a third variety, "Nutty," but their website only shows Chocolatey and Fruity. Purchase at the TCHO website.

Bacon Loves Me

I love bacon.

I know, everyone does (many vegetarians will cheat for bacon). But I mean, I really love bacon. And, sniff, I think it loves me, too. It seems to follow me around. Or maybe it's stalking me.

You read about the bacon chocolate my friend John gave me. There was an earlier bacon thing and the bacon comic. Then, along came this:

Now, I find: "For the Love of Bacon," a bacon blog. Some serious baconage for bacon fans, including this great bit of graffiti work by another bacon fan:

How can anyone be miserable in a world that has bacon.