Been a While....bit of a roundup of stuff I have liked lately
Easier and faster than individual long winded posts
Moccamaster Coffee Maker
Coffee is very important to me, but not in the way that people obsessed with espresso are. I like strong black coffee….and quite a bit of it early in the morning. I don’t want a tiny sip just to get to the caffeine. I want a big mug x 2 and to enjoy it over a longer time. For a looooong time I kept buying a standard Cuisinart unit that had a stainless steel look…which made me feel like it was in some way, a high quality brewer. One at home, one at cottage, when they die, I replace with the same thing. I get a glass carafe and a hot plate that keeps the second big mug warm for when I am ready for it. I never wanted a Keurig or a Nespresso pod machine because I don’t like the plastic waste and I have never experienced “mmmmm that’s good coffee from one of them. So a drip coffee maker is what I need.
Enter the Technivorm Moccamaster. Its basically the best and fastest drip brewer you can buy. It is made in the Netherlands and is engineered to last and do one thing perfectly….brew drip coffee. I didn’t think there was a difference in the art of pouring hot water over coffee grounds. There is a significant difference. Cost is about 3x the crap basic units, a small price to pay except now every time I use the Cuisinart at the cottage….it tastes like crap. Thanks to Amazon prime day, picked up a second one that is sitting in its box waiting for spring. Went out on a risky limb and got the grey one instead of black.
Baratza Coffee grinder
Along with the above drip maker came a hard look at the bean grinder I was using. Along with the crap Cuisinart brewer I had 2 Cuisinart grinders like this. No this is not what I am recommending!
These things do what they should to the beans. I use the term “should” lightly because although it does grind beans and allow you to select the grind, it sounds like a 747 going through the kitchen and makes a horrendous mess in the process. The Moccamaster brewer requires a course grind and combined with the fact that like the coffee makers, one of the grinders was starting to die….so I went looking for a better grinder. You can spend a huge amount getting a good burr grinder. I am waaaaay happier with this. Wirecutter reviews rate it highly and like the Moccamaster, actually has replaceable parts so built to last vs go to landfill.
Aliexpress Win - Chef Knifes
You have to be careful shopping the Chinese discount sites like Aliexpress and Temu but with careful choices you can get great products at very good prices. I have a bit of a weakness for sharp knives and a general aversion for shit knives…..which I find astoundingly frequently in many kitchens. I think its like the boiled frog parable where dull knives sneak up so slowly that people don’t realize how bad something has become until they feel a sharp knife…then the boiling begins again. Anyway, you can make just about any knife sharp with the right sharpening (a topic for another day) but its still nice to have a good feel and durability and maybe a bit of style in a cutting instrument…but cost is a factor. I recently ordered some knives as an experiment from Aliexpress and they are really nice and arrived incredibly sharp. Shipping time is long but worth the wait and price.
8 Inch Gyuto : The fit and finish of this thing is amazing. Wood handle and blade are beautiful Comes with a very nice wood scabbard
6 inch Utility : Same comment as above
OurGroceries App
This is a really simple to use check list app that can be used as a central list for groceries but just about anything you need to keep track of for yourself or a group. We use it for a store by store central list of stuff to remember to get. Think Costco, Canadian Tire, Regular grocer, Pharmacy. But also lists for trips, TV series you want to watch, Movies etc that people tell you about and you want to remember. Project checklists, on and on. When someone is out getting groceries you can real time see stuff being checked off and add on the fly. If you hit grocery store at the same time and divide and concur, you can also see stuff dropping off as you go. Just a great app available for iPhone and Android….just search it all one word, or link here
Thule duffle
I like using a duffel bag style bag for short trips and such. I hate having a jumble of clothes in short order in said bag as you begin to use the clothes at the destination. A friend recommended this bag and the internal divider system is killer for keeping all your stuff in a way you can easily see and access. Made for cyclists but its amazing for just general use. Highly recommended.
Expensive but worth every penny
Maguires internal detailer
Car interiors are hard to keep looking nice…so many nooks and cracks for dust and human dreck to gather in. I use Windex to clean just about anything these days but for car interior I discovered this car specific product that just works so incredibly well. You mist it onto a surface or cloth and wipe and it just leaves incredibly clean result. I don’t know why its better, it just is. A bottle lasts a long time because you just mist it on.
DIY Car Ceramic Coating
On the topic of cars, ceramic coating has become a big thing as an alternative to waxing and protection. You can pay hundreds to have it done, and probably at this time of year in Canada….the only way to do it, but in the summer I followed “Project Farm” (see below) testing of a bunch of products and took the recommendation on the Turtle Wax product. It blew me away. It’s December and my truck is still beading water nicely and I put it on in July. Terrific stuff. Extremely easy to put on and lasts a looooong time.
Credible and thorough Product and Tool Testing
If you like to research shit well before you buy it (hmmmm) then you need to first see if Project Farm has tested anything in the category you are shopping. He does incredibly detailed testing of products and then rates stuff against all of the tested elements and cost. Its a no BS approach to really getting to the bottom of what is best in a category. You need to get past his strange monotone delivery (Its part of his shtick and no BS output) but if you are interested in the detail then you end up watching his entire delivery. If you just want the answer you can fast forward to the summary and conclusions and follow the links to get to the actual tested products. Don’t buy stuff without first seeing if he has done the work.
That’s all I got for now but I do have a Costco stuff I like update to do.
Note, I link the products in some cases on Amazon because I am lazy and its easy to find them there. Not the only places you will find them….and no, I don’t get anything by linking to them here.
Chuck