Kitchen Essential

How can one find a balance between innovation and continuity?. The danger of concentrating too much on innovation is choosing new elements that don’t go beyond the fashionable. Fashion in clothes is a useful source of self-renewal and since clothes may only have a relatively short life, it is not an absolute disaster if you become tired of them or they quickly appear dated. Furniture operates on a different timescale, and is connected with a sense of permanence. Both its physical nature and its price call for longevity. You are going to have to co-habit with it for a good many years. Your ideas, lifestyle and the demands may alter, but your furniture will not. So designing and choosing it requires careful thought and needs to take its long life into account. Continue Reading »

The mechanical smoker

While on the subject of smoking equipment, perhaps a further word will not be out of place regarding the mechanical smoker referred to earlier, should any home smoker feel inclined to invest in one of these rather elaborate pieces of equipment.

I imagine that all large commercial fish or bacon smoking concerns in Britain will by now have ceased to use traditional equipment and will employ mechanical equipment exclusively. The modern smoker which I am acquainted with is the Torry Kiln, which is marketed by Afos Limited, Anlaby, Hull, North Humberside. Some of these commercial kilns are very large, costing several thousands of pounds, but the only model with which the home smoker might need to concern himself is the Torry Mini Kiln. This kiln is based on the same principles as the large commercial smoking units, and has a maximum capacity of 56 lb (approx. 25 kilos). Continue Reading »