Posts Tagged: kitchen

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26
Aug 10

Sharpening Knives At Home Is Possible

If you have a kitchen then you have knives in your kitchen and the time will come when those knives need to get sharpened. Do you know how to sharpen knives? If you don’t know how to sharpen knives the old fashioned way on a whetstone/benchstone then read on to learn about some tools that will allow you to sharpen your knives without all the guesswork involved in manual stone sharpening.

The hand held knife sharpener come in many forms from having coarse and fine grit ceramic rods in them, to the hand held carbide bit sharpener. Both types of knife sharpener have the edge angles preset to take out the guesswork for you. Just read the directions and you are on your way.

The guided knife sharpening system that comes in many flavors as well. This type of system has multiple preset edge angles and the sharpening materials which come in everything from natural stones to synthetic stones, to diamonds are generally guided by a rod that you stroke across the knifes edge. Again, just follow the instructions and you will be sharpening like a pro! Systems like the Lansky sharpening system and the Edge Pro are excellent values and produce razor sharp edges.

The V guided sharpener system is another good choice in sharpener. This type of sharpener uses rods made of ceramic, diamond, or carbide and preset at certain angles. Draw the knife blade down the rods multiple times to achieve a sharp edge.

The electric knife sharpening system is made by many companies and come in simple models with only two preset angles to home professional models with up to four slots for more angle and polish options. Just slide the blades through the slot as prescribed by the instructions and your knives will get real sharp!

A good choice if you are looking for an electric sharpener then one of the best is made by the Chef’s Choice company. It is a small machine and powerful. These are just a few ways you can learn how to sharpen knives without the learning curve of traditional benchstone knife sharpening. Remember, a safe knife is a sharp knife.

If the thought of working with knives and stones gives you some anxiety then an electric sharpening system is definitely the way ahead for you.

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14
Jul 10

Ways to Make an Oak Kitchen Cart Work in Your Space

An oak kitchen cart is quite inexpensive and it’s the perfect solution if you don’t have an island. You can find these in all different kinds of stores and in all different kinds of price points. However, since this is so common it can end up looking a little bit boring. Here are a few ways that you can tie it in with your overall kitchen design style.

Consider changing up the color to make it more elegant. If you go with a very black or dark stain it’s going to look modern and contemporary which is very difficult to do when working with an oak wood. If you just wanted a high end piece then try going with a cherry or very deep walnut stain. It’s perfectly acceptable to have two different tones of wood in your space. This is a way to get a more updated color if you’re sick of your cabinetry, but you don’t want to go through the hassle of refinishing everything.

Another thing is to give it more of an island feel so it feels a little bit more built-in. This is going to make it seem less like a portable cart which can seem quite cheap. You may want to just get some barstools and turn it into a little eating area. You can also have a lot of fun by the type of surface that you choose for the top. This could be stainless steel, butcher block, or even granite. It allows you to get your dream workspace quite inexpensively and it’s portable as well.

You might want to go with a rustic design style. This is very evocative of the country kind of style. This can be very casual in feeling and is very easy to live with. Plus, it’s one of the least expensive decorating themes out there and you can use a lot of what you already have in your room.

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8
Jun 10

Some pretty handy home appliances

When it comes to furnishing your home or apartment with major appliances, there are some that most people simply couldn’t live without. Some of the bigger and more obvious ones would include a refrigerator, washer and dryer, gas or electric stove / oven combination, probably even a microwave. Those are the biggies, and some would certainly argue that even those could be left off the list in extreme minimalistic scenarios, but we’re not here to talk about minimalism. We’re here to talk about stuffing our homes with as many gadgets and appliances as we can fit into the space.

While the electric oven gets most of the praise around the house for its ability to cook large meals, sometimes you may not need that much power. You can certainly save on energy costs and cooking time by investing in a relatively new kitchen gadget that goes by the name Halogen oven.

A halogen oven utilizes both convection and conductive heating to evenly and quickly cook your foods. That’s really just fancy speak for saying that a halogen bulb produces an intense direct heat, while a motorized fan blows the heat evenly and rapidly around the glass cooking vessel. These two heating elements allow for much quicker cooking times, and you can even cook foods that are frozen solid without worrying about drying out the food or even burning it.

The opposite of the halogen oven would be the slow cooker, or the crock pot as it is often referred to as. A slow cooker allows the home chef to create woderfully delicious recipes without having to slave over the food all day, or even spen an enormous time prepping the ingredients for preparation. Crock pots are ideal for soups and stews, and are almost a must have for any serious home cook, or a family that must come up with creative dinner recipe ideas on a daily basis.

These are just a couple of examples of kitchen gadgets that improve our quality of life. There are several kitchen appliances that make life a bit easier, and that’s really what we’re looking for as home owners, to be sure.