29 Things To Stop Buying in 2021

[Tezza]

There are definitely similarities between cooking a meal and writing a song on a DAW, probably too many to list.

[Shane_B.]

19 minutes ago, Tezza said:

Non stick frypans, I hate them and they are completely unnecessary but if you go to a shop to buy a frypan, they are all coated with these cancer causing chemicals. I won't use them, just use uncoated skillets and woks which I have to get from special shops. I worked in a Chinese restaurant from about 14 to 18 and that influenced the way I cook. I've always enjoyed cooking whether by myself or for others. With woks, it's about knowing how to treat the wok and with non-coated pans it's about olive oil and heat control. If you use the heat correctly, you won't get sticking.

Yepper. My mom used cast iron frying pans. Never had anything stick.

[Notes_Norton]

I disagree with:

* Eyeglasses: I tried contact lenses, and they didn't work for me.

* Multivitamins: Since I am on the keto diet (lost  pounds) I need the vitamins I don't get on this diet.

The rest on the list I've either already quit buying or never did buy.

Insights and incites by Notes

 

[Bruno de Souza Lino]

3 hours ago, Tezza said:

There are definitely similarities between cooking a meal and writing a song on a DAW, probably too many to list.

You could say that most modern songwriting and mixing is the equivalent of a fast food meal. You eat it and can't even remember how it tasted like because the experience is not memorable.

[Tezza]

10 hours ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

Is there a word for the audiophile version of a cook?

I don't know but in bands, the term "cooking" is sometimes used when the band is gelling together well and pumping out a great sound ie "we are really cooking now".

[Tezza]

10 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

Yepper. My mom used cast iron frying pans. Never had anything stick.

Cast iron, stainless steel, anything except dementia causing aluminum or cancer causing non stick frypans. I've had cast iron but man they are heavy, I bet you never got into an argument with your mum while she was cooking in the kitchen.

[Tezza]

7 hours ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

You could say that most modern songwriting and mixing is the equivalent of a fast food meal. You eat it and can't even remember how it tasted like because the experience is not memorable.

With jingles, commercial, video accompaniment  and EDM it's a bit like that for me, but with my old originals, they are like a fine wine that has aged, sometimes for 40 years, and are only now being savored. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Tezza

[Starise]

14 hours ago, Tezza said:

There are definitely similarities between cooking a meal and writing a song on a DAW, probably too many to list.

Yeah but you don't get to eat the song afterwards.

 

16 hours ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

I believe till this day that orchestral libraries have a personal vendetta against the percussion section. Either you don't have all the instruments, they're poorly represented, don't have all the articulations and so on.

If I use anything it's mostly timpani for orchestral work sometimes I use snare drum with pre programmed rolls. Compared to a rock band I guess it's pretty tame, but yeah I hear you. If making anything cinematic with big drums I have to reach for another program. I have epic drums but haven't used it much. Mainly because I don't have a need for intense cinematic tracks right now. 

14 hours ago, Tezza said:

Non stick frypans, I hate them and they are completely unnecessary but if you go to a shop to buy a frypan, they are all coated with these cancer causing chemicals. I won't use them, just use uncoated skillets and woks which I have to get from special shops. I worked in a Chinese restaurant from about 14 to 18 and that influenced the way I cook. I've always enjoyed cooking whether by myself or for others. With woks, it's about knowing how to treat the wok and with non-coated pans it's about olive oil and heat control. If you use the heat correctly, you won't get sticking.

I still use a rice cooker which is basically a none stick fry pan with high sides. If teflon is deadly I'm probably going  to die from it because I have used those kinds of pans up until about 5 years ago when I switched to  an old style cast iron pan. They say if you go black you'll never go back...I think they mean't something else but it applies here  I love to cook too and it shows because I have to sample my food. I like large samples.

14 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

Yepper. My mom used cast iron frying pans. Never had anything stick.

Knowing you Bub that isn't why your mom had the cast iron frying pan.

13 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

* Eyeglasses: I tried contact lenses, and they didn't work for me.

Same here. I might try them again though because I hate wearing glasses. 

[Bruno de Souza Lino]

3 hours ago, Tezza said:

Cast iron, stainless steel, anything except dementia causing aluminum or cancer causing non stick frypans. I've had cast iron but man they are heavy, I bet you never got into an argument with your mum while she was cooking in the kitchen.

Well, you're not supposed to eat aluminum or teflon and using it correctly ensures you don't end up with those materials in the food. It's a solved problem. But, people never follow instructions. Toothpaste manufacturers keep telling people that their product is not edible, yet people keep eating it and telling the big evil corporations are causing them cancer because of the fluoride in the paste.

Next time people will tell old crock pots are better than new ones, despite old pots using sealants that have lead in their composition. Do anything with acidic food inside them and all that lead goes to your food.

Edited January 26, 2021 by Bruno de Souza Lino

[Tezza]

47 minutes ago, Starise said:

I still use a rice cooker which is basically a none stick fry pan with high sides.

Yes, if I do eat chicken or fish, I normally boil it in one of those steamers, bottom pan has chicken or fish in it with boiling water and then the one on top that acts as a steamer has whatever vegetables in it. You can put 1cm triangular cut potatoes in it together with a few 1cm thick slices of sweet potato and a couple of peeled small size carrots, let that steam for about 5 mins then add broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower or cabbage/beans and half a tomato, let that steam for another 5 - 10 minutes while you do the gravy in another saucepan and then serve. "Roast" dinner in 15 minutes, with the saucepans washed in that time as well, then some balsamic vinegar on the greens and some mayonnaise for the carrots....anything can be cooked in the steamer in 15 minutes. The key is size and hardness, cut chicken or fish into 1cm slices so it cooks faster and the harder vegetables go in first, softer don't need as much. Gravy takes 5 minutes with the powder dissolved in cold water first then added to the water in the pan (that you got from the bottom steamer) then dilute a couple of teaspoons of cornflour in tiny amount of cold water and slowly add that till you get thick gravy.

Whole thing takes 15 minutes, can also put eggs in bottom or the vegie patties in.

If I'm making rice dish, I boil that in a pan and use the wok for the vegies and sauce, again, 15 minutes. I only cook for 15 minutes at the most to make 1 or 2 meals.

Edited January 26, 2021 by Tezza

[PhonoBrainer]

15 hours ago, Tezza said:

There are definitely similarities between cooking a meal and writing a song on a DAW, probably too many to list.

Whenever I start cooking a meal, I finish it, the same day.

I don't have a kitchen full of a hundred started meals in varying stages of undoneness. 

[Notes_Norton]

We don't use Teflon or aluminum ether. We use cast iron or stainless  steel, although some of the steel pans have aluminum bases for heat transfer, but the food doesn't touch the aluminum.

If you put cold oil in a hot pan, the food doesn't stick anyway. A chef we got to know in one of the Yacht Clubs we play frequently taught us that.

Plus the iron and steel pans last almost forever. Teflon does not. Keeping pans for a lifetime means less trash in the waste stream and less pollution from manufacturing new ones. Plus the Teflon and Aluminum are not supposedly good for your health. The manufacturing of Teflon pollutes the aquifers for huge areas around the plant. Depending on the aquifer, it could be larger than the state the plant is located in.

There are YouTube videos that show you how to use a few drops of water to see when the pan is hot enough,

I just think a few extra steps to be kind to our environment are worth it. And if I've erred on the side of conservation, it's better than erring on the side of pollution.

Insights and incites by Notes

 

[kitekrazy]

16 hours ago, Tezza said:

Non stick frypans, I hate them and they are completely unnecessary but if you go to a shop to buy a frypan, they are all coated with these cancer causing chemicals. I won't use them, just use uncoated skillets and woks which I have to get from special shops. I worked in a Chinese restaurant from about 14 to 18 and that influenced the way I cook. I've always enjoyed cooking whether by myself or for others. With woks, it's about knowing how to treat the wok and with non-coated pans it's about olive oil and heat control. If you use the heat correctly, you won't get sticking.

At one time non stick coatings killed pet birds.  We grew up with iron skillets.   In some areas people use electric stoves and the higher end stoves don't allow for iron skillets.

[Starise]

1 hour ago, Tezza said:

Yes, if I do eat chicken or fish, I normally boil it in one of those steamers, bottom pan has chicken or fish in it with boiling water and then the one on top that acts as a steamer has whatever vegetables in it. You can put 1cm triangular cut potatoes in it together with a few 1cm thick slices of sweet potato and a couple of peeled small size carrots, let that steam for about 5 mins then add broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower or cabbage/beans and half a tomato, let that steam for another 5 - 10 minutes while you do the gravy in another saucepan and then serve. "Roast" dinner in 15 minutes, with the saucepans washed in that time as well, then some balsamic vinegar on the greens and some mayonnaise for the carrots....anything can be cooked in the steamer in 15 minutes. The key is size and hardness, cut chicken or fish into 1cm slices so it cooks faster and the harder vegetables go in first, softer don't need as much. Gravy takes 5 minutes with the powder dissolved in cold water first then added to the water in the pan (that you got from the bottom steamer) then dilute a couple of teaspoons of cornflour in tiny amount of cold water and slowly add that till you get thick gravy.

Whole thing takes 15 minutes, can also put eggs in bottom or the vegie patties in.

If I'm making rice dish, I boil that in a pan and use the wok for the vegies and sauce, again, 15 minutes. I only cook for 15 minutes at the most to make 1 or 2 meals.

Chicken and steak tend to cook on the outside before they cook on the inside. I have one of those insta pots I sometimes use for those. It has a stainless steel pot in it. Those pots will steam and slow cook. If I'm cooking outside I usually put steak  in an aluminum pan marinated and covered in foil in the top of my grill for about 45 minutes, same for chicken. The grill gets to 650/700F  that's about 370C. This cooks the meat well inside. Then I remove it from the pan and finish cooking it on the grill surface. A friend gave me one of those ceramic "egg" cookers which I smoked brisket on this past summer using wood chips. Nothing like the smell of meat smoking  in the summer. In the winter I'm mostly either slow cooking or I put the meat in the oven and broil it.

I use a standard iron frying pan for wok style cooking. I can get steamable vegetables you simply microwave and that's even better yet. I steam precooked shrimp with old bay seasoning to lock the flavor in. Only takes less than 5 minutes once they get to temp..

I prefer outdoor cooking to indoor cooking. I use a Blackstone outdoor griddle in the summer in addition to my regular grill. It's great for Asian style food. You just dump the mixed vegetables with shrimp on it and cook away. No cracks for food to fall through.  A great way to make cheese steaks too. 

For eggs - Did you ever use one a microwave egg cooker?  1 minute and you have two cooked eggs. No grease. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Starise

[paulo]

52 minutes ago, Paul Young said:

At one time non stick coatings killed pet birds.

I'm no expert, but I suspect that frying them in a regular non-coated pan wouldn't do them much good either...

[Shane_B.]

40 minutes ago, Paul Young said:

At one time non stick coatings killed pet birds.  We grew up with iron skillets.   In some areas people use electric stoves and the higher end stoves don't allow for iron skillets.

The nonstick stuff is ok if you don't overheat them or accidentally scuff the surface. People ramp up the heat to get them warm enough to cook faster and burn the coating or chop and scrape with a metal spatula and scuff it up. That's bad. I got one of those single burner countertop induction plates. I haven't used my regular stove since and I've had it about 3 years. The pans heat to temp in about 10 seconds and you select the temp so you never get anywhere near the danger zone.

But, for breakfast on occasion I have cornbread made in a cast iron skillet in the oven. Nothin' like it. Get the box mix, add real butter and replace the water with regular 7up (not diet). Cornbread, scrapple, eggs, percolated coffee. That's living. Scrapple is what's leftover after a hog is butchered. Ground up and pressed in to a grey block. Chunks of grizzle, hair. It's all in there. You slice it and fry in cast iron with oil and get it crispy and smother it with molasses. Can't get it here in MO. It's a PA/Northern NJ thing.  ???

Here's a good video on how to season cast iron and make it nonstick. 

[Shane_B.]

17 minutes ago, paulo said:

I'm no expert, but I suspect that frying them in a regular non-coated pan wouldn't do them much good either...

And you owe me one keyboard and possibly a monitor after the projectile coffee incident just now. ?

[paulo]

3 minutes ago, Shane_B. said:

And you owe me one keyboard and possibly a monitor after the projectile coffee incident just now. ?

Should have gone for the non-stick keyboard and monitor.

[craigb]

10 hours ago, Tezza said:

I've had cast iron but man they are heavy...

Heh, my roommate went to one of the top three culinary schools when he was young, so it seems like there's always a heavy pan being "seasoned" on the stove...  He's not the most "attention to detail" guy around and I've found the stove on low a few times when I check things before going to bed!  At least we don't need to go to the gym after moving them around.

[Tezza]

8 hours ago, emeraldsoul said:

Whenever I start cooking a meal, I finish it, the same day.

I don't have a kitchen full of a hundred started meals in varying stages of undoneness. 

Good point! I have a similar situation as I am sure many do but we can learn from the cooking example, your music needs to be both "cooked" and "served". you have to pick one of the "recipes" that you have and bring it to fruition one at a time, then you will both cook and serve more songs. More of your recipes need to make it on to the plate. Otherwise you risk overwhelming listeners with half baked songs.