Never mind dedicated power tools, how many of us, as I do:-
Using the bandsaw, slice frozen loaves when the bread runs out,
Slice frozen pasty to save thawing too much,
Cut meat joints to provide enough for meals,
Cut frozen pies and puddings, sometimes in nice shapes for treats.
I usually use metalworking blades anyway and after such use am careful to blow out the saw to avoid contaminating the wood on subsequent use.
If the food is not frozen and might crumble then I can recommend use of those plumbing freezing sprays to firm up the work on a temporary basis. take care however to not refreeze once the effects have worn off or localised cracking of the blade may occur.
Replies
lots of tools do double duty in the kitchen.
When I have a hankerin for figs and prosciuto, I find it is cheaper to buy a whole ham unsliced and then run it through the table saw.
We all know how essential the router is. With the right bits, smoothies, ground beef or cole slaw are just seconds away.
Outside the kitchen, uses for our power tools are limited only by our imaginations. Rather than load wood scraps into a barrel for transport to the disposal site, I find my table saw kickback feature transports scraps effortly and speedily right out the door and into the woods.
When sawing prosciutto on the table saw, don't forget to salvage the "saw dust", it's great for Carbonara sauce !C.
One would NEVER use prosciutto in carbonara, only good pancetta. Prosciutto is far to dear to use like that.
You are right of course, but what would you do with the San Daniele "dust" ?
You can't just have it sucked up by the dust collector, can you ?C.
Don't forget your spray gun!!
Martha Stewart showed how to use your finishing equipment to make a Centerpiece for the table at Christmas.
She said to boil the carcass of the Thanksgiving turkey. This makes a nice soup stock, and it completely cleans the bones of the skeleton of the turkey. Let it dry completely. Then spray paint the skeleton gold turn it upside down, and put it in the center of your table, as a holder for your Christmas cards. It kinda looks like a sleigh.
And there is your biscuit joiner. Take any nice melon and use your biscuit joiner to make cuts all around the outside of the melon. You can then insert 1/8" thick slices of various fruits, such as kiwi into the slots for a delicious as well as beautiful and creative centerpiece.
Two judicious shots from your nail gun will release the milk from a coconut while leaving the rest of the coconut intact. Be sure to use a backer board. Always practice safe food preparation.
If you have a wheel of Parmigian cheese that needs grating quickly, long light passes with your biscuit joiner will make short work of it. It is good to have a large plastic as a cheese collector.
To make very nice small fruit baskets, make 3/4" thick slices of cantaloupe that are about 2" wide by 4" long. The cantaloupe should be firm, not ripe. Use a lock-miter bit on your router to join the four pieces as you would the the four sides of a box. Make sure the bit is correctly adjusted for this to work well. If you rout a 1/8" slot about 1/4" up from the bottom on all four of the cantaloupe slices before you join them, you can use graham crackers for the bottom.
I am glad to see some like-minded woodworkers and chefs out there.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
My drill press sure can core a mean apple. They don't call it a chop saw for nut'n. KP duty is fast and easy with my joiner. Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same without carving up a turkey with my ROS.
I don't feel you can really join with the soul of the food with power tools. A truly savory butt steak is far better worked with a bow saw and a chisels than with impersonal power tools. Where is the handworked character? How are you really distinguishing your work from the crap at Red Lobster or (shudder) McDonald's?
It can be just as efficient to use well-fettled hand tools to slice prosciutto as any dangerous and expensive table saw. When the discriminating gourmand bites into your bruscetta, don't you think he appreciates the subtle difference from slice to slice, artifacts of the care and love you've lavished on it?
I know a lot of people claim that the great period chefs would have "used a microwave if they'd been available." That's silly. Where would they have gotten the electricity anyway? And back then it would have taken forever and cost a fortune to get parts from overseas.
If you want to use your table saw to help you prepare a meal, do it the right way. Use it as a work surface, and coax the best out of your materials the way our forefathers did.My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
I wholeheartedly agree.
There is something very special about a grilled cheese sandwich when the cheese has been carefully sliced with a well tuned #4 plane.Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
What about Carpaccio ? The only way to slice the meat is with a low angle palne !
A block plane is perfect for truffles.
As a matter of fact LN is starting a line of special stainless steel tools just for the kitchen!C.
As you may already know, a stainless meat and fish blade , is excellent for veneer and joint cutting!
Less waste, better finish.
Any fan of Julia Child remembers when she used a plumber's torch on creme brulee.
What sort of drill bit would be best for whipping cream? Forstner or spade? Whichever you use, be careful when you lick it!
Rather than carrying kitchen work into the shop, I've done the reverse -- carrying shop work into the kitchen. A dishwasher does a good job of cleaning motorcycle parts.
"A dishwasher does a good job of cleaning motorcycle parts."
There's a redneck joke in there somewhere!Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
Now years back I rebuilt my Douglas Dragonfly m/cycle in the living room but I never would have asked my MOTHER to clean up for me. Shame on you!
I cringe to remember it but I also sprayed it's predecessor ( a mark 5 Douglas ) in the living room. Well I was young and not very bright. I'm older now.
Re my first post I was not kidding.
Was that the flat twin?
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
Yes, both were 350cc flat twins. Then I progressed to a 75/6 750 BMW and 18 years later to a 750 Kawasaki Vulcan, when I started falling off. Sold it to buy a bigger bandsaw, at least I do not have to pick it up very often.
Do you ride easy?
Started out with BSA Lightnings back when, had a smattering of rice rockets since, sold the last one a Suzuki GS1100 about 5 years ago when the fear of getting hurt overcame the pleasure of riding. Too much traffic here and too many near misses. I do miss the Beezers though. I remember seeing a Douglas flat twin years back, way smoother than my vertical twins.
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
Oh- Oh - Ohh, big big stuff! Still our roads are winding. The dougies were smooth if gutless and strangely seemed to be designed for people shorter than me. Like you I miss my bikes.
Hey, I'm planning to buy a Vulcan 750 later this year. :)My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
Well mine was a Californian import ex a US serviceman and was well sorted. All I did was alter the bars to half height, fit a front fork brace and, most important, wire the oil cover on the side of the gearbox so it would not come off. That was after a friends did and dump the oil! I am sure you will like it.
Someone (here I think) once mentioned that a coworker of his brought in some meat and cut it up on the bandsaw, then spent most of a day cleaning the thing up. Maybe it wasn't frozen meat...My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled