New TV Pasta Cooker

Recipes that work best for teardroppers

Postby madjack » Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:51 pm

Dean in Eureka, CA wrote:My glass French press, which sets into a steel cage like sheath has been all over the world with me and on all camping trips... somewhere along the line it did get a small chip out of the glass on the rim, but still makes great coffee... providing I remember to bring along my grinder.


Dean, if you forget the grinder, just use a sock and a hammer...I hear it works great :lol: ;)
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Re: A French Press Coffeemaker

Postby bobinohio » Fri Jan 20, 2006 5:27 am

Guy wrote:How about using a French Press Coffee Pot. That way you would also get a great coffee pot for the same price. And a built in collander


That IS an idea! Coffee flavored pasta. Who needs bacon and eggs?

Guy wrote:They have polycarbonate unbreakable French Presses. They are actually the lowest priced presses. Also today for the irst time I saw insulated thermos types.


I might have to try one of these... just for coffee. Or doing double duty. Come to thnk of it, asparagus might be a better fit.

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Postby bobinohio » Fri Jan 20, 2006 6:07 am

gailkaitschuck wrote:7 p.m.. Oops, too late!


Rats!

gailkaitschuck wrote:Report....the French Press (which supposedly holds 8 cups) was not tall enough to place the spaghetti noodles in without breaking them in half (no biggie except some like long noodles).

I poured the boiling water in, put the top back on, let it sit for at least 10 minutes. The press made draining easy. The spaghetti was done but "al dente"; a bit chewy (which lots of folks like). Not really sticky at all. Pretty tasty.

The next trip to Lowes, I'm going to see about getting a piece of ?3 inch? ?4 inch? PVC pipe and end caps and do a bit of experimenting with that.


Thanks for the report. I was kind of wondering about sticky. There's nothing wrong w/ "al dente"- "crunchy" is bad,

Just for grins I checked some volumes. Eight cups in my coffee maker equals 38 oz. or 1.18 guarts.

12" of 3" pipe is about 1.5 quarts.

12" of 4" pipe is about 2.6 quarts.

The larger pipes hold more water (heat) so the pasta should be more tender...??? Also uses more water and takes longer to heat.

I found a clean 3" cap while looking for something else- might have to buy the pipe. Also saw a 2" "test cap". Forgot all about those... they're cheap lightweight doodads that fit inside the pipe for pressure testing the drains in new constructon. Too light for the bottom but might make a strainer... if they come in 3 or 4 inch.

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Postby gailkaitschuck » Fri Jan 20, 2006 9:25 am

Sounds like a trip to Lowes is on the schedule for me this weekend. I wanted to go there already to get some knobs for the cabinets in the galley. I'll add wandering around (my way of finding things in big box stores) in the plumbing department to the list.

We've spent so much money at Lowes that I think, at some point, an aisle should be named after us.

Perhaps if this works out, there's a new business for us; White TV Pasta Express tubes.

Gail

P.S. I wonder if the same principle would work with rice....although with regular rice, steeping would have to be longer.
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Postby bobinohio » Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:09 am

gailkaitschuck wrote:We've spent so much money at Lowes that I think, at some point, an aisle should be named after us..


:lol: :lol: :lol:


gailkaitschuck wrote:Perhaps if this works out, there's a new business for us; White TV Pasta Express tubes..


Not only white. Also tan and then there's black (abs) for those who never wash the things. I'm not sure if the green stuff comes in small sizes- 6" (?) is the smallest I've seen.


gailkaitschuck wrote:P.S. I wonder if the same principle would work with rice....although with regular rice, steeping would have to be longer.


I hate to say it, but I've never made "real" rice any way but in an electric rice cooker ...and I don't like instant rice. Just from looking at Joy of Cooking it might work. I'll have to see what Fannie Farmer says...
:thinking:

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Postby gailkaitschuck » Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:31 pm

Made my PVC pipe Pasta Express over the weekend. Ended up using 2 inch pipe as there are just two of us eating the pasta and 3 and 4 inches seemed gigantic.

Cut a piece of pipe roughly 15 inches long; attacked a coupler and plug at the bottom (so it would sit flat). The top is a detachable end cap and another "thingie" (geeze; I forgot the name) that I drilled holes into as a strainer (cost 54 cents).

It worked quite well with spaghetti. Will eventually try it with rice. Total cost was probably around $9 (the majority of that for the 5 foot pipe).

Easy to transport. Would also make a good weapon to bonk all those bears I was worried about a couple of months ago.

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Postby bobinohio » Thu Jan 26, 2006 5:18 am

gailkaitschuck wrote:Ended up using 2 inch pipe as there are just two of us eating the pasta and 3 and 4 inches seemed gigantic.
...

It worked quite well with spaghetti. Will eventually try it with rice. Total cost was probably around $9 (the majority of that for the 5 foot pipe).


Wow. I wouldn't have thought that a 2" water column would contain enough heat to cook it. They are selling a smaller version though. Just think how much energy we waste cooking pasta at home...

I found some 3" pipe that I cut to 13". The 3" caps were rounded and I didn't want to get involved buying fittings... and ...there was the 3" closet flange sitting around... It does give a nice stable base.

I haven't tried it but the pressure test closure built in to the flange looks pretty solid.

gailkaitschuck wrote:Easy to transport. Would also make a good weapon to bonk all those bears I was worried about a couple of months ago.

I suppose... :lol:

Around 1970 I attended a summer seminar at Virginia Polytech for HS students considering a program in forestry. The subject of bears came up. A professor assured us that the prefered method was to step slightly to the side as the bear charged. Then shove your hand down its throat, grab the base of the tail, and jerk it inside out.

Happily I've never had to put this piece of advice to the test, but simply offer it for what its worth.

Bob
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Postby gailkaitschuck » Thu Jan 26, 2006 7:34 am

When you begin testing yours out, report how long it took to get "al dente" pasta. I've found that having it sit a bit longer (~13 to 15 minutes) worked fine; I suspect this is more a reflection of the smaller volume of water with the 2 inch pipe.

A larger pipe (more boiling water) may result in a shorter cooking time.

And yes, you are correct; perhaps what we need to do when cooking pasta on a stove is what we do with rice; get the water boiling, add the product, turn the heat off and cover tightly. I'll try that sometime but it might be a while; I'm getting kinda sick of spaghetti right now :lol:

Interesting info on the bear business! We're in the process of purchasing some land in the country about 40 miles from Augusta. A good place to eventually have a teardrop gathering although right now it has no water, electricity or septic tank.

As we were checking out the boundaries last weekend, Bill commented that we're likely to see all sorts of critters but PROBABLY no bear. ?PROBABLY?!!!! Remind me to pack the pasta express when we go camping out there.

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Change Gail's Title

Postby Guy » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:23 am

Dear Administrators,

You probably understand that for me, an Italian, what I will say is heartfelt.

Gail should get the title "Pasta Momma" for her dedication for advancing the art and science of pasta making with teardrops!

Remember, Gail, pictures are a godsend, and Andrew's cad drawings a plus.
Regards,

Guy
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Postby bobinohio » Fri Jan 27, 2006 5:51 am

gailkaitschuck wrote:When you begin testing yours out, report how long it took to get "al dente" pasta. I've found that having it sit a bit longer (~13 to 15 minutes) worked fine...

...I'm getting kinda sick of spaghetti right now :lol:


I'll be trying mine tomorrow and will report.

Also, in the interest of science, I'm trying a new canned "WHITE CLAM SAUCE with "Olive Oil". Its not hard to make but sometimes you don't want to be bothered. ...Better be good for the price- even if it was in the part of a "junk" store with the sardines that were canned in places where some believe mercury should be added to fish as a spice.

Guy wrote:Gail should get the title "Pasta Momma" for her dedication for advancing the art and science of pasta making with teardrops!


:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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Postby bobinohio » Sun Jan 29, 2006 8:07 am

I tried my 3" pasta cooker last night. It did work.

At 11 1/2 " tall mine holds about 44 oz. of water. It was 38 degrees and my Harbor Freight (6000 BTU) single burner stove the cold water came to a rolling boil in about 6 minutes. I poured it in with 1# of el cheapo brand spaghetti. At 8 minutes the tops were al dente. The bottoms of the... strands were stuck together and "crunchy" in the middle- you have to stir or shake a time or two. After another two minutes the bottoms were OK. If I had stirred, 8 minutes would have been OK.

It was pretty starchy (or "sticky/ slimy" if you prefer). I'm going to guess that the $29.95 TV version comes with instructions that include:

1. "Preheat the tube with hot tapwater." That would certainly help in cooking.

2. And something like, "For even better results..." or, "For a healthier, lower starch..." change the water in the tube halfway through the cooking process.

3. Or maybe a blunt, "Rinse the spaghetti before serving."

If you change the water you loose much of the convience. But cleanup was easier since no heat was applied to the pan with starch in the water. My little burner would, during the summer, bring water to a boil fast enough to work (you thought that extra information was padding- didn't you?). During the winter I'd need a fire or a much larger or two burner stove to work. Another of the advantages was simplicity- as in one burner for sketti AND gravy. At home you could rinse in hot tapwater and "beep/ nuke" it after adding the sauce.

Higher quality pasta might help too. I intentionally chose the cheapest I could find.

Worth it? Not at the cost of an Earl Schieb paint job... but for the cost of PVC... yeah.

Some other adventurous soul will have compare the merits of spaghetti tubes vs. cooking pots as bear defense weapons! :lol:

Bob
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Postby Laredo » Sun Jan 29, 2006 4:16 pm

Ok. Addenda:

For wide noodles (linguine, fettucine) this is a great idea too. I'd go with the preheat feature also. Put the noodles in the warm, wet cooker. Add 1/2 teaspoon of melted butter or good olive oil and a pinch of salt. Add your boiing water. Seal your cooker and give it a couple of good shakes. At the four minute mark shake it a couple more times.

If you've got a spare one around wrap it in an insulating shell.

O, by the way -- this method is a modification of a method for making pasta or soup using dehydrated mixes for backpackers. The basics are in a book called something like "The Hiker's Bible".

And if you really have to watch the thing cooking, buy some clear PVC from usplastics.com.
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Postby gailkaitschuck » Tue Jan 31, 2006 10:11 pm

Be careful if you preheat your pasta tube with boiling water and then shake. I tried that twice last night and it blew the end cap off the tube. If this happened when one was shaking the tube, they might run the risk of getting burned.

When I simply poured the boiling water in and capped it (no shaking), this did not happen.

For what it's worth..

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