Fridges: Taken For Granted

 

Well, last night my fridge died, late. I thought I had overpacked the freezer so I moved a couple of things into the fridge as stuff didn't seem to be chilling right.

This morning, it was all thawed. I had a big water mess to clean up and the fridge was dead. I took the fridge and freezer contents, loaded them into shopping bags, and chucked them on the balcony (already thawed out though).

Then I called the super. Well, shortly, a new fridge appeared. I'll shortly get into the rant, but let me give you the gist: Newer ain't necessarily better.

So, my old fridge, I had to look up to see what was on top. This one, that's at about eye level. That means it lost a couple of inches in height and this means less interior space.

The freezer is bigger (sort of good) but this is a newer fridge hence more insulated hence more energy efficient but at the cost of interior space (bad).

I think the newer fridge is slightly narrower, hence less internal space (bad).

And then we get inside. Formerly, I had 3 full width door shelves. They were full of condiments, dressings, and so on and a wine bottle on the door as well. There was a butter storage thing, but it housed a block of butter and some honey (separately). But that was a third or less of the top shelf!

Now, the new one has a third of the entire vertical space devoted to pop can storage shortening all 3 shelves. There wasn't room in the old fridge for pop cans AND what in heck do you do if you are a healthy eater? That space is *wasted*. I tried to put in condiment jars, but most are taller than the pop cans and bind on the shelves preventing the door from closing! So I lose a third of the door space right off.

Then we have the 2/3rd width middle shelf as one big (and mostly useless) dairy holder. Geez, Louise. I didn't even use the old one for its intended purpose!

Then we have the top shelf that won't accomodate any jar or bottle higher than about 2.5"! A tobasco bottle (small) will jam the door from closing! So that shelf is nearly useless for most condiments or jam containers or the like.

No middle shelf (dairy container), a third of the space missing for pop cans (on all shelves), a useless upper shelf (for anything of any height), and a smaller overall width: NOT ENOUGH SPACE!

So where do all of these condiments end up? Tightly packed into the first and second shelves of the fridge (and not leaving room for much else!). Good luck trying to find anything now. And digging for condiments will be really 'energy efficient' as heat leaks out the open door and must be replaced.

This is how all of the new fridges appear to be designed and it's crazy. It assumes everyone drinks pop or other canned stuff and wants to allocate the space for that. That alone was a bad design decision. Then having a useless upper shelf and a less than useful oversize dairy container in the second shelf compound that.

And the third shelf: On the old fridge, I'd store a staggered double-column of condiment containers. The new third shelf is only 2/3rd as wide but in theory is as deep (if you look at the placement of the front bar that holds things in), BUT the scultped part of the door that sticks out underneath IS NOT. So I can put in two or three really wide things, but not the staggered double column. MORE wasted space.

So, suddenly, I have a poorly organized smaller space.

I also have a a pile of food that has thawed and needs cooked more or less now. And then I have to figure out where to store this food. I'm not sure how I'll do that right now.

So, love your fridge if you have a good one. A full sized one. Full sized fridges have gotten better over the years (bottom freezers, in some cases top compressors, well laid out doors and shelves) and the small apartment fridge has, IMO, become a piece of poorly designed junk. (And the warranties on these are very short too)

I may have to get a separate mini fridge just for the condiments, jams, sauces, etc. to clear them out of this poorly arranged new fridge. THAT's energy efficient! I'm glad this fridge uses a couple of less kW per year, given it means I'll be runnign a SECOND one.

Now that's Green!

Anyway, back to cooking. And trying hard not to grind my teeth.

Because I always like to leave posts here on a good note:

Muskoka Hefe Wiessbier - made with hops, malt, water, and some Bavarian strain of yeast by the Muskoka craft brewery in Bracebridge, Ontario - get some! It's a great taste with fruity hints and a wonderful flavour. I poached some sausages in the half-glass I didn't drink and they were marvelous.

Cheer up, Tis The Season!

 
 

The cost of doing it yourself (in the kitchen)

Well, I went shopping for 'a few things' and $201 later, I'm home.

Of course, then I decided the bottom drawer in the fridge was a bit of a mess and I'd need to wash it before dropping vegetables in it. Then I realized the shelf above it was a bit in need of one too. Then, after removing that unit, discovered the bottom of the fridge interior (under the drawer) was *really* in need of a cleaning. So, while things melted around the kitchen, I cleaned.

Having shopped at the 24 hour Sobbey's (and might I add, they are not much of a place for jam makers or canners - they don't stock no-sugar-add Pectin), I didn't get home until 0015 HRS and the unloading, storage and cleanup have taken me until now (0130 HRS). It's annoying, but it feels good to have it done.

I have plans to make a batch of peach jam and a batch of raspberry jam this week (batch = 5-8 250 ml jars) once I get the right Pectin and a silicon-tipped spatula with a stainless handle (it turns out silicon-tipped plastic handled spatulas can't handle the high boiling temperatures of jam with all that sugar - at least the handle can't).

But I digress, which is not unusual.

I was planning to address the cost of doing it yourself, particularly as it pertains to pizza.

Now, I remember a day in university where Peter, Paul and I would buy a big rectangular pizza shell (Paul made a few in his bread maker too) and I recall them being pretty cheap. We'd buy a big bag of shredded cheese, a pepperoni to slice up, some tomato paste, and usually on some part of it, Peter and I would sneak green peppers (Paul had a policy of not eating anything green). As I recall. this construction might have cost $15-16 or so and should probably have fed 4-6, but we were pizza demolition men in college, so it fed 3 hungry techie geeks. So, $5 a head, $2.50 a head if you had eaten normal amounts. These are 1995 dollars, so we must account for 14 years of inflation too. According to the Bank of Canada, this would be $19 in 2009, so $6.33 a head, for pizza pigs.

Now, contrast that with my trip to Sobbey's.

2 pizza shells with sauce - 5.49
2 Greem Pepper - $1.28
Pepperoni - $4.49
Bag of Cheese - 7.19
+ Tax Total = 20.85

Assume for a moment this makes two pizzas, which would be enough for 3 pizza pigs or 6 normal humans. That's $20.85/3 = $6.95 per. Compared to the adjusted-for-inflation 1995 dollars, we can see about a 10% increase in costs. Part of that is GST hitting all sorts of things now and part of it is that dairy and wheat costs have grown out of proportion to inflation (I believe... seems that way if you look at the cost of cheeses, pasta, bread and milk).

Overall, home-made pizza (cheese, pepperoni and peppers) costs about what it used to, give or take. That's my first conclusion.

On the other hand, a McCain pizza with meat, vegetables, and cheese was on sale for $4.00, premade. No preparation. Two of them would match our do-it-yourself plain old pizza for $8.00 + tax. vs. $20.85.

You tell me.... is it cheaper to roll your own and prep your own meals? Add in some sort of time cost for your own prep time and that two pizza set would likely cost you $30-40. And the two pre-made ones (and you can get two with different, but good and tasty, contents) are $8.00 + tax.

Here is where we see how the movement towards home food preparation is dragged out into the back alley and beaten senseless. Yes, when you roll your own at home, you can add more herbs, crumble some italian sausage onto it, use organic vegetables and a multi-grain pizza shell (the McCain was multi-grain too). You do get more selectivity of ingredients (at further added cost). But even the baseline pizza is at a minimum 2.5 times more expensive if made at home than the pre-packaged one.

Now, if you made your own pizza shell, it might drop to 2.2 or 2.0 times more expensive. But the economy of scale and process McCain works on is telling, even ignoring any of your own time/labour costs! If you factor them in, the comparison is even worse.

Ultimately, most families can't afford to be all that choosy about what they eat. Many are living hand to mouth. When the difference between slow food, home prepared and pre-prepared mass-production food is on the order of 2 times or more... they would be insane not to opt for that. And this is my second conclusion from looking into this.

I'm not sure the comparison extends the same to all meals, but these are my observations from the pizza front.

Beer from the kitchen counter!

Beer brewing kitchen counter.

I think this would be the most awesome kitchen counter I can imagine. Except maybe if it contained a single malt distillery.

Neat Teapot

Something else I need - a full fledged teapot!

Soho 30 Teapot

This one includes its own integral, non-crocheted cozy and an infuser cage for loose leaf tea. Pretty slick little unit. There's a two cup and six cup version. (16/40 oz)

Nice!

Things My Kitchen Should Have

Things I my kitchen needs for completeness:

• Salad fork and knife (I have a glass bowl, so something nice to go with that theme)
  
• Butter Dish, Milk/Cream Jug, Sugar Bowl - either French white or some nice shade of mocca or bay leaf green
  
• Larger pairing knife - 5 - 6"
  
• Vegetable chopper (ideally with a cresent blade that you can rock back and forth)
  
• A good blender (capable of dealing with ice with equanimity, all stainless or stainless + ceramic parts, dishwasher-able)
  
• Slush machine (you can now get small ones)
  
• Nice pot rests (at least 4) for serving onto table
  
• Another 4 setting Corelle-wear set in bay leaf green and black (not the best stuff ever, but I now have 4 settings)
  
• Rack(s) for cakes/etc to cool on
  
• Rack for doing bacon in the oven
  
• Three roughly 4" pyrex bowls with about 45 degree sides (a standard shape, I just seem to lack this critical size)
  
• Roasting pan that will fit my oven (24")
  
• Instant Read Food Thermometer