Still plenty of time to shop for outdoor-minded people
01.01.70
This is the third of a four-part series about Christmas gifts
for outdoors-minded people.
Yes, time is growing short, but there is still time to purchase the
perfect Christmas gift for family and friends.
Camping gear
Now this is a mouthful of a subject. The scenarios are numerous.
Beginning campers are an example and they need everything. I think
of most well-cared-for camping items as lasting a lifetime or for
generations. The mistake in this way of thinking is the fact
camping equipment continues to improve.
A Coleman lantern, which needs to be filled with fuel and pumped
occasionally to maintain pressure, continues to hold a bit of
camping passion and romance for me. My father told the story of
remembering kerosene lamps and the poor light they provided,
leaving much of the room in darkness.
Next came the Coleman lantern and the room was filled with an
abundance of light. One of his childhood memories was turning off
the lantern and the last bit of pressure allowing him to hightail
it to bed before the light faded completely. The Coleman lantern
was replaced by a single light bulb hanging in the middle of the
room.
Source: Columbia Basin Herald
Nanoceramic pans keep food from sticking
01.01.70
So why are we talking about nanotechnology on the food page?
Because nanoceramics have made a big entrance into cookware and have changed our idea of nonstick coatings.
Until recently, the most common nonstick cookware coating has been polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), usually referred to by its DuPont brand name, Teflon.
Teflon does keep your eggs from sticking, but it has issues. When it rises to temperatures over 500 to 600 degrees, the material starts to break down and release chemicals into the air and any food that might be in the pan. Most cooks are familiar with the smell of a nonstick pan that has gotten too hot. It's extremely easy to overheat one when it's empty, and still easy even when there's food frying in it.
Many sauteed dishes require high heat to get the quickly caramelized exteriors you're looking for, but reaching for it decreases the life of your nonstick cookware and is possibly dangerous to your health.
A second problem is that overheated Teflon starts to chip and wear off, and eventually, even a babied Teflon pan simply wears out and becomes rough and a lot less nonstick than when it was new. Since you can't scrub it very hard to remove the resulting stuck-on crud without further damaging the coating, it's a downward spiral.
Source: Evansville Courier & Press
