I bought myself a cutting board for Christmas. I wanted a thicker board, because my counter tops are low for someone my height (6' 3"). I needed to raise my  cutting surface. I bought an extra thick Boos block - 2 ¼ inches - and I love it.

Except…

I didn't oil the board regularly. It got dry, and started to absorb flavors. Now everything I cut on it picks up an onion and garlic smell.
Sure, that seems like a good thing. Who wouldn't like some extra flavor? Until I carved a pineapple on the board. Ick.

How do you get rid of that smell? There are countless home remedies, most using salt and lemon. Sprinkle the board with salt and scrub the salt into the board with the cut side of a half a lemon. The salt acts as an abrasive, scraping the surface clean; the acidic lemon juice soaks into the board, acting as a disinfectant and cleaner.

How to Clean a Cutting Board

Adapted from: Cutting Board Care & Maintenance [JohnBoos.com]

"Ingredients"

• Salt (I use kosher salt, because it's easy to sprinkle by hand)
• 1 lemon, halved
• Paper towels
• Mineral oil (or other food safe cutting board oil. I use Boos Mystery Oil )

Directions

1. Sprinkle the board with salt

2. Scrub the salt into the board with the cut half of the lemon, squeezing the juice out of the lemon and onto the board as you go.

3. Flip the board and repeat on the other side
4. Let the salt and lemon sit on the board for 5 minutes
5. Rinse with hot water, then wipe the board dry with paper towels.
6. Rub the entire board with mineral oil, working the oil into the board. Keep adding oil until the entire surface of the board looks glossy.

7. Let the board rest overnight, and add another coat of oil if the wood looks dry.

8. Remember to oil the board more often.

Notes

• Step 8 is the important one - keep ahead of the smell by oiling the board more often. (Or at all…shame on me.) Rubbing the board with mineral oil once a month - or whenever the wood looks thirsty - means I won't need the lemon-salt scrub. But, since I'm a lazy cook, I have a feeling I'll be re-reading this post down the road.

Related posts

Things I Love: Heavy Wooden Cutting Boards

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The inside of my grill. Yikes.

A question from a reader:

Do you have any tips on cleaning your Weber Summit 650? I have the 450 version, and it looks pretty gross, but still works like the day I got it 5 years ago. The smoker leaves some pretty nasty brown stains on the front lid.

For day to day cleaning, I clean the grill grate part of my preheating routine. I turn the grill to high, let it heat up for 15 minutes, then scrub off the charred remains of my last dinner with a grill brush. I use the grill often enough that a post-grilling burn off isn't necessary, unless I made something really, really messy.
Like, say, cheeseburgers that dripped cheese into the bottom of the grill. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Once a year, in the spring, I do a deep cleaning. I buy a new grill brush, a pair of cleaning gloves, and a nylon paint scraper. Then I mix up a bucket of soapy water, get some garbage bags, and spend an afternoon going after the gunk in my grill. It's amazing how much better it seems to work after a thorough cleaning.

...

OK, I have to confess. I'm a grill slob. I forgot to clean my grill last year. My excuse is my rotisserie cookbook - I was still working on it when I usually clean my grill. I put off grill cleaning to work on recipe testing. Then pictures. Then came summer vacation. Pretty soon the leaves were turning, suddenly it was snowing, and a year had slipped by.

I got away with it for a while...but the lack of maintenance was catching up to me. I've had more dripping grease catching fire than usual. I tried to cook last week's butterflied chicken recipe using indirect high heat. It was medium at best. It was time to clean the grill.

Here's what I thought:

Great! At least I'll get a blog post out of it - a pictorial on cleaning a grill. Let's get started, and...oh my goodness. There are drifts of greasy, carbonized stuff on the bottom of the grill. Those look like...onions? Is that a runaway asparagus spear? And, what's that smell - oh, yuck, the grease pan is growing fuzz.

I gave up on the pictorial the moment I saw the bottom of the grill. I had too much work to do.

That's the bottom of my grill, not the mouth of an active volcano.

So, what do I do when my Weber Summit is a real mess? (With commentary.)

1. Make a trip to the hardware store. Pick up:
   1. "Reusable" kitchen gloves (Only using once, but I need the thick ones)
   2. Narrow nylon paint scraper
   3. New grill brush
   4. Bottle of cleaner
   5. Paper towels
2. Start on the outside: spray the outside of the grill with a grease cleaner, and wipe it clean with paper towels. (Repeat three times, then give up on the grease stains that are left, with a plan of coming back with serious cleaning products, like Bar Keeper's Friend. Or maybe napalm.)
3. Clean the inside of the grill, working from the top to the bottom:
   1. Use a nylon putty knife to scrape lose the flakes of soot that accumulate on the top of the lid, letting them fall into the bottom of the grill.
   2. Brush the grill grate clean with my old grill brush - this is the one time of year I flip the grates over and brush the underside. Remove the grates. (Regret cooking cheeseburgers the night before cleaning the grill. Mental note: do a burn the night before cleaning the grill.)
   3. Brush the flavorizer bars (burner covers) with my old grill brush. Brush them over the grill, so anything that comes loose drops into the pan for later cleaning. Once a flavorizer bar is clean, put it back and move on to the next one, and work over the other burner covers, not the uncovered burner - we don't want the stuff coming off the covers from clogging the burners. Once all the flavorizer bars are clean, remove them to get at the burners. (There is stuff on the underside of the flavorizer bars that needs to be brushed off. How in the world did it get UNDER v-shaped bars?)
   4. Brush the burners, using the brand-new grill brush for the first time. Brush across the burners, so anything worked loose doesn't just move to a different burner opening. (Keep brushing and brushing on a burner hole - why won't that stuff in there work loose?)
   5. Scrape the bottom of the grill with the nylon paint scraper. Scrape top to bottom, left to right, pushing everything into the drip pan in the bottom of the grill. (Holy cow, this stuff is at least a half an inch thick. No wonder I had grease fires. Is that an orange peel? No, can't be. Maybe it's an onion skin. Yuck.)
   6. Slide the drip pan full of debris from below the grill, put the opening for the grease pan over a garbage bag, and scrape the debris through the hole and into the garbage. (There's so much carbonized food in here...No, I'm wrong. It's half grease, half carbon. How is that even possible?)
   7. Remove the aluminum foil pan from the grease pan holder, discard, and replace with a new one. (DETAILS REDACTED - potential biohazard.)
   8. Reassemble the grill. Slide the drip pan back under the grill, put the flavorizer bars in place, and put the grates back. Discard the old grill brush, hang the new one from the hook on my grill, and I'm done. The grill looks like new. (Like new? No, but at least it's clean...ish. The burner tubes are clear, and I can almost see the metal on the inside of the grill.)

The bottom of my grill, after scraping everything down into the drip pan. I couldn't work any more of the burnt stuff off the body of the grill (top and bottom of the pic).

Pictures and Videos

Since I got distracted by the actual cleaning, here is a pictorial from my friend Mike at Another Pint Please, using the exact grill I own:

• The Spring Cleaning Grill Workout, AnotherPintPlease.com

And here are cleaning videos from Kevin Kolman, Weber's Grill Master.
Yes, that's Kevin's job title, "Grill Master". I talked with him last year; his job is traveling the country, demonstrating how to use Weber grills. Forget what I said in the grilling cookbooks post a few days ago; I have a new dream job. If Kevin wasn't such a nice guy, I'd be jealous.

Spring Grill Cleaning, [Weber.com/blog]

Don't have a Weber grill? These instructions are useful for any grill, but check if your manufacturer has specific instructions for your brand. And have I mentioned recently that customer support is one of the reasons I always recommend Weber grills?

The outside of my grill. Again, yikes.

Weber Cleaners

Weber is looking out for me again - they introduced a range of grill cleaning products this year. They have grate cleaner and degreaser, grill exterior cleaner, a stubborn stain remover, and stainless steel cleaner. I used the exterior cleaner on the outside of the grill, then followed up with the grate cleaner as a degreaser for the tough spots. It cut through most of the mess on the outside of my grill, but I think I need a bottle of the stainless steel cleaner to get the soot stains off of the hood, and the stubborn stain remover for the burnt on grease around the edge of the grill.

Here's a link to the Weber Cleaners website. [WeberCleaners.com]

FTC Note - this post was not sponsored by Weber, no matter how much I gush about them. If you buy something through my Amazon links, I get a small commission. Thank you. And, buying something or not, get out there and clean your grill!

What do you think?

How often do you clean out your grill? Questions? Leave them in the comments section, below.

*Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner using the RSS or Email options on the right, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site, or donate through my tip jar. Thank you.

Spring grilling - need a few more coals on the fire.

(I wrote this last week. Today, my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston.)

Every spring, grilling fever strikes. I'm tired of snow, cold, gray days. I want to be outside...cooking every meal over live fire. I'm scanning the weather for days with less than a 50 percent chance of rain. (Fifty percent...that means I still have a chance!)

While I wait for the showers to pass, here are five fun food finds from across the web.

1. American meat industry moving to uniform, simplified naming standard

...what once was called pork butt - and actually does not come from the pig's nether region - will now be called a Boston roast and be described as a bone-in pork shoulder.
[J.M. Hirsch, AP News: Meat industry to reboot labels to help consumers. h/t Lisa Abraham, Ohio.com]

I'm sad my beloved Boston butt is going away. "Boston roast" doesn't make me giggle like an eight year old have the same ring to it.

But, this also means a t-bone now describes the same cut of meat from a cow, a pig, or a lamb. It makes too much sense.
Of course, expecting this to jump-start meat sales seems like a reach.

2. Maggi seasoning

Suddenly, Maggi seasoning! Sure, I'd see it at my local Asian grocery stores, but it was a once in a while thing. Then Charlie at the Ingredient List mentioned it on his blog. Now, every time I turn around, I see a bottle. I bought one the other day; still haven't used it. I'm waiting for a soup that needs extra umami.
[h/t Charlie, TheIngredientList.com]

3. Weber Gourmet BBQ System - Korean Barbecue insert

Weber made new inserts for their Gourmet BBQ system. The Ebelskiver Pan seems like an insert too far - do I really want to grill Danish pancakes?

The Poultry Roaster looks good, if you want to roast a chicken beer butt style. It's wide, stable, with solid handles - there's a lot less chance of the chicken flopping over and dumping beer everywhere. Even so, I'd rather use a beer can. I can fit two beer butt birds on the grill, maybe three if I squeeze them in there. What can I say? I like to live dangerously.
And? I told you I like saying "butt". I'm really going to miss my butt roasts. giggle.

Then there's the Korean Barbecue insert. It's styled after the domed charcoal braziers used at Korean barbecue restaurants, where diners cook thin slices of meat at the table. This one fits in the the middle of the Gourmet BBQ system grill grate. Do I need this for Korean barbecue? No, of course not; I can grill it on the regular grate. But it is intriguing enough to be on my wish list.
[Source: Weber.com]

4. The iSpoon

Speaking of silly...

I use my iPad all the time in the kitchen, to check recipes and play some tunes while I cook. Someone had the bright idea of replacing the handle of a wooden spoon with a tablet stylus. When I first saw this, I laughed. Would I buy one? Of course not.

And yet...and yet...every time I have to clean my hands to swipe the iPad, I think about it. If they made it with a flat edge, I'd be in trouble...
[h/t Charlie Sorrel, CultOfMac.com]

5. It's Hard out there for an Individual Blogger

I still have to accept a fundamental truth: my traffic stats and my ability to reach new readers is increasingly out of my hands.
[Dan Koontz, The Current State of Individual Blogging, CasualKitchen.blogspot.com]

Preach it, brother! Sometimes, writing a one person blog feels like the scene in Van Halen's Right Now video - "Right now, forces are aligning against you."

So, what have you found recently? Share your food finds in the comments, below.

Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner using the RSS or Email options on the right, link to this post from your blog, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.

I've been waiting for this book for ten years. I'm a loyal Cook's Illustrated subscriber, and I bought my first pressure cooker in 2003, based on their review. Cook's trickled out a pressure cooker recipes over the years, but not that many. I wanted to see what Cook's ultra-analytical style would bring to pressure cooking.

But that title - perfection? That's a strong claim. I know it was probably the editor, unable to resist the alliterative P in the title. But still. And then the introduction made me sit up:

In the many months of testing, we did come across an interesting fact. Almost all the times listed for basic pressure cooker recipes (vegetables, grains, etc.) were incorrect. We spent weeks testing the basics, getting the timing right, and we have included reliable charts so that you can use the pressure cooker as a useful cooking tool day in and day out.

Was this it? The book I've been waiting for?

Um…no.

Now that I have it in my hands, I'm disappointed. I believe them when they said they took months to test all the recipes. It's what they do. But…

The Good, The Bad, and The Weird. A three part review of Pressure Cooking Perfection.

The Bad: Confusing the pressure indicator with high pressure.

The Fagor Duo is their best buy pressure cooker. It is on the cover, and in all the pictures in the book. (They have a different "best" cooker, but you never see it other than in their equipment review section.) I owned a Duo for years, and it's a great cooker; I passed it on to a friend, and she's still using it.

My trusty Fagor Duo 10 quart pressure cooker

But the Duo doesn't work the way the book says.

From Pressure Cooking Perfection:

Some pots have a knob that you turn to low or high (called 1 or I and 2 or II on some pots), which allows you to indicate your target pressure level before you start to bring the pot up to pressure. The pressure indicator will rise when that pressure level has been reached. [Emphasis mine]

and

Once the lid is in place, heat the pot over medium-high heat until the pressure indicator signifies that you have reached the desired pressure level. On some pressure cookers, you have a knob that allows you to select high or low pressure and you simply wait for the pressure indicator to signify your chosen pressure level has been reached [Emphasis mine]. On other pots, the pressure indicator will have markings for low and high pressure that you have to watch for.

For comparison, here's what the Fagor manual says about coming up to pressure:

When the pressure indicator has risen and steam starts to come out of the operating valve for first time [Emphasis mine], lower the heat to maintain a gentle, steady stream of steam. At this moment, the COOKING TIME STARTS and you have to start timing you [sic] recipe.

See the difference? Pressure Cooking Perfection is mistaking the pressure indicator for high pressure. The pressure indicator just means the cooker has some pressure, but it pops up as soon as the water in the pot is boiling. It means pressure is starting to build, not that high pressure is reached. The pot is at high pressure when it reaches 15 psi (roughly 1 bar), and there is enough pressure to push the spring in the pressure valve slightly open. The escaping steam tells you the pot is at high pressure. This is a big deal for any pot with a separate pressure indicator and pressure valve, like the Fagor Duo.

They do get it right with "other pots" - on some cookers, like my Kuhn Rikon, the pressure indicator doesn't work like an on/off switch. It slowly rises, and the indicator has markings for low and high pressure.

Second red ring on the pressure indicator means high pressure.

Why am I so worried about this? Recipe timing is critical with pressure cooker recipes, because the lid locks once it comes up to pressure. (Which is what the pressure indicator actually shows - that the cooker is locked.) Once the lid locks, you have to trust the recipe's timing.

The Fagor looks like the cooker they used, from all the pictures in the book. And they're starting their timer before the pot is up to high pressure, according to Fagor's own manual. Less than a dozen pages in, and I'm suspicious of all the timings in the book.

That quote from the introduction, about "incorrect times"? There's a reason their times don't match anyone else's - and it's not because everyone else is wrong.

And then? They make the same mistake with electric pressure cookers.

From the book:

There is a lag between the time the electric pots come up to pressure and when the timer starts, which led to overcooked food when preparing recipes with short cooking times.

Again - electric pots do know when they are at high pressure. They have sensors that detect when the pot has reached high pressure and start their timer. The book is making the same mistake, confusing the pressure indicator with reaching high pressure.

I went from thrilled to have the book to highly suspicious of their results…and I hadn't reached the first recipe yet.

The Weird: Dried bean timings - so short they look like misprints

I've spent a lot of time trying to get pressure cooker beans right. Most pressure cooker cookbooks underestimate bean cooking time. The dried bean chart was the first thing I checked - I hoped their thorough testing would lead to better bean cooking times.

Then I got the next curveball - the bean cooking times were short. Really, really short. According to their table, soaked pinto beans should cook for three minutes at high pressure, with a natural pressure release. Garbanzo beans and kidney beans? Five minutes.
And, after their pressure indicator issue, I assumed the timings would be extra long, not short.

Every other pressure cookbook says it should take ten to twelve minutes to cook soaked beans at high pressure. (Including the manuals that came with the cookers). My experience is it's more like fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty with a batch of older beans.

Why the different times? Pressure Cooking Perfection calls for 4 quarts (16 cups) of water to cook 1 pound of beans. Other pressure cooking cookbooks (and the manuals that came with my pressure cookers) call for 6 to 8 cups of water. That's a whole lot of extra water. Maybe they figured out how to deal with older beans, and had better results with more water?

I tested this technique with pinto beans (because I had a big bag in the pantry). I followed their soaking instructions: dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt in 4 quarts of water, then soak one pound of beans overnight. I cooked the beans at high pressure for 3 minutes, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then quick released the rest.

That's when I figured out why they only cooked for 3 minutes under pressure. It takes forever to get 16 cups of water to boil. I did an old way/new way test. The book's technique (4 quarts of water/1 pound of beans/3 minutes high pressure) took longer than the the traditional technique (2 quarts of water/1 pound of beans/10 minutes under high pressure). Total cooking time was seven minutes longer for the Pressure Cooking Perfection technique, even with the shorter time under pressure.

And the beans? I have to admit - I went into the test with bias in my heart. I was sure three minutes under pressure wouldn't cook the beans. But, much to my surprise, the beans turned out OK.

I had some tough floaters, like I always do when I buy a bag of beans from my grocery store. The rest of the beans were cooked properly. Maybe a little on the underdone side, but not bad.

But, the beans tasted watery; the bean cooking liquid was diluted by all the extra water. The "old way" beans tasted better.
Both batches of beans were brined and drained; the only difference was the amount of water used to cook them.

The other problem with this technique: too much water for a smaller cooker. 1 pound (2 ½ cups) of beans plus 4 quarts of water takes a 6 quart pressure cooker over the "max fill" line - you can only use their technique with a 8 quart or larger cooker.

So, beans were inconclusive - much to my surprise, their method worked. But it seemed like change for change's sake; it didn't actually improve the beans.

Note: I emailed America's Test Kitchen, asking if the bean timings were misprints. They never responded. The rest of the book's timing charts, for meat and vegetables, look reasonable. A little on the long side, but that's what I expected with the pressure indicator issue.

[Update 2013-04-09: An editor from Cooks Illustrated contacted me, and forwarded my question on to the book department. Stay tuned for what they have to say.]

The Good: Finally, the recipes

By this point, I was prepared for disappointment. Then the book surprised me again. But this time, it was a good surprise.

The book is full of solid recipes. The timings all look good - maybe a little on the long side, but not completely out of range with my own findings.

The following recipes went on my "must make for dinner" list:

• Farmhouse Chicken Noodle Soup (using a whole chicken in the pot)
• Sirloin Beef Roast with Mushrooms
• Chickpea and Artichoke Tagine
• Macaroni and Cheese

The pressure cooker pasta technique is a winner. They suggest cooking pasta like risotto, with just enough water to cook the noodles. This makes Macaroni and Cheese a one pot meal - no separate boiling step, just stir in the milk and cheese once the noodles are cooked.
My version of their recipe for Mac and Cheese is coming Thursday.

Luckily, recipes with dried beans ignore the bean timing chart and the massive amounts of water. Chickpea Tagine cooks for 25 minutes at high pressure, not the 5 minutes suggested in the chart. Cuban black beans also take 25 minutes under pressure, with a natural pressure release, and some extra simmering at the end.

All the recipes I've tried have worked well. I think their testing time was spent working on the recipes, and it shows.

So, what does it all mean?

I wanted to love this cookbook, I really did. But I was disappointed. I have a lot of respect for Cooks Illustrated; they taught me a lot of what I know about cooking. This book doesn't live up to their standards.

If you're new to pressure cooking, don't start with this book - you need a better basic reference. Get either Lorna Sass or Miss Vickie for your first pressure cooking book. This one is good for later, once you know how to use your pressure cooker, and need some new recipe ideas.

Recommended with Reservations.

*FCC Disclosure - I did not receive any compensation for this post, and purchased Pressure Cooking Perfection with my own money. If you buy a copy through my Amazon links, or anything else for that matter, I get a small sales commission. Thank you!

Related posts

"Housekeeping Week" continues on DadCooksDinner. I have a list of non-food topics to discuss. Rather than trickling them out, I'm publishing them all this week...kind of like ripping off a band-aid. Thursday will be back to normal, with a recipe post.

TL;DR version: Do you follow DadCooksDinner through Facebook? Do you see all my posts? (Or, any of my posts?). Help me understand what's going on by leaving a comment. (Not a Facebook person? This is not the post you're looking for, please move along...)

...Still here? OK, here we go...

My brother-in-law is a big Facebook user. We were chatting at my niece's birthday party, and he said "So, you started on the blog again?"

I asked him what he meant. He said this was the first post he's seen in months on Facebook; he assumed I was on an extended blog vacation, and just started writing again. I frowned and told him I've been here all along, posting two to three times a week.

I thought something like this was happening. Late last year, I think Facecbook changed the way Pages (like my blog page) are shown to followers. I have 700+ followers; according to Facebook's tracking, new posts reach 150 to 200 of them. This is a noticeable drop; early last year, I would reach 250 to 300 people with each post, and that was with fewer followers.

Around this time, Facebook started asking if I'd like to pay for "promoted posts". I'm sure this is a complete coincidence.

Nice blog you've got there…it would be a shame if it disappeared…

But…I'll be the first to admit that I don't get Facebook. I could be missing the point. I don't use my personal Facebook account; I go directly to the DadCooksDinner page to see if there are any comments to answer.

That's where I get even more confused. There are a group of people who regularly like and comment on my Facebook posts. So, I haven't disappeared from Facebook - I just don't get seen by as many people, somehow.

So, I'm reaching out to my readers. If you follow me on Facebook, can you explain what's going on?

1. What do you see? And where do you see it?

Can you explain how you find my posts on your Facebook page? I post every Tuesday and Thursday - Do you see everything I post? Or do you only see some posts? Or a post once in a blue moon?

Do you have to go somewhere special to see my posts, or do they show up in your news section?

2. Do you only follow through Facebook?

If you're following me through Facebook, is that the only way you follow me? Or do you use one of my other subscription methods as well (RSS, Email, Twitter?)

Finally…

If you're following me on Facebook, and you're wondering where I went (like my brother-in-law), maybe you should subscribe via Email or through a RSS reader. You'll get to read all of my posts that way.

Of course, according to my conspiracy theory, Facebook followers will only see this post if I pay Facebook to promote it. Oh, the irony…

Let me know what you think. Leave a comment in the comments below. Oh, or on my Facebook page, of course.

"Housekeeping Week" continues on DadCooksDinner. I have a list of non-food topics to discuss. Rather than trickling them out, I'm publishing them all this week...kind of like ripping off a band-aid. Thursday will be back to normal, with a recipe post.

TL;DR version: If you follow DadCooksDinner, and you want to support me directly (instead of buying my cookbook or buying something through my Amazon links), you can now send me money through my tip jar.

Want details, including financial info for this blog? Keep reading.

Email from a reader:

Just bought a rotisserie grill and stumbled upon your site for recipes. I plan to use a few over the next few weeks. It's a shame that I (and others) cannot compensate you (in a an easy way) for your valuable information. I don't own a Kindle so I won't be buying your book and I'm too lazy to deal with the Apple bookstore.

BUT, if you set up a link to Paypal, and continue to do what you do, I can send you $5 as my way of saying, thanks bro. (No, this is not a scam and I don't work for Paypal.)

Suggestion from a reader in Austin, TX, edited to protect the innocent.

Can I work for tips? Should I?

I had a Paypal tip jar set up years ago, before anyone actually read my blog. In six months, no one ever used it. So I took it down.
I had the analytics to prove no one was reading. Except family members. (Hi mom! Thanks for reading!)

It's time to try again. As an experiment, I'm adding tip jar and subscription buttons to DadCooksDinner. If you want to support the work that goes into this blog, make a one-time donation or small monthly subscription through this link:

Since I'm shamelessly asking for money, The least I can do is share the finances of a a mid-level food blog.
And I mean that. It's impossible for me to do less.

Blog Economics

Income

Here's my blog income breakdown.

Book sales: 45% of my income

The moment I published it, my cookbook became my highest source of income. Thank you, everyone, for buying my cookbook!

Amazon Affiliate payments: 35% of my income

If you click through one of my many Amazon links, and buy something before you close your browser, I get a sales commission.

Personally, I like this approach to supporting blogs, If I'm buying something from Amazon, I go to a site I like and click through one of their Amazon links. Amazon will send a small commission to the blogger, and I don't pay any extra, because Amazon charges the same prices either way.
The only downside is...Amazon addiction. I'm trying to cut back, but it's hard. So, so hard.

Advertising: 20%

I have BlogHer and Google ads. This used to be a major source of income for me, but it is falling fast. I think Internet advertising is in a race to the bottom, cost wise, and my payments are dropping because of it. My blog traffic roughly doubles every year, but my advertising income has stayed about the same.

I stick with BlogHer because I like their community and the support they offer. I stick with Google because of their analytics, because they host my blog on Blogger.com, and because they provide the ads for the occasional YouTube video.

Sponsored Posts: 0% to 5%

Occasionally, I write a sponsored post through BlogHer. I keep editorial control, and the sponsor pays to have an ad and links on that post. Sponsored posts pay reasonably well, but they're rare. I get one every six months or so.

I'm going to start selling sponsored posts on my own…I think. If you know of a business that's a good fit as a sponsor, tell them to contact me.

The problem with sponsored posts is the quality of the sponsor. I get some offers for sponsored posts, but most of them are kind of shady - people asking to write paid guest posts on topics that aren't related to home cooking. Thanks, but no thanks.
It happen often enough that I saved a "not interested" keyboard macro. It gets used every couple of weeks. And don't get me started about requests to write for free so I can get "exposure" on their sites...

Expenses

I don't track expenses as carefully as I should. The blog itself isn't very expensive - I pay a few dollars a year for the domain name, and a few more for my RSS/Email feed. I'm hosted on Google's blogger.com, so I get free hosting until I use up the 10GB of space they gave me. At my current rate of growth, I've got a few years to go before I have to pay for extra storage.

The real expenses are food costs. And, to a lesser extent, kitchen gadgets. When I have an expensive purchase, if I remember to get a separate receipt, I can expense it on my taxes, and offset some of my earnings. But, usually, my costs are rolled up in my weekly grocery bill.
I have to eat those costs. Get it? Eat? Bwahaha!

Effort

I average fifteen hours a week on the blog. That includes writing, cooking, recipe testing, photography, formatting posts, email, and comments.
I spend at least an hour on weekdays, and more on weekends.

Then comes indirect time - reading books, magazines, and other blogs; visiting specialty food stores; trying out new recipes and techniques. Food is my hobby, so this " research" is what I do for fun. I'd do it even without the blog.

This time fills what's left after shuttling three kids to events and convincing my wife I didn't forget about her.
Where do I find the time? I don't watch TV. At all. Only the occasional live sporting event, mainly Browns games in the fall. And, after the last few years, I should skip the Browns. I'd have less heartburn on Sundays.

Totals

How much money am I making? I'm too shy to give an exact dollar amount. But…after four plus years of blogging, my income is almost enough to pay for groceries for my family of five. Still not enough to make a house payment, though.
To narrow it down even further, our grocery bill falls between the "low cost" and "moderate cost" weekly averages according to the USDA.

That's gross income, not net - like I said, this is my hobby. I ignore taxes and expenses; when I get a check from the blog, I spend it. Usually on a cookbook, or another kitchen gadget.
Then, when April 15th rolls around, I regret that I ignored taxes and expenses.

Take my income, subtract the expenses, and divide by fifteen hours a week and I make…yikes. I'm not quitting my day job any time soon. I can always dream about "retiring", and blogging full time - but then I look at college costs. With three kids, I'll be lucky if I can EVER retire, even if I live to be 99.

Thank you for reading. If you want to support the work that goes into DadCooksDinner, here's the link to the tip jar again:

Inspired By

Farnam Street Blog, Content Economics

Welcome to "Housekeeping Week" on DadCooksDinner. I have a list of non-food topics to discuss. Rather than trickling them out, I'm publishing them all this week...kind of like ripping off a band-aid. Thursday will be back to normal, with a recipe post.

TL;DR version: If you follow DadCooksDinner through a RSS reader, my feed is moving to feeds.feedblitz.com/DadCooksDinner.

Don't know what an RSS reader is? We're done here, you can move along.

...Still reading? OK, here we go...

Google Reader? No. No! Anything but that...

A moment of silence for the demise of Google Reader, my front page to the web. I have hundreds of feeds in it: food and technology, sports and politics, news and humor. Everything I follow on the web I follow through my RSS reader - and for years, that has been Google Reader. No more.
Why? Why?!? WHY?!?!? deep breath. OK, I think I can continue.

Beyond my addiction to Google Reader, I have concerns directly related to DadCooksDinner.

FeedBurner is Doomed. Dooooomed!

I depend on Google. A lot. DadCooksDinner.com is hosted on Blogger, google's blog publishing site; Blogger is also my blog editing software. My email is through Gmail. I think both of those are safe.

But, my RSS feed and email subscriptions run through FeedBurner, and I can see the writing on the wall. Feedburner will be the next to go. Google shut down advertising on FeedBurner, the analytics have been crashing intermittently. Feedburner is not being supported. It's just a matter of time before it gets the axe.

I moved my blog feed. If you follow me through email, you've probably noticed a change in formatting - that's my new feed service. If you read through RSS, you have to subscribe to my new feed:

feeds.feedblitz.com/DadCooksDinner

Tomorrow, I'm going to flip the switch to start forcing people from my old feed to the new one. Please update the feed in your RSS reader if you want to continue reading.
For my readers who have no idea what an RSS feed is, don't worry. If you don't know what it is, you don't have to worry about it.

What about me, and other small bloggers?

Half of my subscribers follow my blog through Google Reader. What is this going to mean for my blog traffic?

Google Reader is how I track smaller blogs, ones that post a few times a week or month, instead of a few times an hour. I can't be the only one who does this - what's going to happen when it's more difficult to follow smaller blogs?

Enough whining. What am I doing about this?

I'm a Mac guy, so I've been using Reeder on my iPad. It synced with Google Reader, and I love their iPad interface. The Mac version of the software is nice, and they've promised to come up with a replacement for Google Reader before it shuts down. My problem is, while I'm a Mac guy at home, I'm a PC guy at work. I need a reader with a web front end, that syncs across multiple platforms and computers.

I switched to Feedly. They made migration easy, and I love their web reader's list mode.

But the iPad version of Feedly doesn't have list mode. It only works in this awful magazine layout mode, with different sizes for different posts. I can't flip through each post, scanning the headline one at a time, like I could with Reeder. Feedly has multiple posts scattered across the page, and it slows me down to have to scan each of them.

I'm still looking for an ideal solution. So a question for my readers:

If you're a RSS addict (like me), what are you switching to? Talk about it in the comments section, below.

And don't forget the new feed:
http://feeds.feedblitz.com/DadCooksDinner

The RSS feed for DadCooksDinner is moving to:

feeds.feedblitz.com/DadCooksDinner

If you follow DadCooksDinner through a feed reader, and want to continue reading, please update the feed address.

Thank you!

(If you follow me via Email, Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, you shouldn't notice this change, and I'm sorry for wasting your time.)

Today's post is a celebration of a big, round number. This is the 600th post on Dad Cooks Dinner. When I saw that number in the Blogger dashboard, I was shocked. 600 posts? How long have I been doing this?

I've been doing this since August of 2008. Not that anyone noticed. The first six months were the digital equivalent of crickets chirping in the distance…but even the crickets weren't paying attention. The only readers were family members, and they only read when I sent out emails begging them to visit.
*And I wasn't above begging back then. Or now, for that matter…

Then, in April of 2009, it happened - my post about Rotisserie Cornish Game hens was ranked by Google. I started to get a trickle of traffic. Since then, it's been a slow, steady climb; In 2012, I averaged more readers per month than I did for the entire year of 2009.

Thank you to everyone who's stuck with me through the years. And for those of you who have gone back and read most of what I wrote, I apologize for all the flip-flopping. I'm writing these posts almost real-time, and sharing what I figure out in the kitchen. It kills me when someone leaves a comment asking why I said one thing in 2010, then another in 2012. I'm sorry! My cooking is evolving right along with the blog. I promise to keep you up to date with what I'm learning.

That's the fun thing about writing this blog - I keep learning new things. Something else is always coming up, be it technology, photography, writing. Or, of course, cooking. And don't get me started about kitchen equipment. I know I'm gadget obsessed. I try to live up to Alton Brown's "Death to Unitaskers" standard, but there's always another shiny new gizmo I have to try.
What's that? A flat gravy whisk? Oooh! I have to have one!

So, what important life lessons have I learned in 600 posts?

• Food is fun! Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Probably a diet.
• If you write with an open heart, readers will respond. There are a lot of good people out there, especially in the world of food. But...if the response is from a tone deaf Internet troll, it's a waste of effort arguing with them - block 'em and move on.
• Write about what you care about. I didn't write about rotisserie grilling because I thought it would be popular; I wrote about it because I couldn't find information to help me out. Some of my favorite posts are ideas that kept pestering me until I let them out. Go where the motivation leads you.
• Write what other people want to read. This is the flip side of the previous thought. You've heard of cooking with the seasons? Food writing doesn't follow seasons, it leads seasons. I celebrate every holiday twice. I cook a Thanksgiving turkey around Halloween, then again on Thanksgiving. There's a Super Bowl chili in early January, then again in February. There's an Easter ham…oh, crap, Easter is early this year! I'm behind schedule!
• To be a better writer, write. I cringe when I look back at my earliest posts. But then, I cringe when I look back on what I wrote last month. I could always use yet another pass through for editing.
• No matter how many times I proofread my own work, I always miss something. Until I post it and everyone can read it. Then the typo in the first paragraph jumps out at me. (A special thanks to readers who let me know about typos, missing ingredients, or instructions that don't make sense - I appreciate the help, and I can always use a second set of eyes.)
• Persistence is everything. There are days I don't feel like writing, when it's an effort to start typing. Some days it's a slog; it doesn't get easier. Other days, the words start flowing. Suddenly, hours have passed, and I've got a lot of to share. The difference between those two days? Beats me. They both seem pretty miserable when I start. But if I put my butt in the chair and start writing, more often than not, good things happen.

Thank you for reading. I hope you're still here when I get to post 1000!

Update: Uh, oh…this is actually post 601. Darn it! I thought I had the count right, but my Sunday "pic of the week" threw me off. Sigh.

What do you think? Questions? Favorite posts from the past? Leave them in the comments section below.

*Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner using the RSS or Email options on the right, link to this post from your blog, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.

A few cheap finds

I used to be a wine snob. Then I had kids.

My love of food is intertwined with my love of wine. Wine and food just go together, and I believe a glass of wine should accompany almost every dinner. My favorites were expensive wines from famous wine regions, especially ones I have visited. Napa Cabernet. Sonoma Zinfandel. Oregon Pinot Noir. As Napoleon said, I celebrate victories with Champagne, and need it after defeats.
*When I went to France, I had to take the TGV to visit Reims, home of Champagne. Had to!

When we were DINKs, that was fine. We could afford it. Once the kids started to arrive, expensive wine turned into a luxury, saved for special occasions. Did I give up wine? No. But I had to find cheap wine that I loved.

Except...cheap wine can be awful.

Allegedly, I'm just being a snob, and I can't taste the difference. It's all in my head, I'm being influenced by the labels, the price. It's all psychology, not taste.

In spite of all the studies, I know I can taste the difference.

That jug of Yellowtail, or bottle of Three Buck Chuck? Fruit bombs, with nothing interesting going on. I'd rather have water. (Or a beer - but that's another post.) I wish I could get all wine snobby and explain why - "they lack astringency, and the finish is too short" - but I don't have the words.

The best I can do is: good wines are balanced. Wine should have both fruit and structure. It should be buttery and acidic. It should have a balance of oak and tannins. Cheap wine tends to be the first (fruity, buttery, oaky) without the balance (structure, acid, tannins).

Now, I'm not against cheap wine, I'm against bad wine. The key to cheap AND good wine? Buy wine from off the beaten path. Look to South America and Spain in particular. And, try some new grapes, not the traditional Cabernet, Merlot, or Pinot Noir. If there is a local specialty, it has to be good to stand up to the classics.

Now, for some humble suggestions. I won't mention specific brands; wine laws are erratic, and distribution is spotty, so I have no idea what you can find. Trust the wine experts at your local stores - they'll have suggestions in all these categories.
Ohio has draconian wine laws. Whenever I visit Chicago, sparkling wine is much, much cheaper. I always buy a case of real Champagne, because it seems like such a deal. That's right, I'm a bubbly bootlegger in my suburban minivan.

Reds

• Spain - Tempranillo or Garnancha
• Argentina - Malbec
• Chile - Carmenere
• South Africa - Pinotage
• Southern France - Cote du Rhône (stick with the village blends; high end Chateauneuf du Pape or Hermitage are great, and expensive)
• California - Syrah/Shiraz, Petite Sirah

I drink big wine with some structure to it, and these wines all fit the bill. Again, I wish I could give you the wine snob play-by-play about each of these - "tastes like currants, tobacco, with a glassy edge and a hint of acid" - but my flavor memory isn't that good. These wines are in two groups - regional specialties from under appreciated wine regions (Spain, Argentina, Chile, South Africa), or under appreciated grapes from well known wine regions (Cote du Rhone, California Syrah or Petite Sirah).
Australia normally gets a mention here, but I'm not a fan of cheap Australian wine - I like it when it gets a little more expensive, in the $10 to $20 dollar range, and if you can find a good Australian Shiraz on sale, grab it. But the cheap Australian stuff doesn't do it for me.

Whites

• South Africa - Rhone-style white blends
• Italy - Pinot Grigio
• America - Pinot Gris
• Everywhere - Sauvignon Blanc (except, unfortunately, New Zealand)

As long as you stay away from Chardonnay, cheap white wine tends to be better than cheap red wine. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good chardonnay, but it seems like I have to spend a lot of money to get a good one. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would be on this list, except everyone figured out how good it is, so the price jumped. Now I'm lucky if I can find a bottle for under $15. Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris can be pretty bland, but they're perfect on a hot summer day, when I want something cold and acidic.

Pink

• French - Rosé (usually Provence, Rhone, or Languedoc)

Rosé is meant to be cold, crisp, and cheap. It is my favorite summer wine. And fall. And winter. Oh, and spring, for that matter. Luckily, it's not that popular here in the US (I think it's fallout from White Zinfandel) so it can be found with reasonable prices. There are some other regions making rose in the French style; South Africa and California are making some good, cheap versions, so keep an eye out.

Bubbly

• Spain - Cava
• Portugal - Vinho Verde

I drink a lot of bubbly. Spanish Cava is the real thing, and is a good substitute for Champagne or Napa sparklers. Vinho verde is a tart, slightly bubbly white wine; I almost put it in the white section, but it sparkles just enough to qualify here. It is another great summer wine.

Cooking

• Spain - Tempranillo/Garnacha blends
• France - Cote du Rhone
• Australia - GSM blends

When I use a wine for cooking, I want it to be cheap, a blend of grapes, and (usually) have some grenache in the blend. (If I'm putting a cup or two of the wine in a stew, I'm even cheaper than usual.) Cote du Rhone wines are the best example of these blends, but can get pricey, so I look to other regions for a really cheap ($7 or $8) bottle. This is where I break my "avoid Australia" rule; they make a number of inexpensive GSM (grenache, shiraz, mouvedre) blends. And, if I'm using half the bottle in a stew, I want cheap. I might even stoop to Three Buck Chuck.

Box Wines

I want to like box wines. I really do. I hate when I forget about a half a bottle of wine, and find it a couple of days later, when it's already gone.
The box wine concept should work; seal three bottles worth of wine in a plastic bag, keeping oxygen away so the wine can't oxidize.
The problem? The wine they put in the bags. Ugh. Even the newer "high end" boxes don't really do it for me - all the ones I've tried are fruit bombs, like I mentioned above. I keep trying them, hoping I'll find one I like, but so far I've been disappointed.

Final Notes

• I don't mean to talk trash about your favorite wine. If you're a fan of Black Box Cabernet, or love Yellowtail chardonnay and drink it by the jug, more power to you. I wish I could enjoy it as much as you do. (Or, at least, my wallet wishes I could…)
• How do you find what you like? Taste a lot of wine! If your local wine shop has a tasting, visit it. If your grocery store is giving out samples, try them. If you're in wine country, visit wineries. Then, if you find something you like, and the price is right, buy some.
• Local wine shops love to make recommendations. Give them your price range - don't worry about seeming cheap - and they'll be happy to work with you. And, if they're not? Move on to the next store. High end grocery stores often specialize in wine, and they'll have someone on staff who will happily make recommendations. Ask for a mixed case - you'll get 10% off the total price - and see if you like the recommendations.
• Take what they recommend, buy the case, go home and drink it. (This is research.) If you liked their suggestions, keep going back and giving that person your business. And if one of the wines was a particular favorite, go back and buy a case!
• And, when you're asking for help, don't worry about wine snobs. The vast majority of people who work in wine shops do it because they love wine, and want to share. They're looking to create new wine lovers, not lord over you with their knowledge. And if you do run into a snob? Like I said, move on to the next store. Odds are, they'll be happy to help you out.

What do you think? Questions? Cheap wines you love? Leave them in the comments section below.

*Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner using the RSS or Email options on the right, link to this post from your blog, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.

[Image by City of Cleveland]

[Update: Well, better late than never. Welcome back West Side Market! I wrote this post last week...and the market re-opened yesterday. So, the best way to help is giving them business. Please visit the market!]

Cleveland's West Side Market is a block away from my old high school. I walked by every weekday for four long years. I would stop for an occasional egg sandwich at the diner on the southwest corner, but I wasn't brave enough to venture into the main part of the market. I walked through once, quickly, and it was full of weird stuff - sausages hanging from hooks, alien looking fish, and a stuffed goat head mounted over one of the stalls.
I thought the height of cuisine was a Polish Boy with everything from one of the hot dog carts downtown. Those dogs warmed me on many RTA rides home.

I grew up, moved to Akron, and my love for cooking blossomed. I realized what I was ignoring all those years. I started making the trips to the market, especially for the lamb vendors.
My favorite? The stall with the goat head mounted over it. So scary back then. Now it pulls me in.

All the lamb in my rotisserie cookbook came from the West Side Market, and so did a few of the ducks.

I was horrified to hear about the electrical fire in one of the stalls, and even more horrified to see the picture, the one at the top of the page. Foster's Meats, one of those lamb vendors, was right in the center of the fire.

Luckily, the fire wasn't large, and only burned up a handful of stalls. But the smoke damage was extensive. The market has been closed since January 30th, while they clean and disinfect everything.

I'm asking for your help. Insurance will fix the building, but the vendors need help make up for the lost inventory, sales, and to pay their employees.

Here are three ways you can help out the West Side Market:

1. Donate to the Market Vendor Relief fund.

Michael Symon launched this charity to help support the vendors of the West Side Market.

2. Buy the Support The Market T-Shirt

CLE Clothing is selling West Side Market T-shirts, and donating all the proceeds to the Vendor Relief fund.
[Update: SOLD OUT. Darn, I didn't have a chance to get one. They may re-stock, so keep an eye on the page if you're interested.]

3. Buy the West Side Market Bond

Buy a $40 West Side Market bond, get a $50 West Side Market gift certificate. The extra $10 is donated by the sponsors of the West Side Market Centennial, and it gives you extra money to spend once the market is open. (The extra $10 offer expires after 750 people buy these bonds, so hurry if you want one.)

Most important: if you live in the Cleveland area, stop by -once the market is open- and give them your business. This will help the small businesses in the market, even when they're not facing an emergency.

[Update: Again, the market just re-opened. Get out there and buy something!]

Thank you!

What did I do last week, with temperatures in the single digits? I huddled under a blanket and did some food reading. Here's what I found:

1. Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson

This history of cooking tools is a delight. Bee talks about the evolution of kitchen technology, from pots and pans to stoves and heat management. I enjoyed the difference between fork and chopstick cultures, and how it affects the rest of their cooking tools. The section on Britain's history of spit roasting - my favorite cooking method - has changed my culinary travel plans. Now I need to visit England for Ivan Day's traditional spit roasting classes.

2. Weber Grills - 2013 Sneak Peek [2013sneakpeek.weber.com]

Weber updated the my charcoal grill, the Performer. The Performer Silver, with a fold-down side table, looks like a great idea for a smaller space. I'm lusting after the Performer Platinum in brick red, but my (blue) Performer is still chugging along. And I like that they re-released the Jumbo Joe kettle, with an 18 ½ inch diameter grate. It's portable…if you've got strong arms.

3. Michael Ruhlman - Schmaltz iPad app

It's an iPad cookbook app, entirely about chicken fat, from Michael Ruhlman. And the chicken liver pâté recipe is amazing.

[Pic via what-if.xkcd.com]

4. XKCD What If? - Steak Drop

Randall Munroe branched out from his gloriously geeky comic, XKCD, into a weekly, longer Q&A about strange science questions at what-if.xkcd.com. He finally did one about cooking, so I have an excuse to share it here. The "What If?" question: If you drop a steak from outer space, does the heat of re-entry cook it before it hits the ground?

5. Hip Pressure Cooking Infographic

Laura at HipPressureCooking.com made this cute infographic about the basics of pressure cooking. I had to share.

What do you think? Questions? Other fun finds you want to share? Leave them in the comments section below.

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I'm feeling sorry for myself.

• I just got over the stomach flu. It wiped us out for about a week, and my stomach is still uneasy. I'm cooking based on how easy it is to get dinner done, not how excited I am about eating.

• The grill is covered with snow. On a deck covered with snow, that I don't want to shovel.

• The sun sets at 5PM, making all my blog pictures look awful, because I need to use artificial light. And that's on the one day a week when I get to see the sun, and it's not gray and overcast.

• Seasonal affective disorder is setting in. The excitement of the holidays, and a white Christmas - it's gone. Now it's just cold and dark.

• My new cookbook isn't flowing. I'm way behind schedule. It's a grilling cookbook, and the grill covered with snow is holding my recipe testing back…but not as much as my own procrastination. I'm supposed to get up at 5:30AM every morning, so I can get my writing in. I keep turning off the alarm clock, rolling over, and going back to sleep.

• I'm trying to lose weight, and the diet is boring me already. I want starch, potatoes, fatty food, even though I know I shouldn't. (Though this is the only good part of the stomach flu - losing weight was easy for a couple of days.)

I'm overwhelmed. I want to crawl under the covers and hibernate until spring. And I feel guilty about feeling sorry for myself, so it is a cycle that feeds on itself.

I know these are all first world problems. I appreciate all of you, reading what I write, leaving comments, sending me email. It keeps me going.

But, man, I hate this time of year.

How about you? How are you surviving the winter? Talk about it in the comments, below.

Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner using the RSS or Email options on the right, link to this post from your blog, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.