Down Time

We were talking about perhaps buying a single ring Induction Hob for the RV. It would supplement our cooking facilities and indeed stand alone when we are on a hook-up, thereby saving LPG and reducing the need to wander off in search of a refill. After all, the electricity is paid for with the pitch, so we might as well use it.

I confess to being a little surprised when the new hob was delivered. I had no idea that we had placed an order. Perhaps a little further discussion might have been appropriate before purchasing but whatever, it is here now. I thought that I should test it to make sure it is working okay. It could actually be very useful in the kitchen now that we have the AGA turned off for the Summer.

I made Fusilli with a vegetable sauce… a bit like Ratatouille but without the aubergine.

The maximum size pan that it will accomodate is 20 cm. (not very large at all, should there be a need to get a rolling boil going on a pan of pasta)
The maximum size pan that it will accommodate is 20 cm. (not very large at all, should there be a need to get a rolling boil going on a pan of pasta)

I was surprised at how large the unit is, given that its max pan size is a weeny 20 cms.

It's pretty large
It’s pretty large

Heaven only knows where we shall keep it in the van…

Luckily it is not at all heavy. It is however extremely powerful. It can be set to cook by temperature or by power. Yesterday I attempted temperature and found that I managed to burn my vegetable sauce quite easily. The temperature decrements in 20 degree intervals, (I think) it began way too hot at 200 degrees or so; 120 degrees burned the sauce surprisingly quickly, 100 degrees still had things cooking too fast, 80 degrees was not quite hot enough.

It is very powerful
It is very powerful

I think a steep learning curve is involved here – the hob heats up alarmingly fast, so no more gently warming the oil whilst I chop the onions and smash the garlic… The response to changes in temperature or power setting is almost instantaneous. That would be really handy for boiling rice and pasta if only I could use a large enough pan to put either in.

Mr L reported that Reviews suggest that the hob is more readily controlled with its power settings.

Today I decided to make a Risotto. I couldn’t use that green enamelled pan as I have yet to scrape all the burned veg from its bottom, so out came the small Le Creuset blue pan. I set the power down from its initial setting of 2000 to 600 and took things carefully. I burned the rice.

Clearly this device is going to consume very little electricity (most likely because it will end up in the Oxfam shop…)

Now I find that I am pan-challenged. I had assumed that I would use my wonderful set of Stellar pans, being Stainless Steel and of the correct diameter range to use on this hob. They do not work! Every time I set the pan on the hob I received an error code.  Then I remembered. It has been a long time (I bought the pans in 1993) but it gradually dawned on me that the bases contain copper.

Oops.

I was planning on making some garlic bread to go with the Risotto and had it all oiled up. The Aga is off so it could not be baked or grilled; I was going to fry. Only, of the six frying pans in the kitchen (no, I don’t fry excessively, hardly ever in fact… I just have a thing about finding the one good frying pan that I may need occasionally. A lifetime search has produced nothing to suit.) not a one was sized or constructed appropriately.

Induction Hob approx £30 with delivery, from Maplin

After lunch (which turned out to be pretty tasty after all) our Broadband connection went down – we took advantage and had an early coffee break, sitting in the conservatory. Mr L began sorting through his fishing tackle as he is considering taking angling up again in his retirement. I sat and knitted hexapuffs all afternoon. Later I sewed some more in to the blanket – until I spotted that the ties were coming undone. I shall need to find a different yarn to make the ties with as this Art yarn is far too silky for the job.

As I worked, I realised that I am more than a little bored with knitting hexapuffs. I need some proper knitting soon and I think that I should complete Mr L’s Lancelot sweater so that he has it to wear this winter – it will be hard to keep warm in the RV. All that I have to do now is to find the right project bag…

The weather was glorious yesterday and the tide was timed nicely to coincide with our supper, so after we had eaten we took Nell out for a wander.

There were Ducks. Eider, I think. A veritable flotilla of them.

Later we saw a Bonxie, just too far out to get a decent image of.

Bonxie (aka Great Skua)
Bonxie (aka Great Skua)

There were many, very many Tern screeching overhead but I failed to grab a good shot of those.

The weather is shaping up nicely again today so hopefully we can go out and play again this evening, though the boss is muttering about grass mowing.

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