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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: November 6th, 2024

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  • Food for thought: https://brander.ca/range/

    Replace Your Range With a Modular Kitchen

    Three years for us, now, and we’ve never looked back. My wife loves to cook, is brilliant at it, bakes bread, does a fabulous holiday turkey. And we just do not need a “range” that combines an oven with a stove.

    We gave up on the “range” concept when ours died twice, with every important part of it in perfect working order. Except, that is, for the tiny circuit board, that overheated a chip, or something, and refused to tell the perfectly-good components to turn on. The first repair was $1000, and the repairman said if it happened again, give up - just buy a new $2000 range. It failed again. We replaced it with what you see below, instead.

    We tried out a single-burner first, so we have just three. When that one dies, we’ll replace with another double-burner. Either way, they run about $70-$80 US per burner.

    The praises of “induction” have been sung elsewhere. I won’t compete, just say “It’s all true in our experience; induction is the best”.

    I’m jealous of those shopping for induction now: options have multiplied like crazy since we purchased. It’s a hot area of innovation, if I may be forgiven the remark.

    Finding your own steel table, or perhaps your own solution with a carpenter, is left to the taste of the homemakers. Connie built this from a kit that came home in the car.

    The 220V adapter-plug allows you to run two double-induction cooktops totalling over 4500 Watts, off your old stove plug.

    After a lot of shopping, we concluded the Wolf oven was the top product, and since we were saving $2000, shrugged at paying $700 for it.

    And, crucially, this solution is modular. The cooktops are by far the most-used part; they may go every ten years. But also the cheapest part!

    We probably wouldn’t use the roaster oven down there on the floor, that’s just where to store it. But that’s another value of modularity: we can take it out to the patio, to cook a roast in summer, and not heat up the kitchen!

    Similarly, it’s just one minute’s work to take one or two cooktops from here, to another counter, so that two people can work at once.

    So:

    • It’s cheaper to buy to start with;
    • It’s cheaper to replace, by far, just one part at a time, as different things wear out, rather than a single point of failure sending $2000 in mostly-good appliance to a junkyard;
    • It saves energy.
    • Every part can come home in a car back-seat; no delivery costs.

    While you’re going induction, go “no range” while you’re at it.


  • Under Armour Tactical Heat Gear compression undershirts.

    UA Performance Tech™ Mesh Boxerjock, either the 6in or 9in to prevent chafing, don’t get the 3in version.

    Both last at least 4 years for me with daily use, rotating through about two weeks worth of undershirts and boxerbriefs. Machine wash and low heat in the dryer, I don’t do anything fancy to make them last longer. I just replace the whole set in bulk once they start getting too worn. But I’ve never had holes develop and rarely have the stitching/seams come undone. Usually its the labels that start to wear off by the 4 year mark and I just figure its time to get a new set (or I feel like getting different colors).

    Maybe there’s some buildup of deodorant on the undershirts after 2 years, but I just soak them in diluted rubbing alcohol and it all dissolves out.