The new Frigidaire cooktop, available in 36″ and 30″ widths starting this December, comes with stylish black ceramic glass, nicely accented by stainless steel panels. These induction hybrid cooktops offer 2 induction zones and up to 3 electric elements for the utmost cooking flexibility. The 30″ wide cooktop has two left-side 7″ electric elements 1.8 kW each, and two right-side induction zones with power boost – 10″ front 2.5 / 3.4 kW and 6″ rear 1.5 / 1.9 kW. The 36″ wide Frigidaire cooktop adds center 6″ electric element with 1.2 kW output.
The right-side Pro-Select [...]
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Q&A: How do I recycle my old cookware?
I just bought a new set of cookware. What’s the best way to get rid of my old pots and pans?
Selecting the right cookware is easy, but getting rid of an old
set, especially a 10-piece ensemble, isn’t so obvious. You can donate usable pots and pans to Goodwill or the Salvation Army or list them on Freecycle. If the cookware is unusable, you contact your municipal department of public works to ask about recycling.
Now, if you buy Calphalon’s new Unison cookware, you can send [...]
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One question that often comes up is, should you buy a range or a cooktop?
In short, it is really a personal choice, based on your budget, space limitations, looks, and needs.
Budget
Prices for cooktops, ovens and ranges vary a lot because the prices are changing constantly due to special offers and sales, brands are priced differently to start with, and they also depend on which of many different features they offer.
However, a separate cooktop and wall oven will always cost more than a range, and will also require electrical or gas plumbing to each unit.
Space Issues
With a cooktop and separate oven you are installing two appliances, therefore [...]
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Q&A: Is cooking with nonstick pans bad for your health?
I’ve read reports that say cooking with some nonstick cookware can make you sick. Is that true?
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used in making nonstick coating for cookware, can cause cancer and birth defects in animals and might pose a risk in humans. Cooking with nonstick cookware at very high temperatures can break down the nonstick coating, emitting fumes that can kill pet birds and possibly cause flulike symptoms in humans.
Our past testing of nonstick cookware over moderate temperatures provided largely reassuring results. Working with an outside [...]
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Mastering the art of everyday cooking
Meryl Streep has been acclaimed for her performance as Julia Child (shown) in Julie & Julia, a charming film about the legendary cooking-show host/cookbook author and Julie Powell, who in one year cooked her way through the 524 recipes in Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogged about the experience.
But the movie’s real star is the food—the boeuf bourguignon, the sole meunière, the butter. It’s enough to inspire you to speed home from the theater, scour your cookbooks or an [...]
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There is nothing better than roasted chicken and this roasting pan looks amazing. It includes a detachable suspension arm that will hold the chicken above the pan’s surface. The chicken will roast evenly and the juices will drip into the vegetables at the bottom of the pan. The arm also has a reservoir at the tip that can be filled with beer or other flavor infusers.
At All-Clad Ultimate Chicken Roaster
Related Reading:
What’s new on ConsumerReports.org: September 2009 home-related content
Summer got off to a slow start in much of the U.S., but some features
in our just-posted September issue will pay dividends during the dog
days of August and far into the upcoming year and beyond.
• Freezers are hot. Freezers have been the only appliance to post sales gains this year, and federal, state, and local utility incentives make it even easier to trade your old clunker for an efficient new model. Our latest report on freezers
found that upright models were more [...]
(click here to continue reading ››)
What’s new on ConsumerReports.org: September 2009 home-related content
Summer got off to a slow start in much of the U.S., but some features
in our just-posted September issue will pay dividends during the dog
days of August and far into the upcoming year and beyond.
• Freezers are hot. Freezers have been the only appliance to post sales gains this year, and federal, state, and local utility incentives make it even easier to trade your old clunker for an efficient new model. Our latest report on freezers
found that upright models were more [...]
(click here to continue reading ››)
