Talk to a real estate agent, and they’ll tell you the most important room in a house from a resale standpoint is the kitchen.  I disagree.  A kitchen is the most important room in the house, period.  It’s the room that allows you to become an artist, perfecting culinary masterpieces that have been passed down for generations while experimenting with new, never before used flavor combinations.  It’s the first room you drag yourself each and every morning in search of the perfectly brewed cup of coffee.  It’s the last room you sneak into to grab a bedtime snack.  And if you have kids, it is the promise land, housing a seemingly endless supply of waffles, ice cream and other assorted treasures.  There is no room in a home that brings you more joy on a daily basis than the kitchen, for in it lies the key to happiness:  food.

Unfortunately, when my wife and I purchased a new house about a year ago (new for us, but built in the ’60’s), the home’s original architect didn’t exactly share our love of the kitchen.  We adored the house, but the kitchen… let’s just say it left much to be desired.  It’s small, outdated, and from a technological standpoint, it was still groovin’ in the ’60’s.  An old stove, a refrigerator, and a dishwasher, none of which worked exceptionally well, and all of which were sucking up energy like a runaway freight train.  And so it began:  the quest to create the perfect kitchen.

While some start a kitchen remodel focusing on its appearance – cabinets, countertop, etc. – we took a markedly different approach, focusing on its function.  We decided we wanted to first make the kitchen do what we wanted to do, and from there, replacing cabinets and countertops would focus on complimenting this function.  Having a gorgeous kitchen is great, but if it doesn’t work the way you need it to, the beauty will wear off very, very quickly.

In assessing our own kitchen’s functionality, there was one very specific area that our kitchen was absolutely horrendous at.  Dish washing.  More specifically, our dishwasher didn’t wash; it looked terrible; and its worst trait:  the sounds emanating from it likely could give the sounds emanating from Niagara Falls a run for their money.  Best of all, a key living space is located directly off our kitchen, so when the dishwasher was running, this living area was rendered virtually obsolete due to an inability to hear pretty much anything outside of a two-foot range.  In our kitchen, the dishwasher immediately became public enemy no. 1.

In seeking out a new dishwasher, we knew exactly what we wanted.  It needed to clean dishes efficiently; it needed to look good; and most importantly, it needed to be quiet.  Very, very quiet.  Never again did we want to hear the glorious sounds of a raging waterfall pouring out of our kitchen.  This required feature set eventually led us to the Electrolux Icon dishwasher (more specifically, the Electrolux Icon Built-In Professional Series dishwasher).  I can’t tell you how many dishwashers we looked at, because in all honesty, I lost count.  All I know is when we found the Electrolux Icon, my wife and I both knew it was the one.  It hit absolutely every mark on our criteria list, and then some.

Electrolux Icon Dishwasher Sound

First and foremost, it’s quiet.  And I don’t mean a little quiet, I mean the Electrolux Icon dishwasher is whisper quiet.  It’s so quiet, you can quite literally be standing directly in front of it while it’s running and you won’t hear it.  It’s so quiet, in fact, there’s actually a light on the bottom corner of the dishwasher that lights up to signal when the load is finished.  We’ve had the Electrolux Icon in our home for about three months now, and there’s still occasions when I’ll forget  to check for the light and open the door during the middle of a cleaning cycle.  I’d say it’s great, but that wouldn’t do the Electrolux justice.  Revolutionary is much more fitting.  Simply put, the Electrolux Icon’s quietness alone is a compelling enough reason to purchase the dishwasher.  It’s absolutely incredible.

Electrolux Icon Dishwasher Cleaning

In terms of cleaning performance, the Electrolux Icon is brilliant.  There’s a total of five wash levels – auto, cookware, normal, stemware, and eco – each of which lets you adjust the cleaning cycle based on the specific load you’re cleaning.  For stemware and eco modes, less water and shorter wash times are used to conserve energy, whereas on the cookware setting (for pots, pans, etc.), more water and a longer wash cycle is used.  As for the auto setting, it’s an ingenious technology implemented by Electrolux that utilizes what they call the SmartSensor – a system that automatically senses which cleaning cycles need to be performed, and does so accordingly.  For instance, in the event a smaller load of lightly soiled dishes is in place, the SmartSensor detects which cleaning cycles need to be performed and exactly how much water is needed, and then uses only those resources.  By doing so, both energy and water are conserved as the wash cycle precisely fits the specific load.  The same is true for large loads.  The SmartSensor detects what cycles to use and the amount of water necessary, thus using the perfect amount of resources each and every wash.

In the real world, the Electrolux Icon cleans beautifully.  During initial use, we tended to stick to the more conventional cleaning modes more out of habit, all of which work exceptionally, but we’ve since shifted to use the auto function on a daily basis.  Magically, the dishes come out beautifully every time, and because we know only the necessary resources are being used, it’s easy to run a partial load through without feeling like we’re wasting water and energy.  As for large, heavily soiled loads, we tend to select the cookware option with the optional sanitize feature turned on, and tough baked-on dirt comes off with incredible success.  Sanitize is an extra function that can be added to the normal, cookware and auto modes, and it bumps the water temperature to 157 degrees Fahrenheit and maintains it for seven minutes.  For tough, heavily soiled loads, it works wonders.

Electrolux Icon Dishwasher Design

The final element of the Electrolux Icon dishwasher that we absolutely adore is its design.  Originally, one of the key traits we sought from a dishwasher was a great design, and the Icon fit the bill perfectly.  It features a gorgeous modern stainless steel design that looks like a single hunk of steel.  And because the control panel and all buttons are located on the top of the door, the Icon’s exterior is completely uncluttered, making it perfectly at home in any style of kitchen.  Equally important, however, was the interior design, and after delving into the world of dishwashers, it’s clear the Icon’s engineers are masters at understanding the needs of users, as they’ve created a layout that makes it easy to load a seemingly endless assortment of dishes, cookware and utensils.

The racking system of the Electrolux Icon is without question the best I’ve witnessed.  Both the upper and lower rack feature a range of customizable dividers to load plates, bowls, cups, etc.  To make loading larger or odd shaped cookware easier, however, all the dividers can be folded flat, allowing simple positioning of awkward items, and the top rack’s height is adjustable, making it possible to load exceptionally tall items that typically wouldn’t fit in a dishwasher.  For stemware or small cups, multiple fold down options have been implemented, allowing you to clean a large load of cups and/or stemware quickly and easily – perfect after a night of entertaining.  For utensils, large enclosed baskets with fold-up tops on the lower rack make cleaning silverware a breeze, and because they’re completely enclosed, smaller items can be cleaned without fear they’ll fall through to the bottom of the dishwasher.  Up top, a second, removal tray in in place for larger utensils (spatulas, serving spoons, etc.), again eliminating the possibility of your utensils relocating themselves during the wash cycle.  I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  The point is this:  you won’t find a more intelligently designed dishwasher anywhere.  The Electrolux Icon is completely customizable, it allows you to load significantly more than seems possible, and it looks fantastic doing it.

Conclusion

For those of you in search of a new dishwasher wondering whether I would I recommend the Electrolux Icon, the answer is unequivocally yes.  In the areas of quietness, cleaning and design, the Electrolux has met and exceeded my expectations on every level, and I can say wholeheartedly it’s done everything I’ve asked of it with incredible ease.  It’s truly a marvel of engineering, and it’s single handedly brought my kitchen’s dishwashing capabilities to the 21st century.  I love it.

The Electrolux Icon dishwasher comes in two variants (professional and designer series), each of which features a slightly different handle design, with pricing set at approximately $1,399.  To learn more about the Electrolux Icon dishwasher, you read about its full list of features at the official Electrolux Icon website.

With 2011 officially upon us, it’s time to kick off another round of new-year resolutions, and if you’re anything like me, being a little healthier is always on the list.  And while there’s certainly no shortage of ways to get healthy, changing your diet to include healthy options is probably the easiest, best thing you can do for yourself.  Last year, one of my key resolutions was to compete in a triathlon, and while training, changing the way I ate was one of the key elements to helping me complete my goal.  I found myself depending on a variety of blended foods – fruits, vegetables, protein powders, etc. – and quickly realized that I needed a blender that could handle the variety of things I was consuming on a daily basis.  My wife’s $100 KitchenAid just wasn’t cutting it, as I ended up chewing half the items I was blending.  Seeking out the ultimate home blender, I settled on the Vitamix Professional Series 500, and the rest, as they say, is blending history.

Firstly, let’s talk a bit about build quality.  The Vitamix Professional Series 500 is, quite simply, a tank.  A blender serves a single purpose… to blend… so the most important factor when choosing a blender is finding a high horsepower motor that can blend anything you can throw at it.  Thanks to its commercial grade 2+ peak horsepower motor along with the highest RPM’s in the industry, the Professional Series 500 does exactly that, churning out smoothies, soups, and sauces with no (and I mean no) chunks.  With most blenders, you blend ice and end up with a collection of granular chunks, but with the Vitamix, smoothies and drinks involving ice come out completely smooth.  It’s like having the ability to make ice cream in any flavor in 30 seconds.  Just add ice, milk, berries (or whatever other flavor you prefer), blend, and you have instant ice cream – it’s incredible.  In addition to its high powered motor, the Vitamix Professional Series 500 also boasts a huge 64-ounce BPA free Eastman Tritan copolyester container along with an included tamper and no-spill lid.  During operation, the container serves to create a vortex in the center of the container, pushing ingredients that have been blended up from the blades and then down the center back to the blades – with this constant circulation being one of the key reasons the Vitamix is able to perform so well.  When mixing something thicker, the included tamper offers convenient access to the blender, allowing you to move your mixture quickly and easily during operation (as opposed to having to turn the blender off and making adjustments).

In purchasing the Vitamix Professional Series 500, I originally planned on using it simply for smoothies.  During my triathlon training, I found myself drinking at least two a day, so I wanted something that would hold up to daily use day-in and day-out.  But when the Vitamix arrived, it came with a roughly 350-page recipe book demonstrating the plethora of ways the Vitamix could be used in the kitchen – drinks, milk substitutes (soy milk, almond milk, etc.), soups, dips, sauces, dressings, even breakfast recipes (pancakes, waffles, quiche, breads, etc.).  The sheer number of uses for the Vitamix was overwhelming, and to be honest, I had no idea how much it was capable of before I purchased it.  It didn’t take long for the Professional Series 500 to go to work in my kitchen, churning out restaurant quality sauces on a nightly basis.  With lesser blenders, a strainer is required for many sauces, but with the Vitamix, everything (including seeds and skin on fruits/vegetables) is blended completely smooth.  Ever want to try making your own peanut butter?  How about grinding your own spices and/or coffee?  New parent?  The Vitamix is absolutely perfect for baby food.  And for soups, the Vitamix’s blade rotation is so fast (240 mph), it actually heats soup to serving temperature.  Simply add your fresh ingredients, blend for a few minutes, and serve.  If you spend any amount of time in the kitchen, the Vitamix Professional Series 500 is simply phenomenal.

As for operating the Vitamix, the Professional Series 500 has almost no learning curve.  Built into the Vitamix are three pre-programmed settings for smoothies, hot soups and frozen deserts, meaning operation is as simple as selecting the right option.  In addition, there’s a variable speed setting that allows you to vary blending speed smoothly during use to fine-tune your desired results, along with a pulse function to further enhance blending control.  Making operation even easier, the included Vitamix recipe book specifies precisely which settings and speeds to blend at to achieve your desired results, so if you want to make chunky salsa, for instance, the book describes precisely how to avoid turning your tomato chunks into tomato soup.  Having used the Vitamix Professional Series 500 extensively, I have to say, operation really couldn’t be any easier.  Once you follow a few recipes in the recipe book, operation becomes almost second nature, and you can churn out restaurant quality results pretty much immediately.

Do I love the Vitamix Professional Series 500?  Absolutely, I adore it.  If I could think of a higher praise, I would bestow it with that as well.  It’s one of those rare things that before you own it, you don’t realize you need it, but once you have it, you don’t know how you ever lived without it.  With a street price of $600, the Vitamix Professional Series 500 does cost more than many of the other blenders on the market, but the results it produces are simply in a league of their own.  In addition, with its impressively robust build quality and 7-year warranty, this is likely the last blender you’re going to be buying for a very, very long time.  The Vitamix Professional Series 500 is hands down the best consumer blender on the market, period.  Buy one, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

To learn more about the Vitamix Professional Series 500 and the full lineup of Vitamix products, you can do so at the official Vitamix website or buy now from Amazon.com
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If you’re looking for the ultimate gift for the foodie in your life, there is nothing greater than a glistening new set of cookware.  And if that foodie is serious about cooking, you really only have two cookware options:  stainless steel or copper.  Both have their advantages, but today we’re going to be bringing you the best of the stainless steel variety.

While I’ve used my fair share of stainless steel cookware, there’s none that’s been able to rival All-Clad’s Copper-Core.  Featuring an exceptionally unique five-ply construction, All-Clad’s Copper-Core feature… you guessed it… a layer of copper in the center, followed by an inner and outer layer of aluminum, and finally, an inner and outer layer of stainless steel.  Why the copper core you ask?  Because copper offers quite simply the best heat conductivity and responsiveness of any material during cooking.  In the real world, this means that hotspots in your cookware are eliminated, and furthermore, any adjustments you make to the cooking temperature translate to your food much, much quicker.

Thanks to All-Clad Copper-Core’s unique design, however, you gain many of the advantages of copper, without having to spend the extra amount for all copper construction.  In addition, All-Clad’s stainless steel exterior has two key advantages over traditional copper cookware.  First, the highly polished stainless steel exterior is signficantly easier to take care of than a copper exterior, and secondly, if you cook using induction technology, All-Clad’s new Copper-Core line is fully compatible with induction heating.

Having used All-Clad Copper Core for the past several months, I have to tell you, if you’re considering new stainless steel cookware, you won’t find any better.  I personally own four pieces:  the 6-quart saute pan, the 12-inch fry pan, the 7-quart stock pot and the 3-quart sauce pan, and all vastly outperform any stainless steel cookware I’ve used previously.  The heating is incredibly uniform, with hotspots completely eliminated, and variations to cooking temperatures occur significantly quicker with the All-Clad than any other stainless I’ve used.  In other words, the copper core lives up to its stated benefits, and it does so exceptionally well.  As for the subject of food sticking, with proper knowledge of using stainless steel cookware (proper temperature, use of oil, etc.), sticking is nonexistent.  I’ve made a wide assortment of foods with my All-Clad, including eggs and omelets, and the All-Clad perform as well as any non-stock products I’ve used.  When deglazing, the All-Clad’s again excel, with fond being removed easily to the point the cookware virtually cleans itself.  Another design element that I absolutely love are the rolled edges, which in addition to ensuring tight-fitting lids, also make pouring remarkably easy.

In terms of price, All-Clad Copper Core costs more than traditional stainless steel cookware but less than traditional copper cookware, with a seven-piece set currently selling on Amazon for about $750.  It’s the perfect price point, really, as All-Clad’s Copper Core are the perfect mix between stainless steel and full copper cookware.  If you’re looking for the best stainless steel cookware on the planet – cookware that will last a lifetime – this is it… it really is fantastic.  To learn more about All-Clad Copper Core’s features and to see the full list of available pieces, you can learn more at the official All-Clad website or buy now from Amazon.com
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If you spend any amount of time in the kitchen, you know what a chore it can be when you need to grate something. Graters and zesters come in all shapes and sizes, but most perform poorly and end up being more trouble than they’re worth.  Enter Microplane.  Borrowing a design taken from their own woodworking tools, Microplane graters slice through virtually any food you put in front of them like a hot knife through butter.

At their core, Microplane graters are designed like a rasp, with an easy to hold handle and a long, surgical grade steel body.  Best of all, they’re razor sharp.  Thanks to a unique process called photo-etching where the holes in the blade are created from a chemical process rather than being stamped, Microplane blades are capable of creating incredibly fine slices rather than tearing or shredding.  They’re by far the sharpest graters that I’ve ever used, and they make the process of grating or zesting an incredibly simple task.

In total, there’s four different Microplane Premium designs:

• Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester/Grater
  The Microplane Zester/Grater allows you the ability to grate the hardest Parmesan Reggiano as well as other hard cheeses into fine lacy wisps. Ideal for topping your favorite spaghetti and meatballs or a Caesar salad, it’s also fantastic for citrus zesting to add natural flavors to a lemon crème brulee or a basic vinaigrette.

• Microplane Premium Medium Ribbon Grater
  The Microplane Medium Ribbon Grater grates ingredients in both directions, saving time and effort, and it is also one of the coarsest of Microplane’s blade styles. It’s perfect for chocolate, soft cheese and carrots.

• Microplane Classic Series Premium Extra Coarse Grater
  The Microplane Extra Coarse Grater features a premium soft-touch handle and non-scratch end tabs. Use with softer cheeses like cheddar and this grater will make chunky slivers for tacos and salads. It also works extremely well with potatos for making hashbrowns.

• Microplane Classic Series Premium Spice Grater
  The Microplane spice grater tackles even the hardest spices like nutmeg with ease, making it ideal for grating a touch of fresh cinnamon or chocolate over the top of your hot drink.

Despite their ingenious design and incredibly effective results, Microplane graters are cheap.  At $15 a piece or $50 for all 4, Microplane graters are perfect stocking stuffers for yourself or for the food lovers in your life.  To read more about Microplane graters or to order your own set, you can learn more at the Microplane website or buy now from Amazon.com
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With Christmas less than a month away and gift buying getting into full swing, we want to share with you some of the gifts that are sure to bring joy to that someone special in your life.  Kicking things off, we’re going to bring you a number of gifts for the chefs among you, with each of the gifts holding rank as staples in our home kitchens.  First up:  the all-important kitchen cutlery.

Ask any chef what his favorite knife is and you’ll likely get a different answer from every person you ask.  It’s like asking someone what the best pair of shoes is.  Chef’s knives are intensely personal tools that must fit the specific user.  They must be comfortable to use for extended periods of time, they must offer the ability for precise cutting tasks, and they must be exceptionally sharp.  There’s really no tool more vital in the kitchen than a good chef’s knife.

Walk into a Williams-Sonoma and browse their knife selection, and you’ll see a variety of German and Japanese cutlery.  Brands like Wüsthof and Zwilling J.A. Henckels are favorite recommendations of the staff, and they praise the fact the knives are forged from a single piece of steel, not stamped like so-called “cheaper” knives.  But here’s the truth:  it’s just a marketing pitch.  While there’s no question German forged knives are popular with many users, the best knives come from the Land of the Rising Sun.  And while’s there certainly no shortage of Japanese cutlery makers, there is a brand that consistently stands out as a leader in the field:  MAC knives.  I’ll come right out and say it – for your money, you won’t find a better performing knife than those offered by MAC.  They’re superb knives – ridiculously sharp, light, comfortable to hold – and unlike their German competitors, they’re stamped, not forged.

In truth, it’s because MAC knives are stamped that they’re so great at what they do.  If you’ve ever used a forged knife, you know that intrinsic to a forged design is both a heavier weight and a thicker, stiffer blade.  The problem is, neither are wanted attributes when undertaking extensive cutting tasks.  A heavy weight leads to fatigue more quickly and makes the blade harder to control, whereas a thicker blade causes a wedging effect when cutting, making it significantly more difficult to perform thin, straight cuts.  MAC’s design solves both problems, offering chefs a superbly light, blade that’s both incredibly sharp and thin.  As a result, wedging during cuts is eliminated, fatigue is eliminated during longer cutting duties, and your level of control is drastically improved.  In fact, MAC’s design is so popular its used by a variety of the nation’s best chefs, including Charlie Trotter (Charlie Trotter’s), Eric Ripert (Le Bernardin), Thomas Keller (The French Laundry) and Hubert Keller (Fleur de Lys).

As for which MAC knives to opt for, they offer a variety of lines to choose from, including “Professional”, “Ultimate” and “Japanese” series.  I personally own and use three knives from the MAC Professional line (the MBK-95 9.5″ Chef’s knife, the MSK-65 6.5″ Santoku knife and the PKF-30 3″ Paring knife) and one knife from the MAC Superior line (the SB-105 10.5″ Serrated Bread/Roast Slicer).  Every one performs absolutely flawlessly.  When I say these knives are sharp, it’s difficult to describe exactly how sharp they are.  Before my MAC chef’s knife I owned both a Wüsthof and Henckels, and I have to tell you, there’s no comparison.  They’re so much sharper straight out of the box, they’re not even in the same league.  They literally make their German counterparts feel like a $10 Chinese built Walmart special, so much so that I gave both my Wüsthof and Henckels away.  As for the blade hardness, MAC knives have been hardened to 57-61 degrees Rockwell C, with the “Ultimate” offering the highest Rockwell hardness and the Professional being a small step below.  Using my MAC Professional knives extensively for the past year, however, I can tell you that MAC Pro line holds their edge incredibly well, so whether you opt for the Professional or Ultimate MAC’s, you can’t go wrong with either.

Price wise, MAC knives as already noted offer what is unquestionably the best value in kitchen cutlery.  The 9.5″ MAC Professional chef’s knife costs $200, the 6.5″ Santoku knife costs $135, The paring knives cost just over $60, and the 10.5″ Bread Knife costs $95.  Buy this set, and virtually all of your cutting tasks will be met with such precision and ease you’ll wonder how you ever cut anything without them.  They’re simply fantastic.

To learn more about the MAC lineup of knives or to order your own, you can find more info at the official U.S. MAC website or buy now from Amazon.com
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With Father’s Day upon us, we felt it was fitting to wrap up our Father’s Day gift suggestions with a gift so perfect it could very well be considered the Holy Grail of Father’s Day presents.  The gift to which I’m referring is the Weber One-Touch Gold 26.75″ Grill – a gorgeous, porcelain enameled monument to the fine art that is charcoal grilling.

Before I go any further, let me be frank.  In the world of charcoal grilling, there are many contenders, but there can only be one that reigns supreme over all others.  That one is Weber.  When selecting a charcoal grill, it’s not a case of which brand to buy, it’s a case of which Weber to buy.  And truth be told, you can’t go wrong with any.  Webers come in a variety of different configurations, and the fact is, they all deliver superb results.  Instead, it’s more about size and convenience – you can opt for a smaller, basic Weber charcoal grill, or you can opt for a larger variant with more features.  All, however, are excellent, and all will give you fantastic, mouth watering results.

What makes Weber grills so great?  A major factor in the dominance of Weber is the ingenuity of their design.  They’re remarkably simple, yet they work remarkably well, and because they all share a similar construction, you get the same rugged durability in any size you choose.  They’re made from U.S. steel, coated with a porcelain enamel finish that makes them exceptionally impervious to varying weather conditions – so much so that my neighbor is proud to boast that his Weber has withstood over 20 years of non-covered use and is still going strong.  It’s an attribute carried over to virtually all parts of a Weber grill.  Vents are made from aluminum so they won’t rust.  Handles are made from glass-reinforced nylon so they won’t break.  Wheels are high quality plastic so they won’t crack.  Webers are brilliantly designed and built to provide years of trouble free use, and they do exactly that.

As for the Weber One-Touch Gold 26.75″ grill, it’s the pinnacle of the traditional Weber charcoal grill lineup.  In addition to the aforementioned basic construction features, the One-Touch Gold 26.75″ features a tuck-away lid holder, offering ample support for its oversized lid; a built in thermometer, ensuring perfect grilling temperatures for your various meats, seafoods, etc.; and heavy duty grill grates, offering a solid foundation for numerous grilled items.  As is the case with all Weber One-Touch grills, the One-Touch Gold 26.75″ also features Weber’s brilliant aluminum ash catcher, meaning cleanup is as simple as emptying the lower ash container when it’s full.  Inside, ashes are automatically swept into the ash container every time you open and close the lower vents.  In the world of charcoal grilling, it’s about as clean as you can get.

Using the Weber One-Touch Gold 26.75″, you’ll immediately discover the benefit of using a larger charcoal grill.  Quite simply, bigger equals better.  If you’re new to grilling, you’ll learn that are two methods for grilling:  direct, and indirect.  Direct grilling is cooking directly over the coals, and is ideal for steaks, burgers, or anything else requiring quick heating (i.e., cook time in minutes).  Indirect grilling involves placing the charcoal on the outer edges of the grill, and cooking your foods in the center of the grill, usually with a drip tray underneath to collect fat and prevent flare-ups.  This is ideal for tougher meats that take longer to cook including ribs, briskets, whole turkeys, etc.   As for why the larger Weber 26.75″ grill is better, when you have more space, you can better control the heating environment.  When indirectly cooking, there’s more room away from the coals to cook your food; when cooking directly, you have more surface area to grill over the coals, and you also have the option to have both a hot area and medium area, etc.   The better you can control your grills heating, the happier you’ll be with the results, especially when you start grilling more complex foods.  Aside from the beautifully monstrous Weber Ranch Kettle (which offers 1104 sq. inches of cooking area), the Weber One-Touch Gold 26.75″ Grill offers the largest charcoal grilling area available by Weber (508 sq. inches), all for a mere $300.  In the world of cooking (and just the world, for that matter), Weber grills may very well offer the best value for your money of any product available – they really are that fantastic.

For Father’s Day, and any day for that matter, Weber grills are truly magical creatures.  They offer such a unique blend of cost and performance, and they above virtually anything else demonstrate American ingenuity at its finest.  If you’ve never tried charcoal or a Weber charcoal grill, you’re missing out on one of the greatest culinary experiences on the face of the earth.  Buy one; buy one of Weber’s chimney starters to go with it ($20), and you’ll be on your way to grilling euphoria in no time.

There comes a point in every boy’s life when he must become a man – when he must cast aside his childish inhibitions, and undertake a certain rite of passage, if you will.  Buying his first car.  Joining into the union of marriage.  Welcoming his first child into the world.  It’s something that varies from man to man – in many cases, it may be a combination or all of the aforementioned milestones.  But when it comes to becoming a man in the culinary world, there’s really only one rite of passage – and that’s the day he brings home his first grill.

Grilling is one of those things that brings out the raw, basic emotions that are hardwired into your brain.  There’s just something inherently beautiful about seeing flames dancing around a tender piece of beef – it’s like there’s something deep inside you telling you this is the only way food should ever be cooked – over an open flame.  And it very well may be.  Beef, poultry, seafood, vegetables, even fruit – almost everything that you eat every day, if it’s cooked, can be cooked on a grill, and it almost always tastes better if it is.

My baptism by fire took place about 15 years ago with a small Weber charcoal.  I’ll never forget the taste of that gorgeous, perfectly charred burger that was the first to grace my grill grates.  Since then, I’ve spent countless hours seeking to hone my grilling skills.  I’ve used charcoal and gas grills, numerous brands, numerous cooking techniques – and they’ve led me to a place that I would consider grilling nirvana.  Throughout the summer I’m going to be sharing with you my experiences to help you pick a grill and improve your grilling abilities, all while avoiding the various pitfalls I encountered along the way.  In the end, if you heed my advice, you will, in no simpler terms, encounter sheer grilling bliss, and you will be all the more happier for it.

Gas vs. Charcoal

When entering the world of grilling, the common methodology is that you must decide on either a gas or a charcoal grill, when in actuality, you don’t.  Grilling isn’t like your marriage – you can have more than one love.  Charcoal is what I started with – it gives a distinct flavor to what’s being grilled, it’s economical in comparison to gas, and there’s just something great about manually manipulating hot coals to cook your food.  The downside is that charcoal is more labor intensive than gas as far as getting the grill up to heat and adjusting the heat; and it’s significantly dirtier to use.  The one thing charcoal doesn’t do, however is give food a bad flavor.  A common misconception is that charcoal adds a strange chemical taste to food, but in actuality, it’s when charcoal grills are used improperly (i.e., with lighter fluid) that the results become less than stellar.

Gas, on the other hand, is significantly more convenient to use.  A few turns of the knobs are all that separates you from a perfectly seared Porterhouse.  There’s no charcoal to get your hands dirty with, and as we’ll discuss, with the right grill, the flavor produced by gas is absolutely superb.  The downside is that a gas grill is significantly more expensive, but as you’ll see, the cost is easily justified by the convenience of use.  I own both, and I’m all the happier for it.

Selecting a gas grill

In selecting a gas grill, you’re looking for two key elements:  power output and build quality.  The secret to perfect grilling is having copious amounts of heat at your disposal, and the more power you have, the more heat you can produce.  Secondly, there’s the build quality.  Grills take a tremendous amount of abuse.  They’re subjected to adverse climate changes and they have the ability to generate exceptionally large amounts of heat – both of which mean you need a grill that can stand up to the rigors of consistent use, both inside and out.  All of this comes at a price.  For a professional grill and professional results, the truth is you need to bypass the disposable grills found at your local home improvement stores and select a grill that’s capable of delivering your intended grilling results both now and years into the future.  After struggling with multiple failed gas grills – none of which produced results I was happy with – my quest for the ultimate grill began.

Lynx Professional Grills

In my search for the superlative gas grill, it didn’t take long to discover Lynx Professional Grills.  While there’s a variety of entrants in the high end grill market, Lynx’s defining principle of bringing commercial-grade kitchen products to the outdoors is immediately evident – more so than any other brand I encountered.  Lynx Grills aren’t gleaming stainless steel showpieces designed to be shown off at catered outdoor dinner parties, although their gorgeously streamlined design may tell you otherwise.  At their core, they’re pure business – robust masses of metal capable of generating scorching amounts of heat, designed to be used day in and day out.  Exactly what a grill should be.

Separating Lynx from the rest of the pack, Lynx grills utilize what’s called a seamless heli-arch welded construction on the outside of their grills.  What this means is that instead of mechanical fasteners, Lynx components are singular pieces of beautifully crafted stainless steel – increasing their durability while eliminating gaps and seams where moisture and grease are prone to live.  But inside… inside is where the true magic takes place.  Lynx grills utilize two unique heating components:  cast brass burners, and the ProSear infrared heating system.  By using cast brass, Lynx eliminated the hollow tubular steel burners found in most other grills, offering a substantially more rugged and corrosion resistant design while offering a higher, more consistent heat supply.  And speaking of heat supply, did I mention that each Lynx cast brass burner generates a blistering 25,000 btu’s of power?

Complimenting the brass burners, Lynx also incorporates their proprietary ProSear infrared heating system into all their freestanding grills (it’s an option on the 27-inch).  Unlike other brand’s infrared systems that utilize only “high” or “off” settings, Lynx ProSear is completely variable, meaning you can use it to sear a variety of different foods – steaks, scallops, or what have you.  The best part?  It generates an additional 25,000 btu’s of heat, which paired with the infrared technology, offers what may be the greatest grilling platform in existence.  It also means that Lynx’s smallest grill – the 27-inch – still produces a grand total of 50,000 btu’s.  Move up to the 36-inch Lynx Professional Grill, and power increases to 75,000 btu’s; whereas the largest Lynx grill – the 54-inch – tops out at a staggering 100,000 btu’s.  Also available are 30-inch and 42-inch Lynx grills, which share the same btu’s as their smaller counterparts (50,000 btu’s and 75,000 btu’s, respectively).

One Month Review of the Lynx Professional Grill (36 inch)

I’m the type of person who does months’ worth of research on a product before making a purchase.  I’m by all standards a perfectionist, and for any major purchase, I demand perfection from whatever it is I’m buying.  In selecting a new grill, I looked and researched virtually every major brand of professional grill available, and it was Lynx that eventually won out in the end, based on both build quality and power output.   After settling on the Lynx grill range, it then became a question of selecting a specific grill.  At present I don’t have a dedicated outdoor kitchen, so I opted for a freestanding grill as opposed to a built-in option.  As for size, I wanted something that I wouldn’t outgrow – this is going to be the last major grill purchase I make for at least the next decade, and with a family of four and occasional dinner parties, the two lower sizes (27″ and 30″) were out.  While the 54-inch is a sheer work of grilling art, it’s size was a little greater than what I’d use on a regular basis, leaving the 36-inch and 42-inch.  In the end, I oped for the 36-inch, as they both share the same power – but in hindsight, either option would have served my needs perfectly.

Unboxing the Lynx 36-inch grill, you’re immediately reminded of Lynx’s staggeringly beautiful build quality.  The welded construction gives the grill an absolutely gorgeous exterior, so much so that it’s almost painful leaving it outside.  Your first thought is to install some form of security to protect it – that is, until you try to move it.  You’re then reminded again of the Lynx’s build quality – not because of its appearance, but rather it’s weight.  The 36-inch Lynx grill weighs roughly 400 lbs., adding a heightened level of security in and of itself.  Thankfully Lynx freestanding grills sit on high quality caster wheels, making moving the Lynx a relatively easy, one person task (assuming the correct foundation).  Lifting the Lynx, however, is an entirely different story, and something that requires careful, well choreographed effort.

Once it’s in location, setting up the Lynx is an exceptionally straightforward task.  My Lynx came completely assembled – the only setup necessary is removing the various cables and tie-downs throughout the unit that keep the various grates and burners in place.  I opted for the LP version (natural gas is available as well), and connecting the fuel supply is equatable to any other gas grill.  One key difference, however, between a Lynx and other grills is the use of electricity.  Lynx grills need power for two functions – their interior and exterior lights as well as their ignition system – so plan your outdoor kitchen area accordingly.  Once you’ve added your fuel supply and connected power, the Lynx is good to go.

Firing up the Lynx for the first time, memories of my first time grilling echoed in my head.  No gas grill has ever brought me the same enjoyment as my first Weber, but I can say undeniably the Lynx has superseded any of my prior grilling experiences.  The amount of heat generated by the Lynx is astonishing – searing a steak on the ProSear takes no more than a minute on each side to develop a incredibly delicious, charred crust while trapping all of the meat’s inherent juices.  Using the ProSear without long-reaching tongs is an impossible feat – it’s so hot that if you even attempt to reach to the back of the grill you’ll feel the heat searing the flesh off your arm.

Christening the Lynx grill on its maiden voyage, it only seemed fitting to grace it with some beautiful cuts of meat – two ribeyes and two New York strips from the Texas Heritage Beef Company, to be exact.  While I’ll extol the virtues of Texas Heritage Beef in another article next week, I will say that the company’s beef paired with the Lynx created a steak that would rival any of the nation’s top steakhouses.  The outsides were perfectly charred, offering a perfect level of saltiness to the meat; while inside, the steaks were all incredibly tender with just a hint of buttery flavor present.  They were without question the best steaks I’ve ever managed to prepare.

Since then, the Lynx has become our family’s primary cooking source.  It’s prepared a variety of meat, poultry and seafood, and it has performed beautifully, delivering exactly what I ask of it each and every time.  While initially it wasn’t something I gave enough precedence to, one of the things that has most impressed me about the Lynx is its extraordinarily even heat distribution.  It uses a series of ceramic briquettes as well as what Lynx calls a heat stabilizer to provide steady heat throughout the grilling area, and the end result is heating so consistent you could likely use it for baking, if the need arose.  It is truly a remarkable design.

A month in, and I can say wholeheartedly that purchasing the Lynx is a choice that I’m exceptionally glad I made, and I haven’t regretted it for a second (except maybe for the fact that I should have opted for the 54-inch, seeing how much I love the 36-inch).  It’s also a choice that I should have made years ago, saving me the pains of using lesser products.  Lynx Professional Grills aren’t cheap – pricing ranges from roughly $3,400 for the 27-inch grill up to about $8,600 for the 54-inch – but it’s a cost far outweighed by the results Lynx grills are capable of producing.  Add to that the fact they’re made to last a lifetime, and Lynx Professional Grills are one of the best purchases you’ll ever make.

When we launched eMercedesBenz over 4 years ago, one of the first luxuries we decided to treat ourselves to was an in-office coffee maker.  If you’ve ever shopped for a coffee maker, you know the choices are a bit overwhelming, but after much deliberation, we finally settled on the Jura Capresso Impressa Z5.  At $2,999, it’s not cheap, and we questioned whether or not the $3k price tag was worth the cost.  In the end, we said what the hell, threw it on the AMEX, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I gotta tell you, after 4 years, I can say wholeheartedly the Impressa Z5 is worth every cent.  To date, we’ve brewed 4,269 cups of coffee in one iteration or another (no I didn’t count each cup – the Impressa Z5’s computer logs each cup of coffee you brew).  I’m no mathematician, but if you multiply out those 4,000+ cups of coffee by the going rate at your local coffee house, the product isn’t going to be anywhere near $3,000.  In fact, the Impressa Z5 starts looking like a bargain when you do the math.

So what exactly do you get for your $3,000?  Putting it as simply as possible, the Jura Capresso Impressa Z5 is a fully automatic coffee cappuccino, latte, espresso, coffee, tea and hot chocolate maker.  By fully automatic I don’t mean Rosie from “The Jetsons” – there’s work involved.  You do have to take beans and insert them into the hopper; you do have to get milk from the refrigerator and place it near the machine; and you do have to get your own coffee cup and place it under the coffee spouts.  Once you’ve done these things, you press a button, and like magic, the Impressa Z5 does its thing.  Want a cappucino?  Hit a button, wait about 30 seconds, and it’s done.  Same for espresso.  Same for lattes.  Same for coffee.  For tea and hot chocolate, you have to get your own tea and/or hot chocolate mix, but the Impressa Z5 dispenses hot water and hot milk as well.

Making everything possible, the Impressa Z5 is run by what can only be described as a computer.  You can set any of the coffee products to one of five strength settings before making a cup, you can specify the amount of coffee you want brewed, you can specify the amount of milk dispensed, etc.  Everything is completely customizable.  Once you’ve worked out your specific tastes for each product, your selected settings can then be saved and used as the system default.  From an operational standpoint, it couldn’t get any easier to use once you know what you’re doing.

And then there’s the taste.  The Impressa Z5 makes fantastic espresso and any variation of espresso with milk – as good or better than any major coffee houses (i.e., Starbucks).   The espresso’s are bold with very good crema, while the cappuccinos (with the right coffee) turn out perfectly and boast a deliciously rich flavor.  We’re not huge fans of the regular coffee the Impressa Z5 produces (we usually stick to a French Press when we want more traditional coffee), but it seems like nine times out of ten, we want espresso and hence, opt for the Jura Capresso.

But there are a few caveats worth noting.  If the Jura Capresso Impressa Z5 can be compared to anything, it has to be compared to a beautiful wife.  You need to take care of her.  If you treat her right, she will reward you exponentially, but if you begin to waver from your obligations… problems will arise.  When the Impressa Z5 tells you she needs to be cleaned, she does.  When she tells you it’s time to decalcify, it is.  Don’t wait.  And you need to learn her intricacies.  There’s a lot of working parts on the Impressa Z5, and brewing coffee isn’t exactly a walk in the park.  But in 4+ years of operation, we haven’t had to purchase anything other than cleaning and decalcifying tablets to keep her operational.  But we have learned many of her quirks.  Don’t set the grinder’s setting too fine – she can clog.  Don’t use pre-ground coffee, because a) whole beans taste better, and b) whole beans taste better.  Did I mention whole beans taste better?  Occasionally, if you’re using oily beans, she can also clog.  To remedy the situation, all you have to do is remove the tray, reach inside and feel for a little plastic flap, and use your finger to remove any coffee grounds you feel (it takes about 30 seconds with cleanup time).  And lastly, the milk frothing spout on our Z5, after 4 years, is wearing out.  It’s a small part made largely out of rubber that could easily and cheaply be replaced, but we’ve found that if we squeeze the small top tube that extends upward while it’s frothing, it froths as usual.  This, in four years of operation, are the only negatives we’ve experienced.

So there you have it – if you’re looking for a fully automatic coffee center, the Jura Capresso Impressa Z5 is a fantastic choice; in fact, it’s the best any of us have tried.  At $3,000 it is pricey, but do yourself a favor:  spend the money, use it every day like we do, and four years from now and 4,269 coffees later, you too can revel in the fact that you cut your Starbucks budget down to a third of what it once was.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go make it 4,270 cups (and counting).  For more info about the Jura Capresso Impressa Z5, visit the Jura Capresso website.

Few things bring me as much joy in the morning as a deliciously caffeine-packed cup of coffee, and while I’ve experimented with various products to brew the perfect cup, I wanted to share one that is so simple yet produces such great results that it’s almost too good to be true.  The magical creature I’m referencing is the sub-$30 Bialetti Moka Express Stovetop Espresso Maker – a product that’s a staple in most Italian homes – and one that manages to blend the taste of a traditional cup of coffee with espresso in a near perfect union.  If you’ve never heard of the Bialetti, it’s a product conceived in 1933, and while numerous variations have emerged since then, the Moka Express has remained largely unchanged, and it’s this model I’ll be referencing throughout this article.

So first things first:  you need to pick your Moka Express.  After a bit of research, I found that most recommend opting for a smaller Bialetti, as it’s said they make better tasting coffee (I’ve heard six cup and under are best, so I went with the six – I included the link below).  The six cup is really enough for two small American cups of coffee, so it’s a good option for two (I’d opt for the three cup if it were just me).  The second thing you’ll need to decide is what material you like – either aluminum or steel.  I’ve heard that aluminum Bialettis work better than steel.  I’ve never used steel, so I can’t attest to its advantages/disadvantages, but I can tell you that I use the aluminum and I love it.

Now that you’ve decided which Moka Express to procure, let’s talk technique.  First and foremost, if you don’t already own one, get yourself a conical burr grinder (I’ll save grinder recommendations for another article).  My grinder was about $80, so nothing too extravagant.  When grinding your coffee, you’re going to want to opt for a grind slightly coarser than that of espresso.  On my grinder, this translates into the lowest stop on the medium setting.  In terms of volume, once ground, I use two tablespoons per pot (remember, I’m using the 6-cup Moka Express).  Next fill the removable filter with the ground coffee, and pack slightly (some will contest packing the grind, but as long as your grind isn’t too fine and you slightly pack you’ll have no problems).  Fill the water to the hash mark on the inside of the bottom reservoir, insert the filter and coffee, and screw on the top of the Moka Express.  Make sure when screwing on the top, it’s on tightly, as the unit relies on pressure to function properly.  The final piece of the puzzle is selecting the appropriate heat.  On my gas range, this is halfway between the low and medium settings, but a good rule of thumb is to find the heat that leads to a brew time of about 8 minutes.  The coffee’s done when it starts oozing out of the top (if it’s spraying out the top, your heat is too high).  I use the Moka with the lid up to ensure I know exactly when it’s finished, and lastly, I remove the Bialetti from the heat the second the coffee starts bubbling and coming out clear.  There will be a little coffee left in the bottom reservoir, but if you fail to the remove the Bialetti from the heat at this stage, the coffee tends to have a slightly burnt flavor.

And that’s it.  Once you make a couple pots, it’s as easy as pie to enjoy a great cup of coffee with minimal effort.  Other recommendations:  I never wash it (I only rinse with water), which allows the oils to build up inside, and in the event I don’t use it for a while, I’ll make a quick cup of cheap coffee to throw away (you’ll also want to do this when you first purchase the Bialetti).

Other than that, as mentioned above, make sure you grind your own coffee (try to find a nice organic shade grown blend) and you’ll be enjoying the magic of the Moka Express in no time.  If you want to grab a Bialetti for yourself, I found mine on Amazon for a mere $27 shipped, making it a fantastic bargain.  Here’s the exact Bialetti that I use on Amazon; if you do end up picking one up, let me know what you think.