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Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#261

Post by JKCalhoun »

silicon2401 wrote: post #216
Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

> cast iron skillet Personally I think these are a waste of money unless you live in a house. Trying to season one of these smoked up our apartment for hours. Apparently we didn't do it right because it's still sticky even with oil, but there's no way we're going through the headache again until we have a house.

I'm guessing it is a vent hood over the stove you are missing in the apartment? That allows us to season our cast iron skillets without any headache.

Picked up a chainmail-like "dish rag" (it is truly just a swatch made up of links of metal) that beautifully cleans the skillet after meals but preserves the seasoning.

Yeah, iron skillet is our go-to now.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#262

Post by sokoloff »

silicon2401 wrote: post #216
Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

> cast iron skillet Personally I think these are a waste of money unless you live in a house. Trying to season one of these smoked up our apartment for hours. Apparently we didn't do it right because it's still sticky even with oil, but there's no way we're going through the headache again until we have a house.

I love my cast iron skillet for some things (and have a house), but I can’t see how having a house made the seasoning process any different than if I’d done it it my old apartment. It smoked the same and the kitchen exhaust fan did an OK-not-great job of pulling it outside, just like it would have in my old apartment kitchen which also had a range vent that went outside (and frankly worked better than my house one which is downdraft due to fancy-kitchen design shenanigans).

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#263

Post by jakogut »

samsolomon wrote: post #19

I'm a giant fan of robot vacuums. My Eufy Robovac died last year and decided to upgrade to a Roomba i3. We've got a dog and my girlfriend has very long hair that we would have to cut strands out of the rollers every couple of runs. The new Roomba models have these rubber rollers doesn't catch hair. I'm not entirely what about the design prevents that, but it is fantastic! The i3 is probably $100 more than you'd spend…

> The new Roomba models have these rubber rollers doesn't catch hair. I'm not entirely what about the design prevents that, but it is fantastic!

Ha, I wish that was universally true. My girlfriend's hair is long and insanely strong. It wraps around the rollers and cuts right through them.

Still love the Roomba, but often need to replace rollers. :)

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#264

Post by enobrev »

wyldfire wrote: post #193
lbotos wrote: post #42

Anova Sous Vide. Cooking perfect Chicken or pork chops every single time is an absolute joy. I don't eat as many steaks but also cooks them just the same. It's one of my go-to kitchen gadgets, and I cook most of my meals with it.

Why sous vide? Does the food taste better or prepare faster or ...?

Definitely not faster, but as the other commenter said, it's far more precise. The result is exactly as you set it every time with no variation. It's also far more forgiving, which tends toward the lesser variation. It definitely takes longer, but there's far less pressure when it comes to planning and timing.

A thawed steak is done after about an hour, or frozen after about 80 minutes. But if I leave it in for another hour or two, there's no difference in quality - it's still perfect, with a minute to finish on a hot cast iron.

So if I'm cooking for a crowd or busy working on sides (or just plain busy or lazy) I can still get an absolutely perfect steak (or whatever) every time at exactly the time I need it.

I've also found it to be excellent for long-cooking like a Brisket or Pork Shoulder, where I'll cook it in the water bath for about 24-32 hours, and then smoke it low and slow on the grill for 3-4 hours.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#265

Post by wampwampwhat »

skrtskrt wrote: post #129
japhyr wrote: post #107

I finally got a home espresso machine, after an HN recommendation. We got a Breville Barista Express. We'd been wanting one for years, but everything reliable seemed to be $1k+, and still seemed like more work than I wanted to put into coffee. This one is simple, almost as easy as pour-over, and is simple to clean. We're making better coffee at home than we've ever had in a coffee shop. And I thought it would take a…

Do you have to let it grind the beans for you or can you supply your own grounds? I have a much cheaper machine ($70) and I always give it pre-ground Illy, largely because it doesn't make a decent espresso with anything lower quality like Lavazza. Illy pre-ground is easy to get in bulk via Amazon, but not exactly sure how I'd get the unground beans

any of the Breville machines will allow you to use pre-ground beans. They're all 'semi-auto' machines, where you fill the portafilter with grounds and then install it into the group head for extraction. Automatic machines like the Delonghis or Juras you see in a lot of small offices don't allow for precise control over the grind fineness or volume. Though, I wouldn't recommend anyone use pre-ground beans if they're getting into espresso. The off-gassing accelerates exponentially as soon as the whole bean is crushed, and within 30 minutes or so of grinding many of the subtle aromatics and flavors that make good coffee 'good' have disappeared.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#266

Post by Der_Einzige »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #95
tomcam wrote: post #37

1999 GMC Savanna passenger van (seats removed) for use as a farm truck. It’s huge inside and easily holds 4x8 sheets of ply. Here in Seattle it gets wet a lot so I never have to worry about transporting or storing in the rain. Has 8 cylinder engine that will last forever and is easyish to maintain. I get an surprising amount of sheepish interest/envy from dudes who had the same idea but who bought pickups (which seld…

First the white collar hipsters jacked up the prices of station wagons. Then the white collar hipsters jacked up the prices of small trucks. Then the white collar hipsters jacked up the prices of fullsize trucks. In what universe is it sane to tell HN how great vans are?

Blue collar bros in red state america drove the price of trucks up - not white collar engineers on HN.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#268

Post by abakker »

I moved from SF to CO. In the process I bought a JLG drop deck trailer to move heavy machines between my SF workshop and my new house near boulder.

If you are like me and a. have very heavy tools. (e.g. Lathes, Milling machines, etc) b. don't have a forklift

check out drop deck trailers. I didn't know they existed before, and can often be rented in addition to bought, and are really a game changer. You can roll pallets right on, or winch very heavy things onto them without ever needing to pick them up.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#269

Post by nojito »

ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #171
Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

What brand ear plugs do you recommend? I bought some just last week on amazon (some foam ones from Howard Leight) and it was a toss-up which were good and which were bad according to the reviews and descriptions.

I love the Etymotic Research ER20

I also think they make the best earbuds on the market as well.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#270

Post by [deleted] »

gjstein wrote: post #116

Philips Hue lights. I had wanted them for a little while for the novelty of it, but upon buying a couple my wife and I converted nearly all of our small apartment (except the bathrooms) to use their color-changing bulbs. Being able to change the light color and temperature has been surprisingly nice and has made our home much "cozier" under quarantine. We change the lights to dim reds and blues during movie nights or…

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