Not about gardening at all, but about the gardener.
In the mode of reduce / reuse / repair. I dropped the crock pot lid. This gets used almost every week, for at least the past six years. I precook the chicken thighs for Rufus's dog food in it, overnight, before adding the rest of the ingredients the next day. The crock pot itself came from a thrift store for $15 or so. A new one can cost $90 on Amazon although I'm sure bargains are out there. It's been used hundreds of times.
The knob on the lid broke, not repairable. I had a car trunk load of stuff to take to Good Will, so I went inside and found a small pan lid for $2. They are fairly universal, just unscrew the knob and install it on the crock pot lid.
That should last a few years. I didn't think to look, but since then I found knobs for a few dollars on Amazon and elsewhere, even very similar to the original Crock Pot lid.
Why buy a new one for $90 when you get a perfectly functional one for $2? And it's 100% reduce / reuse / repair?
This is plastic (maybe Bakelite). By re-using one, that's one tiny piece less plastic made to pollute later.
I also needed to replace the side handles on this Stainless Steel pot. It must be 40 years old. The only thing wrong with it was the badly damaged handles. Plus, they were solid, no finger space to reduce dropping risk.
There were lots of choices on Amazon for minimal cost. I took off the old ones, measured - they are ALMOST universal or standardized (I can't find to fit another pot however).
Ordered, here in a day, and installed.
These are better than the originals. The finger holes mean less dropping likelihood. Stainless steel lasts a lifetime, is easy to clean. If something chars on too much, I use a scrubbing attachment on my electric drill, with some Bar Keepers friend. It's clean in one or two minutes. Nothing like those cheap, teflon or other toxic chemical coated cookware that becomes impossible to clean anyway, emits toxic fumes, and doesn't last.
The one negative about this pot (also true for all of those light weight, garbage teflon coated aluminum pots and skillets) is the stainless steel bottom is actually a thin layer of stainless steel on a thicker aluminum base. That's fine for standard electric or gas stove, but does not work on induction.
That's my extremely rare Frugal / Environmental post for now.
Do you like induction? We looked at it hard for our new stove, but it is so much more expensive than just electric.
ReplyDeleteInduction is great. Faster and more responsive than gas or regular electric. I bought a free standing induction burner. It sits on the stove. There is some learning, but I like it better than anything else.
ReplyDeleteAlso you you to use real stainless steel or cast iron. Some stainless steel is really aluminum clad with stainless steel. That doesn't work at all. If a magnet sticks to it, it should work.
Also, nothing burning onto the burner. Cleaning is much easier.