If you like to cook, you probably like new kitchen toys. What’s new in your kitchen?
For me:
Nama J2 cold press juicer (revolutionary walk-away design):
Waverly CL4M mini clinical centrifuge (I’ve always wanted a centrifuge!):
Yes, centrifuged gimlets are in my future…
Tell me more about the centrifuge and its potential uses.
The main use for me will be to clarify juices (hence the juicer lol) for cocktails, reverse spherification dishes, and the like. Not being a bar, I don’t need much capacity, and with a 200 mL capacity, I could crank out a liter of juice pretty quick.
As an example, centrifuging out the pulp and particles in lime juice results in a very different tasting gimlet.
There is of course the Spinzall, but I haven’t heard good things about its reliability.
The Waverly is just about the only affordable centrifuge on the market that has decent capacity (I’m a medical researcher, and everything else is hugely expensive).
A big improvement over my previous centrifuge, my washing machine (it actually does work lol)!
Ninja Thirsti Drink System (sparkling drinks)
50:50 Orange-Tangerine + Tart Lemon is fairly similar to my usual Polar Diet Orange Dry, although a tad sweeter.
how is cleaning with this? I am at capacity for single purpose counter top appliances but I miss having a juicer, but don’t miss the cleanup
It has a top speed of 5,000 rpm? Is that fast enough or can you just run it for an extra long time? I seem to remember recipes in Modernist Cuisine requiring rpm’s in the 5 digits, but maybe not. I looked into getting one, but like you said, it was either something cheap that didn’t work due to slow spin rates.
I’m jealous, but can’t justify it based on my cooking habits right now. Maybe in a few years in retirement.
What matters is the g force, not the rpms. In lab we always have a rpm = g table posted on each centrifuge, since it depends on the size of the rotor and tubes, and scientific protocols usually just give the g’s. Waverly claims a max of 2500g, but I’m not sure which tube size that is for. Certainly enough to pellet red blood cells, which is a major use for clinical centrifuges like this.
Anyway, it’s enough to remove sediment from fruit juices, but it’s all relative (certainly it is a lot better than my washing machine, which gave fairly soft pellets that were hard to decant from when centrifuging strawberry juice or whatever). I’m sure Modernist Cuisine is using something bigger, so they probably get a clearer result than I can. But I can’t justify a $5K+ kitchen toy!
We always used to have a Sorvall ultracentrifuge in the lab when I was in training, which would hit 100,000 x g. That would be some clear juice! Those can rival a Ferrari in price.
BTW, I noticed the pre-ording for version 2 of the Spinzall was this past weekend.
It probably takes 3-4 minutes to clean up in the sink with the provided “toothbrush”. I think it has 4 possibly 5 parts to clean that easily pull apart and can be cleaned just by rinsing under running water. As you might expect, you do want to scrub the sieve with the toothbrush to get anything stuck in the small holes out. There are also a couple of nooks and crannies that I wish they had designed out, but the toothbrush end seems to be designed to fit in those.
In my experience, and from what I’ve read, it is easier to clean than most other juicers. It certainly reduces the “activation barrier” to juicing for me, although not to zero.
There are several models of Omega juicers available on Woot.com (Amazon) right now for ridiculously low prices. We have both the vertical and horizontal style Omega juicers and, while not my favorite thing in the kitchen to clean I don’t think these are any more difficult than any other juicer (especially the horizontal style, which I find a bit easier than the vertical).
Thanks. Checking that out. Good gravy Omega has way too many models and does a poor job of helping navigate the differences between each. This is a nightmare for an average consumer. Low Speed, Horizontal Juicers – Omega Juicers
My guess is that they don’t offer much on the differences between the models because there aren’t any differences - just a pure price discrimination game. They offer a model at every price point hoping that people who can afford a more expensive one will pay more thinking it must be better. I can say that we have two that would appear to be quite different (the MMV700S Vertical Low-Speed Juicer and the J8006HDC Ultimate Juicer and Nutrition System) and they do exactly the same thing in a different orientation (mostly a question of vertical or horizontal storage space). The only real difference I can find between the high and low price models on their web site is the warranty (15 years for $470 and 1 year for $150). Most of the ‘unique’ features I see listed on individual models are actually the same on all the other models - they just aren’t listed (for example, they highlight different power claims but if you look at the specs they are all 150 watt motors).
I don’t think you can go wrong.
Interesting , first I’ve seen of this. What are your most common uses, and what’s the advantage over a simple heatng element?
So $999!
I just cooked 6 chicken thighs, 2 at a time, also using my Combustion thermometer, and they all turned out identical (an accomplishment for me lol).
It’s not hard for a pro chef to be consistent (although even they have trouble as you know from going to restaurants!), but they are cooking the same thing over and over and over. For a home chef, everything you cook is an experiment, since you may not have cooked the same thing in weeks, months or years. So precision and consistency is very valuable.
For example, you could easily program this to do the different temperature steps required to temper chocolate automatically.
Here’s an illustration on why “precision cooking” can be so helpful, cooking different styles of scrambled eggs:
It’s not that you can’t do this on your regular range top, it is that just like sous vide cooking, it makes it as easy as falling off the log. Forget having to practice over and over to make that perfect French omelet…you are immediately turned into Jacque Pepin (or so they say lol, we’ll see).
I swore I would only buy the original if they made one for $800, but obviously I can’t be trusted with money.
And a single burner?
Yes, just a single burner, but it is 10 inches, which is huge as these things go.
If I ever design a kitchen, I’ll have to think about no range and embedding 4 of these into the countertop (and then having a pull over top so you can have extra workspace too).
Will try doing a French omelet tomorrow.
$1900 in Canada. Luckily it’s out of stock. 
Man, I hate these type of threads. Now another toy to lust over. That would make my 6 hour slow simmer bolognese cook to perfection
