Zeuspaul writes: > Cooking outdoors robs heat because of the moving air. If you want slow and even then thermostically controlled 1500 watts and a 12 quart pot would be fine for outdoors. It would be best if you could shelter it from the wind. Jim in So. Calif. writes: > ...I use a propane burner so I can get my stock pots and canner up to temp. fast and adjust them to where I need them. Thanks for the info and ideas. I already use heavy duty foil to shield my propane burners from the wind and it's amazing how little it takes to blow out a flame. My two fav double and single units are ones Ken recommended. So I think I need to make two 4-sided enclosures (open front and bottom) to trap heat and shield from the wind. Bring to boil and cook whatever I'm canning in the 12 qt stockpot on a propane burner and then transfer to elec burner to keep hot enough for hot packing while the 16 qt canner is brought up to temp on the propane unit. Still anxiously waiting on Wal-Mart for the pot. Next problem is what to use to make the enclosures. Cement board? But I've hijacked this thread too much already and will start a new thread if I can't come up with something.

Thank you, all, once again! Diy crazed, we are living with two Ikea "Udden" units flanking the range right now. They are topped with stainless counters and one has a small integral sink. They've been surprisingly functional and it was the convenience of being able to set hot heavy pans right on them and not having to worry about stains that first made us consider the stainless. The look, especially in winter, leaves me a little cold. One of my favorite kitchens in my files has ivory cabinets and zinc counters. We were so keen for zinc in the early days (zinc counters paired with a patterned encaustic tile floor a la french bistro--at least as reimagined by Thomas Keller--if you can believe it). In the end we decided to try be truer to the Victorian provenance of our house, but with quite a bit of allowance for contemporary conveniences and eclecticism. I'm having a difficult time visualizing the soapstone though. Thank you for your read of our kitchen. We may be too close to evalutate. Malhgold, those are my concerns exactly. The marble reference in the drawing is from an earlier iteration. We've made the decision for perimeter counters to be all one material. But I do know what you mean about the soapstone changing the tone. Next to black, lighter colours often read as white and texture fades. The other surfaces are not white because we were going for a kind of neutrals plus texture look. One of the considered options we will still have is to put a different patina on the bricks, or even paint them in the future. I installed them myself, to match the existing brick and concrete pillar. We're also having our cabinets hand painted on site, so one thing we've been contemplating is painting the island much darker. The entrance to the kitchen is through a small library (not yet installed) with dark stained, possibly black bookshelves and a white oak herringbone floor that our neighbour, a master woodworker, is going to be installing for us in the spring. Anyway, all this is to say that we've tried to build allowances for change into our plans and although the overall light look was our favourite for some time, we're starting to feel the need for some anchoring. Kitchendetective, unoiled soapstone is definitely something I'll consider. It looks almost like zinc unoiled and I think that softer colour will pick up some of the more subtle veining in the marble. I'm just concerned that it will darken regardless.--but the evolution of its surface is also appealing. Finally after my long winded response, Vtkitchengirl. My pendants are called "Franklin pendant". Their finish is antique silver (and they do tarnish!). I bought mine at Ginger's in Toronto, but if you google the name, I think you'll find other distributors in the US.

Since you're retrofitting, I'm not sure but if your fabricator has any experience with counters, she can probably weld in a sink you purchase that fits the hole (once you pull out the old one) or even fabricate you one from scratch. The last stainless counter I had installed wasn't really very different from what you're doing. My GC put down the substrate and the stainless guy came in and templated. It might have well have been an old laminate counter! Pin down the fabricator and ask if they can weld in a sink or custom fabricate one. It should be not much different from doing a job from scratch.

I have them in my kitchen They're 9 and look as good as the day they were installed though they definitely have patina (i.e. scratches) that come from normal use. Don't know the gauge but they are quite thick. They are glued down to a very thick plywood substrate -- they were clamped for 2 days. Very low maintenance. I wipe them with Caldrea countertop cleaner and a microfiber cloth. Thing about stainless is that it can get heat tint and discolor slightly. So I put hot pots on the stovetop, sink grid or on silicone trivets. Depending on the fabricator they can do pretty much anything sinkwise. The guy who made mine is an artist and he managed to perfectly wrap the counter around an upmounted Shaw's farm sink. I had a wood counter for years and much prefer these. I never worry about them and they are so easy.