Expanded shale will not replace organic matter in soil, nothing will replace organic matter in soil. A good soil will consist of about 45 percent mineral (those particles that make a soil sandy, silt, or clay), 25 percent water, 25 percent air, and about 5 percent organic matter and all soils no matter what kind need that organic matter. Using gypsum to some clay soils to aid in opening them up works if you are in an arid area and your soil gets overdosed with salts because the lack of rainfall does not wash them out of the soil. Everywhere else the best thing to add to soil to make it better is organic matter.

I enjoy bantering with this guy and with the exception of compromising the value of this board with false info, he does provide recipes (from others, and in the wrong thread) and some good cleaning tips from time to time. What is truly sad if you think about it is that he is getting something really important to him through his fantasy and anonymity via the web. It hit me just last evening how much the character he portrays is the antithesis of his real life. We have an individual here who maybe lives with his Mom, or otherwise a loner or misfit who through this fabricated identity gets much need fullfillment from his pretend shoreside mansion, butler, Audi, SUV, recipes, etc. The reality is probably a delapidated home somewhere in the New Jersey or PA suburbs, a Volvo sedan with endless problems, and a grill (Members Mark) that in many ways was one of the nicest things he has ever owned (and it is a nice grill!). He got abusively frustrated when the possibility came up that there was a better value on the market (Virco). For those who did not see those posts before they disappeared, they were bizarre in the venom and profanity he lobbed at Virco and MM owners who would consider the possibility that the Virco was an excellent value. He made up reviews on a product you could tell he never looked at. We all know this is just a grill for heaven's sake, but he took it so much farther and so much more personally. A vendetta to disparage a grill? I don't mean to go so much into a profile here, but the grill really seemed to be an icon for the rest of his facade, and he felt he was vulnerable to losing something really important and precious if his purchase decision was compromised in any way. Well, I'll shut up now, but I feel a bit guilty now getting amusement out of someone who might have a real mental health problem. I hope I am wrong.

I'll keep the Miele temperature issue current for 2016. I have a Miele H4890BP2 (MasterChef 48" double oven) and have had it in operation for about 6 years. From the start it has *never* worked properly. Unfortunately, I assumed for the first 2 years that the temperatures were correct as shown on the display, and that the issues with baking were my fault. After putting good oven thermometers in both ovens, I realized that the oven temps were not at all what the ovens were displaying. After about 30 minutes to reach temperatures, the actual temperatures are always 25-50 degrees below the display temp (not to mention the "reached temp" alert beep occurs within 5 minutes. However, for the past year, only the bottom oven heats and maintains temperature. The top oven will heat to a maximum of 325-375 and within 15 minutes stops heating entirely. It shows no fault messages, and the display indicates that it is still attempting to heat...it just goes cold despite the display declaring that it is preheating. BTW, the Miele installer (who no longer sells Miele) did not set the voltage to the proper US setting--something I only knew to check after reading these boards! There is no Miele authorized service provider in my area and every other appliance repair people I've called all have refused to work on Miele ovens! I finally sent an Email to Miele about two weeks ago and have not gotten a response. It's incredibly disappointing to say the least to have paid this much for an appliance and it never work properly, and then be unable to find a local service provider. Especially horrifying is that Miele clearly must know that there was and is an issue with these ovens but have not been proactive and/or responsive to customers who own these ovens. This is not at all what I expected when doing business with Miele.

We bought our Bluestar RNB less than a year ago and have had it installed since Feb'12. Ours is the 36" with 4 burners and griddle. So far, my experience has been mostly positive. To address some of the issues you've mentioned: I have never seemed to need more than 1 simmer burner at a time, so that has never been an issue. Aside from major holiday cooking, I seem to use that burner most often (almost daily) for cooking rice and reheating... Love being able to walk away and not worry about things boiling over or burning. I suppose number of simmer burners will come down to cooking style and preferences. I LOVE the ease of clean-up with my Bluestar! The cast iron is a cinch to clean... a little scrub while still slightly warm and it's done. Often, I will let a few days pass before cleaning and I suppose part of the reason i can do that is because, even when dirty, it doesn't look that bad! Clean-up was a huge factor for me. My last oven had black porcelain top and I was NEVER able to keep it clean or smudge-free, especially with as much heavy use as I put my ranges thru. I also love the size of the oven AND the full extension rack. It has made baking, basting, roasting, etc so much more efficient! Now, to address the oven heat issue... I, too, did a lot of research prior to buying our Bluestar. I believe the door locking problems due to high heat has been resolved. We have not had this problem and I use our oven several times each week, some weeks being daily. That said, the door does get pretty hot during use. While the oven door handle always stays completely cool, the oven door, oven window, and oftentimes, the knobs and front portion of the range (in front of the burners, where you stand right up against) do get pretty hot. It's never hot to the point of burning where it would be dangerous to touch, but it definitely is uncomfortable and even I avoid touching or leaning against it during those times. It appears door insulation is pretty much nil. I would like to point out, however, that I do have 2 small children (20mos and 3yo) who are often in the vicinity when I'm cooking. They know they are not supposed to come near the range while I am cooking and definitely not to touch the oven door when it is on. On plenty of occasions, their curiosity would cause them to wander close and touch it, despite our warnings. Never once have they screamed or gotten hurt. Usually, they touch it, draw their hands back and walk away. I am not in any way trying to defend Bluestar's heat issues, nor am I suggesting you let your kids touch things that are potentially hazardous, just telling it like it is in our experience. Does the heat bother me? Yes, sometimes it really does and makes me wish BS would address this issue and fix it for residential use. If I could get the same exact range/oven without the heat problems, would I? Without hesitation. Does it make me regret my decision? Not yet! Lastly, I do appreciate that the Bluestar has no bells & whistles. Little to no electronic means less break-down in my book at least. I've met 2 people who have Wolf ranges and both have had problems with the electric portions of their units, requiring lengthy service calls and repair/replacement. Though, since time keeping is important to me, I have had to put a clock in my kitchen when I used to rely on the digital ones on the range. Also, no electronics mean no built-in timers, which hasn't been a problem b/c I have one within reach. Also, despite having a manual oven control knob, the temperature settings have been pretty accurate, confirmed by my oven thermometer. One final comment about my Bluestar experience... I've been waiting for years to cook with a wok and now that I have the range (and, more importantly, the vent hood), it has been a dream! I absolutely appreciate being able to remove the grate and just fit my wok into the bowl-like space above the burner. The quality of certain dishes have definitely improved just due to the availability of high heat alone. For someone who loves cooking and experimenting, this has added to the fun in my new kitchen. Hope this helps!