I have the cuisinart stand-alone.. 2 quart size -- and I love it. To get good results you MUST: 1) freeze the drum/tub SOLID for 12 - 15 hours 2) chill ALL of the ingredients you are going to use prior to making the ice cream or sorbet 3) the ice cream does not come out solid -- it comes out with a nice semi-soft texture.. if you want it more solid, pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes or so. 4) do NOT take the drum out of the freezer until you are completely ready to add the ingredients. In the long run you'll find making sorbets to be much quicker/easier.. I make them several times a week (I make a half gallon of simple syrup at a time and keep it chilled in the fridge - I also keep the drum in the freezer unless I am in the process of making the sorbet). I have had no problems with soupy or bad textured sorbets or ice creams. Good luck!

OTR MWs: Pros: If you have a very, very tiny kitchen, it may be the only way to get a MW in the kitchen. Cons: Poor venting...even those that vent to the outside do a poor job. Not only are the cfms lower, but most OTR MWs do not cover the front burners and have no place to capture and hold the smoke/grease/steam/odors for venting out. (The recirculating type are almost useless in this regard.) Poor functionality...if someone is working at the range/cooktop and someone needs to use the MW, the person cooking has to get out of the way...not only once but at least twice (put food in/take food out), more if the food needs checking and/or stirring. Too high for most people to use safely. For most people, the food is taken out of the MW at head level...which means it's more difficult to keep level and steady and if you spill anything the hot food could hit your face. It's even worse for short people, children, and older people. You have to reach over a hot range/cooktop and the hot food on it to access the MW...think about a steam pot of boiling water and reaching through the steam to get to the MW. It's even more dangerous if you have gas b/c now you're also reaching over a flame and if you're wearing loose clothing it can catch fire (someone here told us their sweater caught fire!) Separate MW and Rangehood Pros: Effective venting...not just b/c of higher cfms. Rangehoods also have a larger overall capture area front & sides as well as an area to capture and hold the smoke/steam/grease/odors for venting outside. Better MW...you can usually get a MW with more functionality for less. Also, most MWs don't last as long as other appliances so you will most likely have to replace it long b/f you have to replace anything else (especially a rangehood! I've never heard of a rangehood being replace b/c it no longer works!) Allows you to have a much better functional layout. You can place the MW where it's best functionally: Usually near the refrigerator and a water source (since most foods need water added for MWing) On the periphery of the kitchen so it's accessible not only to those working in the kitchen, but also to "outsiders" looking for a snack without the snackers getting in the way of those working in the kitchen. Cons: Cost is more. Recommendations Plan a place for your MW. There are many options: Built-in or in placed in an alcove in a tall oven cabinet (over a wall oven or over drawers, etc.) Build a shelf beneath an upper cabinet. It should only take up the space of one shelf. MW Drawer undercounter MW alcove undercounter to place a "regular" MW inside. (I do not recommend this b/c it requires a lot of bending and/or reaching blindly inside the MW with hot food!) Some people do have them and are OK with them. If you're entire family is short, it might be acceptable (not ideal, but acceptable). On the counter...especially if you have a "Snack Center" with plenty of...

Hi All, I would appreciate if some one help explain whats going on with my Intelliflo VF pump. I have a VF that was running for about 22 Hrs turning a 20K pool once a day. It was running at around 16 GPM and it ran fine for over a month. 16GPM x 22hrs ~ 20K gallons.. Perfect. Then I introduced solar heating and programmed feature 3 on the pump to 30 GPM for 5 Hrs a day. The rest of the time the pump is scheduled to run at 16 GPM. It starts at 6.00 AM and runs at 16 GPM till feature 3 kicks on at 11.00 AM. So thats 5 Hrs which equals 16x60x5 = 4800 gallons From 11.00 am to 4.00 pm feature 3 runs at 30 GPM. So thats 30x60x5 = 9000 gallons. At the end of feature 3 total gallons filtered = 4800 + 9000 = 13800 The pump then goes into power save/sleep mode which it is supposed to do when it thinks its finished the cycle sooner than necessary. But there is still about 6200 gallons to filter which means the pump should have ramped down to 16 GPM and run for at least 6 hrs. Am I calculating something wrong ? Can some one explain to me whats going on ? Pentair's "So called" Technical support had no clue and they rudely hung up the phone saying that no one can say what the computer calculates. This is exactly what they said. Pentair has the worst technical support team ever. Please help..

There was some confusion and I don’t know how to edit the original post I tried but didn’t know how. Can you let me know how to do that. I will delete both. Some of the people are condescending and rude. They assume we are all designers.