When we remodeled the kitchen I could have gotten any stove, cook top I wanted. I lusted after a pro model. The look, the colors, all very tempting. But the more I thought about how I cook and the amount of money involved the more I had to agree with someone in the kitchen forum who said if itÂs going to cost that much it better come with 4 tires and a set of keys. We cook outside on the BBQ all year long even in the rain and snow. So I bought a 36ÂÂ GE profile 5 burner, propane, cook top and a separate electric oven. The cook top has power boil and I can have water boiling in just a few minutes. It has pro type grates that make moving things around real easy and the low simmer is great. I have to agree that itÂs the cook not the stove that makes a difference. A great cook can cook on anything and a lousy cook will not get any better just because the stove is a pro model. This will be the last kitchen I will build and I went for function over looks. Picking out 2 full size sinks was much more of a challenge and the one thing I am most pleased with. Claudia

There are many styles, so do you mean one of the round ones made famous in infomercials (glass or plastic dome), or one that is more like a toaster oven, or a combination of convection/microwave oven style toaster oven? I've had all of those, which led me to purchase a Sharp Convection/Microwave Oven that is installed over my stove (with an exhaust fan on it), and I absolutely consider it a workhorse in my kitchen. With only two of us to cook for, I can do most of my baking in the smaller oven (when I don't use one of my solar ovens). The convection feature allows me to make baked goods in 25% to 50% less time, and at a reduced temperature (usually 25-degrees less. With both racks in my Sharp, I can bake two pans of cookies on round piazza pans in 5-8-minutes, depending on the kind of cookies I make. I bake two full loaves of bread in 25-minutes and without any preheating for a substantial savings of energy over using my regular oven. There is a bit of a learning curve for using a convection oven, so be sure to read the manufacturer's user manual. I'm the gadget person in our family.... (there's really no cure for the condition ;-). And if there is something that will save energy - I probably have one. If you like the convection oven, then I'd suggest an induction cooking top (hot-plate) to go along with it. I rarely use my stove these days. -Grainlady

How fun! My daughter also does this at the grocery store she works for - Publix. They call it Aprons. She has to prepare a meal predetermined by the store and hand out samples. They hae a cooler with all the ingredients they use to make this meal so people can just grab what they need to make it, right there. She has told me stories about the people too. The most rude ones are from a retirement community that are bussed there on certain days. The biggest problem she had was people asking for more and more samples. Then one guy takes all the samples and others are left standing there and have to wait for another batch to be cooked up and then they may miss their bus back home. So she has to limit the samples to one to a person. They try all kinds of tricks, a) my wife is in the bakery, let me take it to her, b) my husband is in the car, c)it's not enough for me to know if I like it or not..... it goes on and on! I hope you have fun with this. My daughter is quitting in May when she graduates college and she will go into teaching elementary school. My guess is that she's gonna wish she was fighting off the old people again! hahahah! Good Luck to you~

I don't have any issues with washing poultry, in fact I'd be uncomfortable *not* washing it. Of course I also bleach everything after the bird is in the Nesco. I wipe everything down that's nearby, and it's a good time to do the frig door handles and the like too. After having an aunt who worked in a poultry processing plant tell me what went on there, there's two things I'll never do: 1) Never cook unwashed poultry; and 2) Never buy "parts missing" birds! After the points raised here, I am hesitant to consider a stuffed bird too. Will it kill you? No, probably not. Could you get sick? Well possibly, but I guess it's more the gross factor and bliss ignorance thing. I really don't understand the lure of stuffing the bird though. There's only two possible reasons I can think of: 1) the juices of the bird get in it, and from the above, do you want them? LOL But you can still take juices and mix into the dressing, juices that are cooked and reduced so they're probably more flavorful too; and 2) Saves cleaning a pan used to cook the dressing. However stuffing a bird also takes more time to cook, throws off the cooking of the bird and then the bird cooks more unevenly. I've read and I do believe the loose leg test is a bad way to judge if it's done. Sure, it means the dark meat is done but also probably means the best part, the white meat, is overcooked. And then people complain that white meat is dry! LOL To each their own. Curious thing, I was reading on the cooking forum one of the posters who to me has demonstrated great cooking knowledge has and will cook frozen turkeys. I'm not sure I would, but I don't doubt what she says. The other interesting thing I've been reading is about basting. It does nothing for juiciness or assist cooking. It does make it take longer since you lose oven heat each time you open it and it can help give more color to the bird. But color doesn't always equate to taste. Great for the ooh factor though. I need to get my turkey breast washed and into the Nesco... probably tomorrow!