It's called KitchenQuik. It's a hand-cranked mixer, chopper, blender, and food processor. You might have seen advertisements on tv demonstrating this gadget. I ordered one and am really pleased with the durability and quality of the product. It's fun to use and easy to clean. It comes with interchangeable beater blades, whipping whisk, and chopping blades. They also throw in some free stuff, like I got a plastic, flexible cutting mat. To order, call 1-800-841-1616. The cost is $29.95 plus S&H.

-- shivermetimbers (zerodegrees@brrrrrr.com), January 12, 1999

Answers

A lower-tech alternative is a high carbon, sharp French chef's knife, a sharpening stone to keep it that way, and a good cutting block, with oil for the cutting block.

-- Karen Cook (browsercat@yerf.net), January 12, 1999.

I just kind of like grandma's sausage grinder. Weighs about a ton though, and you have to buy a new blade every fifteen or twenty years of heavy use.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), January 12, 1999.

Hey Shiver:

My wife and I just ordered two of those but we got the brand called Rocket Chef.

Karen, with all due respect, a knife is just fine for normal circumstances but we got the Roncos to help us prepare for Y2K. I read in Making the Best of Basics (pg 207) that the canning process causes food to loose about 60-80% of its nutritional value while in-home drying looses only about 3-5%. We are going to use the Roncos to chop vegies like mad and dry them. Later, we can reconstitute them in a soup.

I'm also using the dehydrator to make beef jerky. As soon as my family quits eating every piece in sight I hope to start adding it to the food stocks. It really is good.

Bob

-- Bob Benson (appysys@inreach.com), January 12, 1999.

My understand was that Beef Jerky is only good for about 6 months in the storage arena.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), January 12, 1999.

I've been wondering about the life span of jerky so thanks for clueing me in. Off hand do you know if that's for storage at room temp? If so, I guess it would keep longer refrigerated or frozen. Do you have any thoughts on how to lengthen that time period? Looks like I better add that to my research list. Sure love the stuff.

Bob

-- Bob Benson (appysys@inreach.com), January 12, 1999.

Bob,

We have a similar problem here but it's my wife who is scarfing the stuff down. I told her we had to do something to increase our production or decrease our consumption so we could get some put away. So, she goes out and starts a small home business selling the stuff to co-workers. At a buck an ounce for sale, we pay for the amount we actually have for ourselves, but it gets eaten!!

Now I'll NEVER get our production up enough to save any!!

cr

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), January 12, 1999.

Hmm...Native Americans used to make pemmican, which is one third jerky, one third rendered fat, one third berries, and it keeps basically indefinitely. Maybe they made the jerky drier, or maybe the fat seals out the moisture...all I know is, some archeologists dug some up that was four hundred years old, and according to tests it was edible. Don't think they tried it, though!

-- Shimrod (shimrod@lycosmail.com), January 12, 1999.

Chuck:

LOL! I hope you have invested in a meat slicer, non-electric of course. I have a real simple one, a knife but thinking about upgrading. Hey, get this. I have a little boy just over 2 who recently learned how to open the fridge door. I pulled his little butt out of there at least 4 times tonight. Guess what he kept getting into. Yup, the jerky.

For meat I've tried both roasts and steaks and tend to like the steaks a lot better. Tried some eye of round last time and was pretty happy with that. Do you have any favorites? I was thinking about trying flank steak. Have you had any experience with that one?

Bob

-- Bob Benson (appysys@inreach.com), January 13, 1999.

We use an electric slicer and find that square cut bottom round roasts work VERY well. We'r also looking at Lehman's crank slicer, but.....too many hands may be needed for this to be any use while teh power is on.

c

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), January 13, 1999.

I've been making jerkey for quite awhile. The estimates of 6 months are a little pessimistic. This is based on a worse case scenario of high fat, improper storage, etc. Storing it in the frig helps keep it almost indefinately, but if dried properly, and stored in airtight container or plastic, well i've stored it this way for at least a couple of years, and have had no problem. I don't put anything on it like salt, or spices or anything, so if you cure it this way, it will keep longer. I also make some into pemmican, because it adds fats and a good taste to the beans and rice mix. Either way works well for storage.

-- Damian Solorzano (oggy1@webtv.net), January 13, 1999.

Damian, Chuck -

So keep it frozen from now until Dec 1999 - then thaw and keep at room temperature for 6 months.

Chuck - Send me a quote, I'll get some from you. Sounds good.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), January 13, 1999.

Another nice gadget to have - just in case your water storage is depleted is the handy dandy water filter - no pump or batteries - http://www.atkinsid.com/bottle.htm -- mention my name "Duane" and receive a 5% discount for being a Y2Ker.

-- Duane (Duane24062@aol.com), January 13, 1999.

Robert:

The store bought price is about $.90 an ounce. She charges a buck an ounce, and gets it!!! LOL!! Of course there would be shipping, drayage, demurage, a small dealer's prep charge..........

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), January 14, 1999.