The Best Way to Check the Temperature in Your Freezer!

The Best Way to Check the Temperature in Your Freezer!

The Best Way to Check  the Temperature in Your Freezer!
By: Rick KaestnerData loggers are modern digital devices that document temperature.  Many people use them to monitor the temperature in a freezer or in a pharmaceutical storage facility, but the are also used to monitor oven temperature and other manufacturing processes.

A high temperature data logger (a logger with sensors capable of measuring high temperatures) can be used in laboratories, manufacturing plants and even bakeries.  Literally any place where temperature plays a role in producing a product or affects the life of stored inventory is a potential spot where a data logger can be employed.

Data loggers are priceless tools for museums and art galleries where they monitor and document temperature and humidity.  Art works and paintings must be maintained in rigidly controlled environments or they deteriorate.  They can also be employed for investigating building operational problems, checking voltage and amperage in energy lines and many, many more. The only thing that limits them is which sensors are installed.

Humidity monitors
Temperature/RH data loggers such as the ThermaViewer can be used to monitor and alert personnel if temperature moves outside a 'safe' range. Knowing the relative humidity (RH) is important in every place where there are any moisture sensitive goods stored. Cigars, musical instruments and clothes - all these goods may be damaged or even destroyed by rapid RH changes. Drums' heads can split, guitars can fall apart and paintings can darken - all because of improper RH level.

High temperature
High temperature sensors can increase the data loggers' usefulness. Wherever there are heaters or ovens to monitor, a high temperature data logger will be handy. They can be used for temperature monitoring of ongoing experiments in a lab as well as for checking the temperature in ironworks' furnace. Data loggers (even high temperature ones) are relatively inexpensive and can be used by small businesses, like pizzerias and bakeries.

Author Bio
Rick Kaestner is the President and CEO of Two Dimensional Instruments; the worldwide leader in providing technology to monitor, measure, record and document temperature and humidity. For more information please visit their website at www.e2di.com

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
By: Stephanie Foster
"There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love chocolate, and communists." - Leslie Moak Murray

I can't help but love that quote. When I was a kid, my grandpa always called any store bought cookies that somehow made it into the house "Commie cookies." For him, it was Grandma's homemade cookies or none at all.

There's just something special about homemade cookies, especially chocolate chip cookies, so far as I'm concerned. It's a great family activity, something even children can help with, and everyone loves eating the results.

Here's an easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies I think you'll enjoy:

Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 package butter pecan, chocolate chip, chocolate fudge, devil's food, German, chocolate or yellow cake mix
1/2 cup  butter or margarine -- softened
1 teaspoon  vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup  chopped nuts
1 (6 ounce) package  semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)


Heat oven to 350°. Combine half of the dry cake mix , butter, vanilla and eggs in large bowl and mix until smooth. Stir in remaining cake mix, nuts and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set (centers will be soft). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Author Bio
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Gimme Chocolate and offers a range of gourmet chocolate products as well as chocolate recipes on the site. For more recipes, please visit www.gimmechocolate.com/recipes/

Chocolate Fountain Description and Help

Chocolate Fountain Description and Help

Chocolate Fountain Description and Help
By: Edwin Hall
What is a chocolate Fountain?

A chocolate fountain is a device for serving chocolate fondue. It can come in many different sizes, mini, medium, large and extra large depending on the number of guests you wish to cater for. The fountain has multiple tiers over a heated basin at the bottom. The chocolate is melted in the basin and then pulled up through the augur and continuously flows over the tiers. When it flows over the tiers, guests are able to select a condiment they would like to dip into the fountain, using a skewer, they select a dip of their choice and coat their item in delicious, warm melted chocolate....heaven!

Essentially, a chocolate fountain is composed of two parts.  The base is the motor and a heater.  The heater is designed to transpose heat through the base to keep the chocolate in liquid form.  The motor drives the screw in the upper part of the fountain.  This is an Archimedes screw, weren't they clever!  This is thought to have originated around 600 BC, I bet they never thought of a chocolate fountain then.  The screw lies in a tight cylinder in a vertical fashion with several holes at the bottom of the screw.  The screw lifts the chocolate to the top of the cylinder from where it flows over several plates and down the fountain to be recycled again.  This is the basic premise of a chocolate fountain, because the chocolate is thick, there is no need for a pump as the screw is a better means for lifting the chocolate up.

Why have a chocolate fountain? Chocolate Fountains are a new and impressive form of entertainment, they create a fantastic focal point at any major event and provide your guest with a unique and interactive way of treating themselves to luxurious fondue chocolate. Chocolate fountains are a great solution for some weddings, they provide a wonderful desert or can be used for an evening buffet. Some people chose to have a chocolate fountain rather than a wedding cake, this is because chocolate fountains are interactive and people can help themselves as much as they like when the would like it

What should you consider when booking a chocolate fountain? We recommend you consider booking you chocolate fountain at least 12 months in advance, this is because they are extremely popular. To enable you to get a realistic quote you will need to provide the following details:
1. Number of guests the chocolate fountain is to cater for.
2. Location of event.
3. Date of event - (if it's a midweek event you may get a good discount).
4. Duration of event.

Most people book their chocolate fountain for the evening and on average, chocolate fountain companies hire their fountain for a period of 3 hours. However, every wedding/event is different, if you require your fountain during the day or for a longer period of time etc, please discuss this with the chocolate fountain company you have chosen

Home chocolate fountains are mini versions of the commercial ones used for weddings and events.  Unfortunately there is a lot of rubbish out there and we get calls regularly from people saying that their mini fountain doesn't work.  Here are a couple of things that will help.  Only use a quality chocolate that is made specifically for chocolate fountains.  This tends to be more expensive but it is the key to success.  Chocolate purchased from your local supermarket doesn't work unless you put oil in it, a good quality fondue chocolate doesn't require oil.  The poorer the quality chocolate, the more oil you require.  This is in fact a contradiction because standard chocolate bars typically contain around 20% vegetable fat anyway, but you will still have to add more oil because of the high level of impurities.  If this doesn't work, take the fountain back to the point of purchase and tell them that it is rubbish, maybe some of the high street chains will think again about selling consumers junk!

How do you get the most out of your home fountain.  Ensure that you have a variety of dips available, the best to use are strawberries, grapes and other fruits such as pineapple and melon but fruit works really well with chocolate.  Ensure that you have skewers and enough for your guests, these are readily available at a variety of shops, especially hardware shops that sell barbecues.  Also ensure that you have some large napkins as you wouldn't want chocolate dripping all over your floor. Finally, presentation is key, make sure that your skewers are kept together and that you present your home fountain as clean and attractive on a surface that is easy to wipe to ensure that drips don't spoil your display.

Finally, after your event has finished, don't turn the fountain of and go to bed.  Dispose of the chocolate whilst it is still in liquid form as this makes cleaning so much easier.  Your fountain should also disassemble into separate parts, put everything except the motor assembly into a dishwasher or a sink full of hot and soapy water and then it should be easily to clean down.  Before you pack your fountain away, make sure that it is completely clean and dry to prevent any contamination.

If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at the Chocolate Fountain Directory or Chocolate Fountains of Devon for advice and information on suppliers.


Author Bio
Edwin hall is the owner of the Chocolate fountain directory as well as being a part time surfer, father, husband, footballer and general good guy!

More Southern Cooking Techniques

More Southern Cooking Techniques

More Southern Cooking Techniques
By: K. Miller
I know this first technique may sound unrelated to Southern Cooking , but you will see the connection as we proceed. Here's the first tip, which should be applied to all your recipes, not just Southern Cooking.The Chinese figured this out long ago. Combine sweet and sour in your cooking. That is, in a dish that is intended to be sweet (deserts), add a pinch of salt, vinegar or hot spice. In a dish that is intended to be sour (not sweet), such as vegetables, chili, meats, add sweet. I prefer syrup or molasses rather than regular sugar to add sweetness.As an example, in Southern Recipes, I add a teaspoon of molasses to greens (turnip, collards, mustard), green beans and breakfast gravy. One exception to the adding sweet to sour is in cornbread. If you want real Southern cornbread, never put sugar in it. Sorry, that's not cornbread, it's cake (or Yankee cornbread.) I also add a teaspoon of regular sugar to my cole slaw and chili. Likewise, in all deserts I cook I add a pinch of salt. You are probably aware that most desert recipes call for this anyway. I have discussed the next technique at length in my other articles and on my websites, but it is so important I want to repeat it here. You must use cast iron cookware for most Southern dishes, especially cornbread. First, it is the traditional way to cook Southern. Additionally, the cast iron transfers heat unlike any other material, making it uniquely suited for Southern dishes. So, please use cast iron.This next technique is employed in many Southern recipes. Southerners use cornmeal in many fried dishes to coat the food. This produces a crunchy texture and adds flavor. When frying chicken, coat (batter) the chicken in flour, but add cornmeal to the flour mix at a 3 to 1 ration. In other words 1/4 cup cornmeal to 1 cup flour. Also, fried okra should be coated in a pure cornmeal mix (with salt and pepper, no flour.) Here's the point...experiment a little. When a recipe calls for flour or just because you have always cooked it that way, try substituting cornmeal for flour.Here's something I remember from my grandmother's kitchen. She was a great cook of traditional Southern food. She made the best biscuits I ever tasted. At first, I thought it was her recipe, until I found out there was nothing unusual about it (I think she got it off a bag of flour.) It wasn't the ingredients that made them so good. It was the size of the biscuits. I always knew she made bigger biscuits than I was use to but I didn't make the connection until after I found out her secret was not the ingredients. Larger biscuits will have more of the soft insides and a larger area outside for the brown crust. They are especially good with gravy or anytime you will be using a sauce. Here's what she did. She rolled out the biscuit dough to about 3/4 inch thickness. Then she used a biscuit cutter that was  a little over 3 inches in diameter (who knows where she got it...it was probably a hundred years old.) A word of caution if you use this technique for your biscuits, do not make the dough over 3/4 inch thick. You may think that if 3/4 inch is good, then 1 1/2 inches should be better. Not so. The 3/4 inch rule seems to be the optimum for Fat Biscuits. If you make them  much thicker the tops will crack and they will have a doughy flour taste. So, if you are one that has always made slim 2 inch biscuits, give these a try. And, try out the other techniques mentioned for real Southern Cooking.
Author Bio
Ken Miller is a free lance writer and webmaster for itzalgud.com Southern Cooking - Southern Recipes, where you can get free recipes for authenic Southern favorites.

3 Tips for Easy Meal Planning

3 Tips for Easy Meal Planning

3 Tips for Easy Meal Planning
By: Thomas Andrew
Where has the family dinner hour gone? There once was a time when we would all come home from a long day and sit down with our family for a nice home-cooked meal.  In today's fast paced world, we need more bonding time with the family.  One might say that in today's day where people pile way too much on the plate of life, that it is impossible to have a family dinner everyday.   I disagree.  Wouldn't you like to get back to the way it used to be?

One way to make family dinners easier to prepare is by planning ahead.  Often times I find myself going to the grocery store every other day to pick up needed items, and this is how family time gets lost.  Spend a little time planning out dinner ideas for the coming week.  Pick meals that are quick and easy for your dinners during the week and save the more time consuming recipes for the weekend.  Did you know that software has been developed that makes meal planning a breeze?  With a click of the mouse you can organize your recipe collection into daily meal plans complete with nutrition facts and shopping lists.  With the computer generated shopping list you won't have to worry about forgetting a needed item when you go grocery shopping.

Another great way to ensure that your family eats together most nights of the week is to share the responsibility of preparing dinner.  It can be difficult for one family member to be responsible for cooking everyday.  Each member of the family can take turns cooking each night.  This is also a good way to add some new flavors to your meals since each member may have a different cooking technique.  For those family members who don't cook often, this can prove to be a great learning experience.  Review each family member's weekly schedule and delegate the meal preparation tasks such as grocery shopping, cooking, and clean up.  Working as a team is a great way to build strength as a family.

"Not meatloaf again!"  I'm sure everyone has heard the complaints from that same meal being served week after week.  Keep your family dinners exciting by trying different variations of your favorite recipes.  An even better idea would be to test out some new recipes.  Surprise your family with a delicious new dinner tonight and they will be sure to come back to the dinner table tomorrow.

Nothing is more important than your family.  It's worth the effort to make sure that your family eats together daily.  Besides the needed nutrition, this time spent together will help open the lines of communication and make your family bond stronger.

I recently discovered an online service that saves time and money while providing you with new dinner ideas daily.  Get access to powerful recipe management software, daily meal plans, money saving coupons and more at SendMeRecipes.

Author Bio
Do you enjoy cooking and trying new recipes?  Learn more about how SendMeRecipes can help you save both time and money in the kitchen.  Try the 7 Day Free Trial.

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