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(More customer reviews)Look at my discussion of the Norpro which I also own. 1) of COURSE the handle burns!!!! would you rather have a wooden smell for a bit, or burnt plastic for longer? and metal would make you get welders gloves -- the IDEA is to put it under your pot and LEAVE it there -- so really, there's little use for the handle. These products with the holes in them will keep water, even in the space age layered metals of today's pots, at a 'steep', below a simmer --- at a 'steep' -- which is wonderful. Yes they will rust - and if you go camping yes you will need to put it in a plastic bag -- EVERY pan has a 'hot spot' -- weather it's your great grandmothers Lodge or Cascade or Fireside or what ever Castiron, or if it's a $400 Kuhn-Rikhon pressure cooker -- this will make that 'hot spot' go away -- it will allow you to cook tomato sauce ALL DAY without having to stand there to stir it every so often, so you can go out to the garden, visit your neighbors, go shopping - and come home and take your WOODEN spoon and stir the pot.
I've tried many ways over the past 50 years to keep the handle on, and none has worked -- so don't fight it -- I have a pair of vice grips set for this, and the vice grips cost about $2 as a counter special at an auto parts store and should cost you maybe $5 at a hard ware store -- you only need he small one -- and that's to do the final little fraction of an inch push this way or that.
I didn't believe it, but these ARE hard to find -- when I was looking for some for my girlfriend last Valentines day -- I was saved by the bell because the local cooking supply/hardware store called in the order with half an hour to spare so they would arrive on time.
So-- the spray they use to make them all shiney will burn off -- and smell -- so do it before you cook -- both sides and get it hot -- the wooden handle will sooner or later burn off -- get used to it. It will turn black and rust -- but it's not IN your food, so it's like ditry dishes in your sink -- they don't change the color of your shirts in the laundry. and vice grips of pliers will help you make the final fractional inch adjustment that's not necessary except in your mind!
But when you think of all the vitamins, amino acids, poly-and phyto saccharides from your plants that are destroyed by boiling -- you can cook AND slowly leach out the chemicals into the water -- This and the other one with the holes on top are amazing --
Someone complained because these did their job - the paraphrase was "I put some water on to boil and it took 20 minutes rather than the regular X minutes -- it's so cheap, I'm just going to throw it in the back of my cupboard and forget about it.
so -- if you can stand the smell of metal preservative, and a wooden handle smoking (and eventually falling off) -- these are the most energy efficient items around your kitchen -- they put the hot stuff exactly where it belongs on the bottom of the pan, and don't soak up a lot of heat themselves, they allow it to pass through and do it's job.
So -- I'd suggest this over ANY other -- there was one that was star shaped and was really nothing more than a pot raiser -- put one open grate on top of another -- but the problem remains -- that 'hot spot' that every pan seems to have -- and you have taken for granted for so long you forget that it's there.
You can even use cheap one layer thick aluminum-- you an use a coffee can -- and cook in it without boiling the water over -- and if you do? turn up the flame, burn it clean -- let it cool, stack it with the others on the back burner so you can get to it -- and you are done cleaning -- LOOK MA! NO WATER!
I've used the cast iron ones -- and they are worth not much -- FIRST you heat the cast iron, THEN you heat the pot, and if too hot, you turn down the flame, but the cast iron is still hot and it keeps getting hotter until a bit AFTER you have turned it down -- it's like talking to Mars -- you can do it, but what you do NOW no one will know for 20 minutes.
With these - what you do now, happens now -- so you really CAN 'steep' with no problem and not worry about 'simmer' at all!
so -- these kinds will always be at home in my kitchen -- just like they were in grandmas and my great grandmothers -- my mothers, and mine -- burned beans? only when I gave most of mine away-- burned tomato sauce -- only when I gave them away -- otherwise -- set and forget as they say on late night TV - I sure would like to see this in stainless steel!
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Flame Tamer SIMMER Ring Aluminum HEAT Diffuser DISTRIBUTER gas stove top stovetop with Wood HandleWhen cooking a delicate sauce or melting chocolate, it's important to use low, gentle heat.This diffuser adds a layer of protection between the burner and the bottom of the pan, yet its perforations allow heat to get through. Protect your beautiful pots and pans with this clever gadget. Made of lightweight yet sturdy aluminum. Measures 12" and 8.5" wide. Hanging loop for easy storage. Reduces cleanup time.
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