New England B.S. Thread

This style of adding the electric motor between the engine and transmission just add a bit more power is new. It’s not gaining much mpg and the battery wastes a lot of space.

 

What’s with this new fad of taping Christmas lights all over your entire car with either blue painters tape or scotch tape. I’ve been seeing cars with it all over the place. How does it not just fly off?

 

Today on Dean's Diner, we start with a homemade loaf of tomato cheese bread. This one's got swirls of Italian cheese throughout, as well as a generous amount of garlic.




This was baked specially for patty melts. For those, we must make the beef very, very flat.



And yes, we are going to pair this handmade, small batch, artisanal bread with shit that they aren't even allowed to call "cheese" in places with functional consumer brains. Nothing else melts like it, and anyway, the only difference is the water content.

Anyway, you make the beef T H I N so that as it shrinks when it cooks, it stays nice and thin and juicy, as opposed to smashing the shit out of the patty while it cooks, losing vital moisture. A splash of worstchesthair helps get a nice flavorful brown.

In this case, an 85/15 ground beef with a bunch of finely diced onion folded in. Each patty is 1/4 lb, but again, VERY FLAT.



How did this man get that thing onto the skillet without tearing it? He must handle it gentle, like baby birb, and move gently but insistently with a strong spatula and a steady hand. It also helps to smash, quarter, layer, and smash the raw beefwad to the right consistency, which also helps distribute the minced onion evenly. Beat it up too much and it gets tough and doughy, but not enough and it will fall apart too easily under the heat from cooking alone.

Here we see the shop supervisor inspecting the assembly line.



Face the bread with melted butter, and arrange the cheese opposing on either side of the patty, so every bit has an even mix of the American and Swiss.



Here you go, a heart attack on a plate with a side of scratch beef vegetable soup, which started off earlier as a pile of bones.

 

Dude...

One thing I dont know how to do, is bake, breads, etc.

Looks fantastic.

 

The base recipe I used for this loaf is my go-to. Exceptionally easy to turn out excellent loafs with very little hands-on time. I can post it up if you want. Between that dough and a base cookie recipe that rolls the same way, little variations or additions can make some really impressive stuff. No special equipment (a Dutch oven for the bread helps but isn't necessary), no special techniques.

 

I’d be interested in the bread recipe. We don’t buy bread anymore tiff just makes it and it’s the best

 

Do you have a stand mixer?

If not, how do you feel about sourdough?

Kneading sucks. I have some no knead recipes, and sourdough is really easy without kneading. I do focaccia and sandwich loafs mainly, not the round loafs like Dean above. I use my stand mixer to knead loafs that need it (heh). Kitchen scale everything, flop it in the pan and send it.

My approach has always been simplicity over all. If i see a recipe that's 17 pages long and needs constant attention, F that. I'll go to the next one that you spend 4 minutes slopping everything together and then firing it 2 hours later.

 

Some people are highly resistant to change and need to post about it as much as possible.

 

I'll take a turbo but a butt load of batteries taking up a ton of cab space, making it super heavy, and in Tesla's case - being the bottom of the car so being dragged along rocks - no thanks.

99% of sales will never see more than gravel roads so it really won't affect other than niche buyers, i recognize I'm not in the majority.

 

Right. You're not the average consumer. I'd prefer every vehicle still be offered with a manual transmission but the numbers don't favor that.

I don't see the relevance of going into a forum of a vehicle I don't or likely won't ever own and post dozens if not hundreds of times about how I won't buy it. Seems like a phenomenal waste of time.

 

@deanosaurus too

https://gatherednutrition.com/pumpkin-cinnamon-swirl-sourdough-bread/

Y'all got sourdough starters? I can send some of mine y'all's ways if you want any.

 

I do not. I’ll see if tiff wants to make some I don’t do any baking

 

Thank you, but it would be lost on me. I dont know the first thing about baking, let alone bread(s). I dont do much with bread anyway. Except for like French Bread pizzas, or burgers.. Ill grab parisian loafs, and brioche or pretzel rolls from the bakery.

We do not. I like sourdough. Again, see above. lol

Yes, and no.

While I do agree with Rob, that, I dont comment, as Im not the target buyer...
But, sometimes, the biggest thing preventing me from making a change, is over complication.

We were looking at Camrys the other day, and theyre ALL CVT. That is a HARD NO.
Telling her, if she wants another car, time to cave in, and get cozy with driving a manual, since I wont do the CVT thing.

 

My wife did, but that was a surprise. I have done a couple, but never successfully. I was at Dedham courthouse for one and a guy who worked at the court house told me the system was weighed heavily in favor of the insurance companies. The hearing officers who hear the appeals are mostly retired from working in... the insurance industry. The hearing officers aren't judges and don't work for the courts.

I think it's all done on Zoom today, but I'm not sure. I was going to appeal my 2023 crash as I thought it was 50/50, but got busy getting the house prepped for sale and had other stuff to do, so I pocketed the $50.00.

 

I don't disagree that CVTs don't have their own set of issues (see Nissan's exploding Jatcos) but how is this different than any sea change in the automotive industry in the past? "I'll never drive anything but a V8, you couldn't give me a six cylinder", "I'll never have a four cylinder", electronic fuel injection is too hard to work on, etc., etc. The first and second round of iteration always have teething issues (Chrysler used to convert their fuel injected early 80s Imperials to carbs when the fuel injection broke as part of the dealer fix), but this is the natural evolution. I just don't understand what seems like legitimate fear some people seem to have about new(er) technology when it's already a few generations old while simultaneously overlooking flaws of the past. Toyota's had its share of duds before (7M head gaskets, 3.0L head gaskets, the mighty 22RE timing chain guides) but these engines were perfect, but putting a turbo on them guarantees they blow up all day, every day? I don't understand that mindset. Even the Tundra's issues is related to new motor production, not the turbocharger itself.

 

100% - the early CVTs were bad, real bad. My ex had a little Dodge (a Caliber I think) and it was really an awful dog in all kinds of driving. She was not a severe gearhead and even she didn't like it, but it was long paid off so she drove it until the wheels fell off. She was sketched out by her replacement whip also having a CVT, but halfway into the test drive she was fine with it - it was 10+ years of development later and a completely different creature, and my current partner is getting a Crown and it again is another incredible advancement so many years later.

 

Lemme know.

See if you can find a book called Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. It's about what's worth the effort and cost to make vs just buying. Hint - bread is worth making, butter isn't.

It's not that it's lost. A quick slopped together loaf is miles better than anything from the store - and pennies on the dollar.

That said - BJs baguettes....those are not lost on me.





Re CVT - the Toyota and other makes use some sort of modified CVT. Most of the damages were at take off so Toyota made a "real" first gear, then shifts into the CVT after that.

For an A to B machine and even one loaded down with kids, equioment, etc - I'd love it. Towing, and in the woods, no thanks. But then again, same thing as above. The 5% use case shouldn't dictate the rest.

Edit - bagels, too. Hot damn. If there's a place that makes decent bagels near you, sure. But bagged Thomas etc? Not even close. Bagels are slightly more annoying to make because you have to boil then bake, but they're not terrible. I just do focaccia, sandwich loafs, and round loafs like Deans above. Bagels time to time, but not much else. It's a utilitarian approach, with a bit of hobbyist mixed in.

 

Not as well known or popular, nor do I have any idea how they were reliability wise but..anyone else remember the Subaru Justy from the 1980s with the ECVT? Or just my old carcass..haha.

Excellent examples, the V8 being my favorite. I've said to many people who don't understand vehicles that my 1984 Camaro off the assembly line had the V8 and 4 barrel, making about 170 horsepower. My 2010 Tacoma with a 4 cylinder a skotch over half that size is about 160-something when it was first built. Lot of other factors of course..tune, carb versus FI, the vehicle aerodynamics and weight, blah blah but it gives a little idea.

Let's add all the rotten frames with Toyota as well..

I'd buy a turbo vehicle but not initially, but that's the "never buy the first year" in general talking. My parents made that mistake with the Ford Escort.

Look at how scared people were of fuel injection long ago. While true you can't tweak it with a screwdriver like a carburetor, the damn thing is more more effective.

 

In theory CVTs are great. theyve been used in Sleds for... ever? and ATVs for a long time.

Theyve sacrificed reliabilty/longevity for the sake of MPGs, and comfort/NVH. See the 6spd auto in my Tacoma. STILL the only thing I hate/regret about this truck.

I dont like CVTs. Hell, I dont like any automatics, but, that is a ME problem.

She has a hard enough time with the Subie, with a traditional auto, coming from a Charger Daytona(lack of power). But, now that her commute is 10 minutes.

I havent driven the Toyota the CVT. But, my previous experience with them in rentals, etc, nope. Not a fan. Couple that with high cost of repair(replace instead of repair), and being soemone that works on machinery for a living, nope. Not for me.

I havent looked into them in a while arguably, but, as it stands right now, I'll likely own an electric, before a CVT. At least the electric will put power down, and MOVE when told.

But, hey, what do I know.

Like I said, its a me problem, Im not the target consumer.

Now the Supra on the other hand.... too bad we still need a back seat.

 

Sure, but when you are looking at a product that's reasonable quality, I don't even stress that. According to the internet my 2016 should have blown up 4-5 times by now, should currently be on fire in my driveway and punched my daughters a few times. None of that has happened.

But have they? My 5MT in my 2013 was garbage from day one in terms of shift clunking in and out of OD. Dealer swapped the whole unit and it ran no better. Sure, I got the 6MT because of early reports on the 6AT being testy, but at the end of the day even the vaunted 2G wasn't this perfect driveline combo for everyone.

30 years ago 100,000 miles was something only cars like old Mercedes (prior to them going downmarket in quality), Honda and Toyota did with regularity. Now even the worst cars made generally get to 100k without issue, most well maintained Honda / Toyotas get to 200k plus without drama. My Mom's 1991 Ford Escort failed at 105k.

I remember my Dad messing with all of his cars to get them to start with levels of regularity. I remember missing family functions because the car was broken again (this was 1980s GM). I can't remember the last time I had anything car related that involved an immediate trip to the mechanic.

I feel like people are presenting their subjective opinions as objective opinions loudly these days (not aimed at you in particular) but there were a handful of people in the 2024 Tacoma thread that literally have dozens of posts about how they won't buy the truck (that hadn't been released yet) because there was a chance it would be hybrid and turbo. It's just baffling to me to a level of "old man yells at cloud" when there's no hard evidence pointing in either direction.