Ceramic Knife
A ceramic knife is a knife made out of very hard ceramic, often zirconium oxide (ZrO2). These knives are generally produced by compacting Zirconia powder using high pressure presses which apply a pressure of around 300 tons to produce blade shaped blanks. These blanks are very brittle and fragile which can be shattered by a slight blow and special binders are used to retain the shape of the blank until the firing process. Like all ceramics these are consolidated into a dense and strong CERAMIC KNIFE by solid state sintering at approximately 1400 degrees Celsius for 5–12 hours in a high temperature furnace. The result is a very hard and blunt blade which needs to be sharpened to get the desired cutting edge. The blades are sharpened by grinding the edges with a diamond dust coated grinding wheel.
Zirconia is very hard; it ranks 8.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, compared to 6 to 6.5 for hardened steel, and 10 for diamond, giving a very hard edge that rarely needs sharpening. However, when sharpening is needed, Ceramic Knife blades cannot be resharpened the same way as steel blades, which are often sharpened with a ceramic whetstone. To sharpen the edge of a blade a material harder than the one that is being sharpened is required, and ceramic knives are usually sharpened with industrial grade diamond sharpeners.
Pure zirconium oxide sees little industrial use due to its polymorphism. This means from room temperature to high temperatures it goes through three phases: monoclinic, tetragonal, and cubic. Cooling to the monoclinic phase entails a large volume change, which often causes failure of the component. To alleviate this effect, additives are utilized to stabilize the high temperature phases to eliminate this volume change. Magnesium, calcium and yttrium are often used to stabilize the zirconium oxide for which yttrium provides the best mechanical properties yielding the characteristic mother of pearl appearance. The highest strength and more importantly toughest zirconia is produced with 3 mol% yttrium oxide yielding partially stabilized zirconia. This material consists of a mixture of tetragonal and cubic phase with a bending strength of nearly 1200MPa.
Ceramic knives will not rust, leading to their use by SCUBA divers. They are also nonconductive and nonmagnetic, which can be useful for bomb disposal operations. Their chemical inertness to both acids and alkalis and their ability to retain a cutting edge far longer than forged metal knives makes them a very good culinary tool for slicing and cutting through boneless meat, vegetables and fruits. Since they are very rigid they cannot be used for chopping, cutting bones or frozen foods or prying open things, which may cause the cutting edge to chip off or the blade to break free from the handle. The tips of these knives are resistant to rolling and pitting but may break when dropped to the ground.
Several brands offer a black blade made by an extra firing or sintering via hot isostatic pressing (HIP). This process improves the toughness of the blade, the key limitation to using ceramics in knife blades.
Ceramic knives present a conceptual problem to the security industry since ceramics are not picked up by metal detectors. To solve this problem, many manufacturers of non-military knives include a quantity of metal in each knife to ensure they are detectable with standard equipment. Ceramic knives can be detected by extremely high frequency scanners (e.g. millimeter wave scanners), although (as of 2006) these scanners are not yet in widespread use.
Health Benefits of Dark Chocolates
Can dark chocolates lower blood pressure and provide certain health benefits? There are various studies that have been completed to prove that this is the case. However, before an individual goes out and begins binge eating chocolate there is certain information a person needs to know. The only type of chocolate that has been proven to assist a person in improved health is dark chocolate.
Other forms of this candy have been tested, like milk chocolate and white chocolate. These do not show any signs of improvement for the well-being of an individual. Also, it is unhealthy to consume anything in large amounts. Other types of ailments may not be suitable to eat or drink dark chocolate. Diabetics may not want to risk the effects with their illness to the health benefits of this type of candy. Nevertheless, if an individual can eat sugar in moderation, this is an excellent tool for particular health matters.
Expert studies have done extensive research on dark chocolate and the effects it has on an individual’s body. In recent years, many doctors and scientists have calculated the consequences of eating more dark chocolate. They have found amazing results concerning this type of candy. These professionals used individuals for their findings with dark chocolate against the milk and white chocolates. They asked people in the test groups to do various things. One of the studies placed individuals on a strict diet of dark chocolate and foods that do not have the same elements for one week. Another test was preformed on certain individuals eating dark chocolate against white and milk chocolates. The people were not allowed to consume the dark with milk of any form. The results were outstanding.
The health benefits that the experts found were amazing. The individuals that ate the dark chocolates lowered their blood pressure by 5 to 10 points. Antioxidants are another advantage of consuming darker chocolates. This is what controls and prevents heart disease and assists in the blood flow. With the extra blood flow, this will assist a person towards better circulation in their legs and other arteries. This will keep the blood moving freely and less likely to clog.
Dark chocolates may also prevent cancers and strokes as well. The experts agree that other minor ailments may be treated with this substance too. A small amount of this candy a day may in fact keep the doctor away.
As with anything a person consumes, moderation is the key. Even when products are healthy for an individual, overdoing it will be harmful in the end. If an individual eats a small amount of dark chocolate a day, chances are they will see a slight improvement in their health. They will also have a less of a risk for any type of heart disease. There are various proven facts that only dark chocolate can cure certain styles of illnesses a person may face. It is vital to understand, the darker the chocolate the better. Milk and white chocolate are confirmed ineffective in better health and well-being.
Jane Saeman has a Chocolate Fountain catering business. She goes to lots of parties and comes back with lots of ideas. Read about some of them on her blog at http://www.ChocolateFountainDecadenceSite.com
Seven Mistakes in Designing and Decorating a Restaurant
A restaurant is able to offer a wide range of appeal to the senses. The quality of your food appealing to your customer’s sense of taste, the delightful smells wafting from the kitchen appealing to your customers sense of smell. But many restaurants fail on appealing to the primary senses, when the customer first enters and looks around to see what kind of place it is. Don’t underestimate the design and decor of your establishment; it sticks in the patron’s minds a lot longer than you’d think!
Mistake 1: Furnishings that look cheap and tacky.
Within the holy triad of bar, booth and table, it’s the tables that are the most vulnerable to looking tacky. Unless you’re running a small cafe or deli, the square table on a single pole with four shabby chairs around it just isn’t the inviting place to spend time. You don’t have to go overboard on the expense; there are bargain table and seating sets that look great. Booths, however, are the best, inviting your guests to relax at their leisure, where they’ll be inspired to stay and order desert or a cappuccino.
The best bet is to offer variety in seating. A bar for the business people dashing in for a quick breakfast, tables for the large families with an entourage of children, and booths for the leisure set and intimate couples and friends. Actually sit down in each seating piece, stay seated for a few minutes, and notice how comfortable or not it is. Perhaps your hard chairs are why guests aren’t staying beyond the main course?
Lastly, rips and tears in the fabric need to be repaired or the piece needs to be replaced. Don’t grumble at the cost of replacing a booth seat; be glad instead. Restaurants that go out of business never live long enough to see their chairs wear out. Duct-tape repairs are inappropriate everywhere but truck stops in the Southern states.
Mistake 2: Bad light.
I’ve been in restaurants where for all I could tell it used to be a funeral home. Windows, looking out at a hopefully gorgeous view, do wonders to make your environment more inviting. Besides natural light, you will need to think about lighting fixtures. Here, the ideal is bright enough to read by – not just for menus, but for today’s single person bringing in a book, newspaper, or paperwork from school and office. But also not too harsh; the lighting should be soft enough to hide blemishes in the face of your sweetheart.
Remember that at some point, the lamp, being the brightest object in the room, will snag the gaze of your patron while they’re waiting on their eggs benedict. Try to make sure the lamp fixture is attractive and clean. It seems funny, but even the cleanest restaurants I’ve seen forget this detail. Nothing like looking up to catch an eyeful of a dusty lampshade with a spiderweb and a few dead moths right over your table.
Mistake 3: Bad carpeting.
Who knows what gets into restaurant owners’ heads when it comes time to pick out a carpet design? You see this all the time; an otherwise sensibly decorated establishment whose floor covering sports a pattern not seen since Haight-Ashbury in the late 60s. It is a floor, not a bargain-rack muu-muu. Tiling and linoleum doesn’t suffer from this problem like carpeting does. Pick a carpet design that is quiet and muted, while going along with the rest of your business’ motif.
Mistake 4: No interior divisions in the seating section.
Even one private room for parties will give you a boost in income, as everybody from family reunions to social clubs and business teams will appreciate having an exclusive area to book for an occasion. Lacking that, even a partition or two or planter boxes work to divide the seating space, helping to drown out the noise and give your guests some other visual stimulation than another chewing person gazing back at them.
Today’s restaurant scene no longer has to deal with smoking/ no-smoking sections, as the smokers have now been either ordered outside by law or been badgered out into the fresh air by the disapproving cries of the clean-lunged. But what about other annoyances? The persistent cell phone addict, the crying babies, the cracking baritones, the giddy laughter, and the noisy laptop? You don’t have to segregate the space into established zones, but breaking the space up with a few dividers gives guests a chance to pick their own section – even if it isn’t officially so.
Mistake 5: The muzak.
Unless it’s a bar, music is to be only background noise that fills in the spaces between conversation. It should neither be too loud nor too quiet. Subliminal effect is the key here. It should be present, but almost never noticed. The exception is if you’re going for authentic ethnic atmosphere, in which case music of the same nationality as your menu will be part of the sensory canvas. In that case, turn the speaker up one, and only one, unit. With apologies to Spinal Tap, your speakers should most definitely not go to eleven.
Mistake 6: Too cold!
Of course, it’s sweltering in the kitchen, and your waitstaff is generating a lot of heat bustling around the tables. But people never like to keep their coat on for dinner. Living-room temperature is best for a restaurant seating section.
Mistake 7: Mis-match decor.
We’ve all had the experience of entering a restaurant housed in a building that’s been through several owners. The ghosts of restaurants past is showing in the odd nooks and crannies. Chinese buffets that used to be IHOPs, waffle houses moving in where a Mexican restaurant moved out, or a liquor store that’s been converted into a sidewalk cafe. We all understand that real estate is expensive enough, without quibbling over the fact that the perfect spot to be the future home of your French restaurant just happens to be a knock-out replica of a Turkish mosque.
But do, by all means, strive to remove every trace of the building’s former past before you lay on the furnishings for its present incarnation. Ferns and potted palms are not native to a Canadian environment, the charming Bonsai trees in the planter boxes just won’t make it in your South American decorating scheme, and that glorious Mediterranean mural is just going to have to be painted over if your steak house is to be taken seriously. A restaurant that looks like you just flew in and set it up gives patrons the chilling feeling that you might be ready to fly out again just after the next Health Department inspection.
Freelance writer for over eleven years.
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Protein In Vegetarian Diets
Vegetarian food is often accused of providing a less than adequate source of nutrition. The human body is dependent on a great number of vitamins and other minerals and each of these can be attained in a vegetarian diet as well as any other.
In fact it may well be that a vegetarian diet is better equipped to provide for our protein requirements than any other.
Protein is any one of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds that form the structural components of body tissues. Often described as the building block of life Protein is the second most abundant substance in the human body, after water.
Proteins play a crucial role in the biological processes of the body and are essential for growth and repair. The immune system, the transmissions of nerve and muscle impulses are all dependent on proteins. Proteins also provide the structural support needed for our skin and bones.
During digestion, the human body breaks proteins down into smaller components, called amino acids. Once absorbed they are use to make new proteins as the body requires.
There are approximately 20 different amino acid types in proteins and the human body is able to make all but 9 of them itself. The 9 it cannot produce are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Histidine is essential for the healthy growth of children.
Unlike meat products, vegetables do not contain all the amino acids we need individually, so a varied intake of vegetables is necessary to ensure sufficient protein replenishment.
Good sources of protein for vegetarians include most beans and pulses, nuts, seeds, tofu, soya milk and textured soya protein, wheat, oats, rice, milk and cheese. Egg is also an excellent source of protein and is considered to contain the ideal composition of amino acids. Some of the poorer sources of protein are carrots, apples, sugar and butter.
The recommended daily intake of protein for men is 42 to 56 grams and for women 41 to 47 grams. As a general rule the older the person the more protein is required. Pregnant women require 51 grams and women who are breast-feeding require 53 to 56 grams. Also as a general rule, we are recommended to consume 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram that we weigh.
Our protein needs do not alter with activity levels, although protein intake needs to increase for the repair of tissues and during periods of rapid growth such as pregnancy or in children.
Almost all plants contain protein, so it is unlikely for a vegetarian to develop a protein deficiency while practicing a balanced vegetarian diet. Excessive protein can also causes adverse effects to the human body and may increase the risk of osteoporosis, heart and kidney disease and cancer. However it is now believed a vegetarian diet contains adequate yet not overly excessive levels of protein.
So vegetarians need not be overly concerned with their protein intake, simply practising a varied and balanced diet is more than adequate.
A vegan diet may need to be planned a little more carefully than a vegetarian, to ensure adequate protein levels are met. A good variety of grains, pulses, nuts and starchy vegetables are recommended.
Colin Didcott is a life long vegetarian and collector of authentic vegetarian recipes from around the world. Visit http://www.recipesrealm.com To see his collection of low calorie vegetarian recipes and join in the friendly vegetarian community.
Why Some People Choose Their Freezer Wrap With Care
You can freeze a precooked ham that has been refrigerated and in its original wrapping. Be sure to overwrap the ham ensuring an air-tight seal (vacuum package, zipper bag with all the air removed, foil, butcher wrap, etc.). Ham has a quality freezer life of about three months so plan to use the ham by the 4th of July. With a lot of the food that you buy or get from family or friends and you would really like to freeze it just make sure that when you do that that you use the right containter. Some people use zipplock, freezer safe containters, or vacuum package. Make sure that what ever you use you are happy with it.
A lot of people that use vacuum package like them because they don’t take up as much space as some of the other things that are sold on the market or they don’t break from being in the freezer for so long. I am not saying that one kind of packing is good for everyone cause it is not! What I am saying is that you should not just stick to one kind of containter or bag, try them all out and see what you think would be better for your home or for your client to use.
Depending of what kind of food that you would like to freeze you should find something that is air tigh. That way you will know that that product that you like to use is that kind of product that is air-tigh. Most of the name brand containter will say that they are air-tigh and that it will not get freezer burn or any of the other stuff that you could get from leaving you food in a freezer safe cooler. But you will not be sure unless you see for yourself which one you like to use.The kabobs should be fine if they were frozen in an air-tight wrap. Air is the enemy in the freezer as it causes freezer burn and flavor changes.
Normally the recommendation for using raw, defrosted meat is to consume within three to four days of purchase when stored in the grocery store shrink wrap. Since you say it was mostly defrosted on Thursday you would have three to four days after Thursday to safely use the product. Four days was Tuesday.
However, since you have it vacuum sealed, this should add a day or two do the three to four day recommendation. Air is the enemy when holding food in refrigeration/freezer before consumption. Vacuum sealing makes an air tight environment, much more air tight than the grocery store wrap. Therefore, I think you can extend the freshness of meat held in the refrigerator up to five to six days and be safe.
I hope this answered your question. And yes, vacuum sealing does make a difference on extending freshness in food. The removal of air extends the freshenss of foods beyond normal refrigerator/freezer storage guidelines. The freshness guidelines are developed for safety, Stretching the guidelines could result in harmful bacteria growing to a level that could make you ill.
You are right, they do give a range of days so it is not exact science because every situation is not under the same controls (refrigerator temperatures, amount of time out of refrigeration (grocery store to home), length of time from packaging of meat until purchased, etc. There are just too many variables to give an exact answer when you are dealing with consumers. However research has been done for many of these factors and the recommendation from that research is that the risk of bacterial contamination is so low within the guidelines (notice I don’t say non-existent, meat is not a sterile food, it comes with bacteria)that the a range of days has been suggested for consumers to help them to judge when food should be considered safe to purchase, refrigerate and prepare.
You might be interested in knowing that within the next year or so you will start to see freshness labels on the front of meat that will turn colors as it ages. This is designed to help consumers know if a meat product is within the safety window for consumption. We’ve used our noses for thousands of years to determine if food is safe to eat. Unfortunately, the nose can be wrong, in other words the food could smell wonderful, taste great and look great and can still make you ill. However, we find that if you follow the meat holding guidelines your chances of being ill are very, very small, almost non-existent.
As long as food has remained frozen, it is safe to eat. Old, freezer-burned food is SAFE to eat, just not very good to eat. Recommendations for freezer food storage are based on the quality of the product, not the safety of the product. Frozen pork chops have a quality freezer life of six to nine months. After that time, quality changes (flavor, texture, color, etc) begin, causing the pork chops to change in quality. Remember, their are still safe to eat, just not as good to eat.
The key to keeping foods longer than the recommended freezer guidelines is to make sure they are in air-tight packaging. Air is the enemy in freezer storage so the more air-tight the packaging, the longer food can be stored with high quality results.
Victor Epand is an expert author for http://www.VacuumFoodSealer.info/ . Preserve and store foods at home using this proven vacuum packing method. Search through our selection of FoodSaver vacuum food sealers here: http://www.vacuumfoodsealer.info/category/appliances.html