Byline: STEVE EMSLEY
HOT SPOT Solar power can cut bills if its input is managed carefully PANEL TESTERS Gil and Steve Emsley, from Newcastle, are slowly getting used to rearranging household tasks around when the sun is shiningThe chicken and fish mixes, under the Durkee label, come in Sweet & Sour, Mushroom, Cacciatore, and Mexican Salsa varieties for chicken; Lemon Pepper Dill and Tomato Basil for fish. They dry dip mixes, also under the Durkee label, are available in six flavors: Ranch, Onion Vegetable, Fiesta Ranch, Peppercorn Ranch, Guacamole, and Zesty Salsa.- Singed and sooty works for burgers; it doesn't for bread. Either bake the buns before you cook the burgers or make sure the grease from the burgers is burnt off to avoid flare-ups.- The tendency is to burn the bottom of the buns. Place the buns as far away from the flames as you can even if it means elevating the buns.The trick to baking buns on the grill is controlling temperature and time. If your grill comes equipped with a thermometer, you've got it made (though outside temperatures and winds may impact how well your grill retains heat). If you have a thermometer, just heat to 350 degrees. If not, guess. After a few experiences you'll have it perfect and we bet that the first batch off the grill will be just fine.Clearly, some things will still need to be on in the evening and it isn't always convenient to run a machine in the daytime.If you care to put sesame seeds or poppy seeds on your rolls, mix one egg white with one tablespoon of water. Just before baking, brush the mixture onto the tops of the rolls and then sprinkle with seeds. The egg white will keep the seeds in place.Remove the dough and divide it with a knife into eight equal pieces if you are using a one-loaf mix. Form a round with each. Place them on a greased baking sheet with room to expand. Using the heel of your hand, flatten each roll. The elasticity in the dough will tend to make the rolls spring back. Let the dough relax for a few minutes and repeat the process. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise until doubled�an hour or so depending on the mix and the room temperature.Take any bread mix. Be adventuresome and consider a bread with some flavor: one of our tomato breads or Sour Cream Onion or a rye bread or maybe Fully Loaded Baked Potato Bread. (We make mixes specifically for rolls and buns and they are a little richer than bread mixes but these will do just fine.)To make the dough, follow the producer's directions or the directions for the recipe. Place your dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise until doubled. If you would like to use your bread machine, put it on the dough setting. The machine will beep to tell you that it's time to form your buns.The bread maker only needs 550 watts so, if we run it after 9am and before 6pm, it should run on solar power alone. Rechargeable batteries can be charged at anytime in the day to benefit from solar panel-generated electricity. I also prepared a microwaved baked dish from solar power, by cooking it at lunchtime (on a day off work) and just briefly grilling it in the evening. The microwave oven draws 0.9 kw, so is totally run by the solar power at lunchtime at this time of year.There are various things we can do to use some of this solar power. If the dishwasher is put on its timer and energy-saving settings to come on at say 12pm or 1pm, at least half of its power needed is drawn from solar. The water heating part demands more than the solar provides, but the solar power reduces our external electricity demands.- If your buns are baking faster on one side than the other, turn the pan 180 degrees part way through the baking time.
HOT SPOT Solar power can cut bills if its input is managed carefully PANEL TESTERS Gil and Steve Emsley, from Newcastle, are slowly getting used to rearranging household tasks around when the sun is shining
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