American stuff Brits love and hate

Any chance your husband has researched tumble dryers?  We are hoping to replace ours by winter time as it's hard enough to keep up with laundry with the long summer days. 5 people and 2 dogs means a LOT of laundry to wash and dry.

Aww, sorry, no.  His stepmother decided she wanted a new set of washer and dryer, and we inherited their castoffs.  He doesn't research free things. 

Any chance your husband has researched tumble dryers?  We are hoping to replace ours by winter time as it's hard enough to keep up with laundry with the long summer days. 5 people and 2 dogs means a LOT of laundry to wash and dry.

You want a White Knight vented tumble dryer.  Cheap and cheerful.  Dries as quick as at home, huge capacity, two settings, low and high. 

I know I sound like a nutter about this, but please be very careful about buying a tumble dryer.  Firefighters have just written a letter to the government begging them to do something about white goods that catch on fire, especially dryers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40991800


Of course I am not suggesting you don't buy one, or that anything is wrong with the one KFDancer is suggesting, just saying thoroughly check whichever one you buy. 

By the way, the UK equivalent of consumer reports is Which.co.uk and you can get a free trial at their site.

I know I sound like a nutter about this, but please be very careful about buying a tumble dryer.  Firefighters have just written a letter to the government begging them to do something about white goods that catch on fire, especially dryers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40991800


Of course I am not suggesting you don't buy one, or that anything is wrong with the one KFDancer is suggesting, just saying thoroughly check whichever one you buy. 

By the way, the UK equivalent of consumer reports is Which.co.uk and you can get a free trial at their site.

We keep ours clean and don't run it if not home.   

I know I sound like a nutter about this, but please be very careful about buying a tumble dryer.  Firefighters have just written a letter to the government begging them to do something about white goods that catch on fire, especially dryers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40991800


Of course I am not suggesting you don't buy one, or that anything is wrong with the one KFDancer is suggesting, just saying thoroughly check whichever one you buy. 

By the way, the UK equivalent of consumer reports is Which.co.uk and you can get a free trial at their site.

My parents recently had a dryer fire on their one year old dryer. Thankfully they were around and caught it but yikes!! Somebody told me the model we have has had warnings so I only run it when we are home and awake.

Thank you for the rec! I think we have a subscription to Which. Will have to ask.

Yes, my wife is unhappy if I run the tumble dryer overnight or if we're out of the house. Currently, ours is on the fritz (has been for most of a year) and so we're using the washing line. Works fine in the long summer days...won't be so great when we have 7 hours of sunlight this winter. I am fanatic about cleaning out the lint filter every time, though.

My parents recently had a dryer fire on their one year old dryer. Thankfully they were around and caught it but yikes!! Somebody told me the model we have has had warnings so I only run it when we are home and awake.

I'm constantly amazed that certain products are well known for bursting into flames (talking to you Vauxhall Zafira) and all they do is is issue some half assed recall that no one ever hears about.  Manufacturers seem to have no responsibility.

Oh my gawd, Raisinets!  I could seriously damage a box/bag/pouch of those!  Seriously, my favourite.

My husband hasn't been to the US (and it's getting increasingly harder to try to convince him to go), but he loves Mexican food.  He hadn't had a lot of it before I came over, but his few experiences left him wanting more.  I've helped with that.  Now we have quite a few go-to recipes.  And some day, I'm going to make my tortilla press and source masa flour, so we can have fresh tasty tortillas whenever we want. 

He loves/hates what we call "fake cheese".  Kraft Singles if we can get them (Dairylea slices are not the same!) on cheeseburgers, and Velveeta on broccoli.  But he still judges me every time I obtain them by whatever means.  One day he surprised me and actually asked for the broccoli cheese with the fake cheese.  I'm converting him!

Pot roast!  He didn't know what pot roast was, except that it appeared to be a beef roast cooked on the stove instead of in the oven.  He saw it in films, and it was perplexing to him.  So I made a pot roast.  All day, he kept eyeing the slow-cooker suspiciously every time he walked by it, like it was going to attack him (he might... he does have big giant googly eyes on him).  But when we finished with all of our activities that day and came in to have dinner, he was blown away.  Now he asks for it. 

Slow Cooker:

Hoya, we love pot roast on this house, but I cannot figure out what cut of meat to buy. Suggestions?


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Hoya, we love pot roast on this house, but I cannot figure out what cut of meat to buy. Suggestions?

I just get any cheap cut of beef.  My last one was a beef brisket.  Since it's going in the slow-cooker for hours, it will be tender and juicy.

I just get any cheap cut of beef.  My last one was a beef brisket.  Since it's going in the slow-cooker for hours, it will be tender and juicy.

I'll try it. The biscuit I see looks so lean. I've been looking for fatty stringy beef! Don't think there is such a thing here. Not complaining!


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I'll try it. The biscuit I see looks so lean. I've been looking for fatty stringy beef! Don't think there is such a thing here. Not complaining!


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Add butter to it when you throw it in the slow cooker.

Beef oxtail is nice and fatty and comes out beautifully in the slow cooker or pressure cooker.

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I'll try it. The biscuit I see looks so lean. I've been looking for fatty stringy beef! Don't think there is such a thing here. Not complaining!


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I think meat in general tends to be leaner/drier here. Healthier but different texture.

Brisket is good - has a lot of flavor, tends to be stringy, needs long cooking anyway.  Nice in a long-cooking (bbq/smoker or crock-pot) dish.

And I'd rather not have my chocolate leave that horrid milk aftertaste in mine.🤣

It's like we were raised in the country that each of us are living in!   

Okay, stereotyping/painting all with the same brush:

Do you find Brits to be more into brand names than Americans?  And feel that if something costs more it must be a better product?

As a Brit, there are brands I do love such as Yorkshire Tea, Marmite, Irn-Bru, Aunt Bessies, Homepride, etc...

Most of which are extremely hard to find over here, of course.