Re: Magicmitre

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Darn, it only cuts depths of up to 4 inches.

It looks pretty cheap and nasty, although the idea is ok.

Does anyone know where I can > get a mitre that supports 6 inch skirting boards?

I just made mine.

[troubleinstore]

> It is a measuring/template device for cutting coving, skirting board, etc. >

Ah, this is the thing they keep showing on QVC. Always fancied one. I'll be interested in theis thread.

-- troubleinstore

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[Dave Plowman (News)]

Kiss of death, then. Means they can't sell it through normal means.

[John Smith]

I disagree. QVC has been an interesting discovery for me. Some of the stuff, IMPO, is complete nonsense but other stuff seems to have some merit. I watched an hour long QVC programme about George Foreman grills, after refusing to buy one for over 2 years, and ended up buying one the next day from my local Comet. Boy, I am amazed how great it is for steaks, bugers and toasties (Tip - butter the OUTSIDE of the bread if making a toastie in George Foreman grill).

There have been a few DIY tools that I think look really interesting on QVC. The magicmitre is one, the bricklaying tool mentioned in another thread and they also seem to sell quite amazing drill bits and sanding/grinding heads every now and then. The concept of the magicmitre looks simplistic but one for which a tool is required, especially where a room has corners which are not 'equal'. t is just a shame the tool only goes to a depth of 4 inches and not to 6 inches for deeper skirting boards. I would buy one like a shot otherwise but still will most likely get it as I can see it's use in coving.

John.

[nog]

Any tips on cleaning? We've stopped using ours because cleaning's too much trouble.

[troubleinstore]

I would use something like a Black & Decker vaccumn if i were you. I find it great for doing the little cleanup jobs

-- troubleinstore

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[N. Thornton]

Just make your own, its not difficult. Or buy an electric mitre saw. as someone said, QVC isnt exactly a promising factor.

How to make one - lots of design options, but heres one. construct a small 4 sided box, with bottom top and 2 opposite sides, from hefty wood, so it makes a square hoop. Drill hole in top and put a coach bolt in it, threaded in the wood. Get or make a bevel. Now you put your wood in the hoop shaped thing, clamp it using coach bolt and bit of scrap wood, and saw. Make it as big or small as you like.

Regards, NT

[John Smith]

Yep, oddly enough QVC's programme spent quite a while on the cleaning aspect and, having adopted it, I find it takes minutes to clean it and doing so keeps it spotless.

Basically, they suggest getting one of these small sponges - Tesco, Sainsburys, etc - that is soft on one side and has a thicker rougher side on the other. They usually state that they are ideal for cleaning Teflon or, because they can't advertise a brand name, 'non-stick surfaces' on the package. If you buy a sponge with a rough side make sure it does state it is OK for use on non-stick surfaces as some aren't.

All you do is, once the food has finished cooking, is to immediately, or within 5 or 10 minutes once it has cooled slightly, to brush it down using the sponge but with the sponge slightly dampened. Run it down vertically along the grooves and this cleans it superbly. You have to BE VERY CAREFUL about NOT pressing the sponge too hard otherwise you will get a nasty burn on your fingers. The bottom line appears to be to clean it whilst it is still warm and it then cleans very easily.

You can also use a paper-towel instead of a sponge. Quite often I will use a sponge and then do a final clean-up with a couple of paper-towels to dry it off.

If I have cooked something really messy then I simply get some paper towels, wet them with water and spray some washing-up liquid on them. I them clean the grill with them before using some other wetted paper towels, without washing-up liquid, to wipe off the bubbles. I then use a dry paper towel to dry it down. Works a treat.

If you have fat gunk in the grey tray then I recommend placing some paper towels in them to soak up the gunk, wait until the gunk has cooled and set and then wipe it off and stick it in the bin. Do not flush down the toilet or pour down your sink as it will clog your pipes up.

Other tips are:

1. Coat the top and bottom halves of the grill with virgin olive oil - no any other oil and not sunflower oil -prior to cooking something. This not only seals whatever you cooking, meat mainly, but both adds flavour and seems to help to make it easier to clean.
2. I really recommend trying toasties on them. Unlike conventional toasting grills you can use 'proper' good quality bread for a toastie in a George Foreman and the trick really is to NOT butter the inside of the bread but to butter the outside of the bread. For example, I like to make one with crusty bread using olive oil 'butter' spread which I spread on the outside of two pieces of bread.

On the inside of the bread I then place some cheese, spread on some tomato ketchup and some branston, (It melts together deliciously - my Mum prefers her onion and garlic spread), and put a slice of cooked ham in the sandwich. I pop all this, with the 'buttered' sides facing out on the George Foreman for about 5 minutes and it makes the most delicious tasting, and superb looking (You get these golden lines across the sandwich) toastie which is both delicious and incredibly moist - not at all dry like your get some a conventional toastie. Go on, try 'buttering' the outside with whatever spread you use (Personally, I would not recommend butter for obvious health reasons.) and see what you get.

I got the above idea from doing a Google and you can basically stick whatever you want, within reason, in your toastie.

1. I strongly urge doing a Google for +'George Foreman' +recipe both on the web and in newsgroups. There are thousands and thousands of superb recipe ideas for free online.
2. The George Foreman really comes into itself if you buy QUALITY meat from a butchers and none of this super-market stuff. For example, I buy some 100% meat quarterpound burgers from my local butchers and hardly a drop of fat comes out of them into the grey tray. They were virtually free of fat and delicious. On the other hand, I bought some of M&S 100% beefburgers - quarterpounders - which were supposedly the best burgers they sold and the fat just poured... and poured... and poured out of them...

From a health POV this grill is a must have and my only regret is not buying one 3 years ago when a friend first recommended it. You can do great streaks in the, superb chicken breasts, salmon and tuna steaks. Another trick is seasoning the above before you cook so either season and let marinate the night before or, if you need to be quick,add some garlic butter or something like that to a chicken breast when you cook.

Rant over,

John.

[Tony Bryer]

I guess it depends what you're cooking, but mine cleans up nicely by wiping it over with kitchen towel while still warm.

[John Smith]

Thanks NT - much appreciated.

With regard to the electric mitres... I have kinda steered clear of them as they look pretty fierce looking tools to operate and, from what I can gather, there appears to be numerous types on the market. How on earth do you decide which one to go for and, from my POV, are they all suitable for 'corner' cutting?

John.

[nog]

---------------------8< sniploadsagoodstuff

Thanks for the info - I'll persuade SWMBO to resurrect it and we'll give it another go. Definitely like the sound of the toasties. :-)

[N. Thornton]

Thats not so hard. Blade size determines max depth and width of cut, see the spec for each machine. Brands determine life and accuracy. Kinzo comes in at the bottom with its £27 machine (toolstation.com), Ferm comes in at the cheap but not too bad level at £40-50 (screwfix.com), and the relatively decent kit comes in at over £100 up. The term 'mitre saw' means they will cut at angles of upto 45 degrees. To cut greater angles, cut a 20 degree slip of wood and use that as packing behind the workpiece - now it does upto 65 degrees. Very briefly.

Regards, NT

[MBQ]

That's how you do it in any sandwich toaster. You mean you were doing it wrong all those years;-)

MBQ

[MBQ]

That's a branded item that you can go and check out in a local shop.

But are they branded products that you can buy elsewhere? If not I'd be very suspicious as you have no way of doing a like for like price comparison. Some of the branded items are not particularly cheap when you look around.

MBQ

[John Smith]

LOL

[John Smith]

Nah, never had a sandwhich maker in the house and never made my own toasties until I got the GF grill. The reason being that I got fed up going to cafes, ordering toasties and get a dehydrated brick arrive on a plate - obviously all those cafe owners out there need to do 'a google' :-)

[John Smith]

Thanks for the info - that gives me an idea of what to look for. Hmm, I shall give this some thought.

John.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They only sell stuff that can't be sold through other means or is in over supply. Those grills were heavily advertised on TV but failed to sell the projected quantity. So excess stock is unloaded to the likes of QVC.