Trial by Fire

Last weekend, Scott and Amoreena came to pay us a visit and to help out on our work day. Scott was eager to try out the new kitchen, which I had (foolishly perhaps,) described as 'Scott-Proof.'

Scott is a fantastic cook, having worked early in his career both at a Whole Foods Market and at a Pan-Pacific Restaurant, learning to wok over very high heat. He has taken this technique out of the professional kitchen into the amateur arena, leading to some exciting culinary experiences that have variously involved minor grease fires, blaring smoke detectors, and clouds of thick greasy smoke forcing the opening of every window and door in the house, even in the midst of a cold rainy Oregon winter.

With a new range that can kick out serious BTU's and a range hood with professional-style grease traps and 400+ CFM of airflow, I thought that finally we had a workspace that would stand up to the worst that Scott could dish out.

I was wrong.

Although the sirloin tip roast turned out fantastic and tasty, alas we were defeated in our effort to have a smoke-free dinner. Somehow the range hood just could not seem to keep up with the smoke from the hot oil, and we indeed had most of the windows and doors open in an effort to clear the air so that we could see each other over our delicious dinner.

But at least we haven't gotten around to installing the smoke alarms yet!