BlueFly 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) Hi All: Despite completing my reno / blog in 2008 I was surprised to continually get pm's from forumers, seeking advice or contact info, or product info, etc. For instance, my posts on the Rinnai hob model RB-2CG and Fujioh hood FX900 attracted many queries. And I have answered the queries promptly as soon as I could. A common query was - how to overcome the "worktop-to-hood" issue of the Fujioh hood? Now, in order to save forumers the trouble of pm'ing me, and for me in replying, I thought it would be helpful to post my answer(s) here and subsequently on my blog: "Worktop-to-Hood" Problem Let's say the person doing the most cooking in yr family is 177cm in height. And we want the kitchen custom-made to her physical measurements as well as suit her style of cooking. Or if both hubby and wife spend equal amt of time at the stove, I wld use the taller person as the height to use - so he could also avoid knocking his head if he bends nearer to inspect a simmering pot, for instance. What if the cook is the maid, someone had asked me. Well, I will not suggest you make the kitchen to suit her simply bcoz you're not sure how long the maid will serve your family, right? Now, to maintain the ideal distance of 80cm from the stove-to-hood for the Fujioh FX900 model, you could insist your ID / carpenter do either 1 of 2 solutions: 1 - Make the worktop deeper i.e. instead of the standard 24-inches from the worktop front-to-the-wall, use a longer depth of 28-inches. That 28-inch depth suits me perfectly and I can avoid knocking the hood as I bend down to inspect the soup simmering on the stove-pot. In your case it may not be 28-inches but longer or shorter, depending on the family cook's height. Check with yr ID or carpenter on the correct depth to use. Once you have a deeper worktop you can position the stove farther away from the wall but still within the suction power or range of the Fujioh hood. That way the cook will avoid hitting the Fujioh hood bcoz of the deeper counter-top. 2 - Alternatively, make the worktop higher than the standard 34-inch (equivalent to 86.4 cm) height from the floor, making allowance for the cement platform and acrylic worktop thickness in calculating the correct height for the kitchen base cabinet. How much higher? Well, using the 177 cm height of the cook in our post, the worktop has to be (177cm : cook's height) minus (80cm : stove-to-hood height) i.e. 177-80 = 97 cm, which is an add'l 97-86.4 = 10.6cm (approx 4.2 inches). You may have to warn your family cook to look out for sputtering hot cooking oil during stir-frying. Especially when the stove is placed on a higher level. That however is not an issue for an experienced cook. My brother's maid, for instance is quite short. She told me she simply moves farther away, cooking at arm's length, and adjusts her position to adapt to any stove she cooks on. Clever gal! Well, it always pays to be careful. So watch out for sputtering oil, nonetheless. BTW, discuss the issue with the ID before you accept his quotation. Most IDs will "chop" you if you bring up this issue after you have accepted his quotation, citing "changes" to his costs. In my case, I became aware of the issue only after I took delivery of the Fujioh hood. By then my reno work had already started *sigh*. Rinnai oven Another frequent query was my take on the Rinnai oven. Well, so far I have mixed feelings about it. It performs as what an average oven is supposed to do. But I am not happy, yet. The Rinnai oven has failed to match my previous Bauknet oven, a premium German brand. As mentioned elsewhere on my blog, everything I cooked in my Bauknet oven turned out perfectly - because the oven's heating elements were top-notch and consistent. Or maybe the Europeans are better at making ovens than the Japs? FWIW, Rinnai's oven was made by an Italian factory. Well, so much for the "European" heritage. My family's Bauknet oven was able to roast chicken that came out juicy, succulent, perfectly roasted. Time after time, consistently. And we had it for 15 yrs! Not so with the Rinnai oven: it produces inconsistent roasts, sometimes ok, sometimes off. I suspect it may be due to the heating elements, or insulation, or something else. Or perhaps we have not "broken" it in just yet? Of course, external factors may also be a reason for the inconsistent result, such as using chicken of different weight or size, etc. But we think that is unlikely as we have done trials and still the outcome was not consistent. We will give the oven more time for a longer usage before we put up our verdict post. But we are inclined to give it 2-3 out of 5 stars. Hope that will satisfy those who pm'ed me. Fraudulent Posts I am aware several readers have copied my blog posts for their own private use. And I am happy my blog has helped them to that extent. But I know some readers copied my post(s) to put up on their own blogs, fraudulently passing off my posts as their own! What do you think of this shameless behavior? I have known their identit(ies) for some months now. But so far have refrained from publicly revealing who they are. One offending blogger even claimed she put up the blog to "share her renovation experience to help others" (my paraphrase). I suspect her intentions cannot be good. Bcoz several other posts on her blog were also lifted from other blogs. Can you trust such a blogger? Would you like me to reveal publicly who she is? Pl pm me your views. Thanks and Rgds Bluefly aka GreenCoal Edited February 28, 2011 by BlueFly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gimz63251073 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2011 woosh! u are greencoal? ur blog is very helpful! i learnt many stuff over there! Want to extend my thanks! yes, please share the copy cat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlueFly 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) woosh! u are greencoal? ur blog is very helpful! i learnt many stuff over there! Want to extend my thanks! yes, please share the copy cat. thanks for yr support, gimz ! at last count, she has put up 7 of my articles on her blog to give the impression she wrote them. I don't wish to shame her publicly - not yet - so I will pm you privately. == Yes, like you, others hv written that my blog had helped them... and that has led me to revamp my articles to make it easier for readers to navigate and search for info on my blog. I hv another article idea and have roped in 2 bloggers - mae29 and steelz - to help. I'm happy both hv agreed. That will take me a while to complete. Both mae29 and steelz impressed me with their integrity, writing ability, and most of all - their willingness to share their reno experiences and help other forumers. Pl read their blogs if you hv time. Edited March 1, 2011 by BlueFly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
emobebe 1 Report post Posted March 2, 2011 thanks for yr support, gimz ! at last count, she has put up 7 of my articles on her blog to give the impression she wrote them. I don't wish to shame her publicly - not yet - so I will pm you privately. == Yes, like you, others hv written that my blog had helped them... and that has led me to revamp my articles to make it easier for readers to navigate and search for info on my blog. I hv another article idea and have roped in 2 bloggers - mae29 and steelz - to help. I'm happy both hv agreed. That will take me a while to complete. Both mae29 and steelz impressed me with their integrity, writing ability, and most of all - their willingness to share their reno experiences and help other forumers. Pl read their blogs if you hv time. Hi, Please PM me who are those copycats. I m new here and has been receiving a lot of messages in my inbox and asking me to call their contractors / IDs and must quote who and who name. I feel weird though cos first they dun have any reno blog here and second when I asked how is the workmanship, no reply. Not sure whether ID or Contractor promoting themselves or someone get a referral fee by doing this. Sighs. Emobebe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
therat 18 Report post Posted March 2, 2011 read with mind and eye OPEN Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
