[Aroy]

Originally Posted by condor

Is that black 1" thick wide platform that we see in hotels etc a steel one ?

Yes.

Though it is never 1" thick, as that would mean nearly 150 kg for a large 600mm x 1m piece. It is normally 15mm plate for commercial kitchens and 8mm-10mm for street vendors.

[firstdrive]

Has anyone used Steam cleaners at home ? With monsoon we face issues of small insects which are not visible to naked eye easily.

Was thinking of taking Deep Cleaning solution from Urban Clap, but given current Covid scenario want to avoid any unknown person from entering the house.

If there is any such thing which I can regularly use would be great.

[KL01toKA03]

Has anyone used an electric multipot in India? Does it save time, and which brand is the best when it comes to availability of spares and service?

[Sebring]

Which one? We have a Black & Decker Handheld for five years now. Looks somewhat like this. My cousin has the steam mop from Eureka Forbes, but that's for floors

Originally Posted by firstdrive

Has anyone used Steam cleaners at home ? With monsoon we face issues of small insects which are not visible to naked eye easily. Was thinking of taking Deep Cleaning solution from Urban Clap, but given current Covid scenario want to avoid any unknown person from entering the house. If there is any such thing which I can regularly use would be great.

[aadya]

Any expert/novice guidance on Digital home locking solution?

We live in an apartment with decent security setup and we use regular Godrej lock. We have a live in maid, me, my spouse and two kids(7y and 3 y). The problem with current setup is it takes significant effort to open, close the door with objects in hand and kids on tow coupled with frequent misplacement of keys and resultant chaos.

Looking for some standard yet not overpriced digital locking solution, manual override and decent service is preferred. Looking at few models of Godrej in Amazon but not able conclude. Would be thankful for any pointers.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by aadya

Any expert/novice guidance on Digital home locking solution?

We live in an apartment with decent security setup and we use regular Godrej lock. We have a live in maid, me, my spouse and two kids(7y and 3 y). The problem with current setup is it takes significant effort to open, close the door with objects in hand and kids on tow coupled with frequent misplacement of keys and resultant chaos.

Looking for some standard yet not overpriced digital locking solution, manual override and decent service is preferred. Looking at few models of Godrej in Amazon but not able conclude. Would be thankful for any pointers.

I got this unit from lavna
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B083KHYB1Q/...HGM7YKC6GHA98P

Fingerprint, rfid, pin, Bluetooth and key.
Been about 2 months and all is well. Super responsive, and service seems to be fair too. The installation happened within 24 hours of my raising a request with the makers.

[dragonfire]

Can somebody suggest a good robotic vacuum/mop? More interested in the mop functionality than the vacuum. We have a 10 year old Forbes vacuum which we have used hardly 10 times.

I see a lot of them at around the 25K range, but I am willing to go twice that if it is worth it. We have 2 kids and most of the time a lot of toys lie around. And some parts of the floor are made child-safe with rubber mats. I think it may take something very intelligent to navigate my house.

Also we have two floors, so there should be some way for it to map multiple floor plans. Not sure whether am asking for too much.

Am planning for a purchase during the upcoming Amazon/Flipkart sales.

Thanks in advance.

[subraiyr]

Originally Posted by Aroy

I have had my problems with Idly dough also. I generally make the dough at home, Here are my observations.

1. Stick to normal rice. With parboiled rice I always ended up with very sticky idlis.

2. Add Methi (about 1/4 teaspoon) to 1/2 kg rice. This helps in fermentation.

3. Grind as fine as possible. When we used a normal mixer, it would never be really fine. Now with stone wet grinder, I get beautiful consistency. Long time ago, my father's colleague's wife who came from Coimbatore, gave me this tip. The finer the grind the whiter (and fluffier) the idli. With the wet grinder I get super fluffy chalk white idly every time.

4. A ratio of 1:4 is the best compromise for an idli/dosa batter. For purely idli 1:5 is better while for dosa 1:2 gives you softer dosas

I would beg to differ here. Not to boast, but the idlis that come out of the batter i make is absolutely soft and does manage to melt in your mouth. Here is what I do

1. Boiled rice is what I use or what we get here called Idli rice
2. Proportions at 1:3 - 1 portion of Urad Dal and 3 portions of rice soaked for at least 6 to 8 hours in regular water
3. The trick is in the grinding. Urad dal needs at least 20 minutes to 30 minutes to be ground smoothly
4. Rice is not to be ground smoothly. Let it be a bit coarse. Grinding for about 10 minutes should suffice
5. I don't use fenugreek for fermentation. It does give a different taste to the idlis
6. I let the batter ferment for 12 hours by which time it has nearly doubled in volume
7. For winters, I grind the urad dal with hot water and then place the batter in water bath for it to rise
8. Day 1 to 3 - You can make idlis even after keeping the batter in the refrigerator and it will just be as soft
9. Day 2 to end of batter - you can make Dosa

I guess this should go into the recipe section, but couldn't resist posting here

[One]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

Can somebody suggest a good robotic vacuum/mop? More interested in the mop functionality than the vacuum.

I think it may take something very intelligent to navigate my house.

Tried multiple models at home before buying and have different models in the extended family. So for just pure vacuuming, we have experience. But very little experience with mopping function other then Trifo in which we tried using mopping function at home before not purchasing it. The reasons for not purchasing it were:
1. The tank capacity has limited water capacity (I think it was less than half litre). Even in the slowest water release setting, this was never sufficient for entire house.
2. It acted more like a wet wipe instead of removing any stains etc.
3. If I remember correctly, adding elements like Lizol etc wasn't possible

It is useful when psychologically in India, people want a wet wipe. But in terms of function, it really doesn't clean anything. So we use a manual mop which spins in the water bucket and find it better in terms of utility and cleanliness. This especially after the cleaning vacuum robot does its job very well.

[CarNerd]

Originally Posted by condor

Guys, suggestions please for a Bottom mounted freezer type refrigerator.

Restriction in space: Cannot be taller than 160 cm including a stand, since this particular unit will be placed below a staircase.

You can check out these two 296L Panasonic Bottom Mounted Freezer Refrigerators which are less than 160cm in height:

https://dl.flipkart.com/dl/panasonic...QZFP&_appId=CL


https://dl.flipkart.com/dl/panasonic...PATN&_appId=CL

You can use without a stand.

[condor]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

You can check out these two 296L Panasonic Bottom Mounted Freezer Refrigerators which are less than 160cm in height:
.

THanks, @carnerd.

Though interesting specs there: 296 litres, but still <160 cm. And width is standard 60cm. Will check these if available locally. Flipkart says out of stock in the required zipcode.

[CarNerd]

Originally Posted by condor

Though interesting specs there: 296 litres, but still <160 cm. And width is standard 60cm. Will check these if available locally. Flipkart says out of stock in the required zipcode.

Also checkout this one:

https://www.flipkart.com/haier-256-l...JYNA&_appId=CL

[condor]

Thanks .. we had come across the Haier. But had not seen the Panasonic. The one concern is delivery location - hence buying online is mostly not an option. But you have given us an alternative to the Haier.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

Can somebody suggest a good robotic vacuum/mop? More interested in the mop functionality than the vacuum. We have a 10 year old Forbes vacuum which we have used hardly 10 times.

I see a lot of them at around the 25K range, but I am willing to go twice that if it is worth it. We have 2 kids and most of the time a lot of toys lie around. And some parts of the floor are made child-safe with rubber mats. I think it may take something very intelligent to navigate my house.

Also we have two floors, so there should be some way for it to map multiple floor plans. Not sure whether am asking for too much.

Am planning for a purchase during the upcoming Amazon/Flipkart sales.

Thanks in advance.

I was in a similar situation and chose the Mi Mop P, and it performed better than expected. That is, it cleans much better than a maid who comes for an hour and runs around the house cleaning the house. It does vacuuming excellently and wipes the floor with a wet mop pad. Overall, I found that the dust on the floor was much less than earlier.

Please note that it will not clean places where it cannot reach (sofas/beds where height is not adequate, or if there are two obstacles placed close to each other, and there is not enough space to squeeze in between). You might also have to make sure that there are no cables lying on the ground.

You can set places where you do not want the robot to go using the app. So, you do not have to worry about it falling from the stairs, or going inside a bathroom.

The rubber mats will not be a problem, and it should vacuum the mat . Big toys also should not be a problem, but smaller toys could go inside the dust compartment. You could set the vacuum to start cleaning at a specific time. So, you could start the cleaning before the children wake up.

Originally Posted by One

It is useful when psychologically in India, people want a wet wipe. But in terms of function, it really doesn't clean anything. So we use a manual mop which spins in the water bucket and find it better in terms of utility and cleanliness. This especially after the cleaning vacuum robot does its job very well.

I agree with most of that comment, but comparing it to the alternative that we had (a maid who would clean in a hurry and leave), the quality of cleaning improved significantly. I use the mop mode with the least amount of water, and it easily lasts the entire cleaning cycle for my 1368 sqft home.

We cannot use any disinfectant or any liquid other than water. So, we still do a round of manual mopping once or twice a week.

[condor]

We had a in-warranty routine service call yesterday for our IFB Front loader. The technician did the servicing and tried the usual selling tactics. All well so far. The washing machine has a 4 year full warranty cover, and 10 years spares cover. So basically, the motor is not covered beyond the 4 years. IFB now offers a 10 year coverage on the motor also on machines being sold now - and they call it the Trishield warranty. The technician offered the additional warranty for the motor, so that the machine is covered in full for the 10 years. He mentioned the price to be 1200.

While I accept I didnt check much - he did give a receipt. It may be a risk, but 1k is still going to the company. One of the reasons was that when we got our IFB dish washer last year, the installer offered extended warranty on that - and the receipt was similar like the one this guy gave for the motor warranty.

Here comes the trick part. The receipt had only 1000 mentioned on it. We questioned him on that. He began to hum and haw saying "there will be GST and other things". We told him - convince us on that extra 200 - or put it on the bill. He could not. He said it is upto you sir - you can pay. You can even ask my manager. ha !. Paid him as per bill.