Living on the edge

When I bake brownies they usually end up a bit soft in the center, if you know what I mean. I'm talking gummy. (Note to self - chocolate flavored gummy bears... hmmm). But for many others suffering the same result, that's changing.

The Baker's Edge pan has been reviewed by nearly every baking company and food-based organization under the sun. That is, except the main chefs at the Food Network, which I suppose will hold off on their reviews until the Food Network can sell it. Although, Emeril and America's Test Kitchen have reviews on it. But where's Alton, the kitchen-gadget-geek-extraordinaire's review?

So what's the buzz? No more gummy brownies and more slightly-crunchy chewy edges. This pan distributes heat evenly across the brownie, baking it's middle volume at the same rate as the outer pan. Several famous foodies including Alton Brown might call this a uni-tasker ... but this is a glorified pan that could bake nearly anything a regular pan could.

My first thought is how difficult it might be to get the portions out of the pan - particularly if you're dealing with Lasagna or "Mississippi Mud Pie/Cake" (aka "Sex In A Pan").

My second thought is - it's aluminum. I believe that the strong ties between aluminum and Alzheimer's merits enough concern to stay away from aluminum when I can. I even go through the labels of toothpaste and deodorant to verify it is aluminum free. Why would I want it in my food, or want my food baking in it? Other than how aluminum heats up and cools off quickly (i.e. being a good conductor of heat), there is no reason not to go with stainless steel or cast iron or even silicon - all without Teflon, of course.

It would be interesting to see if this ever comes into stainless steel or silicon variety. Silicon would be particularly interesting since the weaving bars should give it more stability.

allez-oop

It's no secret that sitting in front of a monitor and keyboard for eight to twelve hours a day, six days a week causes a myriad of health risks.

Some of the obvious ones are:

• Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) such as carpal tunnel
  
• High Blood Pressure
  
• Obesity
  
• Thrombosis
  
• Even Sudden Death
  

Exercise hasn't been so lacking in our nation's 240 years.

Simply standing up, stretching and walking around periodically throughout the day could prevent so many of these issues. A recent study showed the difference between an unhealthy and obese worker and a healthy and fit worker is two hours a day more walking - even if it's only one mile an hour.

Schools are built to train kids to stay seated. This sedentary society is bound to fall apart, and it's predictably going to happen right at the overstretched seams. Several schools have installed DDR games to help kids drop the weight.

My brother found a good open-source application called WorkRave that aims to help people prevent cubicle lethargy from causing many of the diseases mentioned above.