Also, Pizza

Against my better judgment, I keep reading about routers.

I thought I had the whole picture after reading Pat Warner's site. But he has information that hasn't been updated in three years. I guess he has been busy. When I found that out, I continued on my quest for knowledge.

He says a good start is a combo kit or "PK router," and he recommends the Dewalt DW618PK. He says if you want a serious table router, however, you need a Milwaukee 5625, which is a bigger 3.5-HP model. That's swell, but in the last few years, new stuff has come on the market. Unbelievably, it took that long for router makers to realize people needed routers designed for tables. Personally, I have zero interest in freehand routing. All the stuff I've ever wanted to do has been well-suited to table routing.

There are three routers which get really high marks for table use, and they're not made by Milwaukee. Two are made by Triton. One is a 2.25-HP job called the MOF001KC, and the other is a 3.25-HP model called the TRC001. You can use them freehand, but they really shine as table routers. The third router is a Bosch, and it's the 1619EVS. It has 3.25 horsepower. This is supposed to be the all-time greatest, most versatile table router, and you can also use it freehand.

As for PK routers, tool nuts everywhere are excited about the Milwaukee 5624-16, which is fairly new. So if you're planning to buy a Dewalt, you should look into it.

It's surprising how messed up routers are. When you read about other tools, you typically find that there are a whole bunch of offerings with no major flaws, and that price should be the big concern. With routers, you read all sorts of horrifying things about parts falling off and features not working and switches getting clogged with dust. So it looks like you have to be careful when you pick one out. And they're all rated at "peak" horsepower, which is pure BS. You really have to go by the number of amps they draw.

I think if I get one to replace my hopeless Craftsman, I'll go for the Bosch. Triton has had quality issues. Maybe Bosch has too, but I haven't read about them. Whoops, yes I have. Some guy at Allexperts claimed the bearings wear out. Maybe length of warranty is what matters.

I have to make food for Sunday's Nowlive show. I'm considering pizza. I may try to hand-toss a crust today. My crusts are good, but I'd prefer they were perfect. I'm also wondering if "kneading" in a Cuisinart is the best method. It's fast, and it works great for bread. But I'm wondering if pizza dough should be less uniform, and I think using a hook or my hands would give me a less uniform dough, with varying concentrations of yeast which would result in the random air pockets so common in pizza crust.

I've also been adding salt to my sauce. In the past, I was reluctant to do that, but pizzeria pizza is loaded with salt, and you can only put so much in the cheese and crust. It turns out that salt in the sauce is helpful. And I've been diluting the sauce more.

I think I'll throw a couple of crusts together and see what happens.