Author: BlockleyN

by BlockleyN

How do you cook? Six cooking styles you might recognise

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Everyone is different when it comes to food. Some people like spicy food, some people have a sweet tooth and others may be more prone to a traditional roast dinner. With different food tastes comes different kitchen styles. Some people like to spend hours in the kitchen cooking up a treat while others might go for the quick and convenient option. We’ve put together some characters that describe the different styles of cooking we see everyday in our kitchens.

This is a light-hearted look at the different cooking styles so please don’t take any offence from our characters. The next time you are in the kitchen however have a look and see if any seem familiar. 

Hot Head

The Hot Head character is the confident cook who knows what they’re doing. They cook a mean spag bol but that’s not without a lot of blood, sweat and tears. The hot head is someone who likes to be in control, yet gets stressed very easily. The air might be a little blue and it’s probably best to avoid the kitchen at all costs when this chef is cooking, but you’ll get a pretty good meal at the end of it.

Outside of the kitchen the Hot Head tends to be hardworking and competitive. They are motivated individuals who are confident and blunt – they are not afraid to get their opinions heard. They tend to have a strong, extrovert personality with a sarcastic humour. They also tend to be quite charming and loyal.

Kale Queen

The Kale Queen is the healthiest of eaters. They love throwing the most random ingredients in a smoothie maker and cooking up some healthy deliciousness with the freshest ingredients from the local food market.

Outside of the kitchen the Kale Queen loves being active and spending time outdoors. They love yoga, going to the gym and hiking through picturesque green surroundings. They are often a calm and peaceful individual, the complete opposite to the Hot Head. You will often find the Kale Queen proudly instagramming her dinners or unwinding with an adult colouring book.

King of the Grill

The King of the Grill is exactly that; he is obsessed with the barbecue and won’t hesitate to get it out come rain or shine – that is what umbrellas are for right? Normally this guy wouldn’t cook but any excuse for a beer and a burger and the grill comes out. You will often find him wearing a cheesy apron that his wife or children bought him for one of the holidays – which they celebrated of course with a barbecue.

The King of the Grill likes to spend his spare time doing odd jobs around the home. He is very house proud and enjoys DIY projects.

Bake Off Wannabe

The Bake Off Wannabe dreams of being a domestic goddess but unfortunately her kitchen attempts often end in disaster. The Bake Off Wannabe watches all the cooking shows, spends hours of each day scrolling down Pinterest looking at amazing cakes and she owns all the kitchen gadgets. Unfortunately, her creations never quite look the way they should and she either sets the smoke alarm off or resorts to packet mixes.

The Bake Off Wannabe is optimistic and creative. She loves spending time with her family and is really friendly. She is a great person to be around – except maybe when she’s cooking.

Recipe Purist

The Recipe Purist is methodical and loves to-do lists and recipe books. Every meal they prepare comes out exactly as planned because they never stray from the instructions. The Recipe Purist eats quite healthy, they make sure they have all the recommended food groups on one plate and in the correct portion size.  

The recipe purist maintains a controlled approach outside of the kitchen. They rely on lists and sticky notes to guide them through their day. You can imagine what their fridge looks like, everything neatly aligned and compartmentalised. They are always on time and they are super organised. They have the cleanest of homes, which can be intimidating if you go around for dinner – just make sure you are careful of your crumbs.

Taste Bud Tester

The Taste Bud Tester is the most dangerous of all cooks. They won’t set your smoke alarm off but they will set your mouth on fire. The Taste Bud Tester loves spicy foods and they use their creative nature to experiment with a full range of herbs, spices and chillies. Their cooking motto is the hotter the better so you need to be feeling very brave to sit at their dining table.

Outside of the kitchen the Taste Bud Tester is adventurous and outgoing. They love trying new things and being experimental. They love to travel and try new foods. Extreme sports are exhilarating to them so be careful if you suggest skydiving, bungee jumping or rock climbing – they will almost always be game.

by BlockleyN

Which hob is best for the job?

In our latest ‘just for fun’ guide we measure up our different styles of hob to help you choose which one to go for. We’ve got insider information to give you the facts on what is good about each hob fuel type and what style of cook it suits best. Time for the showdown…

by BlockleyN

How many colours are in your candy?

how-many-coloured-sweets-in-a-bag

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Have you ever opened a packet of sweets and wondered why there seems to be so few of your favourites? Many people often feel this way, but is it just coincidence, or plain bad luck? We bought lots of the nation’s favourite sweets and decided to put the theory to test – do you get more of certain sweets in a pack or is there an even split?

Skittles

The first sweet under investigation was skittles. We bought several packets of traditional 55g packs and counted how many of each coloured sweet you get per pack. Green was the most popular colour on average followed closely by orange. We discovered that the average packet includes 52 skittles with thirteen being green and twelve orange. Purple and red were the least common sweets in the pack with eight red skittles and seven purple. It is difficult to tell what everyone’s favourite skittles are but according to this survey by Tellwut, strawberry was top of the charts. If this is true then you are actually getting a lot less of your favourite. The same survey however did show lime to be the second favourite and we found that to be the most common.

Wine Gums

In an average 52g pack we found there to be twelve sweets on average. 25% of the pack seemed to be dedicated to the red sweets whereas we found there to be an even split between the rest. In analysing our packs we also recorded the number of all sweets in any given packet and out of twelve sweets, one packet contained seven red sweets. Our wine gum experiment seemed to show a clear favourite but does this match what the nation wants? Cadbury’s themselves reported 80% of people preferred red and black wine gums so assuming that’s true, wine gums are delivering what you want.

Fruit Pastilles

In an average 52g pack of fruit pastilles we found you get 14 sweets, split into the colours red, green, purple, yellow and orange. We found green to be the most popular with four sweets on average per pack. Green pastilles was also the most common colour in a single packet having found more than half (eight) in one packet.

Gold Bears

Haribo Gold Bears are a popular sweet choice but how do they fair in our colour comparison? A 100g bag was found to contain 43 gold bears on average and there did seem to be a more even split between the various coloured sweets. There was an even number (eight) of red, gold and green bears. White bears were close behind with bags containing seven on average – we also found the most number of white bears in a single pack.

Jelly Babies

An average 350g bag includes 45 jelly babies and on average red and yellow sweets were found to be the most common. We also found more red sweets in any single pack than any other colour so from a jelly babies point of view, if red is your favourite then your all set. If you know the stories of the jelly baby bears however this might not come of any surprise. When Cadbury Schweppes took over the brand in 1989 they gave each bear a name and character story – the red bear is called Brilliant and he is noted as leader of the gang. 

Starburst

Starburst were the sweets that had the most even split out of all the sweets we tested. In an average 192g bag, we found 43 starbursts in a pack – eleven red sweets, eleven purple sweets, eleven orange sweets and ten green sweets. All pretty much even so no evident favouritism.

So if you want a fair chance of getting your favourite coloured sweet you’re best of buying Starburst or Gold Bears. Skittles, Fruit Pastilles and Jelly Babies were found to contain more of certain colours which is great if you like their favourites. If your favourite is one of their rarer colours however your only option is to buy more sweets and hope for the best.

by BlockleyN

Top of the Chocs – What is the UK’s Favourite Chocolate Bar?

Nations most popular chocolate bar

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For many years, the UK’s best-selling chocolate bar has been the Dairy Milk. But – is it the nation’s favourite when it comes to taste? 

Let’s take a look…

We polled a range of different age groups with one simple question: ‘What is your favourite chocolate bar?’

The results were surprising to say the least, with Mars being the unanimous winner across all age groups, whilst Dairy Milk became increasingly less popular with older generations. 

In all age groups, men put Mars bars on top. However, women tended to prefer Galaxy – although put Mars a close second. Galaxy does not seem to be the chocolate bar of choice for men, with no age group voting it into in their ‘top 3’. 

All areas of the UK voted Mars their favourite, other than Wales who did put the best-selling Dairy Milk on top. 

Despite being voted the favourite by almost every age group in every region of the UK, Mars is just the 8th highest selling chocolate bar. 

Dairy Milk received just 5.7% of the vote – they received 15.5% when Money Saving Expert ran a similar poll in 2011. 

Sales of the product dropped by £31.2m from the years 2014 to 2015, and further drops are forecast too. 

So what are the reasons behind the rise of Mars? 

Mars UK Ltd have been busy establishing a stronghold in the market in the last few years. 

In fact, whilst sales of Mars have actually decreased, other products owned by the firm have increased sales by 1.1-8.1% – that’s the likes of Maltesers, Snickers and Galaxy. 

Are changes at Cadbury to blame for some of their decline? 

In 2010, Kraft tookover Cadbury and vowed to stick to its traditional ways. However, there have been a few things that have upset fans in recent times…

In 2010, they closed the Cadbury factory in Somerdale, that gave work to 400 jobs. This was announced by Cadbury back in 2007, but it was hoped that Kraft would keep the factory open. 

In 2012, a range of ‘Mix & Match’ products were released with varied success; Dairy Milk with Oreo, Dairy Milk with Daim, Ritz crackers…even Cadbury Philadelphia cheese. 

In 2013, the corners of Dairy Milk chunks were ’rounded’ – whilst this is assumed to be a cost-cutting measure by most (by decreasing the weight of the chocolate bar overall), Kraft/Cadbury’s official line was that it was to enhance the taste. 

Also in 2013, Bournville dark chocolates were dropped from ‘Heroes’ boxes in favour of Toblerone – another treat owned by Mondelez, who also own all of the products from the entire Cadbury mix & match range. 

In 2014, it was decided that chocolate coins would no longer be made by the company – a popular Christmas stocking filler. The company blamed a decline in sales on cheaper alternatives being more readily available.

In 2015, the Creme Egg recipe was changed so that the shell was no longer made with Dairy Milk, instead opting for a more generic cocoa recipe. In the same year, Fruit n Nut bars made the switch from raisins to sultanas. 

Can Cadbury rediscover their magic in the future? Only time will tell. As a side note, we wonder how much of a factor the chocolate in fridge debate influences the population’s chocolate choice?

by BlockleyN

Where is my rating plate?

Need to find out your model number, the power supply information or even the serial number of your appliance? All this handy information is listed on the appliance rating plate.

Hang on a minute…but where is my rating plate? 

So that you don’t have to look at this label all the time, when your appliance is installed at home, the rating plate is usually located discreetly somewhere on the appliance. To help you find it quickly, we have put together this handy info guide. Simply look for the correct appliance icon to find out the location of your CDA rating plate.