Cumberland Sausage Promotion

[butterisbetter]

Butter is Better Diner on Chang Klan Road has just started making its own homemade Cumberland sausage. This is an authentic recipe. (We even went to the length of making our own rusks to use instead of breadcrumbs.)

To promote it we are offering it at 15 baht for a length that weights at least 100 grams. So that would come to about 68 baht per pound or 150 baht per kilo.

Limit is 2 per customer at this price. Full price per length would ordinarily be 35 baht. You can also order it from www.mealsonwheels4u.com at this special price. Just to be clear, this is for cooked sausage.

[ARISTIDE]

Do you sell uncooked cumberland also?

[butterisbetter]

Do you sell uncooked cumberland also?

Currently, we don't. And if we did, it would have to be on our premises. Might sell some frozen. To sell any meat products off premises you need approval from a government agency.

[ARISTIDE]

I always buy some from Rob SK at his house, but I want to try some others, might drop by sometime at the butterisbetter main branch thanks

[JoePai]

I always buy some from Rob SK at his house, but I want to try some others, might drop by sometime at the butterisbetter main branch thanks

+1, always find SK's to be very good

[Maejo Man]

I always buy some from Rob SK at his house, but I want to try some others, might drop by sometime at the butterisbetter main branch thanks

+1, always find SK's to be very good

Here we go again.....Another sausage war brewing

[tolstoy]

Stick to what you do well and that is bakery.

Your meals are not even close to the same quality as your bakery. I will always applaud your bakery but really think that you are overstepping your skill set.

You DO NOT do any cured products or other things well at all. Really sub par. Which is sad because you have a good thing with the the bakery.

[Ulysses G.]

I beg to differ. Butter is Better makes excellent pastrami and corned beef, soups, ice cream and many other things too.

[hellodolly]

Stick to what you do well and that is bakery.

Your meals are not even close to the same quality as your bakery. I will always applaud your bakery but really think that you are overstepping your skill set.

You DO NOT do any cured products or other things well at all. Really sub par. Which is sad because you have a good thing with the the bakery.

You obviously have not tried their Peanut Butter Shake.

[tolstoy]

Ok shakes are not bakery but they are a desert. I agree their shakes are good. But again that isn't a meal.

If you knew anything about curing meats and or butchery, you could easily see by his photo that he cannot even make a even thickness of sausage. Packing sausage is a real skill and if it is not done well the sausage will not cook properly or have the right balance. It looks as if this is an early trial and not an expert hand making it. Just look at that picture there are huge pockets of air.

His pastrami is not even close to good. You have been in Thailand too long.

I don't know if he still serves it but I had boullibase at his shop two years ago and got a creamy chicken soup. HELLO what is that. His wife said it was his families recipe.

[chiang mai]

I like many of the menu items at BIB but I reckon the Cumberland Sausage is a real high risk strategy, there's too many native Brits around who have a keen eye and taste for the real product back home so anything less than that is likely to not be well recieved. Having said that I'll be there tomorrow to give it a try in the hopes that it is truly great.

[butterisbetter]

Ok shakes are not bakery but they are a desert. I agree their shakes are good. But again that isn't a meal.

If you knew anything about curing meats and or butchery, you could easily see by his photo that he cannot even make a even thickness of sausage. Packing sausage is a real skill and if it is not done well the sausage will not cook properly or have the right balance. It looks as if this is an early trial and not an expert hand making it. Just look at that picture there are huge pockets of air.

His pastrami is not even close to good. You have been in Thailand too long.

I don't know if he still serves it but I had boullibase at his shop two years ago and got a creamy chicken soup. HELLO what is that. His wife said it was his families recipe.

I've had several brits try our Cumberland sausage and they loved it.Or said they did. They seemed to eat it up enthusiastically. Apparently the aesthetics of the sausage was something they were willing to overlook, if they noticed it at all.

As for the chicken bouillabasse, if you look on the internet you will find many recipes for it. You may not like it, but there is such a thing and that's what we made.

As for our pastrami, I got lots of Jewish customers and other New Yorkers who grew up with the stuff and love ours.

[butterisbetter]

Stick to what you do well and that is bakery.

Your meals are not even close to the same quality as your bakery. I will always applaud your bakery but really think that you are overstepping your skill set.

You DO NOT do any cured products or other things well at all. Really sub par. Which is sad because you have a good thing with the the bakery.

This is bizarre. In an earlier post, some person was looking for cake baking lessons and you said to try us even though you personally didn't like our stuff.

Maybe in a few months you'll be praising our pastrami, too.

[butterisbetter]

I always buy some from Rob SK at his house, but I want to try some others, might drop by sometime at the butterisbetter main branch thanks

+1, always find SK's to be very good

Here we go again.....Another sausage war brewing

Well, we're not going to be much of a threat. We're just making sausage for consumption at the restaurant. Actually several Brits who tried our sausage asked if they could buy it buy by the kilo. But we just have a manual sausage stuffing machine and it would be too much work.

[CMX]

I, for one, welcome any new culinary effort in town, and at the price it's absurd for me not to give this 'Cumberland' a go, even if I enjoy Rob's meats.

However, I must with respect disagree with Tolstoy's all encompassing suggestion that only baked goods are worthwhile at B'sBetter. Even the argument about the appearance of the stuffing of the sausage fails, as it has nothing to do with meat, meat content, herbs, or spices - which I'll test myself pretty soon!

(Of course, who can ague with this same critic's point of view about baked goods?)

Edited August 24, 2012 by CMX

[tolstoy]

"Even the argument about the appearance of the stuffing of the sausage fails, as it has nothing to do with meat, meat content, herbs, or spices - which I'll test myself pretty soon! "

You do not make sausage, or have any knowledge of food science at all if you believe that.

It is not the appearance it is the lack of consistency in the stuffing of the casing which has a direct result on the texture, and manner in which sausage is cooked.

Not to mention if the product lacks that, the grind of the meat and temperature of the meat while being ground is crucial for the right consistency and juicyness. However with a cumberland style recipe it can cover up for some of that grainy texture unprofessional sausages would have.

It is clear by even the first picture that part was stuffed too tight that is why you have a burst. There are pockets of air in other parts of the uncooked picture, there are areas that will explode and other areas that will crumble for not being tight enough.

It is clear that this is nothing more than a home cook who looked at some online recipes. This is not a commercial product by a trained professional.

Yes, it is probably adequate and he probably has the spice blend proportionate but that is only one small aspect of sausage making. As for the Pastrami, or other cured products, I doubt that he has them tested like what would be required in a western country. The slight error or something that is not fully steralized and botulism and other poisons can develop. Unless someone is a trained professional they should not be making cured products for commercial purposes.

Anyone can do it at home and put your own family at risk. The wrong percentage of nitrates or using prague powder #2 instead of #1 for cooked meats can result in serious healthy injuries.

Again, I will say that he and his wife both have some baking skills. They are competant but to branch into something like cured meat products is not something an untrained hobbyist should try and market. Perhaps if has a butcher's licensed then I will give him the benefit of the doubt but I have a feeling that he doesnt' possess such a thing.

[Ulysses G.]

I have not had the Cumberland sausages at Butter is Better and I do not know what they supposed to taste like anyway, but I have found that Western style sausages in Thailand are almost always mediocre at best. I hardly ever really enjoy them, although some kinds are OK.

P1P that used to own the Mango Tree restaurant came from a famous sausage making family in England and he always told me that it is almost impossible to make really tasty sausages here because of the climate. He made his own for a while and they were better than most, but nothing compared to excellent sausages in a Western country.

I do like Butter is Better and Art Cafe's Jimmy Dean style breakfast sausages, but I think that is mostly an American thing.

Edited August 24, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[butterisbetter]

"Even the argument about the appearance of the stuffing of the sausage fails, as it has nothing to do with meat, meat content, herbs, or spices - which I'll test myself pretty soon! "

You do not make sausage, or have any knowledge of food science at all if you believe that.

It is not the appearance it is the lack of consistency in the stuffing of the casing which has a direct result on the texture, and manner in which sausage is cooked.

Not to mention if the product lacks that, the grind of the meat and temperature of the meat while being ground is crucial for the right consistency and juicyness. However with a cumberland style recipe it can cover up for some of that grainy texture unprofessional sausages would have.

It is clear by even the first picture that part was stuffed too tight that is why you have a burst. There are pockets of air in other parts of the uncooked picture, there are areas that will explode and other areas that will crumble for not being tight enough.

It is clear that this is nothing more than a home cook who looked at some online recipes. This is not a commercial product by a trained professional.

Yes, it is probably adequate and he probably has the spice blend proportionate but that is only one small aspect of sausage making.

What we have in Tolstoy is a lusus naturae. Apparently, he has tastebuds in his eyeballs. Our customers only use their tongues to taste our Cumberland sausage, and the response has been massively and highly favorable. And that from Brits as well as others. Me, I loved the taste, but hadn't a clue whether it was authentic or not. I have a regular American customer who used to be in the sausage making business and knows more about it than I ever will, and he was pleasantly surprised by how much flavor an English sausage could have.

Anyway, so far as your predictions about the various fates of our sausages, they hasn't come to pass. They haven't burst (although I have eaten plenty of professionally made fresh sausage from a deservedly famous sausage place in little Italy that did burst and it never bothered me) nor crumbled into nothingness.

As for temperature control: it's simple. You bring the meats almost to freezing. You put the grinder parts in the freezer as well. Believe me, that mix is so cold that I had to stop several times even though I'm wearing gloves. You really don't have to worry about the flecks of fat melting since that only happens starting at a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. My stuff doesn't get above 6 degrees (thank you, Thermapen)

As for texture. There's lot of variance of opinion about that in regard to Cumberland sausage. Some say coarsely ground is best, others finely ground. And some say a combination of the 2 which is what I went for. And again, I actually went to the trouble of making rusk, which according to Cumberland devotees, is essential to the proper texture. Apparently rusk is 1.5 times as absorbent as bread crumbs. Who knows? I wouldn't be surprised if it made no noticeable difference to the texture at all.

Really, what Tolstoy is up to here, is trying to overawe us with his knowledge. But if you look carefully at what he has written it's remarkably nonspecific. Sound more like someone coming up assertions that sound plausible but not specific enough to be based on actual experience.

Edited August 24, 2012 by butterisbetter

[butterisbetter]

As for the Pastrami, or other cured products, I doubt that he has them tested like what would be required in a western country. The slight error or something that is not fully steralized and botulism and other poisons can develop. Unless someone is a trained professional they should not be making cured products for commercial purposes.

Anyone can do it at home and put your own family at risk. The wrong percentage of nitrates or using prague powder #2 instead of #1 for cooked meats can result in serious healthy injuries.

Again, I will say that he and his wife both have some baking skills. They are competant but to branch into something like cured meat products is not something an untrained hobbyist should try and market. Perhaps if has a butcher's licensed then I will give him the benefit of the doubt but I have a feeling that he doesnt' possess such a thing.

As you may know, home curing is booming in the USA. So I decided to look up statistics for people who have died decided to look up information about for people who have died from botulism in the USA. I see reference to home canning, canned fish and some preserves, canned soups meant to be eaten cold. But nothing about people contracting botulism from curing their own meats. Not even from air dried sausage. But we are making corned beef and pastrami.

First of all, we use nitrites and nitrates. The botulism bacteria can't survive that. But for extra assurance, our cure is slightly acidic. Clostridium Botulism cannot multiply in an acidic environment. That's why you won't find it in most fruit preserves.

The botulism toxin itself is a very fragile protein that disintegrates on exposure to heat. Which is why it's

stuff like soups that are meant to be eaten cold or tuna fish that are the most common source of poisoning. Well, our corned beef and pastrami is steamed for hours and hours after pickling. Not a chance of the toxin surviving. And then it's steamed again before serving.

As for the nitrites and the nitrates. Yes, they can be fatal. But you'd have to work really hard to do that. And since I have a scale that weighs to the tenth of a gram, I'm not worried. Careful and conscientous yes, but worried, no.

You might better worry about the effects of cured meats on your general health. In fact, meat in general. But if you're going to incur the risk anyway, what you're eating might as well taste good.

I do find some solace in the fact the Tolstoy has eaten at our restaurant. Just proves we are not specie-ist. We even serve trolls.

Edited August 24, 2012 by butterisbetter

[Diablo Bob]

Not to mention if the product lacks that, the grind of the meat and temperature of the meat while being ground is crucial for the right consistency and juicyness. However with a cumberland style recipe it can cover up for some of that grainy texture unprofessional sausages would have.

It is clear by even the first picture that part was stuffed too tight that is why you have a burst. There are pockets of air in other parts of the uncooked picture, there are areas that will explode and other areas that will crumble for not being tight enough.

Didn't know much about Cumberland Sausage until this thread showed up, so I decided to investigate.....

From Wikipedia I found out that this writer also doesn't know much about Cumberland Sausage: "The meat is pork, and seasonings are prepared from a variety of spices and herbs, though the flavour palate is commonly dominated by pepper, both black and white, in contrast to the more herb-dominated flavours of sausage varieties such as those from Lincolnshire. There are traditionally no colourings or preservatives added. The distinctive feature is that the meat is chopped, not minced, giving the sausage a chunky texture."

Imagine that......

[butterisbetter]

Not to mention if the product lacks that, the grind of the meat and temperature of the meat while being ground is crucial for the right consistency and juicyness. However with a cumberland style recipe it can cover up for some of that grainy texture unprofessional sausages would have.

It is clear by even the first picture that part was stuffed too tight that is why you have a burst. There are pockets of air in other parts of the uncooked picture, there are areas that will explode and other areas that will crumble for not being tight enough.

Didn't know much about Cumberland Sausage until this thread showed up, so I decided to investigate.....

From Wikipedia I found out that this writer also doesn't know much about Cumberland Sausage: "The meat is pork, and seasonings are prepared from a variety of spices and herbs, though the flavour palate is commonly dominated by pepper, both black and white, in contrast to the more herb-dominated flavours of sausage varieties such as those from Lincolnshire. There are traditionally no colourings or preservatives added. The distinctive feature is that the meat is chopped, not minced, giving the sausage a chunky texture."

Imagine that......

I think that this is like the neverending disputes about the best version of Texas chile. Cumberland sausages are pretty simple rustic food and probably many people had grannies who each made it her own way. I think it would taste good no matter how you grind the meat.

[hellodolly]

"Even the argument about the appearance of the stuffing of the sausage fails, as it has nothing to do with meat, meat content, herbs, or spices - which I'll test myself pretty soon! "

You do not make sausage, or have any knowledge of food science at all if you believe that.

It is not the appearance it is the lack of consistency in the stuffing of the casing which has a direct result on the texture, and manner in which sausage is cooked.

Not to mention if the product lacks that, the grind of the meat and temperature of the meat while being ground is crucial for the right consistency and juicyness. However with a cumberland style recipe it can cover up for some of that grainy texture unprofessional sausages would have.

It is clear by even the first picture that part was stuffed too tight that is why you have a burst. There are pockets of air in other parts of the uncooked picture, there are areas that will explode and other areas that will crumble for not being tight enough.

It is clear that this is nothing more than a home cook who looked at some online recipes. This is not a commercial product by a trained professional.

Yes, it is probably adequate and he probably has the spice blend proportionate but that is only one small aspect of sausage making. As for the Pastrami, or other cured products, I doubt that he has them tested like what would be required in a western country. The slight error or something that is not fully steralized and botulism and other poisons can develop. Unless someone is a trained professional they should not be making cured products for commercial purposes.

Anyone can do it at home and put your own family at risk. The wrong percentage of nitrates or using prague powder #2 instead of #1 for cooked meats can result in serious healthy injuries.

Again, I will say that he and his wife both have some baking skills. They are competant but to branch into something like cured meat products is not something an untrained hobbyist should try and market. Perhaps if has a butcher's licensed then I will give him the benefit of the doubt but I have a feeling that he doesnt' possess such a thing.

I have no idea about the making of it. And I am fully aware that I live in Thailand and they do not have the same standards for food preparation as the states. But I still eat out a lot.

Now that we have that out of the way the big question is did it taste good?

[Mekong Bob]

What about Jimmy Dean sausage patties - America's favorite? Available in Chiang Mai? Any good local versions you can tell us about?

Not interested in Cumberland sausage.

[NancyL]

Hubby and I enjoyed lunch at Butter is Better today and after placing our order, Andrew told us about the Cumberland sausage promotion, so we ended up ordering some Cumberland sausage and Italian sausage for comparison.

I'd never had Cumberland sausage before and I'd say that wikipedia article is an accurate description of what we ate today. I really admire B-is-B for having the courage to wade into the sausage wars with so many self-styled experts (with internet access) in Chiang Mai.

That being said, we found the Italian sausage more pleasing to our American taste buds. It's not on special promotion, but is reasonably priced, so I bought enough to use for our dinner tomorrow evening. The Cumberland sausage was good, but the Italian sausage reminds us of the sausage of our childhoods.

I also had a "lean" reuben and Hubby enjoyed a chicken salad sandwich. I love reubens and look forward to a little calorie splurg at B-is-B about once a month. I grew up in a Jewish area of the Great Lakes region, so I've had my share of reuben sandwiches.

They also make great breakfasts, with blueberry pancakes that are as light and fluffy as my best efforts back when we owned a large griddle and ate blueberry pancakes nearly every day because our neighbors raised blueberries commercially.

It's probably a good thing we don't live very close to B-is-B -- I'd weight 100 pounds more! But it's a great treat once or twice a month.

Edited August 25, 2012 by NancyL

[butterisbetter]

What about Jimmy Dean sausage patties - America's favorite? Available in Chiang Mai? Any good local versions you can tell us about?

Not interested in Cumberland sausage.

I have customers who used to love Jimmy Dean sausages until Jimmy Dean sold the company. They said quality declined after that. I don't know since I never ate them. We do make southern (USA) style sausage patties which we also use in our biscuits and gravy. Both the sausage patties and the biscuits and gravy are very popular with our southern customers.

[hellodolly]

"Even the argument about the appearance of the stuffing of the sausage fails, as it has nothing to do with meat, meat content, herbs, or spices - which I'll test myself pretty soon! "

You do not make sausage, or have any knowledge of food science at all if you believe that.

It is not the appearance it is the lack of consistency in the stuffing of the casing which has a direct result on the texture, and manner in which sausage is cooked.

Not to mention if the product lacks that, the grind of the meat and temperature of the meat while being ground is crucial for the right consistency and juicyness. However with a cumberland style recipe it can cover up for some of that grainy texture unprofessional sausages would have.

It is clear by even the first picture that part was stuffed too tight that is why you have a burst. There are pockets of air in other parts of the uncooked picture, there are areas that will explode and other areas that will crumble for not being tight enough.

It is clear that this is nothing more than a home cook who looked at some online recipes. This is not a commercial product by a trained professional.

Yes, it is probably adequate and he probably has the spice blend proportionate but that is only one small aspect of sausage making. As for the Pastrami, or other cured products, I doubt that he has them tested like what would be required in a western country. The slight error or something that is not fully steralized and botulism and other poisons can develop. Unless someone is a trained professional they should not be making cured products for commercial purposes.

Anyone can do it at home and put your own family at risk. The wrong percentage of nitrates or using prague powder #2 instead of #1 for cooked meats can result in serious healthy injuries.

Again, I will say that he and his wife both have some baking skills. They are competant but to branch into something like cured meat products is not something an untrained hobbyist should try and market. Perhaps if has a butcher's licensed then I will give him the benefit of the doubt but I have a feeling that he doesnt' possess such a thing.

I have no idea about the making of it. And I am fully aware that I live in Thailand and they do not have the same standards for food preparation as the states. But I still eat out a lot.

Now that we have that out of the way the big question is did it taste good?

Answer Yes

Just to make sure I had a second one for Tolstoy.

He enjoyed it too

[market trader]

Hubby and I enjoyed lunch at Butter is Better today and after placing our order, Andrew told us about the Cumberland sausage promotion, so we ended up ordering some Cumberland sausage and Italian sausage for comparison.

I'd never had Cumberland sausage before and I'd say that wikipedia article is an accurate description of what we ate today. I really admire B-is-B for having the courage to wade into the sausage wars with so many self-styled experts (with internet access) in Chiang Mai.

That being said, we found the Italian sausage more pleasing to our American taste buds. It's not on special promotion, but is reasonably priced, so I bought enough to use for our dinner tomorrow evening. The Cumberland sausage was good, but the Italian sausage reminds us of the sausage of our childhoods.

I also had a "lean" reuben and Hubby enjoyed a chicken salad sandwich. I love reubens and look forward to a little calorie splurg at B-is-B about once a month. I grew up in a Jewish area of the Great Lakes region, so I've had my share of reuben sandwiches.

They also make great breakfasts, with blueberry pancakes that are as light and fluffy as my best efforts back when we owned a large griddle and ate blueberry pancakes nearly every day because our neighbors raised blueberries commercially.

It's probably a good thing we don't live very close to B-is-B -- I'd weight 100 pounds more! But it's a great treat once or twice a month.

Your mention of reubens has me salivating. It is now on my list to go to B-is-B for one next week.

[market trader]

"Even the argument about the appearance of the stuffing of the sausage fails, as it has nothing to do with meat, meat content, herbs, or spices - which I'll test myself pretty soon! "

You do not make sausage, or have any knowledge of food science at all if you believe that.

It is not the appearance it is the lack of consistency in the stuffing of the casing which has a direct result on the texture, and manner in which sausage is cooked.

Not to mention if the product lacks that, the grind of the meat and temperature of the meat while being ground is crucial for the right consistency and juicyness. However with a cumberland style recipe it can cover up for some of that grainy texture unprofessional sausages would have.

It is clear by even the first picture that part was stuffed too tight that is why you have a burst. There are pockets of air in other parts of the uncooked picture, there are areas that will explode and other areas that will crumble for not being tight enough.

It is clear that this is nothing more than a home cook who looked at some online recipes. This is not a commercial product by a trained professional.

Yes, it is probably adequate and he probably has the spice blend proportionate but that is only one small aspect of sausage making. As for the Pastrami, or other cured products, I doubt that he has them tested like what would be required in a western country. The slight error or something that is not fully steralized and botulism and other poisons can develop. Unless someone is a trained professional they should not be making cured products for commercial purposes.

Anyone can do it at home and put your own family at risk. The wrong percentage of nitrates or using prague powder #2 instead of #1 for cooked meats can result in serious healthy injuries.

Again, I will say that he and his wife both have some baking skills. They are competant but to branch into something like cured meat products is not something an untrained hobbyist should try and market. Perhaps if has a butcher's licensed then I will give him the benefit of the doubt but I have a feeling that he doesnt' possess such a thing.

I take exception to your comments about the ability of this business based on your viewing a picture. Frankly I think it is the taste that counts not a picture that according to you contains air pockets.. I commend butter is better for trying to introduce new products. the ultimate fate of this product will be based on the buying public and not on a person like you that appears to have an axe to grind with this business.

[Ulysses G.]

Your mention of reubens has me salivating. It is now on my list to go to B-is-B for one next week.

Go for the fatty pastrami or corned beef. The lean is pretty good too, but IMO the fatty is most excellent.

[chiang mai]

"Even the argument about the appearance of the stuffing of the sausage fails, as it has nothing to do with meat, meat content, herbs, or spices - which I'll test myself pretty soon! "

You do not make sausage, or have any knowledge of food science at all if you believe that.

It is not the appearance it is the lack of consistency in the stuffing of the casing which has a direct result on the texture, and manner in which sausage is cooked.

Not to mention if the product lacks that, the grind of the meat and temperature of the meat while being ground is crucial for the right consistency and juicyness. However with a cumberland style recipe it can cover up for some of that grainy texture unprofessional sausages would have.

It is clear by even the first picture that part was stuffed too tight that is why you have a burst. There are pockets of air in other parts of the uncooked picture, there are areas that will explode and other areas that will crumble for not being tight enough.

It is clear that this is nothing more than a home cook who looked at some online recipes. This is not a commercial product by a trained professional.

Yes, it is probably adequate and he probably has the spice blend proportionate but that is only one small aspect of sausage making. As for the Pastrami, or other cured products, I doubt that he has them tested like what would be required in a western country. The slight error or something that is not fully steralized and botulism and other poisons can develop. Unless someone is a trained professional they should not be making cured products for commercial purposes.

Anyone can do it at home and put your own family at risk. The wrong percentage of nitrates or using prague powder #2 instead of #1 for cooked meats can result in serious healthy injuries.

Again, I will say that he and his wife both have some baking skills. They are competant but to branch into something like cured meat products is not something an untrained hobbyist should try and market. Perhaps if has a butcher's licensed then I will give him the benefit of the doubt but I have a feeling that he doesnt' possess such a thing.

I take exception to your comments about the ability of this business based on your viewing a picture. Frankly I think it is the taste that counts not a picture that according to you contains air pockets.. I commend butter is better for trying to introduce new products. the ultimate fate of this product will be based on the buying public and not on a person like you that appears to have an axe to grind with this business.

I haver to agree, Tolstoy's commments were over the top and unwarranted.