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Yes, they certainly are. I tried to grill some chicken breast today with my aluminum grill pan and the result was terrible. As I normally do, I heat up the grill pan till it is very hot, then place my marinated chicken on it. So it sizzled and I thought everything was fine. I let it grill on one side for 5 minutes till it started to brown and then I turned over the the other site. It did mark some very nice char marks but after cooking the entire thing for around 10 minutes, I took it out to check for doneness. It wasn’t. In fact, only the surface was cooked, most of the inside wasn’t. So, I left it on the grill again for yet another 5 minutes on each side but then the surface started turning blackish and overburnt. Yuck, I had to throw away the food. Wasted some very fine (and should be great tasting) chicken today.

Nope, I had properly ensure the chicken is around room temperature first before I started cooking it. Yes, I have removed any excess marinate from the chicken before putting it on the grill. And yes, I have oiled the grill pan before cooking.

The problem with aluminum grill pans is that it can’t retain heat well and it warps easily. So after a few uses, one side of the warped grill pan will be hotter than the other side. So your food gets burnt on one side, while the other is not cooked completely. And the aluminum grill pan acts like a frying pan. So instead of grilling, you are actually frying the food but since you don’t use a lot of oil on a grill, it starts to burn. A cast iron grill pan retains heat very well and can withstand high temperatures. High temperature cooks food fast so that your food won’t get overburnt or overcooked. And that with a uniform temperature thoughout the grill pan, your cook will be properly cooked throughout as well. Anyways, that aluminum grill pan, I purchased for 11 bucks, so I guess what you pay is what you get. Time for me to get a real grill pan! If only I know where I can get such a grill pan in Singapore.

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I am sure by now most of you webmasters would have realized that Google adsense offers their publishers a new set of referrals - Referrals v 2. In the past, referrals are usually just Google products like Adwords or Adsense or perhaps just the browser firefox but things have changed. Google now offers a set of products by third party service providers. However, the basic concept is still the same. Clicks don’t count. The person clicking on the advertisement on your site need to purchase a product or service first before you are paid with a commission. The amount paid is dependent on the advertiser. But if a purchase is needed, then it will probably take sometime before your commission is paid to you. From my brief look at the payout, it can be much better than what PPC adverts can deliver. Hey, I had clicks paid with US$0.01 before!

I myself never really use referrals. In fact, even for Google’s own products, I didn’t do very well. Okay you are correct, I got no referrals at all but I think that if you offer your viewers a wider range of useful products like what Google is offering right now, it would have better chance of succeeding. You can see that Google has a wide range of products and services ranging from business services, beauty care, real estate, shopping to travel. If your site is in a niche market, then referrals would be a good choice since they usually have a better payout. And it’s less prone to abuse too since a “transaction” is first needed.

For me, the problem with referrals is that it is very much a US thing. I am pretty sure my viewers who are in Singapore will not be interested in getting a spa package in the US. Yes, Google adsense has a regional filter, but the number of advertiser listings for Singapore is probably so small that it is useless to me. Nearly all the listings are meant for US viewers only. Too bad. I would very much have liked to try out Google Referrals and see the response from my viewers. However, if you are in the US, you should take a look at Google Adsense and check out their referrals section.

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