We’ve all seen this. Someone has the bright idea to spray a piece of aluminum cookware with oven cleaner. Well in all but the worst cases it can be repaired. I picked up this Wearever pan for $1 because someone had given it the oven cleaner treatment and then donated it. As an object lesson more »
Month: March 2019
Aluminum is the third most common element on the planet after oxygen and silicon. Alloying it with other metals such as copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, and zinc, increase its durability, and hardness as well as decreasing its vulnerability. Its malleability and conductivity and affordability make it the most common kitchenware material. However, aluminum is a very more »
I had been wanting to play with Rustoleum’s High Heat Grill paint for a while now. I had to wait until I had something to paint and the weather to break. This antique sad iron trivet has been swimming in the molasses and water rust bucket for a while, and I picked and had a more »
Plastic spatulas are usually a disposable item, surviving in a kitchen until they are melted or unpleasantly stained by tomato sauce. Tomato sauce staining can be fought with various weapons: vinegar OR baking soda and even a good soak with a dash of beach. But it is usually a death knell when the handle and the more »
I have picked up a few 1950s FLINT US Stainless Steel Utensils lately. Decades of constant washing and drying and exposure to the minerals causes plastic handles to roughen up and look beaten. This type of plastic is pretty indestructible otherwise. The rough surface can be sanded smooth or even burnished with steel wool and more »
Usually I just give my 1990 Kitchenaid a good wipe down everytime I use it. But I took this occassion to break down both mine and my mother’s 2001 machine and clean all the nooks and crannies. Aside from dishtowels and a good antibacterial spray, you need a scrub brush to get into all the more »
I picked this ladle and chan (think food shovel) out of a thriftstore .99 tub, their handles were loose as anything but it saves me from having to buy new ones in the Asian market. I have become attached to using Gorilla Glue to repair unglued handles. Unlike PVA and other acrylic glues which shrink more »
I covered cleaning geared openers in a youtube video before, but I haven’t taken my own advice lately. I pulled out my spare US made Swing Away and realized I hadn’t cleaned it in a while. Cleaning a geared food tool may be the single aspect which throws people off. Many folks expect everything more »
When I suggested to my friend Don Lindgren, owner of Rabelais: Fine Books on Food and Drink in Biddeford, that we put in a rack of vintage and lightly used kitchenware, I really didn’t think he would go for it. He already has an extensive array of antique kitchenware for display and a copper vessel more »