Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 2)

[andiesenji]

Very cool. Thanks, Andie! You always have good information.

I don't have a wood stove, but I think I will use this particular piece as decoration.

It will make a lovely decorative piece. If you want to brighten it up, using the "old time" method, just use half a lemon, dipped in salt and rub it on the outside.

I had the advantage of being able to see the place where copper was being formed into the fat, globe-shaped pot stills when I was about ten, so I recall it fairly well. The wood forms for various pots and pans were hung on a wall or stacked on the floor but there were none of those being made at the time I was there, just two big pot stills for a licensed bourbon distiller, and I was fascinated by the way they were putting it together. My grandpa had gone there to buy some barrels - but coopering was not as interesting as the copper work. I wish I had paid more attention, or asked some questions but in those days children were expected to "be seen and not heard."

[Porthos]

I found this Oxo 2.25 Qt tea kettle for $4.49. I like it for the fact that the spout lid auto-opens when you tip it to pour. I have had one before for my ren faire kitchen but, and I can't figure out how, one of the volunteers managed to break it while I was out of the kitchen and someone else tossed it before I even saw it.

[Darienne]

DH and I live on a very old farm in the middle of nowhere in the Rollin' Hills of Cavan.  And we don't have garbage pick-up.  So we have to haul the garbage (not recyclables, not compostables, but true trash)  to the local transfer station, affectionately known as the Cavan Mall.

 

Last week Ed brought back a Proctor-Silex electric citrus juicer which he used with great joy this morning and announced that it extracted much more juice than any other method used so far.  And these were zested limes and lemons.  It looked as if it had never been used at all. 

The accumulation and disposal of equipment never ceases to amaze.

[rotuts]

love 'junk' piles like that.  thought they were obsolete 

[Adam George]

Technically not thrift shopping as I bought it from the junk shed at work.

I got tired of waiting for Anova to short their shit out so bought roughly £1000 worth of professional circulator and insulated bath for £100.

I spent the day scrubbing it down and am yet to stick it in some descaler as it beat my iron wool but otherwise it's fully working and now clean.

It runs from Ambient +5 to 95 degrees C on a 1.25kW motor and is made in sunny old England.

It'll probably be the first piece of big machinery at the bar I'm soon opening. I'll eventually buy an Anova to look pretty in my home kitchen.

[Kim Shook]

I found a Keystone ice bucket at an antique shop in the Outer Banks.  We paid $25 for it.  Based on the research I’ve been able to do, I’m not sure it was a great deal, but I love it.  I’d like to actually use it - how would I make sure that it was sanitized fully?  I don’t want to use anything that would leave an odor behind that would get into the ice.  

 

Having trouble with pictures - flickr has changed and I can't figure out how to get the pictures to actually show.  Funny how often "improvements" complicate once simple things, huh?  Anyway, this is a link to an online picture of the piece: http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-keystoneware-ice-bucket-art-129860752

[William Colsher]

I found a Keystone ice bucket at an antique shop in the Outer Banks.  We paid $25 for it.  Based on the research I’ve been able to do, I’m not sure it was a great deal, but I love it.  I’d like to actually use it - how would I make sure that it was sanitized fully?  I don’t want to use anything that would leave an odor behind that would get into the ice.  

 

Having trouble with pictures - flickr has changed and I can't figure out how to get the pictures to actually show.  Funny how often "improvements" complicate once simple things, huh?  Anyway, this is a link to an online picture of the piece: http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-keystoneware-ice-bucket-art-129860752

Based on your link and some Googling it looks like the ice bucket should have a glass or ceramic liner. If that's absent, you may be able to find a glass storage jar that will fit in it's place. There's an Anchor Hocking 2 quart glass candy jar that might do the trick.

[Kim Shook]

Based on your link and some Googling it looks like the ice bucket should have a glass or ceramic liner. If that's absent, you may be able to find a glass storage jar that will fit in it's place. There's an Anchor Hocking 2 quart glass candy jar that might do the trick.

Thank you, William!  I should have said (since I couldn't post my pictures) that the ceramic liner is there.  Do you think  just a good wash with hot water and dish soap is enough?

[andiesenji]

I got this Sunday, at a yard sale a few doors down as I was on my way home from a birthday breakfast (I'm officially 75).

 

It was covered with crud - I thought it was brown.  Finally got around to putting it through the dishwasher and

 

IT IS AMETHYST!  Hand blown, with a clean pontil/punty on the bottom.  One or two small bubbles but otherwise very nice.  It's heavy so I am assuming some lead content.

No marks.

 

 

I love small pitchers.  This one holds a quart with 1 1/2 inches of headroom.

[William Colsher]

Thank you, William!  I should have said (since I couldn't post my pictures) that the ceramic liner is there.  Do you think  just a good wash with hot water and dish soap is enough?

As long as the liner is intact dish soap will do the job.

[DesertTinker]

Happy belated birthday!!

 

It's beauteous, great Birthday find and it's a nice size and shape. And amethyst!!

I got this Sunday, at a yard sale a few doors down as I was on my way home from a birthday breakfast (I'm officially 75).

 

It was covered with crud - I thought it was brown.  Finally got around to putting it through the dishwasher and

 

IT IS AMETHYST!  Hand blown, with a clean pontil/punty on the bottom.  One or two small bubbles but otherwise very nice.  It's heavy so I am assuming some lead content.

No marks.

 

HPIM5936.JPG

HPIM5937.JPG

HPIM5938.JPG

 

I love small pitchers.  This one holds a quart with 1 1/2 inches of headroom.

[thock]

Happy birthday, Andie! Beautiful pitcher.

[thatchairlady]

At one, found an unopened package of 8" wide bags and an almost full roll of 11" wide bags to be. Didn't need the food saver or attachments, since already have one that works fine... another yard sale find from past. Seller said what would you like to pay? I KNEW what the bags cost and threw out $5 offer which was eagerly taken.

 

At another sale, I see a much more advanced FS... with buttons for speed of vac & dry/moist foods... and a few others. Had most of a roll of wide bag material sitting inside & a box (unopened) marked "Super Value Pack" of rolls of bag stuff. It had a $10 price tag on it & I was willing to pay that, as long as that box-o-bags came with it. I walked over to seller and might have said something as simple as "that foodsaver on the table?" and she says $5... WITH the bags!

 

It's an "older" model... horizontal instead of vertical, so couldn't find a price/value other than on Ebay... $40-80 being asked. At FS site, the unopened box-o-bags costs about $40 and package of maybe 40 bags costs over $20.

 

Thinking my $10 purchases would probably be at least $100... I'm a happy camper! I REALLY like this thing since cooking for one. A regular sized package of bone-less chicken breasts (usually 4 pieces) is easily 2 meals (plus left-overs for lunch), so I just repackage and freeze. Any thing rock hard frozen is ready to cook after less than half hour in container of room temp water... and I never find any "mystery" items in bottom/back of freezer that are burnt beyond use.

 

[Porthos]

I have a special place in my heart for the copper-bottomed Revere 3 qt saucepan. It was the "used every day" pan when I began cooking the family dinner when I turned 13. I still have that pan although I don't use it. We received one as a wedding present and my wife liked it so much we bought a second one a couple of years later.  A few years ago I picked up one from a thrift store and cleaned it up. Then another one. Not long after that my dear FIL wanted to replace his 50+ year-old one. When I researched what was available I found that they were now manufactured off-shore and had warping problems. So I "lent" him one of mine figuring to get it back when he passes. A couple of years ago I found another one, bought, cleaned it up and added it to my ren faire cooking gear.

 

So yesterday I happened upon another one. But this one was different. It was old enough to be the really heavy construction from many decades ago. It weighs approximately 1 lb 11 oz. The ones I have from the 70's weigh about 1 lb 1 oz. I tried walking away from it. How many 3 qt pans does one man need? Then (I'm sure in desperation) I realized that I could clean this beauty up for my younger daughter and son-in-law. For $4.49 and some elbow grease on my part they will have a pan that should be with them through the years. Maybe my adorable 3-month-old grandson will cook with it one day.

 

[rotuts]

Porthos;

 

you would have been bereft had you walked away.

[andiesenji]

Buried somewhere in my "stuff" is the large - I think it is a 12 inch - deep Revereware Chicken fryer with the domed lid.  It is much deeper than regular frypans and is very heavy.  I've had it since the '60s and it was at least ten or fifteen years old then. 

I kept it because it was given to me by my then mother in law - (we stayed friends long after I divorced her son) and it was larger than my Griswold chicken pan - and with a big family I usually needed both skillets to cook enough chicken. 

 

Some people turn their noses up at the copper bottom Revereware, but there is no question that the early stuff was quality.

[ElsieD]

I had one of those with the double boiler insert. I loved that pan. And then one day I came home from a business trip to find one lonesome burnt-to-ash cylinder of a wiener in the bottom of the pot. DH decided to make himself a hot dog and forgot about the pan. The pan was ruined. I looked in vain for one to replace it but I never did find one.

[Smithy]

I had one of those with the double boiler insert. I loved that pan. And then one day I came home from a business trip to find one lonesome burnt-to-ash cylinder of a wiener in the bottom of the pot. DH decided to make himself a hot dog and forgot about the pan. The pan was ruined. I looked in vain for one to replace it but I never did find one.

I still have mine: double boiler insert, lid and all. I *think* it was a wedding present to my parents in the 1940's. I *know* I was given the set when my mother replaced her cookware with a 'waterless' (ha) cookware set that, to be fair, was rather well constructed even if it didn't live up to its hype. The pan in my Revere set has a slightly warped bottom, such that it rotates comically on the flat stovetop unless I drape a towel over the handle to anchor it. It isn't ideal, given our current cooktop, but it's been a faithful friend and I don't intend to replace it, ever.

[boilsover]

I just found one of these Lehman's "Reading 78" apple peelers, NIB, at an estate sale this past weekend for $12.  On sale at Lehman's for $180.

 

If you doubt these work, check out the video: 

Ten apples peeled in under a minute.

[Smithy]

What a great machine! I've never seen one like that before. Good find!

[hummingbirdkiss]

My son brought me a brand new in the box Tiger SMJ-A18U 10-Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cake Maker, ( retail $250-300) seven bucks!

Super score the thing works, like new because it is new!

I like mochi but, have grandkids who totally adore this kind of thing! All the yogurt shops have flavored mochi toppings now I hear? ..I thought about egullet? ..missed you guys and back I am to figure out, other than the traditional types, what else we can do with this machine, mochi and sticky rice.

I have the little kids a lot this summer so I wanted have as much fun possible mochi is FUN! I can plug it in outside and hose them off or just send them home after

I am searching topics now..sadly not much! If anyone can direct me?

Edited June 30, 2014 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Smithy]

Welcome back, hummingbirdkiss!

Here are a few topics about mochi. Congratulations on your (son's) great find!

"Making Mocho & Ozoni" has a great tutorial, with pictures: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/80453-making-mochi-ozoni/

"Local-style Mochi" refers to regional variations: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/34410-local-style-mochi/

"Mochi" also appears in the Japan - Cooking and Baking subforum: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/16333-mochi/

Have fun with your new toy and your grandchildren, and do let us see some of the results. :-)

[hummingbirdkiss]

thanks so much will do! 

[andiesenji]

Found another jug at a yard sale while out walking my dog early Sunday morning.  I had no money with me so asked the gal to hold it but she said no sense we walking home and back so sent her son along with me to carry the rather heavy jug. 

I gave him the money and a bottle of my homemade red wine vinegar for his mum and just got around to washing the jug this morning.  It's quite attractive and has an interesting glaze.  There are no marks on the bottom.

 

There is a red/brown underglaze and a blue/purple glaze.  I don't know if you can see the ribbing detail on the lower body of the jug but it looks like hand-incised ridges - they are not perfectly even so not from a mold.  Sorry the one photo is just a tad out of focus.

I paid $2.00 for it plus the bottle of vinegar!

 

[Porthos]

What a pretty piece of pottery.