Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 3)

[boilsover]

On 1/18/2017 at 8:52 AM, Nyleve Baar said:

Not sure I'll ever use them but I can't resist French china.

 

Perfect or shirred eggs, just sayin'.

[andiesenji]

On 1/18/2017 at 9:30 AM, robirdstx said:

 

Very cute! I have similar little no name gratin dishes and find them useful for all kinds of dips for chips, especially for guacamole and salsa.

 

PS: Refried Beans with cheese melted on top from a few seconds in the microwave.

 

I have a bunch of these - restaurant ware made by Hall China, Shenango, Syracuse, etc., I used to use them for pot pies, top crust only.

[Porthos]

My finds from yesterday. I picked up the cookbook based on the strength of a 5-star rating on Eat Your Books. Got the Forschner 6" boning knife for a buck. I don't own a proper boning knife and I dislike cooking bone-on meat. The knife needs a new edge badly.

 

[Porthos]

I was in Anaheim overnight and stopped at a few thrift shops on my way home. Got this for $1.50. I have seen her name mentioned in various egullet posts regarding cookbooks so I'm going to give it a whirl.

 

[Anna N]

11 minutes ago, Porthos said:

I was in Anaheim overnight and stopped at a few thrift shops on my way home. Got this for $1.50. I have seen her name mentioned in various egullet posts regarding cookbooks so I'm going to give it a whirl.

 

Lots of people considerate it  the Bible of Italian cooking. I very rarely cook Italian so I am not offering an opinion based on experience. But in my experience only a very few cook books are not worth reading. I learn something from most books even if I have no intentions of cooking from them.  Enjoy. 

 

[rotuts]

you bet.

 

nice find.  look for the second book in your Thrifty Travels.

[Martin Fisher]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

I learn something from most books even if I have no intentions of cooking from them.

 

Yep!

[chromedome]

For me they're always an "ideas" thing. Some stuff appeals and some doesn't, but analyzing the reasons why I like or dislike something is the important part of the exercise.

 

...and of course, some are just plain fun to read. I defy anyone -- especially a gardener -- not to snicker at the rabbit recipe in Edna Staebler's "Food That Really Schmecks."

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

For me they're always an "ideas" thing. Some stuff appeals and some doesn't, but analyzing the reasons why I like or dislike something is the important part of the exercise.

 

...and of course, some are just plain fun to read. I defy anyone -- especially a gardener -- not to snicker at the rabbit recipe in Edna Staebler's "Food That Really Schmecks."

Rabbit

[Jacksoup]

22 hours ago, Porthos said:

My finds from yesterday. I picked up the cookbook based on the strength of a 5-star rating on Eat Your Books. Got the Forschner 6" boning knife for a buck. I don't own a proper boning knife and I dislike cooking bone-on meat. The knife needs a new edge badly.

 

@Porthos. I have a couple of her cookbooks which I like.  Her restaurant is in my town and although it's very popular, I've never been impressed.  And I'm not that difficult to impress.

[Porthos]

On 2/1/2017 at 8:52 AM, Porthos said:

Got the Forschner 6" boning knife for a buck. ... The knife needs a new edge badly.

 

I don't know what alloy Victornox uses for this knife but it took me 45 minutes, using my EdgePro, to raise the tiniest bit of a burr. I finished it for now but I suspect I will give it a second go-around starting with the 220 stone again. I believe I can do better but it does seem to be a bit of a challenge.

 

At it's present point I think I can get meat off of the bone with it but not as nicely as I would hope for.

[Porthos]

I am thinking that I may have scored big-time. Not sure, though. Picked it up this morning for $4.00. The best info I can find is that it may or may not be a Shun but it is an 8" carving knife. As usual, the edge needs work. I normally change knives I buy to have an 18°/18° degree edge but I think I will keep the original angle on this one.

 

 

 

[Porthos]

On 2/1/2017 at 1:50 PM, Porthos said:

I was in Anaheim overnight and stopped at a few thrift shops on my way home. Got this for $1.50. I have seen her name mentioned in various egullet posts regarding cookbooks so I'm going to give it a whirl.

 

 

What a great book. That fact that she covers the "why" of things is so helpful. Given that her editor is Judith Jones (Julia Child's editor) I shouldn't be surprised.

[boilsover]

On 2/2/2017 at 10:05 AM, Porthos said:

I don't know what alloy Victornox uses for this knife but it took me 45 minutes, using my EdgePro, to raise the tiniest bit of a burr. I finished it for now but I suspect I will give it a second go-around starting with the 220 stone again. I believe I can do better but it does seem to be a bit of a challenge.

 

Forschner knives (at least the ones my dad bought for his packing plant) are notoriously hard, and hard to sharpen.  The theory is that they will be useful longer between sharpenings.  I also surmise that this steel/hardness was chosen recognizing that sharpenings would happen on more aggressive, powered wheels and belts.

 

Complicating sharpening further, there is so little depth on a boning knife, and it must have sufficient thickness (to twist to disjoint), you end up having uncommon thickness right behind the primary bevel.  If you had this geometry on a chef's knife, a pro sharpener would tell you you needed a reprofile job.  But if you thin that boning knife, you'd have to do it all the way to the top--at which point you've changed it away from what it can do.  I suspect most of your work on the Edge Pro was removing metal well behind the actual edge, i.e., giving the blade extra-tall primary bevels.   

 

Unless you're Cook T'ing, boning knives take a beating. IME, a rigid boning knife--like a cleaver--benefits from a convex bevel.  The problem is that few people know how to roll an edge like that.

Edited February 4, 2017 by boilsover (log)

[andiesenji]

19 hours ago, Porthos said:

 

What a great book. That fact that she covers the "why" of things is so helpful. Given that her editor is Judith Jones (Julia Child's editor) I shouldn't be surprised.

It is a great book, as are her others.  I have at least three of her books, mostly purchased in the '70s and '80s, though I did get one just a few years ago, that I think was published in the '90s.  

I got to meet her in the '80s at a book signing at Brentano's in Westwood Village.  She was very gracious, gave a lovely talk and there were free recipe card sets with recipes that were going to be in her next book.  

By the way, the box is "out for delivery" !!

Edited February 4, 2017 by andiesenji (log)

[Porthos]

3 hours ago, boilsover said:

 

Forschner knives (at least the ones my dad bought for his packing plant) are notoriously hard, and hard to sharpen.  The theory is that they will be useful longer between sharpenings.  I also surmise that this steel/hardness was chosen recognizing that sharpenings would happen on more aggressive, powered wheels and belts

 

 

I have 2 Forschner 10" chef's knives and they are easy to keep sharp. I guess, based upon your feedback, that boning knives would fall into the class of knives you describe.

[andiesenji]

9 hours ago, Porthos said:

 

I have 2 Forschner 10" chef's knives and they are easy to keep sharp. I guess, based upon your feedback, that boning knives would fall into the class of knives you describe.

I've got a fifty-year-old boning knife made by Dexter that is about 1/3 narrower than it originally was.  My dad gave it to me when I was hunting.  I used a stone to sharpen it and it held an edge well.  Carbon steel so I kept it wrapped in an oil-soaked cloth between uses.

[boilsover]

21 hours ago, Porthos said:

 

I have 2 Forschner 10" chef's knives and they are easy to keep sharp. I guess, based upon your feedback, that boning knives would fall into the class of knives you describe.

 

I have no idea if Forschner uses the same steel and heat-treat in all its knives.  All I know is that the boxes of Forschner butchers' knives (boning, ripping, siding) I inherited use steel that is very hard and resistant to abrasives in the finished knife.  Once sharp, they do tend to stay sharper longer than the equivalent-use knives I have.  However, once dulled, they take a lot more work to bring back to sharp.  This can be a PITA in a hunting camp.

 

I don't own any Forschner chefs' with which to compare...  

[andiesenji]

1 hour ago, boilsover said:

 

I have no idea if Forschner uses the same steel and heat-treat in all its knives.  All I know is that the boxes of Forschner butchers' knives (boning, ripping, siding) I inherited use steel that is very hard and resistant to abrasives in the finished knife.  Once sharp, they do tend to stay sharper longer than the equivalent-use knives I have.  However, once dulled, they take a lot more work to bring back to sharp.  This can be a PITA in a hunting camp.

 

I don't own any Forschner chefs' with which to compare...  

Keeping an edge on knives while out in the field can be tricky.  On one trip in the early '70s, I had "help" with my packing for a deer hunting trip to St. George, UT. I guess my husband thought the case in which I had my sharpening stones was too "heavy" for my backpack and left it out. 

When I had to field dress a buck and had done most of the basic stuff, I wanted to hone the edge - no stone.  Fortunately, Utah has local rocks called "novi" something - that our Indian guide found and it worked a treat on both my knives.  

I kept it for years until I lost it in one of my moves.

Found the name of the stone: Novaculite.  

Edited February 5, 2017 by andiesenji (log)

[dscheidt]

2 hours ago, boilsover said:

 

I have no idea if Forschner uses the same steel and heat-treat in all its knives.  All I know is that the boxes of Forschner butchers' knives (boning, ripping, siding) I inherited use steel that is very hard and resistant to abrasives in the finished knife.  Once sharp, they do tend to stay sharper longer than the equivalent-use knives I have.  However, once dulled, they take a lot more work to bring back to sharp.  This can be a PITA in a hunting camp.

 

I don't own any Forschner chefs' with which to compare...  

I don't own a froschner chefs at the moment (I have in the past), but I've sharpened a few dozen of them.  They sharpen easily, take a wicked edge, and keep about 10 minutes.  Well, a bit longer than that, but they're in the need constant work category of knife.  I have a number of their paring knives, and they're also in the constantly needs sharpening camp.  Easy, though, a couple passes on fine diamond stone does the job.

[boilsover]

8 hours ago, dscheidt said:

I don't own a froschner chefs at the moment (I have in the past), but I've sharpened a few dozen of them.  They sharpen easily, take a wicked edge, and keep about 10 minutes.  Well, a bit longer than that, but they're in the need constant work category of knife.  I have a number of their paring knives, and they're also in the constantly needs sharpening camp.  Easy, though, a couple passes on fine diamond stone does the job.

 

Likely a different alloy and/or heat treat, then.  On the kill floor and boning tables, Forschners last about a shift without touching up, and several without sharpening.  This translates to weeks in a kitchen.

[quiet1]

9 hours ago, dscheidt said:

I don't own a froschner chefs at the moment (I have in the past), but I've sharpened a few dozen of them.  They sharpen easily, take a wicked edge, and keep about 10 minutes.  Well, a bit longer than that, but they're in the need constant work category of knife.  I have a number of their paring knives, and they're also in the constantly needs sharpening camp.  Easy, though, a couple passes on fine diamond stone does the job.

 

This is exactly why my paring knives are Froschner - I'd rather easy to sharpen and fast to dull than a paring knife that stays kind of sharp a long time but isn't really sharp and is a bear to sharpen.

[chromedome]

9 hours ago, quiet1 said:

 

This is exactly why my paring knives are Froschner - I'd rather easy to sharpen and fast to dull than a paring knife that stays kind of sharp a long time but isn't really sharp and is a bear to sharpen.

My knives are the Fibrox series, but I adhere to the same logic. A few swipes across the stone and steel, and I'm good to go. In the past I would occasionally sharpen knives for co-workers who lacked the skills, and found that hard-steel knives were an immense PITA. 

[Porthos]

Bought a lid and pan yesterday for a specific purpose. This is a 4 qt Reverware pan. I bought the pan in one thrift store for $2.54. I knew that I had seen the lid in another store and picked it up for $0.89. Less than $3.50 total. The pan needs a bit of TLC to restore the surfaces. I actually love that challenge.

 

Based upon some reading I have been doing and some videos I have watched recently I realized that the 6 qt stock pot I typically use for pasta is overkill. It is a tallish pot so when I put it on my 16K burner the flames are at the edge of the pot. Since I generally only cook about 7-8 oz of pasta at a time 2 to 2 1/2 qts of water should be more than enough instead of the 3 1/2 to 4 qts I have been doing. This pan will have the flame farther away from the edge of the base of the pan which should increase, albiet not a lot, the effeciency of heating the water.

 

 

As an aside, 16 thrift shops in 2 days and besides this pan I picked up a cookbook and a plastic knife for a task in my ren faire kitchens. The pan, book and kinfe were still under $5.00 total.

Edited February 16, 2017 by Porthos (log)

[chefmd]

Unbelievably smooth 11 inch skillet/griddle by Wagner, 27 dollars at thrift shop.