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Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets

andiesenji

By andiesenji
in Kitchen Consumer

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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I have these, pan grabbers that came with sets of utensils back in he early '70s.  I got two sets because I like the long, perforated spatulas and the deep ladles that were part of the sets.  It was a complimentary design to Corningware "Spice of Life" cookware which included some enamelware cookware in addition to the stovetop and ovenware.  

The could be used (with a folded paper towel) to grasp and lift the ceramic ovenware.  

59bab15e722fb_ScreenShot2017-09-14at9_34_14AM.thumb.png.566b0cb69c767221380cd3fb98683580.png

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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6 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

 

I apologize for being unclear. I did not mean to imply that this gadget predated the ice cream scoop. I meant that I supposed it was a precursor to the cookie sized scoop many people use today.

No need to apologize.  I'm sure you are correct when it comes to consumer use - it was two tablespoons for most homemakers when this came out, and how I was taught in the 1940s and continued to use that method for 20+ years. 

 

However, portion-control dishers of various sizes were used in commercial kitchens as early as the 1920s.  When  Horn & Hardart opened a retail store to sell the foods available at the Automats, the workers used various sized dishers  for strict portion control.  There used to be a YouTube video of this process.  But the use was limited to commercial kitchens, hotels and restaurants.  

As far as I was able to learn, when I was actively collecting, the first ones directed at homemakers, consumers, were marketed by mail-order companies in the late 1960s.  

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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15 hours ago, andiesenji said:

I have these, pan grabbers that came with sets of utensils back in he early '70s.

I remember these well but wasn't there another one that had a one piece handle? As I remember, it was rather poorly designed as you had to angle it downward to attach it and risked hitting your knuckles on the oven rack.

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Norm Matthews

Norm Matthews

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I remember these well but wasn't there another one that had a one piece handle? As I remember, it was rather poorly designed as you had to angle it downward to attach it and risked hitting your knuckles on the oven rack.

 

There was a Corningware one piece handle with a twist end that tightened it on to the short handle end  so it could be used like a stove top pan handle. I don't recall if it was oven safe.

Edited by Norm Matthews (log)
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http://normmatthews.blogspot.com/

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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Yes, I remember that one now. Thank you, Norm. The one that I remember came with a set of three dishes, probably CorningWare copycats. In order to put the handle on you had to angle it down and snap it up. The first time I used it, I burned my hand on the oven rack and I pitched it in the trash. Pot holders worked just fine. The dishes themselves didn't last much longer. One exploded in the oven and one broke in the dishwasher. I never had a problem like that with CorningWare.

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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I have several of the Pyrex and Corning handles.  They were a proprietary item made just to fit the Pyrex "Flameware" and later the Corning stove top and oven ware.  They were not intended for use in the oven.  Only for stove top use.

 

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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21 minutes ago, andiesenji said:

They were not intended for use in the oven.  Only for stove top use.

 

I'm sure that mine weren't Pyrex because they were colored, more like the CorningWare. They were a gift so I really have no idea what they were. Not a very good gift, as it turned out, but it's the thought that counts.

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Norm Matthews

Norm Matthews

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Corning sold Corningware in 2000 and the new company made them out of a stoneware based clay which did not have the traditional characteristics of the older stuff. I had some, not knowing it was different and one chipped and cracked within a couple months.  I read that in 2008 a similar type ceramic used in the original ware was reintroduced.

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Toliver

Toliver

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Posted
On 9/15/2017 at 5:37 PM, andiesenji said:

I have several of the Pyrex and Corning handles.  They were a proprietary item made just to fit the Pyrex "Flameware" and later the Corning stove top and oven ware.  They were not intended for use in the oven.  Only for stove top use.

 

 

My mom rarely cooks these days but when she uses her Corningware on the stove, she always uses the handles. The biggest issue for her is some of the handles fit only certain pieces of the Corningware. The length of the existing physical handles on the dishes determines which of the add-on handles will work and which won't.

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– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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5 hours ago, Toliver said:

My mom rarely cooks these days but when she uses her Corningware on the stove, she always uses the handles. The biggest issue for her is some of the handles fit only certain pieces of the Corningware. The length of the existing physical handles on the dishes determines which of the add-on handles will work and which won't.

I have one of the white handles which only fits the Corningware French White stove top items that have a slightly curved "lug" handle.  Attempting to use it on other Corningware pieces will cause breakage.  Almost all of my Corningware and Pyrex is from many years ago. I bought a ton of it when I began catering in the '70s - at the Pyrex/Corning factory outlet in Sun Valley, CA that was in  a big barn of a building, with stuff just stacked on the floor in boxes and wooden crates.  It was always busy.  

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

In the course of my perambulations around the city centre today, I came across a small hardware store which is closing down. They mostly stocked kitchen gear of average quality. Of course, I had a look. Everything was the same price. ¥2.00 (30 cents USD). They had little I wanted , but I did pick up a pack of three self-adhesive hooks, then I saw this knife.

 

59cba433dd6cd_knife1.thumb.jpg.dbfb13f11985df4d9e7ce1ac994bceab.jpg

 

It is sharper than I would have guessed but I have no idea what its intended use might be but at that price, I thought "why not?" The young girl who relieved me of two pictures of Chairman Mao had no idea either. She has been taken on temporarily by the liquidators.

The blade is about three inches long. Here it is in my average size hand.

59cba42c24648_knife2.thumb.jpg.329ea5827d5ccfeacc2cf5efa3ce314f.jpg

 

Suggestions as to what it might have been designed for would be very welcome, thanks.

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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Alex

Alex

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Peeling tough-skinned vegetables

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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4 minutes ago, lindag said:

Here's a similar knife, used for fish.

 

 

That one has the sharp edge on the outside (convex side) of the curve. Mine has the edge on the inside (concave side). Major difference, I think.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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dcarch

dcarch

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That blade shape I think sometimes is called Counter Strike  blade shape. 

Very functional for gardening and a blade shape for hunters and for self-defense.

 

I am sure there are some kitchen uses. I can't think of too many. Knife shaved noodles?

 

dcarch

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rotuts

rotuts

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here is a ref to the Kukri :

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukri

 

its for slitting throats 

 

even though Wiki dances around this.

 

note the notch :

 

"""  Kukri blades usually have a notch (karda, kauda, kaudi, kaura, or cho) at the base of the blade. Various reasons are given for this, both practical and ceremonial: that it makes blood and sap drop off the blade rather than running onto the handle  ''

 

lots of blood when you slit a throat.

 

the two little knives that you carry w the Kukri  are to eat what you've just slitted , after suitable cooking of course.

 

also in the article :

 

""""   Mina's narrative describes his throat being sliced through by Jonathan Harker's kukri ""

 

just a quick pull and slice will do it !     no jabbing involved.

 

from behind of course !

Edited by rotuts (log)
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chromedome

chromedome

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Posted

To me it looks like a carpet knife, which would certainly not be out of place in a hardware store. Perhaps it just got mis-placed in the kitchen section by the receivers?

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

Suggestions as to what it might have been designed for would be very welcome, thanks.

It looks to me like something that you would use to harvest herbs in the garden. It also looks like it would be good to use to butterfly steaks or to prepare pockets in pork chops for stuffing, neither of which the Chinese would be apt to do.

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