Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets

[Tropicalsenior]

Again, close, but no. A little too big for that it is 9 in. long. A friend of mine had one for the olive jar. It didn't work too well. It worked great for pickles but the olives kept getting away.

[Tropicalsenior]

7 minutes ago, HungryChris said:

Looks like something for lifting hot jars out of a pressure canner.

HC

It would work well for that but that wasn't its intended purpose.

[Tropicalsenior]

Everyone has come so close and it would work well for all the purposes., except for the olive jar.

 It was marketed as a pot lifter, which is exactly how I used it yesterday when I made steamed rice in the instant pot. Here is a picture. Please disregard the rubber band because I couldn't take a picture with one hand and hold the pot lifter closed. .

 

Edited September 28, 2017 by Tropicalsenior
Typo (log)

[Anna N]

Not to be contrary but

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[Alex]

1 hour ago, MelissaH said:

Reminds me of a grabber my grandma gave me, for sugar cubes. I think I've seen similar devices to pick olives out of a jar.

 

+1 -- although I usually use this for such a task (olives).

[Tropicalsenior]

12 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Not to be contrary but

I guess you're right. I wish I had kept the package, they called it a pot lifter and these are exactly like mine. I didn't think it would expand enough to lift a very big plate but I just tried it and it does.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Tropicalsenior
Addition (log)

[andiesenji]

On 9/27/2017 at 11:54 AM, liuzhou said:

 

 

Despite that rather strange report, grape production is negligible here. I'm sorry but your information is bunk. The overwhelming majority of grapes in China come from Xinjiang in the far west of China which is nearer to Europe than to here. 

I visit the town mentioned in that link at least two or three times a month. Never seen grapes or heard anyone talking about them. I think someone has swallowed an over-optimistic press release. Your link is to a notorious government owned propaganda site full of happy smiling peasants.

I would bet everything that it isn't a grape knife. Who is going to manufacture and sell a grape knife targeted at a place with next to no grapes?

 

I did not state that the knife was "targeted for a place with no grapes."  Similar knives are made and sold in the U.S. (mine is a 40-year-old DEXTER), France, Italy, etc.  I happened to mention the PBS slow food series that had a much longer segment on the famous Turpan grape festival in Xinjiang where "hundreds of grape varieties are grown and there are several grape-tasting events during July and August, the peak season.."

Other provinces were mentioned that conduct festivals associated with food and with the harvest. As I recall they mentioned a "Hungry Ghost Festival" and others. Certainly there has been huge promotion of Chinese wines and grape production for wine at the world wine tastings.  And one article stated "At the same time, there are new wineries in Hunan Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Jiangxi Province making wines with the wild Vitis davidii and Vitis quinquangularis.
 And this is not from a "propaganda" source but from Decanter, published in the UK.   I don't believe my information is "bunk."  

 

 

I think this one is from China.

 

And this is one used by a friend that bought it in France.  They vary in blade length and curvature, some are more hooked, but they are called grape knives in many catalogs or pruning knives. 

And according to my friend, who grows grapes, they are preferred for grafting vines onto rootstock.

Edited September 28, 2017 by andiesenji (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

35 minutes ago, andiesenji said:

they are preferred for grafting vines onto rootstock.

My Father had this exact knife that he used to clean and trim his horses hooves.

[kayb]

18 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

This one will probably be an easy one for some of you. I took a picture of this one in the store because I had one and found it to be completely useless. I gave it to the same friend that got the waffle iron.

 

I have one exactly like this, but for the addition of a small ceramic dish in the bottom ring. A spoon/ladle holder. It sits on my stove, and gets a fair amount of use.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

18 minutes ago, kayb said:

It sits on my stove, and gets a fair amount of use.

With the ceramic dish it wouldn't be so annoyingly messy.

[liuzhou]

5 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You got it! I took a picture of it in action

But I think probably this is how I will be using it. It will be great to take things out of the instant pot. Despite the way it looks, it is really very sturdy and I have held it upside down and sideways and it doesn't lose its grip.

This is a picture of the last treasure that I bought yesterday.

What is it?

 

The are both plate lifters. Everyone in China has them for lifting plates out of steamers. I have both those shown.

[Tropicalsenior]

56 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

The are both plate lifters. Everyone in China has them for lifting plates out of steamers. I have both those shown.

I have to bow to the expert and not believe what I read on the labels on the Chinese packages here. I do apologize. However, the second one I bought thinking it was a pot lifter and it works well for me as one so that's how I'm going to use it.

I am amazed and how sturdy they are for as flimsy as they look. They're great little products.

Edited September 29, 2017 by Tropicalsenior
Self editing (log)

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, andiesenji said:

I did not state that the knife was "targeted for a place with no grapes."

 

And I didn't say you did.

 

For the last twenty years, I have made most of my living from writing and translating for a major Chinese wine magazine and event organiser. I don't need the lecture on wine districts in China. I've been to them all several times.

 

I notice on the map you provide that the area near my home of which you did say "I know they grow a lot of grapes in your area" is marked by the smallest dot possible and I would contend that even that is an exaggeration.  As I said before, grape production here is negligible. I have been to the town (more of a village) mentioned in the article you linked to many times.

 

Don't believe everything you read, especially if it concerns China. I read nonsense about China every day in otherwise prestigious and respected media.

 

All of which is irrelevant as I have ascertained that the knife I bought is made and sold as a general fruit knife. Yes, it could be used to cut grapes, too, but so could my machete.

[liuzhou]

10 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I have to bow to the expert and not believe what I read on the labels on the Chinese packages here. I do apologize. However, the second one I bought thinking it was a pot lifter and it works well for me as one so that's how I'm going to use it.

I am amazed and how sturdy they are for as flimsy as they look. They're great little products.

 

 

Well, of course, they can be used for lifting pots, too. However, most people here don't use pots, so...

 

Be careful. Twice I have dropped dinner onto the floor when carrying plates to the dinner table using the three legged variety. The legs can twist and lose grip. I now also keep a towel covered hand under the plate to support it. I find the first one you pictured more stable, but it isn't suitable for every plate.

[gfweb]

8 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You got it! I took a picture of it in action

But I think probably this is how I will be using it. It will be great to take things out of the instant pot. Despite the way it looks, it is really very sturdy and I have held it upside down and sideways and it doesn't lose its grip.

This is a picture of the last treasure that I bought yesterday.

What is it?

 

Its a modified bearing puller. 

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Its a modified bearing puller. 

You and my grandson would get along great. In fact maybe I'd better hide it when he comes down to visit.

[quiet1]

15 hours ago, Anna N said:

 Yep. And I discovered with one of these you don't only have a spoon to clean you have a stand to clean and a  stainless steel bowl to clean. 

 

The one I have is usually pretty well behaved actually - just the little bowl gets dirty and mine is ceramic so I just stick it in the dishwasher with the rest of the dishes from dinner. We found another little bowl that sort of fits also, so we can swap if it gets especially bad.

 

I prefer that style to the ones where you just lie the spoon down mostly because we don't have a lot of counter space as it is, so this makes the spoon have a smaller footprint.

[boilsover]

On 9/28/2017 at 1:18 PM, andiesenji said:

I think this one is from China. 

 

 

I once custom made two blades to order with almost identical profile for a friend who is a banana farmer.

[lindag]

Used this one today while making my big batch of dog food:

[IowaDee]

Very handy.  Clip in on the edge of the pot and put the spoon into holder thingy.  Keeps the spoon high and dry.  And I will never, ever tell you how much I paid for a pair of these over five years ago.!  Handy, but not that handy......

[Tropicalsenior]

8 minutes ago, IowaDee said:

Very handy.  Clip in on the edge of the pot and put the spoon into holder thingy.  Keeps the spoon high and dry.  And I will never, ever tell you how much I paid for a pair of these over five years ago.!  Handy, but not that handy......

 You just beat me to it.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, lindag said:

Used this one today while making my big batch of dog food:

 

A nose clip?

 

[palo]

I have one, don't use it a lot though.

 

p

[liuzhou]

19 minutes ago, palo said:

I have one, don't use it a lot though.

 

p

 

A nose?

[palo]

5 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

A nose?

Clip-on spoon holder - the nose, maybe

 

p