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Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets


andiesenji

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2 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

One of my favorite finds.   Husband swears he found it.    Memory is a fickle companion.

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Actually, I was looking for one.   He hadn't clue what it was, neither did the seller, hence my ability to scoop it up at a comfortable price. 

 

State Fair funnel cake machine?

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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That is very close.   It is a 19thC French fireplace basting tool.   one of its several names, a coqueron.   One put chopped fat in the cup and held it in the fire until the fat melted and then wafted it over a roasting chunk of meat, melted fat dripping out the bottom hole.   In the Landes department, they used ham fat for a particular flavor.

 

In the country, we often cook in the fireplace in winter.    I sought and bought this to use.   But husband became so enamored of it that he refuses to use it as it was intended.    So now, it's a kitchen artifact.   

Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)
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eGullet member #80.

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  • 10 months later...
1 hour ago, gfron1 said:

The owner swears its for food with an adjustable blade. I'm not as convinced, but I know where I can find a definitive answer ;)

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Where is the blade relative to everything else?

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the under-the-cabinet opener is super seriously superior to all the 'hand held' gizmos.

a Swedish friend 'gifted' me one in the 1980's and it's a treasured resource.

 

the thing with it is....one can use both hands to grip/turn/twist the jar.

no hand(s) / magic levers / etc required (in some fashion...) to hold the lid.

 

this is my fourth kitchen where the very first consideration has been:

the best place for this opener . . . .

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43 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

the under-the-cabinet opener is super seriously superior to all the 'hand held' gizmos.

 

So you've tried all the "gizmos?"  What if there is no under-counter space?  What if a jar slips or opens funnily and you spill the contents under your counter? What if one can't reach under a counter?

 

I can see many instances where it might not be "seriously superior."

 

 

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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Damn! I wish I had gone with my instincts. I kept thinking that all it looked like to me was a glorified can opener.

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

What if there is no under-counter space?

Do they mean under counter or under cabinet? I have no upper cabinets and not a single counter with an edge that I could attach it to.

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5 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

the under-the-cabinet opener is super seriously superior to all the 'hand held' gizmos.

a Swedish friend 'gifted' me one in the 1980's and it's a treasured resource.

 

the thing with it is....one can use both hands to grip/turn/twist the jar.

no hand(s) / magic levers / etc required (in some fashion...) to hold the lid.

 

this is my fourth kitchen where the very first consideration has been:

the best place for this opener . . . .

 

Does your landlord know?

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Does your landlord know?

 

It is axiomatic that it's best for one's landlord to know as little as possible.

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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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On 7/24/2022 at 7:54 AM, weinoo said:

 

At least not until you're ready to move!

 

 

No one looks under the cabinets.  😝

 

I have tried the other gizmos - I even own a couple.  The one that looks like a fat church key is great for breaking the seal on a jar lid.  But if you CAN put the under the counter one up, it really is the best for people who have the limited use of both hands.   

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51 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Anyone have one of these?

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I used to, back when I was in the business of extracting confessions from suspected spies and saboteurs.

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"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

 

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"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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On 7/23/2022 at 1:23 PM, gfron1 said:

The owner swears its for food with an adjustable blade. I'm not as convinced, but I know where I can find a definitive answer ;)

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Haven't heard back from you

 

p

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