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Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets

andiesenji

By andiesenji
in Kitchen Consumer

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted

For shaving a block of chocolate? (based on that last remark...)

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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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boilsover

boilsover

Posted
Posted (edited)
25 minutes ago, chromedome said:

For shaving a block of chocolate? (based on that last remark...)

 

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!  Yes, it's made to shave block chocolate to serve the demand of 17th Century Europeans crazed for hot chocolate.  Ironically, this craze was a major driver of the world's slave trade well into the 1800s.

Edited by boilsover (log)
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pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, chromedome said:

For shaving a block of chocolate? (based on that last remark...)

 

3 hours ago, boilsover said:

 

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!  Yes, it's made to shave block chocolate to serve the demand of 17th Century Europeans crazed for hot chocolate.  Ironically, this craze was a major driver of the world's slave trade well into the 1800s.

 

 

Interesting!  Does anyone know what size or shape these blocks were?  It almost looks like today's Callebaut 5kg bars would fit nicely.

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

What makes you think it is an implement used in the kitchen?

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted

A prototype santoku. It didn't work very well, so its creator quit the business and went into politics.

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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

 

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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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

It's an old Appalachian earthworm caller. 

Pound a stake in wet soil and saw this back and forth on the stake. 

The vibrations make the worms nuts and they flee their burrows. 

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, IowaDee said:

I wondered about that as well.  It strikes me  as something connected with weaving.  Looks like it might be a comb of some sort.

 

That was my first impression - kind of a mini loom part to separate the yarn strands.

the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

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DanM

DanM

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, Mrufusj said:

Hi guys! So many crazy things I’ve never seen before haha. Any help with this? Not sharp enough to be a knife but I can’t find a real answers, just guesses! 

C697E475-05C9-4F53-A8F7-898437FB9C81.jpeg

No idea, but it seems ribbed for the cooks pleasure. 9_9

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"Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea." --Pythagoras.

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  • 4 months later...
pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted

A chef buddy just texted me these pics, says it’s to cut confectionery fillings ... or maybe deposit them?  Vintage with brass ... Anyone have more knowledge about the use/value of such a thing?  Do I need it?  Do you?

 

i might go check it out tomorrow ... B089E50E-269A-48C2-B08C-1B2E99F7C51E.thumb.png.7f9b1017d56da9ef3ab8f1de431773e5.pngD1EDD796-4CDE-43A8-B91E-8230E2AFBEBE.thumb.png.32a2f78121c8c3bb5a6ad00b33a686b9.pngEE523866-85F7-4216-849D-7223776804AA.thumb.png.e26f765699f674b99f7ba05636d87cb6.png

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pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

It's a cream depositor - here

 

Aha!  Thank you, that will help with research.  So for those old school buttercream centers to be dipped or enrobed.  Mash it through the holes then cut the discs free with some sort of blade?  If it could also be used for cookie doughs that might be handy ... hmm. 

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Aha!  Thank you, that will help with research.  So for those old school buttercream centers to be dipped or enrobed.  Mash it through the holes then cut the discs free with some sort of blade?  If it could also be used for cookie doughs that might be handy ... hmm. 

Yup - wire goes across and cuts it.

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the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

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pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted

@Kerry Beal, I was in the neighborhood so I took a look at it, seem to be in working order, it's a simple machine after all.  I totally don't actually need this but I'm still sort of fascinated.  There's an electrical plug and switch on one side, does the hopper heat up?    I haven't found any other info about this online, must not be too many around.

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

@Kerry Beal, I was in the neighborhood so I took a look at it, seem to be in working order, it's a simple machine after all.  I totally don't actually need this but I'm still sort of fascinated.  There's an electrical plug and switch on one side, does the hopper heat up?    I haven't found any other info about this online, must not be too many around.

I'll ask Ruth to comment - she knows a whole lot more about them.

 

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the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

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Chocolot

Chocolot

Posted
Posted

Ah, the beautiful Lab model Friend machine. Mine didn't have the embossed name on the side. Not sure if that was a newer or older addition. Yes, the plug is for the hopper to heat up so that the cream fondant will move and deposit easier. I never once used the heat. I sold mine years ago, because I just didn't need it any more. It holds 20# of cream fondant in the hopper. You place a latex rubber mat on top of the fondant, and crank the lid down on top. The fondant squeezes out sort of like toothpaste out of the tube x 48. There should be a raised tray under the die on which another tray with parchment or waxed paper sits. As the fondant squeezes out, the wire harp (which has to be adjusted for each die) cuts the fondant at the same time the operator drops the tray away from the cutter. You slide out the paper holding the fondant balls and repeat. Once everything is adjusted, you can deposit a lot of fondant in a short time. The dies come in different shapes and sizes. Each time you change a die, you have to manually change the wires on the harp. Like a guitar, you don't want to break one. Once it is all deposited, then you get to clean the beast. It was a beautiful piece of machinery, and I loved it, but just didn't need/want it anymore. I think I paid $400 for it very used, 50 years ago. Sold it for about the same maybe 8 years ago. The dies are expensive, especially if you have to have them made. Mine came with a too small round, an oval and a large easter egg shape. I had to have the larger round made. It is the only one I ever used. Do you need it? Probably not. Not unless you have a way of making 20# of fondant at a time. How do you do that? With a 2 ft cream beater. How do you fill the cream beater? With a Savage furnace and a large copper pot. See where I am going with this?:). An old time candy shop that still makes cream fondant centers would be about the only place that would use it. I can't think of a use for ganache. It also weights a ton. Typing this up brought back a lot of memories. My arms could still operate it. Muscle memory is still there. Let us know if you get it.

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Ruth Kendrick

Chocolot
Artisan Chocolates and Toffees
www.chocolot.com

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Chocolot

Chocolot

Posted
Posted (edited)

fullsizeoutput_321c.thumb.jpeg.870f35966da086fb749a570867fe182c.jpeg1130872990_friend002.thumb.jpg.934cdbdbd81f3fc64f63409f14ab77a8.jpgfullsizeoutput_321d.thumb.jpeg.09076201dd2b9a4919672f8022908d01.jpeg

 

Kerry's link shows it in operation. That one looks just like mine, although the die is smaller. 

Edited by Chocolot
To add photos. (log)
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Ruth Kendrick

Chocolot
Artisan Chocolates and Toffees
www.chocolot.com

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pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted (edited)

@Chocolot  thank you so much for responding with your expertise.  I've yet to make a single fondant cream center so you're right, I'm not about to go down the cream beater and Savage furnace road.  If I had a retail shop it could be a fun piece of vintage decor, but I'll pass for now. 

 

edited to add:  if you come across anyone looking for one, tell them there's one in Seattle (though I did not inquire about price) ... very useful for the right person

Edited by pastrygirl (log)
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  • 3 weeks later...
rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

here are two pans Im unfamiliar with :

 

557974259_PanCL.thumb.jpg.b4845c2d25daa820c825ea4ab3f011c4.jpg

 

this comes from the Australian show :  The Chef's Line.  several cooks were using this

 

The second pan 

 

791733424_JOpan.thumb.jpg.1328c5d04d3c713fad0051a6238357d9.jpg

 

comes from Jamie Oliver's show Jamies Quick and Easy Food.

 

it looks a lot like a T-Fal

 

https://www.amazon.com/T-fal-Nonstick-Cookware-Thermo-Spot-Indicator/dp/B000GWG0T2/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1535125129&sr=1-5&dpID=21UQpzHn4FL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

I have several of these , the version that goes in the oven.   I have not see a T-Fal pan w a metal handle.

 

any ideas ?

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted (edited)

 Might be the T-fal. 

 

 No it’s not the same pan but it does have a metal handle. 

 

Edited to revise my assumption.

Edited by Anna N (log)

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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