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Revere Ware find of the week – Revere Ware pan clock

I’ll admit to having purchased one of these a number of years ago (auction link).  I’m not sure of the history of these clocks, whether they were produced by Revere Ware or perhaps just one-off projects by individuals.  This one certainly looks professionally made, with the painted on roman numerals.

Update May 2021

Francine tells us

The clock in your April 2018 post was made in Rome, NY by Mark Ogut. He was, I believe an engineer, who had his own business making clocks from unused Revere frying pans. He also make a tapestry of Rome, NY with its historical sires and Revere on it. If you’d like more information please feel free to contact me. His son is a dear lifelong friend.

 

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New trick for removing hard water stains from stainless steel – aluminum foil and vinegar

We recently came across this post with a neat trick on removing hard water stains from stainless steel.

A coating of mineral deposits from hard water is a fact of life in stainless steel cookware that is used to cook with water that has any hardness.  With our sauce pans, we often have to scrub the hard water coating off about every other time we boil water for soft-boiled eggs.  Our water is around 40+ grains of hardness, and we have a water softener.  Still, the hard water coating is a fact of life.  Here is what it looks like:

Usually, we just use a green Scotch-Brite pad to scrub it out.  It does dull the inside, but if you cook with metal utensils, or have had your sauce pan for any appreciable time, the inside is already fairly dull.

This new trick involves using vinegar (they say apple cider vinegar but I’m sure white vinegar or any other type would do well) and a scrunched up piece of aluminum.  We tried it with white vinegar.  The first thing to notice is that as you scrub, a black residue is left on the bottom of the pan.

That makes me think there is some kind of chemical reaction happening that involves the hard water residue (calcium or magnesium carbonate), the vinegar (acetic acid) and aluminum (just Al).  It is known that acetic acid will dissolve calcium carbonate (and presumably other mineral carbonates), albeit, in my experience, slowly.  It is also my experience that scrubbing hard water stains with a soft scrubbing material (like a non-metal kitchen scrubbing sponge) will hasten the dissolving of the hard water stains (abrasion and agitation).  Is the aluminum just acting as an abrasive surface, or is it doing more to chemically remove the hard water?

In any event, the trick seems to work quite well.

Given the softness of aluminum, I can only imagine that it is less abrasive a method than the Scotch-Brite scrubbing.

Speaking of aluminum, here is an interesting side fact; if you’ve ever wondered why one side of aluminum foil is shiny while the other side is dull, the short explanation is that, aluminum goes through rollers to make it progressively thinner and thinner, while stretching it out, to get it from a thick ingot, to being thin enough for aluminum foil.  On the last step, two sheets of foil go through the same set of rollers.  Where each sheet comes in contact with the roller becomes the shiny side (it is being pressed on by a very hard steel surface) while the side where the two pieces of aluminum touch each other becomes the duller side.  Here is a longer explanation.

You might also ask if the shiny side or the dull side is better for keeping in the heat when you cover a dish with aluminum foil.  The answer is, it doesn’t matter.  My daughter just did a science experiment where she created a device to measure the reflectivity of various materials, one of them being aluminum foil.  The shiny and dull sides had virtually identical reflectivity, and reflecting the infra-red energy back into the dish that is covered is what helps keep it warm.

 

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Will the hardware set fit your cookware

All of our handles ship with the appropriate replacement hardware.  But we do sell quite a few hardware sets separately, which customers use to replace older hardware that no longer works.  A common issue with the older hardware is that the slotted screw heads strip.

With regard to determining which size hardware set was required, a customer recently asked:

When I remove the existing one and screw it together and measure the length I get 1/2 inch. Will this be the right size or too long?

We sell two hardware sets, the one for small handles, and the one for all the rest (medium, large, x-large).  The small handles fit very very few Revere Ware pieces, so the likelihood of needing the small hardware set, which is made specifically for those small handles, is slim.  So, a default choice would be the M/L/XL hardware set.

But, if you need the measurements, here they are.

The hardware set comes with two different length barrel nuts. The short of the two, with the screw all the way down, measures about .46 in between the inside of the barrel nut head, and the head of the screw. The longer one .61. The washer makes them a little bit smaller. Typically, the front and back of the Revere Ware handles will need different nuts; the front a shorter one, the back a longer one.

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Revere Ware to produce new vintage quality copper bottom cookware

In a stunning reversal of their decades long production of cheap cookware that mimics the look of the quality of pre-1968 Revere Ware copper bottom cookware, World Kitchen LLC, the owners of the Revere Ware brand, have announced that they are dusting off the old molds and equipment, and will once again start producing cookware to the exacting pre-1968 standards.

However, in a twist retail analysts are calling “interesting” and “different”, they are taking a cue from denim manufacturers, and will offer the cookware in pre-worn condition, with three basic finishes.

Weary

Abused

Not quite new

The new cookware is available immediately through eBay and select thrift stores nation wide.

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Tweener sauce pan

Customer Phil sent us photos of his unique Revere Ware sauce pan, the second one of this type he has seen.  It has the process patent stamp on the bottom but has the handle of the post-1968 type cookware.

From my experience owning some 100 different Revere Ware pieces, and looking through  thousands more on eBay and in thrift stores, I’ve never seen one of this type, so they must be pretty rare and unique.

My only guess is that perhaps this was an intermediate prototype that was developed internally to Revere Ware during the period of the transition, and taken home by an employee.

Anyone else have any unique pieces they want to share with the Revere Ware community?  Please contact us and send us some pictures.

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Revere Ware without new parts

For a glimpse of what the market was like for Revere Ware replacement parts before we started selling them almost 10 years ago, take a look at this eBay listing:

At $199.99 for 9 handles and 12 knobs, these parts are listed for about 33% more than we sell them for (about $150 for what is shown above).

Before our replacement parts were available, the few NOS (new old stock) parts available on eBay would often go for $20-$30, or 2-3 times what we sell our handles for.

 

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