With almost one years worth of data on the total number of Revere Ware items for sale on Ebay every day, the total volume continues to go up.
In contrast, the volume of Google searches for the keyword “revere ware” is fairly flat (except a spike over the holidays) over the same period of time.
I presently have no theory on why the volume on Ebay continues to go up, almost doubling from a year ago.
I often tell people that we make our own yogurt, which makes my wife laugh, because it would be more accurate to say that she makes yogurt. Homemade yogurt is easy, fresh, very tasty, and inexpensive and there are lots of different ways to make it. We (my wife) started by making it in the oven but when we moved we discovered that most ovens won’t hold a steady enough low temperature to make yogurt. We now use a yogurt maker. My grandmother in Europe used to make yogurt by having seven plastic tubs on the window sill (one for each day of the week). Each day they would take one down and put a new one up. It took seven days for the yogurt to fully develop in the sun.
So, you can imagine I found it interesting when I came upon this recipe for making yogurt that involved using Revere Ware pots.
I came across this page recently that includes a published warning by Revere Ware of the dangers of fumes released by Teflon coated pans that are heated without contents and the danger they post to pet birds. Teflon coated Revere Ware pans have not been on our list of preferred vintage Revere Ware but we thought this tip was worth passing on.
Update: the original warning that mentioned Revere Ware specifically has been removed from the Environmental Working Groups website. Here is their general Teflon warning.
Revere Ware is useful stuff that still has a place in a modern kitchen. But given that Revere Ware cookware can last a long time, it also comes with a rich history. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t receive comments (and thanks) along with orders about how someone is buying parts for the Revere Ware they received on their wedding in 1947 or was handed down to them from their parents. In fact, I was very glad to replace the Bakelite parts on my 80-year-old mother-in-law’s Revere Ware.
So it is great to find the occasional pictures of people using their Revere Ware when they first got it, like these from a couple in 1955.
If you have never head of the blog Lifehacker, it is a great resource for everyday tips. One that came up today is a good way to clean stubborn mineral deposits from the inside of coffee pots and tea kettles; use denture cleaning tablets.
Simply fill the kettle/coffee pot with water, drop in one or two tablets, and let it sit overnight.
Our latest cookbook is another gem published by Revere Copper & Brass Inc. My favorite recipes? While I realize not everyone may be a fan of sardines, I am and the Deviled Sardines recipe sounds very interesting. Another interesting recipe is the Risotto A La Milanese.
As for oddest recipe in the book, I am going to have to go with Peanut Butter Celery Soup.
In the last few days we updated our news/blog page to use the WordPress software, which, in addition to being much nicer looking, provides organization by date, category, and a search function. But the most useful feature is the ability to subscribe via RSS. Now all of our posts (including availability of new parts, announcement of special offers, tips, history, and more) are available right to your email inbox or RSS reader.
It is also much easier for us to post new articles, so look for even more new and interesting content.
I recently came across a Revere Ware use and care guide from 1987.
Some notable points from this guide:
1. The guide claims that Revere Ware cookware is oven safe up to a temperature of 425 degrees F. We don’t recommend putting your Revere Ware into the oven for a couple of reasons. First, ovens often heat very unevenly, so even with a temperature setting less than 425, the broiler can heat the Bakelite parts to a higher temperature and melt them. Second, with replacement parts getting harder and harder to find, it just isn’t worth risking them with oven use.
2. The guide talks about phenolic handles. It isn’t clear to use whether Revere started using a material other than Bakelite at some point or whether phenolic is simply a more general term for the category of materials to which Bakelite belongs. If anyone has any information on this, please contact us.
3. The guide also claims that the cookware is dishwasher safe but the handles may eventually become dulled from dishwasher cleaning. See point #1. Don’t risk your non-metal parts with excessive wear. Wash your Revere Ware by hand.
Here is an interesting piece we came across recently, the Revere Ware micro-fryer from 1987. What is unique about this piece is that despite being metal, it is apparently made for both the stove-top and the microwave oven. We haven’t tried it yet!
The manual can be found here.
From the Shine Shops Revere Info Center:
“The Micro-Fryer was introduced in 1987 – designed to allow “combination cooking” – food could be browned on the range top, and then transferred to the microwave oven to complete cooking – all in the same pan. The pans were available in 8″ and 10″ sizes, with both copper clad and aluminum disc bottoms. A tempered glass cover (required instead of metal to prevent arcing) was provided with each piece. This line was an early casualty of the merger with Corning that was to come only a year after it’s introduction – It was in direct competition with existing Corning’s microwavable cookware; and internal politics forced Revere to cancel it in 1989.”
Given the absolute lack of any metal cookware today that is promoted as microwave safe, I suspect this product would have died anyway. Virtually any microwave sold today includes in its instructions to avoid using ANYTHING metal in the microwave and even the USDA claims that metal is not safe to use in a microwave.
I recently added a pdf of the book Copper Heritage, The Story of Revere Copper and Brass Incorporated by Isaac Marcosson from 1955. While it misses all the post 1955 history of the company, including the bankruptcies and such, it is a great read on the early days of the Revere Company through the introduction of the copper bottom cookware. If you are a true Revere Ware fan, it is a great read.
