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Revere Ware Parts :: 2010 :: October

Archive | October, 2010

Single screw rivet-style handles now available

By on October 29, 2010 in Parts, RevereWareParts.com

We now have handles for newer style Revere Ware cookware available in our store.  These handles are one-piece with an embedded metal spline and can be further identified by the single rivet or screw holding the handle to the skillet or saucepan.  Some examples of this style of cookware are shown below.

We have all sizes, small, medium, large, and x-large that covers the entire range of copper bottom and tri-ply Revere Ware cookware of this style.  We also sell the replacement hardware (a barrel nut, a screw, and a washer) separately for those that need to fix loose rivets or damaged (rusted or stripped) hardware sets.

While some of these original handles are held on by a screw, most of them are held on by a rivet, which must be removed.  We have detailed instructions on removing the old rivet here.  A drill, a 5/32 drill bit, and a pair of pliers are the required tools.

Note that some newer Revere Ware cookware has somewhat similar one-piece handles that are permanently attached to the pot; there is no way to replace handles on this type of cookware and these handles will not work.

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Bar Keepers Friend cookware cleaner

By on October 29, 2010 in Tips

About a month ago I discovered a new type of Bar Keepers Friend, one of the better all-around cleaners for stainless steel cookware and many other household cleaning tasks.  I wondered how Bar Keepers Friend cookware cleaner would compare to the regular version.

Whether this is a recently introduced product, or I just havn’t noticed it before is a mystery to me, as the company that makes Bar Keepers Friend hasn’t returned my email about this.

First let me say that Bar Keepers Friend is one of my favorite all-around cleaners for cookware, and if I had to choose only one cleaner to have around, it would definitely be Bar Keepers Friend.

So it is with those high expectations that I compared the two cleaners side-by side on several pans with burned on grease, dulled and scratched stainless steel, and tarnished copper.

First, I tried them on a couple of copper bottom skillets.  The results are below, showing the regular version on the left and the cookware version on the right.  In the middle is what the cooper part looked like before.

I had trouble finding any difference between the results of the two.  Note that the the above results are not exhaustive.  I probably could have gotten almost all of the burned on grease and tarnish off had I done an exhaustive cleaning.

Below is a Revere Ware tri-ply skillet that had a particularly tough coating of cooked on grease on the bottom.

The results are pretty impressive, as either version was able to cut through the grease with only a moderate application of scrubbing, although getting the corners and inner edges clean requires a bit more work.

Seeing no difference between the two as far as I can tell, and given the slightly higher price of the cookware version (about 15% more), I would guess this is more of a marketing distinction than anything else.

Recommendation

Overall, this product easily removes copper tarnish, burned on grease, heavier burned on food (with plenty of scrubbing), and does a pretty good job of bringing a nice shine to dulled stainless steel.  Note that it won’t remove deep scratches, but I wouldn’t have expected that.

I recommend sticking with the regular (cheaper version) of Bar Keepers Friend.  Just follow the simple directions on the packaging and it might be a good idea to wear gloves when using it, as it is a bit hard on the hands.

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How we make replacement parts

By on October 19, 2010 in Parts

About one out of every several hundred customers that buys a lid/cover knob from us complains that it didn’t come with a screw.  The reason is that, as far as we can tell, Revere Ware pot/pan covers had a permanently attached screw since day one.  I think the 0.3% of people who have covers where this is not true probably have a non Revere Ware cover that someone put a Revere Ware knob on, or their screw broke off and their lid was retrofitted to use a separate screw, as we outline here.

This issue is valuable as it highlights the process we have been going through to create replacement parts for Revere Ware cookware.  It seems that replacement parts have not been available from Revere Ware (now World Kitchen LLC) since 1986, according to World Kitchen’s website.  This has created not only a lack of parts for customers, but lack of unused parts for us to model ours after.

To create replacement parts, we attempt to find a wide enough sample of the cookware and parts to represent all possible variations that exist out there in the world.  It is not always easy and often times all we can find are parts that are well used and not exactly in their original shape.

With knobs in particular, there is a wide variation in the length of the screw and the actual knobs themselves have had at least 10 variations over the years, some with metal inserts, including aluminum and brass, some without, and with varying depths of screw holes.  With handles, there seems to be slight variations in hole separation.

Overall, if the number of complaints about problems is any indication, we’ve done a pretty good job; we receive about 2 or 3 complaints for every hundred parts we sell.  In many cases, a little bit of do-it-yourself effort, like widening holes in the metal part of a handle, can solve the problem.

Probably the largest hurdle and the reason people are upset when their parts don’t fit, is that we are often confused with the Revere Ware company, and as such, people expect the parts to work perfectly, unaware of the trouble we have had to go through to actually create suitable replacement parts.  While our name helps people understand exactly what we provide, people seem to skip past the numerous disclaimers on our site that we are not affiliated with the Revere Ware company or brand.

So, just to clarify, we are not the company that made the cookware and we have had no help from them in creating these parts.  You can find World Kitchen LLC, which owns the Revere Ware brand, here.

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World Kitchen moves further away from the Revere Ware brand

By on October 14, 2010 in Tips

World Kitchen, the owners of the Revere Ware brand seem to have moved further away from treating the Revere Ware brand as anything special by abandoning a Revere Ware specific site; they now include Revere Cookware with all other brands on their site.  Another sad milestone in the modern day story of the once revered (pun intended) brand.

Here is the site from a few years ago:

Here is where you get redirected when you go to www.revereware.com now:

Unfortunately they have also removed any mention of the history of Revere Ware and made their contact page and information about their warranty very hard to find.  Their contact page can be found here and their warranty links are all listed at the bottom of their FAQ here.

They do have a FAQ now about lack of availability of replacement parts:

Where can I get knobs and handles for my Revere cookware?

We discontinued our Revere repair service in 1986 and we no longer have the replacement handles, knobs, or hardware for your cookware. We are sorry for any inconvenience.  Revereware does carry a 25 year warranty and we may be able to provide you with warranty service.  Please call our Consumer Care Center at 1-800-999-3436.

And how about this FAQ that claims the new Revere Ware with less copper is as good as the old stuff:

Why does my older Revereware seem heavier than my newer cookware that looks the same?

Through research and testing, we’ve learned that the same cooking results were achieved when using lighter materials.

By making this information harder to find, we can only assume that World Kitchen is wanting to make it harder for customers to receive warranty replacement of cookware under their warranty.  Prior to this, they had a very low reply rate on emails sent to them with warranty questions.  I personally received responses to one of five emails.

We continue to support the older (and newer) Revere Ware by making replacement parts available and will be introducing more handles, hardware, and gaskets in the next month.  Also be sure and try our Ebay categorization tool for Revere Ware to find replacement cookware.

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