On a recent trip to Big Bear, we happened to stop at one of the (surprisingly many) local thrift stores there. They had quite a selection of Revere Ware lids.
Just a reminder that thrifts stores can still be a great option for replacing a damaged item
A week ago we alerted you to the availability of an early style handle that has both screws at the close end of the handle. Well here is another. If you need one, buy it now as they don’t come up often.
Note that these, like the more modern version, come in different sizes, so make sure this is the size you need.
We make replacement handles, caps, and triggers for the common 2 1/3 quart Revere Ware kettle.
The less common, but still iconic 3 quart kettle is harder to find parts for.
Our cap is said to work on this model by some customers, but we haven’t tried it. The trigger can be replaced with a 3D printed version we designed. But for the handle, you are out of luck. Except a brand new, new-old-stock version just popped up on eBay.
Get it while you can; these are pretty rare.
Occasionally we get people looking for the old style handles, used in the first few years of Revere Ware production. They are characterized by having the two screw holds close together near the front of the handle. We found today; they don’t come up often.
The only other alternative to finding a new-old-stock handle like this, is adapting one of our newer style handles to the older style spline.
A customer asks:
One of the pans has black spots and fuzzy grey ones in the interior (silver toned) pan. What are those spots and how do I get rid of them?
Last year we wrote an article on removal of hard water stains; the grey spots are likely hard water stains.
The black spots are likely burnt on food that gets stuck in pits that are formed when cooking with acidic foods, like tomato sauce. I’ve seen some cookware pieces with pretty prominent pits, and it isn’t hard to imaging food getting burn on in those pits and resisting removal by scrubbing. Here is a picture we found from an article on stainless steel stains:
To remove the hard water stains, adding some vinegar and scrubbing with a Scotch-Brite pad, or balled up aluminum foil works quite well.
To remove the black spots, you can try adding vinegar and then some baking soda, and letting it soak, then scrubbing well with a Scotch-Brite pad.
In both cases, a good polish with Bar Keepers Friend will help get rid of any remaining residue.
The pits may not fully disappear, as that would require significant refinishing of the inside of the pan, but you can minimize the appearance by regularly cleaning in this way.
Every once in a while, someone contacts us with a comment like this:
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for having these parts available to us . I’m able to save Moms set of Revere Ware. Love it and now I passing them down to her Grand son Chef/Teacher of Culinary Arts.
It goes a long way towards making up for the hassles involved in running a small business like this, like the latest issues with collecting sales tax. As we work towards doing a manufacturing run for the next 10 years worth of replacement parts, It is grateful customers that keep us committed to this endeavor.
We are probably one of the most enthusiastic fans of Revere Ware cookware, so much so, that we decided to start supplying replacement parts that were no longer available (hence this site and store).
But our enthusiasm for vintage cookware extends beyond Revere Ware, with a nice collection of Pyrex bowls, Corning Ware, and many well made vintage utensils.
What we like about the vintage stuff is that is made so much better than the most of what is available today, and it is relatively cheap. Given the choice between modern aluminum and non-stick cookware or some beautiful vintage Revere Ware at the same price, we would take the Revere Ware every day. Modern Pyrex is made of cheaper glass that breaks more frequently than the old stuff.
Along these lines, some of our favorite cookware pieces are our cast iron pans. We picked these up from thrift stores more than ten years ago, seasoned them well, and have been using them almost daily since. They have a permanent spot on our stove top, a large one and a medium one.
To be sure, cast iron is definitely in these days, with small boutique makers charging hundreds of dollars for pieces made by artisans in small batches. But that just smacks of trendy nonsense to us. We are perfectly happy with our ten dollar thrift store finds. In our experience, almost every thrift store has some cast iron pans (just like we’ve found them to be a great source for Revere Ware lids).
However, an article I recently came across has me pining for some vintage cast iron to add a little more history to our stove. As it turns out, cast iron has quite a history, with cast iron vessels being use for over 2,000 years. The flat cast-iron skillet was introduced in the late 19th century and was really popular through middle part of the 20th century; most households had one. And restoring an old cast iron pan and re-seasoning it, they seem to work quite well.
Incidentally, one of our favorite ways to use our cast-iron pan is for low-carb cheesy skillet bread.
So here’s to putting more history on our stove as I start searching for my Wagner Ware skillet.
It is very common for there to be issues when removing a knob from a Revere Ware lid. In some cases, the knob itself is solid, but is simply stuck (rusted) onto the lid screw. Trying to unscrew it can risk pulling the screw right off the lid, as the rust sometimes gets under the weld plate of the screw. Take a look at this picture from our guide on what to do when this happens:
You can see how there is some rust under the screw weld plate (on the lid) and around the weld plate itself.
And sometimes, the Bakelite deteriorates from water and gunk getting up under the knob for prolonged periods, and when you twist the knob to get it off, you are left with a Bakelite covered nub that is the nut insert that was inside the knob. That looks like this:
Blog reader Rick offers this excellent suggestion for removing a stuck on knob or nut insert:
I’ve found a method to remove the knob from the lid if it appears that it will twist off the weld stud because of corrosion between the stud and knob insert. I’d say that if the corrosion has reached this point, the knob needs replacing anyway, but beware that this method sacrifices the knob. If the knob has already broken away from the insert, and the threads in the insert are too corroded to remove from the stud, you can to to step 2.
1) Using a hacksaw, carefully cut right down the center of the knob until you reach the insert. Do a second cut at right angles to the first. Using two flat bladed screw drivers at opposite sides of a cut line, pry the knob and it will crack and fall away from the insert. Not very much pressure is required.
2) Again with the hacksaw, carefully cut a slot in the center of the insert until you reach a void spot in the center of the insert. The void is there because the stud does not go all the way to the end of the threaded portion of the insert. Spray or drip in some penetrating oil, and let sit for a few hours. Try removing the insert with a pair of vice grips. This has worked perfectly a number of times for me.
Another very inexpensive square skillet.
Update:
Another one about the same price.
According to the Denver Post, Colorado’s particularly strict law on sales across tax jurisdictions is having a negative effect on eCommerce.
Colorado’s law can be described thus:
Signed by Gov. Jared Polis last week, House Bill 1240 takes effect Saturday. The bill, an updated, baked-into-the-Colorado Revised Statutes version of rules originally rolled out by the Department of Revenue last year, makes destination-based sales tax the law in the state.
That means regardless of where a business is located, if it ships products to another city, county or town in Colorado, it is required to calculate, collect and pay the sales taxes for that jurisdiction. That includes accounting for overlapping boundaries and special taxing districts such as RTD.
Here is one example of what such a thing looks like to a small business:
In April, Hessemer sold a sample-sized product into the self-collecting home-rule town of Winter Park. The sale earned her $1.60 in profit. She owed $1.38 in taxes, but was told she needed to purchase a $60 business license to pay that. Instead, she plans to stop selling in Winter Park, something she considers a loss for her and for eco-conscious customers there.
Ouch!
As I mentioned in our last updates on this topic (here and here), while the solution seems to be set for businesses that sell through third party marketplaces, like eBay and Amazon.com, which now collect sales tax on behalf of their sellers. But the outlook is still ominous for sellers that sell through their own websites, like us. Like us, many businesses may sell through Amazon.com but are unwilling to put all their eggs in one basket, as Amazon.com has been known to ban sellers or compete with them on a whim.
Colorado isn’t the only state that is making it hard for small businesses. Kansas seems to stand alone at the moment in having no economic nexus for online sales into the state, meaning, the first dollar you sell into the state requires that you collect sales tax and submit a tax return. Most other states that have passed legislation requiring online sellers to collect sales tax at least exempt the first $100,000 or more (or a given number of transactions), meaning, you have to sell at least that much before you are required to collect sales tax.
We are still hoping for some kind of a national solution to this problem. But alas, no further progress on that to date.
