I recently (I measure recency in multiple years) bought a NIB waffle iron from the early 1950s. I used a bit of oil to season the grates and have had no sticking issues. I much prefer our unsophisticated American waffles to Belgian waffles, more crisp to fluff but still room for pecans, AND the crisp is crisper!
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The FDA (I think that was the governmental agency) made manufacturers increase the cooking temp for this very reasonā¦even though there were NO DOCUMENTED CASES of food poisoning from food cooked at the lower temps for long periods of time.
There was an article from the Hartford Courant (written back in 2000, IIRC) that I used to link on the old AOL cooking boards when people complained about overcooked food like chicken in the crockpots. The link finally broke and the article is no more. But if Iām remembering correctly, that was the main reason the cooking temps were increased.
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yes, and pre 1950s (and later) no one gave their sons used cookware, because adult married sons didnāt cook. I married in 1977 and my mother-in-law told my husband, āNow you stay out of her kitchen,ā even though I worked full-time supporting the two of us and he was a student. He rolled his eyes.
We still have the Lodge cast iron frying pan my grandmother gave me (new) in 1977. Use it almost every day.
I remember when I was a child large cookware sets being sold in grocery stores in North Carolina. Donāt remember (since I was a child, born 1955) what the quality was or the price, except that you could use āgreen or gold stampsā that you pasted in a paper booklet when you bought groceries to trade in for stuff in a catalog, which included cookware sets.
My parents, married 1952, still had some really bad pots and pans decades later. In addition to the well used and loved Lodge cast iron.
Lots of change in the last 70 years!
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I tend to agree. I use the Instant Pot for that because of the seal, and because Iām just more trusting of it for fire safety. I use the Crock Pot mainly just for parties and tableside fondue. If I got some serving lids for my two IPs, I could probably ditch the Crock Pots. But what if I changed my mind? Iād be out of luck.
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Or, you can use a digital temperature controller and get exactly the temp you want in he bowl. I use them in my proofing boxes. Like this from Amazon:
Inkbird ITC-308 Digital Temperature Controller 2-Stage Outlet Thermostat Heating and Cooling Mode Carboy Homebrew Fermenter Greenhouse Terrarium 110V 10A 1100W"](https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Max-1200W-Temperature-Controller-Greenhouse/dp/B01HXM5UAC/ref=sxin_25_sbv_search_btf?content-id=amzn1.sym.5795aee5-71f0-4369-b632-e8c78407f2cf%3Aamzn1.sym.5795aee5-71f0-4369-b632-e8c78407f2cf&crid=6GA6JF95MO16&cv_ct_cx=pid%2Bcontroller&keywords=pid%2Bcontroller&pd_rd_i=B01HXM5UAC&pd_rd_r=8a770077-56b3-4193-9bd4-fdb188674fe5&pd_rd_w=SMX1U&pd_rd_wg=Ym7Mw&pf_rd_p=5795aee5-71f0-4369-b632-e8c78407f2cf&pf_rd_r=6FW7HK7B7DEYJ9RSVQVD&qid=1695930770&sbo=EO%2BcdOgoisx3waG5xqcZQA%3D%3D&sprefix=pid%2Bcontroller%2Caps%2C649&sr=1-1-5190daf0-67e3-427c-bea6-c72c1df98776&th=1)
S & H green stamps. They gave them out at the grocery store. I loved pasting them into the books. I donāt know if my parents ever redeemed any of those books for merchandise.
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From the time I was about 8, my mom put me in charge of pasting in the green and yellow stamps in their different ābooks.ā I loved doing it! There was a catalog and I think my mom did trade in the stamps for some items, but I donāt remember what.
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Iāve been looking online for some examples of the catalogues.
My mother hated come-on deals.
We always went to the most local grocers and definitely ones with no stamps or free dishes.
Probably because her uncle (my great uncle)
had a local store and relatives were butchers.
She taught me well.
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My first water glasses were courtesy of a gas station give-away. One per fill-up. They were smokey grey. Free is good in a college studentās kitchen ā¦ They didnāt match my dishes, but I wasnāt into tablescapes. Table scraps was more like it.
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I have no memory what we used our green and gold stamps for. My momās 91 and I could ask her if I get a chance. Sheās of sound mind as far as I can tell, not having seen her for a few years (we are many states away on the east coast and she lives with my younger brother). Here is a sample I found:
https://www.antiquetrader.com/features/history-of-s-and-h-green-stamps
Edit: Now I see the number 19 item on page 21: we definitely got those green iced tea glasses. As North Carolinians, we were [unfortunately] served sweetened iced tea (made with real tea bags and hot water, then cooled) at most meals along with a glass of milk. We also had both stainless and sterling iced tea spoons, long spoons used to ensure the sugar in the tall iced tea glass was dissolved.
I havenāt been able to consume even unsweetened ice tea for decades now!
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We met on the Bicentennial. We lived in separate rooms in a grad dorm on the Ohio State campus. Both of us had dorm fridges - there was a vending machine microwave in the lobby. It did an ok job on baked potatoes and a lousy job on payday steaks that we had to repeatedly hit the āIncinerateā button to nuke. We collected S&H green stamps buying groceries and booze at a Big Bear store near campus and redeemed them for a harvest gold non-stick electric skillet with a domed lid. We cooked some amazing meals in that thing.
We still have another harvest gold apparatus we got as a wedding present in 1978 - a Hamilton Beach slow cooker. It has a heavy removable crock. A timer that automatically switches from āhighā to ālowā after an hour and weāve never suffered from any food posioning (although I would not throw frozen poultry in there). We use that thing a lot in the winter - I put it on a metal baking sheet on my gas cooktop and plug it into an outlet and let it do itās thingā¦no need to worry.
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Iām a closet electric frying pan lover.
There, Iāve admitted my weakness.
My stainless steel Farberware is my favorite.
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My set of stainless steel Farberware Classic, purchased in the early to mid 1980s, remains my go-to saucepans and stockpots. Iāve added some of my late motherās smaller saucepans, which I remember her using in the 1960s. Iāve replaced my skillets with Calphalon SS, but the Farberware takes a lickinā and keeps on tickinā.
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Iām still using a 1997 Farberware saucepan from my first apartment. My other 3 saucepans are Cuisinart saucepans that I purchased between 1999 and 2002.
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Sweet tea! When my cousins and I used to visit our southern grandparents, weād see who could dump the most sugar in our iced tea glasses - enough to hold the stirring spoon upright! Confession: I drink iced tea totally unsweetened now.
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the set of cast aluminum saucepans in my parents old kitchen - wedding gifts to them in 1947 - are still going strong. I think Dad put a new handle on one of them but stillā¦I am still using the kitchen aid I received as a wedding gift in 1978. Took it in for repairs maybe 20 years ago, still just fine. The throwaway culture and cheap offshore production are taking their toll. And the style of many of the new products is clunky and bloated.
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My parents gassed up at Shell, too. Had a full set plus of those smoke glasses, and also of the steak knives. Those were great steak knives for the price!
Yep. Shell! Donāt remember the steak knives, though ā¦
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My daughterās first pans were Cuisinart from BBB in the mid 2000s. They are still terrific and have been augmented with carefully chosen CS, CI, ECI, and AC.
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