"vintage" Revereware
Wooly
1801-series Revereware, with a smattering of Revereware manufactured
before Revere started hallmarking their products with the production city.
I'm thrilled, to say the least.
Unfortunately one of the skillets has substantial staining on the
stainless (hah) interior. I've scrubbed it with steel wool and
degreaser, steel wool and castille soap, and green scrubby and Ajax
cleanser. Nothing moves the stain. Is the skillet safe to use in this
condition or should I count my blessings and toss the thing in the
recycle bin as a lost cause?
Also, does anyone know offhand the oven temp rating for the black
handles on the 1980s/1990s Revereware?
Melissa
"Wooly" <nobody@nunya> wrote in message
news:46e59c44$0$18999$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
It runs in my mind that cream of tartar, made into a paste, and left to
stand, can clean off stains from stainless steel. I also have some older
Reverware with the copper bottoms. They are from the 1960's I think, and
they still are fine. The handles can probably handle up to 350 degrees, but
I don't know that for sure.
Melissa
Seerialmom
I saw a unique way to fix staining on stainless steel pots the other
day; get ahold of some rhubarb stalks, fill the pan with water and
start it boiling....add the stalks and boil for about 20 minutes. I
saw this on "How Clean Is Your House"...but it's also in this blog:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/196356/Grandma-s-Green-Cleaning
Wooly
>
> I saw a unique way to fix staining on stainless steel pots the other
> day; get ahold of some rhubarb stalks, fill the pan with water and
> start it boiling....add the stalks and boil for about 20 minutes. I
> saw this on "How Clean Is Your House"...but it's also in this blog:
> http://activerain.com/blogsview/196356/Grandma-s-Green-Cleaning
>
Yeck, rhubarb. Nobody in this part of the world grows the stuff that
I'm aware of.
I'm going to try lemon juice - I have quite a bit left over from making
jam earlier in the summer. I'll pour in half a cup and let it soak
overnight, see if that'll do anything for the stain. I will also ask
the MIL if she has any idea how the pan came to be so badly stained.
Anthony Matonak
...
> Unfortunately one of the skillets has substantial staining on the
> stainless (hah) interior. I've scrubbed it with steel wool and
> degreaser, steel wool and castille soap, and green scrubby and Ajax
> cleanser. Nothing moves the stain. Is the skillet safe to use in this
> condition or should I count my blessings and toss the thing in the
> recycle bin as a lost cause?
I'm of the opinion that if you can't get the stain out with all
that effort that it's probably not going anywhere and therefore
not a problem. *
Anthony
--
* This is, of course, completely unfounded in any science or fact.
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
>
> I will also ask
> the MIL if she has any idea how the pan came to be so badly stained.
If it is discolored because it overheated, there won't be anything you
can do about it.
Otherwise, if it's real stainless steel, you can find carbon cleaner at
a restaurant supply place or use a mild oven cleaner.
--
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.
mmills
Rick
>
> My mother-in-law just gave me all of her "old" pots and pans - mostly
> 1801-series Revereware, with a smattering of Revereware manufactured
> before Revere started hallmarking their products with the production city.
>
> I'm thrilled, to say the least.
>
> Unfortunately one of the skillets has substantial staining on the
> stainless (hah) interior. I've scrubbed it with steel wool and
> degreaser, steel wool and castille soap, and green scrubby and Ajax
> cleanser. Nothing moves the stain. Is the skillet safe to use in this
> condition or should I count my blessings and toss the thing in the
> recycle bin as a lost cause?
If you have gone as far as Ajax and that didn't help chances are the pan
was overheated. Probably was allowed to boil off to dry and the
stainless steel blackened. There's nothing functionally wrong with the
pan - it just won't look pretty. No reason to toss it out.
> Also, does anyone know offhand the oven temp rating for the black
> handles on the 1980s/1990s Revereware?
No idea but even when you know I wouldn't risk it. Because it's that one
time you will forget and put a pan rated "up to 325 degrees" in a 375
degree oven and ruin the handle. The Revere Ware I've owned was never a
D-I-Y project as far as handle replacement goes. On all the pieces I've
seen then pan handles are riveted on, not screwed into place.
If you think about it, Revere Ware isn't all that great: It's stainless
steel - but not very heavy - easy to burn stuff. And the riveted on
handles... The thin copper coating makes it look nice hanging on a wall
but doesn't really improve how well it cooks. I went through my phase of
making that copper all shiny - never again. On the non-copper bottom
pieces that have heat diffusers the aluminum disc is too thin. I have
one piece left in my kitchen, pretty much for sentimental value - and
boiling water for pasta.
And if you want to keep the handles looking black - can't put the pieces
in a dishwasher either. The handles will start looking gray within only
one or two washing cycles. It's not reversible once it happens.
If I had to go stainless I prefer all stainless pans with heavy heat
diffusers on the bottom and glass & stainless lids to go with. All
dishwasher safe. I realize this stuff may have sentimental value for
you, but it also has it's limitations as far as cookware goes.
Rick
Seerialmom
They don't sell it in your local grocery store? But the idea wasn't
to eat it (though I hear it makes for a very nice pie) but just to
clean your stained stainless steel :)
Seerialmom
I agree about the Revereware...personally I like the 25 y/o set of
Farberware I was gifted by my mom. Over the years the handles have
sometimes loosened; nothing a screwdriver couldn't fix. Still looks
like new. with the exception of the fading handles..and I've adopted
some orphan pieces over the years from garage sales. They share the
space with the few Magnalite anondized aluminum pots I've adopted, too.
Wooly
>
> They don't sell it in your local grocery store? But the idea wasn't
> to eat it (though I hear it makes for a very nice pie) but just to
> clean your stained stainless steel :)
>
The sprouthead market may carry it as a specialty item. I'm in
south-central Texas, rhubarb doesn't like to grow around here - the soil
is too "hard" and it's certainly too damned hot and too damned dry.
No great loss from my POV. I had to harvest and prep the nasty stuff
for my mother when I was a kid in Illinois. Nastynastynasty.
Dennis
Strawberry-rhubarb sauce on ice cream... rhubarb upsidedown cake...
yumm...
Dennis (evil)
--
"There is a fine line between participation and mockery" - Wally
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
Seerialmom wrote:
>
> They don't sell it in your local grocery store? But the idea wasn't
> to eat it (though I hear it makes for a very nice pie) but just to
> clean your stained stainless steel :)
>
Rick
Just pointing out that on the frugal level it's never a good idea to buy
a "set" of pots & pans in a box and made from the same material. There
are just too many variations to cooking and a clump of various size and
style pans all manufactured from the same material never works out well.
So you end up buying more anyway to replace/add to the stuff in the box
that's not-so-good.
I've got anything from clad stainless to heavy cast aluminum (restaurant
type) to cast iron. And lighter weight stainless and aluminum pans for
lighter duty jobs. And a couple materials I've probably left out. And
one non stick pan for when non stick is an absolute must. (But an entire
boxed set of non stick? No thanks...) My point is you are better off
picking and choosing your materials and pan/pot sizes as you go along so
you get the right tools and something you like. The "stuff in a box" set
means someone else made the choices for you and the set is usually a
pretty mediocre compromise. Looks pretty, all nicely matched and that,
but goes down hill from there.
I had to go look - I was pretty sure I had a piece of Farberware in
there too. Mine was free - 1 quart stainless sauce pan with aluminum
clad bottom. Found in the trash, complete with lid. Looks great now -
after a very thorough cleaning. It must be as old as yours - it has
those funky, antique looking curved handles and knobs. I love that one
just for the style. And you can't beat a dumpster dive for frugal. 8-)
Rick
Rick
I agree on that one. When I was a kid it was growing in my neighbor's
back yard and I just hated the stuff. But as an adult I like nothing
better than a good strawberry-rhubarb pie. Maybe you should try it
again?
Rick
Wooly
>> If you think about it, Revere Ware isn't all that great: It's stainless
>> steel - but not very heavy - easy to burn stuff.
I haven't owned any Revereware prior to yesterday. This strikes me as
exceedingly odd because I grew up less than an hour's drive from the
Clinton Illinois factory and outlet store. I lived even closer as an
adult for 10 years but never made the trip. Go figure.
My mother had Revereware; I never burned anything in her pots and pans
on a gas stove. I routinely burn stuff when I cook at my MIL's place
but she has an electric cooktop and I don't get along with it very well
at all. What pots/pans I'm using has little bearing on whether I burn
things cooking on electric: I blame the electrons.
The stuff she gave me is all older Revereware, not the flimsy chitt
they're importing from Sri Lanka or wherever Revere outsourced it's fab.
And the riveted on
>> handles... The thin copper coating makes it look nice hanging on a wall
>> but doesn't really improve how well it cooks.
I don't care what the outside looks like. My "good" copper cookware
looks so disreputable I've had people question that it is what it is,
but the inside of each item is clean enough to...eat off of *g*
>> If I had to go stainless I prefer all stainless pans with heavy heat
>> diffusers on the bottom and glass & stainless lids to go with. All
>> dishwasher safe. I realize this stuff may have sentimental value for
>> you, but it also has it's limitations as far as cookware goes.
I have a couple of AllClad tri-ply sauce pots. One of them has a hot
spot the size of a Kennedy half but the manufacturer won't replace it.
The other doesn't sit *quite* flat and again, the mfg won't replace it.
Considering the cost of AllClad products and the apparent poor
quality count me out of the AllClad Fan Club.
>>
>> Rick
>
> I agree about the Revereware...personally I like the 25 y/o set of
> Farberware I was gifted by my mom. Over the years the handles have
> sometimes loosened; nothing a screwdriver couldn't fix. Still looks
> like new. with the exception of the fading handles..and I've adopted
> some orphan pieces over the years from garage sales. They share the
> space with the few Magnalite anondized aluminum pots I've adopted, too.
>
Yes, I do love my Farberware 12" fry pan. Heavy bottom, no hot spots,
sits flat, doesn't object to the ChoreBoy or steel wool but rarely needs
such drastic cleaning measures.
I also have a set of three graduated tinned copper skillets, a copper
sautee, and a copper saucier. I like these a lot, especially the
saucier when I need to put something on ultra-low heat and ignore it all
day.
Honestly my *best* cookware is the antique cast iron my granny gave me
when she downsized into the Florida tornado-magnet. The stuff is
non-stick, oven-safe, versatile and indestructible. I have a round
griddle, a chicken fryer, a small dutch oven and two skillets with lids.
I can and have turned out a 10-course meal - soup to dessert - with
just the two skillets. I expect I'll have to make provision in my will
to ensure the cast iron goes to an appreciative beneficiary.
The only cooking gear I've purchased new are baking pans: heavy enameled
angelfood pans, a couple of 1/3 sheet pans for jelly rolls and cookies,
earthenware pie plates and a Roemertoepf, and my bread pans. In 1983 I
found a Le Crueset 4-quart dutch oven at a thrift store for the
astounding price of $2; technically it wasn't new but it was to me! I
also bought my mixing bowls new from a small pottery in Indiana. But
all of my pots and pans are hand-me-downs, or in the case of the copper
cookware wedding gifts.
I ought to be able to equip my son's kitchen rather well when he sets up
housekeeping on his own, as I imagine I'll be ready to start downsizing
by then :D
info.da...@gmail.com
substantial staining on the stainless (hah) interior. I've scrubbed
it with steel wool and degreaser, steel wool and castille soap, and
green scrubby and Ajax cleanser. Nothing moves the stain. Is the
skillet safe to use in this condition or should I count my blessings
and toss the thing in the recycle bin as a lost cause?
Also, does anyone know offhand the oven temp rating for the black
handles on the 1980s/1990s Revereware?
http://www.revereware.com/index.asp?pageId=83 << Click here
Revereware 800-999-3436
Rick
Missed that the first time around. Had to say it a million times when
working for a short stint in a Bloomies housewares department:
"Stainless means exactly what it says. It will stain *less.* It doesn't
say stain proof..."
Then you still gave them their money back. 8-)
Rick
record hunter
Barkeepers Friend may help. I turned the heat on under an empty
stainless steel pot, and a paste of Barkeepers Friend and water
brought it back.