Your oldest piece of equipment?

[morgans4]

I forgot. I also have one of the original phonographs made by Thomas A. Edison. It uses cylinder records, one of which has T.A.E.'s voice on it. Very interesting, especially for the grandkids to hear. I have 2 large boxes of records to go with it. My mother recently tried to sell them in a garage sale for $1 each! She has alzheimers.

Also have a HUGE crock. It may be 5 gallon but I'd bet it's 10 gallon. Probably was used for sauerkraut or pickles.

AND I have a HUGE dutch oven that holds plants. You could cook a whole hog in it, it's so big. I guess when there were large families they needed them that big. It's got to be 3' across. My mother got it 50 years ago from an old man whose family came from Germany. The land they lived on had lots of friendly Indians, so we also have a couple of big rocks that they used to grind corn for their own cornmeal. The wear pattern on both rocks is smooth and one fits inside the other. Amazing. Must have been a lot of work grinding corn down with that. Lots of history there.

Also have an antique bottle capper. My grandmother used to make homemade root beer. She bottled it in big glass bottles and used this bottle capper to seal them up. She used it back in the 1920's. Don't know how much older it is than that. Also have their crank ice cream freezer from the same time frame.

Have 3 antique clocks that run great.

My mother's basement was actually full of antiques. Lots of various-sized crocks, etc. No idea what to do with them, so now they inhabit MY basement.

 

[morgans4]

back to eggshells

eggshells are calcium, as are clam & oyster shells. They are great for enriching the soil. I grind mine up in the blender with water and use the water in my garden. (Not the sea shells... just the egg shells! Haha.) Use a hammer on the oyster shells. There is an appliance you can get that hooks onto your garbage disposal (I think) that saves all the ground up veggie peels, etc., to use in your compost pile. Cheap fertilizer!

My mother-in-law used to take her vegetable peelings, etc., and actually dig them into the flower bed soil. Another way of composting, I guess. She had beautiful flowers.

 

[Claire]

Oh! I forgot about the rolling pin. My mother-in-law, in her youth, had a man who'd come around selling Christmas trees. Women would buy the tree from the man, who after the season would come and collect it, then come back and sell you a rolling pin made from the trunk of the tree! I have this rolling pin. I assume it's about 70 years old.

 

[choclatechef]

"AND I have a HUGE dutch oven that holds plants. You could cook a whole hog in it, it's so big. I guess when there were large families they needed them that big. It's got to be 3' across. My mother got it 50 years ago from an old man whose family came from Germany. "

I forgot about the old enameled cast iron Vollrath pots I have. They must be 60 years old or older. One of them is about 30 inches in diameter.

I have a huge copper heavy candy pot that is about 36" in diameter.

And I forgot my collection of carbon steel antique knives [I have about 100 of them including cleavers as large as a full sized axe]. I am a true collector/hoarder of kitchen stuff.

 

[AllenOK]

I think the oldest thing I have is my Kitchenaid 5 qt stand Mixer. I inherited it. I'm not exactly sure how old it is, but, it still has the "Hobart" name on it. I believe Kitchenaid is now made by Whirlpool, which is probably a subsidiary of Hobart.

 

[masteraznchefjr]

a pair of cooking chopsticks handed down from my mom when she was like 20

 

[subfuscpersona]

cast iron cookware purchased at a variety of sources but some I think are older than I am and I am 50+

after that, my KitchenAid K5A mixer purchased used in the mid 70's...I had to replace my frig but the K5A is still purring!

 

[choclatechef]

I just found out yesterday, the manufacturing date of my Hobart N-50 mixer -- October 1947................. the first month and year Hobart made this model!

 

[Alix]

I have a potato peeler that is circa 1935. Other than that my Baba's rolling pin...which came from the Ukraine in the early 1900's

 

[AllenOK]

I just remembered this:

While it's not necessarily a piece of cooking equipment, I do have a copy of the 2nd edition "Household Searchlight" cookbook, printed in 1938, originally printed in '31.

 

[Otter]

I was given some Ginsu knives ages ago - they refuse to die.

 

[SizzlininIN]

My Great Grandma's Universal Waffle Maker Pat. Sept. 18, 1923. My mother gave this to me 2 or 3 years ago.....she wanted to be sure it stayed in the family. I can remember mom making waffles when I was a little girl.
I have a lot of old kitchenware......I collect old utensils and colored pyrex bowls and absolutely love using them when I cook.

SizzlininIN