# Obsolete(?) Kitchen Implements **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458 "2007-09-08T13:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/81 "2007-09-09T15:14:08Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Same here. How else do you slice hard-boiled eggs for a chef’s salad? [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen a sliced boiled egg in a salad since I can’t remember when. Chefs salad? Is this the return of the 70’s chef and his salad? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/82 "2007-09-09T15:27:01Z")
[Chefs salad.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef_salad) Just the thing when it’s too hot to cook. Filling and almost sorta healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/83 "2007-09-09T15:27:28Z")
[QUOTE=calm kiwi] Chefs salad? Is this the return of the 70’s chef and his salad? [/QUOTE] [He never left.](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1T4DKUS_enUS212US212&q=menu+%22chefs+salad%22+egg&btnG=Search) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/84 "2007-09-09T15:30:39Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] …but is it an 8 popper or a 10 popper? [/QUOTE] 1. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/85 "2007-09-09T15:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] [Chefs salad.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef_salad) Just the thing when it’s too hot to cook. Filling and almost sorta healthy. [/QUOTE] Sounds kind of yummy but not on menus here. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/86 "2007-09-09T15:43:58Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] I jumped in here to mention AB. It seems to me that there may be something else where he recommends an electric knife, but the Good Eats Fan Page doesn’t list it. [/QUOTE] He uses the electric knife quite a lot, and it’s made me decide I want one. Off the top of my head, I’ve seen him use it for turkeys (natch), ham, meatloaf, pies (I think it was pumpkin - he upended the pie onto a cutting board, cut it upside down with an electric knife and then popped the pie dish back onto it and flipped - voila! perfectly portioned pumpkin pie), cake - cutting layers before frosting using an electric knife and a lazy susan to get it flat, and I’m sure more than that. It’s no unitasker, that electric knife! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/87 "2007-09-09T15:49:21Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] I jumped in here to mention AB. It seems to me that there may be something else where he recommends an electric knife, but the Good Eats Fan Page doesn’t list it. And aren’t double boilers indispensible for cooking with chocolate and certain egg yolk dishes? [/QUOTE] AB has the best recipe for scrambled eggs using a double boiler or two pans, the inner being a non-stick pan with a rounded bottom. More work than usual, but well worth the effort on a Sunday AM. **devilsknew** I make a great homemade apple pie, Look at Cook’s magazine for the recipe, if you can’t find it send me an e mail, and I will dig it out for you. > [@DDG](#): > > Just last week the Better Half and I were discussing the joys of dorm life with La Principessa, who, being a senior in high school this year, is currently considering the merits of various colleges. And we were waxing nostalgic about the Popcorn Parties we experienced back in the early 1970s, where everybody brought their own Hot Air Popcorn Popper–which was state-of-the-art back then, no more having to make popcorn on top of a stove with an actual flame, and oil and a pot–to the commons room and made popcorn together. > > Our child sat there with a perfectly blank look on her face. “They didn’t have microwave popcorn back then?” > > “Um, no.” > > We struggled to explain what a hot air popcorn popper was, while her face got more and more skeptical. It all sounded unbearably primitive to her. How could homo sapiens possibly have survived without microwave popcorn, especially since the hot air popper popcorn was admittedly punky in texture when you compared it even with Jiffy Pop? > > We didn’t get as far as explaining what Jiffy Pop was, as she was clearly tired of discussing the Pleistocene Era. Well if hot air poppers were from the Pleistocene era, then [one of these](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.toastercentral.com/pfostoria2020b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.toastercentral.com/poppers.htm&h=324&w=432&sz=73&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=FXqsBEltrbJeoM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Delectric%2Bpopcorn%2Bpoppers%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN) came from before the earth cooled. Scroll down to find the Dominion which was the one we had at my house as a kid. Put in 6 tablespoons of oil\*, and one or two kernels of corn. When the corn popped you added the rest of the corn (1/4 cup?) and let it go. Made the best pop corn ever. I bet nobody here has one of those and still uses it. \*If you wanted buttered popcorn you could use butter rather than oil. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/88 "2007-09-09T15:55:14Z")
Deju vu! We had one of those when I was a pup. Finally threw it away when Mom sold the house. Great popper, though. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/89 "2007-09-09T16:01:55Z")
[QUOTE=calm kiwi] Sounds kind of yummy but not on menus here. [/QUOTE] Serve it to your friends. Start a trend. Maybe they’ll call it a [**Calm Kiwi** salad](http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--1609/traditional-chefs-salad.asp) before too long! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/90 "2007-09-09T16:19:00Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Deju vu! We had one of those when I was a pup. Finally threw it away when Mom sold the house. Great popper, though. [/QUOTE] I swear you and I are twin brothers of different mothers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/91 "2007-09-09T20:23:20Z")
I’m going to speak up, as well, with the others who’ve defended the noble potato ricer. I won’t say I use mine all the time, but part of that is that when I make pierogies I tend to make batches of about 100 of them. Which then last several months. I’ve used mine to make gnocchi, and speatzle, too. You can have my potato ricer when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/92 "2007-09-09T20:52:14Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Every time I bake. [/QUOTE] Me too, generally - that’s my point, how do the people who think flour sifters are obsolete sift their flour? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/93 "2007-09-09T21:07:25Z")
Maybe they’re the people who think baking from scratch is obsolete. What can I do with an [eggbeater](http://www.hormel.com/images/glossary/e/eggbeater.jpg) that I can’t do just as well with a wire whisk? Answer me that, and I might consider taking the eggbeater off my list of kitchen obsoletes. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/94 "2007-09-09T21:11:48Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Me too, generally - that’s my point, how do the people who think flour sifters are obsolete sift their flour? [/QUOTE] If the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board [can’t agree on the need for sifting](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msift.html), far be it from me to insist otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/95 "2007-09-09T21:13:35Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Me too, generally - that’s my point, how do the people who think flour sifters are obsolete sift their flour? [/QUOTE] If I’m not doing delicate baking (which I rarely do), I use a whisk to break up any clumps, and also to mix the flour/baking soda/salt/whatever. If you’re weighing your flour instead of measuring it into a cup, there’s no need to sift to get a precise measure, and I don’t do the kind of flaky pastries where teeny lumps matter at all. I do own a sifter, but I think all I really use it for is sifting slippery elm powder into herbal cough syrup. Likewise, I own a potato ricer, but only use it for pressing hot oils out of herbs while making salve and a double boiler that I only use for melting beeswax. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/96 "2007-09-09T21:17:08Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] What can I do with an [eggbeater](http://www.hormel.com/images/glossary/e/eggbeater.jpg) that I can’t do just as well with a wire whisk? Answer me that, and I might consider taking the eggbeater off my list of kitchen obsoletes. [/QUOTE] Well, I tried whipping cream once with a whisk and just about jiggled my arm off. An eggbeater was much better. Of course, in the real world, I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer for such things, so I agree with you. But if I ever make real egg nog again during a blackout, I’ll borrow an eggbeater to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/97 "2007-09-09T21:35:22Z")
[QUOTE=Flutterby] How about an air popper? Apparently you can still buy them but I can’t find one at any store I shop at. [/QUOTE] How about the original hot-air popcorn popper: a wire basket popper? I actually own one but unless you want to make popcorn over a campfire, there’s half a dozen other ways of doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/98 "2007-09-09T21:39:43Z")
I believe the flour sifter was used more for the purpose of making sure there was only flour in the bowl. The farm kitchens all had flour bins and people didn’t throw out flour just because a few bugs, wood chips, and other stuff was in the flour. Once you can depend on the supply being good quality, you can retire the sifter for the most part. I remember the huge scoop in the flour bin too. It must have had a 8 cup capacity. The bin must have held about 12 cubic feet of flour. I use a strainer to sift flour, baking soda and salt into the mix. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/99 "2007-09-09T21:52:19Z")
I need to get me a hot air popper. My parents have one from back in the stone age, and microwave popcorn does not compare. I love tearing off the top of the grocery bag, putting in the kernels, melting the butter and then salting it to my own taste without having to worry about the fact that the microwave has weird scorched ones in there. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458/100 "2007-09-09T22:49:05Z")
I loved Squeeters as a kid, and I actually have a set. My son loves them, too. I have a Romertopf terra cota baker that’s collecting dust. Results were no better than OK, and it’s hard to clean. Do people still use whistling tea kettles? The point of those was to alert you that the water was boiling in such a way that you couldn’t ignore it and let the pot boil dry. But a microwave is faster, and there are no disastrous consequences if you forget you put the water into boil. It justs get cold and you have to heat it again. I don’t use my double boiler often, but it is absolutely necessary for making lemon merengue pie. Without the double boiler, the eggs cook too quickly and you get that eggy flavor that has just a hint of sulphur. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-kitchen-implements/418458.md?page=6)