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Tue 17 Jun, 2003 06:57 pm
Today was boiling water in my one quart Wearever saucepan and I noticed a tiny, repetitive drip from the left top rivet of the three that secure the handle. This little aluminum pot was part of a wedding gift in 1966. For thirty-seven years, through two marriages and five homes it has been an everyday presence on the stove: water for coffee, tea, Jello,
canned soups, oatmeal, pudding, vegetables.... utilitarian, totally taken for granted, but never overlooked, and then that tiny drip.
And there's never a tinker when you really need one.
And I'm not getting all sentimental over a metal saucepan,
Another "vade mecum" left by the wayside, the latest in a sixty year line of things, places and people gone and forgotten, gone and not forgotten.
Personally, I'd be torn between waxing sentimental over the saucepan and raging fury that a dear old and valued friend had betrayed me.
What sort of terms are you on with your auto mechanic? Although he's probably a reputable member of society rather than one of the traveling folk, he might be able to weld or solder the handle for you.
You might also ask at the local vo-tec.
Or you could trundle off to the recycling center or the scrap yard.
The old order changeth, yielding place to new
And God fufils himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
She means silver solder, of course.
Personally, I'd leave that old pot just the way it is and keep on using it. To hell with the drip. I'd end up spilling more when I play with whatever I'm cooking anyway.
That little drip will keep reminding you just how long that Wearever pot has been around. Go heat up a can of soup and think about it..
We have a little Chantal frypan, about 8", that has a stainless steel band around the top. I'm assuming that if we had a cover for it, it would be clear glass with a stainless still band as well, to prevent scratching of the glass/porceline.
Anyway, that little band collects moisture, which in turn causes the band to rust. The next time you go to use it, the moisture is forced out, and rust stains flow down into whatever you're cooking. Pretty poor design, eh?
Roger--
Thanks for the silver solder clarification.
I'm just a sweet old fashioned girl who hands the mechanical problem to the nearest Big Strong Man and expects the problem to be solved promptly.
Incomplete theory is my province.
When I was in the restaurants, we used aluminum pots with leaks in them all the time. It happens. However, it might be a nice tribute to buy a new one, and turn the old one into a little herb garden....new life, so to speak, and it would classify as art.
Good suggestions! As a bigtime packrat getting rid of stuff is always tough. Noddy, I don't have a car, but I do have a nephew who's a plumber. Repairs in our throwaway day and no age are few and far between.
Roger, Read your words as "silver soldier", appropriate for my little kitchen veteran, gallant over fire and no "tinpot general.
Fishin', An appealing idea, and if I keep the level of contents below the damage, no drip.
cjhsa, Can't think of too many recipes involving rust. Maybe both of us should take cavfancier's sugggestion.
Might also use it in still life drawings.
Well, as far as rust, no, no recipes that call for it. That's another reason not to cook acidic stuff in cast iron, however, when you do cook in cast iron, any iron that is absorbed by the food is considered a dietary bonus.
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