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Post by nana on Oct 9, 2017 17:19:19 GMT -5
I found an old stainless pot without a lid in the scrap pile at the local transfer station. Picking off the trash heap...It doesn't get much lower than that! But something about its size and shape reminded me of a big single kettle. And lo and behold, it is so close that it nests inside the single but only just. The single lid fits ever so slightly askew, not enough to make a difference. Take off the old plastic handles, scrub and bleach the whole pot, manufacture some truly makeshift handles from picture hanging wire, and voila, a brand new stainless steel thermowell pot. I already made a couple quarts of applesauce in it--so easy--gas until I hear it bubble, then come back in a few hours and strain and can. No stirring, no scorching the bottom layer...I don't know what the wire is made of, it will probably rust, but for now it works. I was going to get a length of brass chain to use, but I was afraid the angle of the links as they came over the lip of the pot would scrape against the walls of the well. There's not much room to play with there.
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Post by mach12 on Oct 9, 2017 21:09:45 GMT -5
Cool! That's a good eye to have picked that out on the pile. If the handles rust, get some of the wire that they use when they put up chain link fence. I had some leftover from putting up a fence years ago and made a handle to replace a missing handle on the insert that sits in the top of the single pot. It worked great. It's pretty strong stuff so is a bit of work to bend but once you get it how you want it it's not going anywhere.
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Post by pooka on Oct 10, 2017 6:51:07 GMT -5
Cool! You been around your Chambers, & the Thermowell pots long enough, your eye is now trained to spot that size & shape. That is some dumb luck though. I wonder what it was. The Chambers single pot is an odd size at seven quarts.
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Post by vaporvac on Oct 10, 2017 11:10:46 GMT -5
That is truly excellent!!!! When I made mine out of a pressure cooker I used a detachable bale handle from an old garden pot of some sort. That way it doesn't stay in the steam . Perhaps you could scrounge one up on your next trip to the trash heap. And here I though I was the only one. Some of my best things came from the trash. : )
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Post by nana on Oct 10, 2017 17:19:54 GMT -5
You know, we found a bale handle off of something in a box of junk from the fireman's auction this year, and I kept it because it had the look of something that would be useful for just such an occasion. So do you think I could find the darn thing? I know I kept it....in a safe place....somewhere...Of all the things I've ever lost I miss my mind the most!
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Post by karitx on Oct 11, 2017 11:02:47 GMT -5
Nice find and re-purposing, nana! I would love to find a stainless pot to fit in the well, but my crow-brain gets distracted by too many shiny things when I'm out scrounging and I usually forget to look for the things I actually need.
If it makes you feel better about misplacing the wire handle, I have somehow misplaced my tortilla press, which is both heavy and bulky. The hubby says I will only find it when I break down and buy a new one.
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Post by nana on Oct 11, 2017 20:45:07 GMT -5
Ain't that the truth! As a corollary to that theory: You will also end up needing the unused and unwanted thing you hung onto for years the day after you finally throw it away. It is my fear of this happening that causes me to be such a pack rat. But I love the moment when I CAN pull some odd bit of just what someone needed out of my (ahem) hat!
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