29 Replies to “January 28, 2026: Reader Tips”

  1. Robert’s Reader Tips video of the day…

    I agree with the “I want to cook” speaker where he outlines near to the 17 minutes mark, if you’d like to have “real” PYREX go to a thrift store and buy something real, prior to buying whatever pyrex is sold new at Walmart.
    I’ve bought and sold a fair amount of this and know the old versions are much higher regarded than any of the new versions.
    Corning Ware too, great stuff, and glass stovetop cleaner works better than most anything else for cleaning up yellow/burnt orange scorch marks. It isn’t mentioned often but Corning Ware and Dow Corning originated within the same ownership structure, Dow Corning lost $3.2 Billion in the breast implant lawsuit, and shortly after that Corning Ware was allowed to stop production.
    Similar timing, but not a direct line between them…

    With the copper bottomed Revere Ware, which was made in Rome NY and Riverside Calif, look for a circle around it on the bottom, sometimes it says, “Process Patent” but in 1968 that circle generally disappeared and production was moved to Clinton Illinois and they cut the thickness of the copper on the bottom by half, as well as the stainless sidewalls being made thiner. If you decide to polish it, don’t polish the trademarks off. You know what they say about everything associated with the Clintons…. I mean everything.

    Corning Ware had bought Revere Ware in 1985 and none made after that is worth anything in the vintage market. It’s just used and not old enough. Soak overnight in citric acid (1 tbsp in 1-2 gallons of warm water) and it’ll bring back the copper color.
    My parents were given a set of Revere Ware in 1955 for their wedding, 5 kids and +60 years of cooking with it daily, yes my parents did get the letter from QE2 for being married 60 years, I think my younger brother still uses these pots and pans as he bought the house and contents from my parents.
    71 years of use and counting…

    The others pay retail, YOU never pay retail.

    1. “ My parents were given a set of Revere Ware in 1955 for their wedding, 5 kids and +60 years of cooking with it daily”

      Too funny. My parents were given a set of Revere Ware in 1958 for their wedding, 4 kids and 68 years of cooking with it daily. My mom is 89yo and she still washes them in the sink and still uses her special copper cleaner to polish the bottom.

    2. Good cast iron — lasts forever and you get light weight training lifting it. Just scrub it out and slap some lard on it.

    3. I love shopping at thrift stores! I am the executrix for my sister’s estate and anything which did not sell at the estate sales, was donated to Value Village, Salvation Army Thrift Stores and to Re-Store (Habitat for Humanity). All of my sister’s baking wares (she was an excellent baker!) were donated as most people in their 20’s and 30’s do not cook, let alone bake today. Any time when I need to replace kitchen cook/bake ware, my first stops are the thrift stores. Great Value for the money.

  2. All Clad loyalist here, and yes the opaque Corning stuff is everywhere and trying to become collectible. There’re so much of it in circulation I can’t see how it’s value can increase much at all.

    1. Another All Clad loyalist here. Hard to believe corning ware will ever be worth much. But gold …

      Did you know the All Clad pot lids are now made in China. Slippery slope.

    1. I wish I could go back 40 years and tell my younger self, “Don’t get sucked in so quickly by the beauty of a pretty face. Spend some time with the woman and see if she is batsh#t crazy first!”

    1. All that information & they still manage to leave a partial story. Was it at a provincial exam location? A private one? Who was in charge? Precisely what happened? Etc., etc., etc.

      I’d give them a C+ at best.

      1. It was private entities. They took bribes to give people the special licence despite their lack of ability.

        1. I’m booking a stripper who wears a US Army inspired costume and uses the name “Private N. Titties”.

  3. Speaking of cooking…consider this a PSA – For those of you who put plastic containers of any kind in your microwave to reheat your food and I know you’re out there.
    STOP!!!!!
    I know what chemicals goes in to making those plastics and I also know those chemicals don’t remain inert or static when heated
    I would rather put a sharp stick in my eye than eat the food that’s been microwaved in plastic.
    Thankyou. That is all.

    1. They say that 40% of all illness is related to what we put in our bodies.

      That’s why I stick to the 4 food groups – steak, beer, wine and bacon.

  4. Borosilicate of not? Seriously? If something breaks I spend $20 and buy a new one. If I spend more than one minute worrying about it I have wasted time spent on something more important like self abuse.

    1. Didn’t Robert Browning write a poem about her? “A man’s reach must exceed his grasp, or what’s a Duckworth?”

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