Rediscovering Forgotten Kitchen Tools
January 19, 2025
Source: Reddit
Cleaning out the kitchen can feel like a chore, but every now and then, it turns into a treasure hunt. Recently, while sorting through a drawer of odds and ends, I stumbled upon five curious items. Some I recognized right away; others took a little digging to figure out. Each one brought back a memory or a sense of how kitchens—and the way we cook—used to be. Let’s take a closer look at these forgotten kitchen tools and the stories they tell.
1. The Red Plastic Lunch Container Handle
At first, I had no idea what this was. It looked like a piece of scrap plastic, maybe the leftover part of something that broke. Then it hit me: it’s a handle for an old-fashioned lunch container. You know, the kind with the metal clips that secured the lid? These were sturdy, practical, and everywhere in the days before insulated lunch bags became popular. Forgotten kitchen tools like this remind us how innovative older designs were.
Finding this made me think of simple packed lunches—bologna sandwiches, an apple, maybe a Thermos of soup. It’s funny how something as small as a handle can bring back memories of sitting in the school cafeteria or brown-bagging it to work.
2. Ravioli or Pierogi Maker
This one had me stumped for a minute. A flat, round aluminum plate with little hexagonal cutouts—what could it be? Turns out, it’s a ravioli or pierogi maker. You dust it with flour, lay down a sheet of dough, add your filling, then press a second layer of dough on top. Rolling a pin across seals everything together and cuts out perfectly uniform pieces. Such forgotten kitchen tools make you wonder how often people made these dishes from scratch.
I’ll admit, I’ve never used one before. But it’s easy to picture a kitchen filled with the smell of freshly made pasta or golden pierogi frying in butter. It makes me want to give it a try—how hard can it be to make homemade ravioli? (Okay, probably harder than it looks.)
3. The Whistle for a Kettle
This one made me smile right away. It’s a whistle for a stovetop kettle, the kind that lets out a shrill sound when the water’s ready. We had a kettle like this growing up, and I can still hear that familiar whistle in my head. Kitchen tools like these might be forgotten today but were once essential in every household.
These days, electric kettles have taken over, but there’s something comforting about that old-fashioned sound. It meant tea was coming—a hot cup on a cold morning, or something to sip on during a quiet afternoon.
4. Mašlovačka (Goose Feather Basting Brush)
This one threw me for a loop at first. It’s a bamboo handle with soft feathers at the end, and it turns out it’s a traditional Czech basting brush, called a mašlovačka. It’s used for brushing melted butter or oil over things like roasting chicken or pastries. These forgotten tools show the uniqueness of different cultures’ kitchen practices.
I love how simple and natural it is—just a few feathers tied to a handle. It feels like a tool with history, something you’d find in your grandmother’s kitchen. Compared to today’s silicone brushes, this feels so much more connected to the past.
5. Hamburger Patty Separators
At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of this stack of thin, round plastic discs. Then it clicked—these are separators for hamburger patties. If you’ve ever used a burger press, you know how handy these are for keeping patties from sticking together when you freeze them. This is just another example of forgotten kitchen tools that simplified cooking processes.
Back in the day, making burgers at home was an event. You’d mix the meat, season it just right, and press out a whole stack of patties for a family barbecue. These little discs might seem like a minor detail, but they were the kind of thing that made life just a bit easier.
Bringing the Past Back to Life
Finding these tools reminded me how much kitchens have changed over the years. Today, we’re all about convenience, but there’s something special about the way things used to be. These tools—whether they’re for making ravioli or brewing tea—are a connection to the past, to the way our parents and grandparents cooked. Rediscover those forgotten kitchen tools that link us to our culinary history.
So, the next time you’re cleaning out a drawer or organizing a cabinet, take a second look at those odd little gadgets. You might just rediscover something that makes you smile—and who knows, you might even find a reason to use it again.