Revere Ware

[In the Kitchen]

Does anyone have this brand of pot? I try to make pea soup and the soup burned on the bottom. No one has responded to my question on Soup section so I assume they don't know. The fact that copper heats quickly do any of you feel that is why this happened. It does it only with the pea soup. It does it also when I have potato soup. I love these ingredients and don't want to quite making them. Guess I'll have to buy different brand. What would you suggest? Appreciate a response.

 

[PA Baker]

ITK, how hot did you have your burner?

 

[GB]

And did you stir it often?

 

[buckytom]

thicker "drier" soups will tend to do that, even on low heat if not stirred very often. tomato sauces do the same thing, but are more forgiving due to their higher water content. pea soup is much thicker and not as watery, so i guess it would burn faster, if not stirred frequently.

 

[In the Kitchen]

I figured that. It is the cook's fault. I had it on low so I thought would heat slowly but as you said maybe stirring is the answer. I just can't get by with anything. Cleaning it was really bad. Seeing so much on the bottom made me wonder if not just opening can would have been better. Many times I think about it but they always know better. When they once know how you cook you can't fool em. Thanks for your input. I trust you all are good cooks. May you never experience burnt soup.

 

[Silversage]

One problem with Revere and other stainless steel pans is that once you scorch something in them, you will always have a 'hot spot'. You will continue to burn things in that pan, and always in the same spot!

You mentioned copper. The copper on Revereware is not thick enough to be functional. It is purely decorative. Your best bet is to pitch the pan and buy something heavier. I suggest copper, aluminum or tri-ply.

 

[Michael in FtW]

If your Reverware is like the stuff I grew up with (1950's vintage) you're going to have problems because the metal is so thin. Stainless steel is a very poor conductor of heat, and as toomanydawgs noted - the copper layer is too thin to sufficiently diffuse the heat. But, scorching something doesn't create hot spots - things continue to scorch in the same spot because that is where the hot spot is. Anyway, you can use it, with low heat and frequent stirring - the thicker it gets, the more frequent the stirring.

Cookware today compensates for this problem by layering aluminum between an inner and outer layer of stainless (such as All-Clad) - or by adding a thick layer of aluminum (an encapsulated disk) on the bottom of the pan.

In the olden days (1950-1970ish) they had things called heat diffusers or flame tamers ... which back then were just a thick disk of asbestor with a center core of wire mesh. I haven't seen those in years. If you ever took chemistry you probably used one - that wire mesh thing with the white stuff on it that went under a flask on a ring-stand over a bunsen burner.

Anyway - there are newer versions available today for gas and electric stovetops. They are disks of either aluminum, steel, or cast iron. Cooking.com has a "flame tamer" made of aluminum especially for gas stoves ( http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=190609 ) and Chef's Catalog has "burner plates" made of cast iron for electric stoves ( http://www.chefscatalog.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?cmCat=search&itemId=cprod1859787 ). I would suggest also going to Google.com and doing a search on "diffuser burner plate", "flame tamer", and "heat diffuser" to check out the other sources, brands, materails and options.

 

[Claire]

I grew up on Revere ware and would never have parted with it except for the fact that it doesn't work on smooth top electric ranges (not flat enough on the bottom). I doubt the burning problem was because of the pan itself. This soup singes very easily once it thickens and has to be watched like a hawk. It would have happened with any other kind of pan. Revere is an old standby, and we loved it. When I bought my new stove, my Revere didn't go into retirement at all ... I noticed a neighbor (new freind, we'd just moved here) continually using her one Revere pan over all her other pans on her gas range, and found a way to tactfully ask her if she wanted mine. If you look at old cooking shows (yes, even old Julia's), before the days of people having to have top of the line this and restaurant quality that, you'll almost always see at least one Revere ware pot or pan come out.

I will say, though, that I don't mind being released from the copper-cleaning chore!!!!

 

[scott123]

As previously said, the thicker the soup, the easier it will scorch. For thick/dry soups and stews, you'll need the lowest settings on your stove (and frequent stirring) and for the very thick ones, you'll need either a thick bottomed pot or a diffuser (again, as previously mentioned).

 

[Claire]

When it comes to re-heating these soups, you cannot beat a microwave oven.

 

[Michael in FtW]

When it comes to re-heating these soups, you cannot beat a microwave oven.

And the choir all said, That's the fact, Jack!"

or, was that Bill Murray? 8)

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Just so you don't feel bad, there were several responses to your post in the Soup category. I read them, and put one in. The comments were about the same. Use a better pot that distributes the heat more easily, use the lowest heat setting, and since this is a reheating job, if I remember correctly, use the microwave instead of the stove, though you will still need to stir it to prevent scorching.

When you are making it, a slow cooker works well if you don'
t have the time to frequently stir the soup and scrape the pan bottom, or cooking in oven, low and slow will also work, you know, like with baked beans.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

In The Kitchen; I owe you an apology. Yes there were many posts on that thread. I just went and looked at it again. But yours question was asked third from the last posting. And it wasn't covered very well at all, including by my own post. Sorry I can't offer more advise than to use alternate cooking methods as I don't have any experience with RevereWare. I tend to use stainless and cast-iron almost exclusively. For things that require very low cooking methods, I use my crock pot, or a slow oven.

Again, I offer my apologies for jumping before I had all the facts.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Claire]

Another thing where we're not being that helpful. Whenever you're cooking something and the bottom singes, immediately grab a bowl or second pot, and pour the soup (whatever) into it. DO NOT stir or scrape the bottom of the pan in any way, shape or form first, just pour the soup into the second bowl. Once you scrape the bottom, the soup is lost (and burnt pea soup has a distinctive and nasty flavor), but you might be able to rescue it if as soon as you realize the problem, you transfer the soup to a new pot very quickly. Yes, I grew up in the era BM (before microwaves) and learned pea soup when I was about 10. In those days we often burned pea soup when trying to reheat it .... I'd go so far as to say it was almost inevitable. And the one time hubby decided to reheat pea soup on the stove top instead of microwave, he learned quickly. This entire line has been funny because a few days ago I went on a pea soup binge (I don't believe in cooking for two, even though there are only two of us in the household!!). Yummmmmm.

 

[In the Kitchen]

Thank you all for your detailed explanations. There is nothing like experience, no matter what age you get it. Being a 'seasoned' cook I still learn so much. Your posts are always so helpful due to the content and time you take to help me understand. I do so appreciate it. One liners bother me as if people are talking on a phone. As you said, Claire, trying to stir it was the wrong thing to do. Spoiled the whole pot. I never have read about reheating this kind of soup in microwave. Does sound like it makes a big difference and I have read here that key is stirring. Have to watch it like a child that it doesn't burn. We are eating it as I resent throwing anything away but you better believe your comments will be saved till the next time I attempt this project. Pea soup is so good when it is not burned. I plan on finding the yellow peas and trying it to see what difference there is. Goodweed, Claire , Michael thanks for the info I am grateful to count on you. You are a gift. Thanks

 

[In the Kitchen]

One problem with Revere and other stainless steel pans is that once you scorch something in them, you will always have a 'hot spot'. You will continue to burn things in that pan, and always in the same spot!

You mentioned copper. The copper on Revereware is not thick enough to be functional. It is purely decorative. Your best bet is to pitch the pan and buy something heavier. I suggest copper, aluminum or tri-ply.[/quote

toomanydawgs, you think I should get different pots since this happened? What kind do you have or what brand do you like? Figure I will start with the biggest since that is the one where it happens. Thanks ( I get so impatient when I am looking for help that I just look at the last posts) Think I am nervous!

 

[Claire]

One last word on the subject is that pea soup is something that grows. Not kidding. You can add water every single time to reheat it (in the microwave, of course!!! LOL), and you continually get more soup every time. You love pea soup or hate it (obviously you know what camp I'm in), but it sure is a bang for the buck.

 

[In the Kitchen]

One last word on the subject is that pea soup is something that grows.

Claire, you won't find that comment in a cookbook. That is original! Bet even Julia Child would smile and agree. Thanks. It is true, you have to dilute it everytime. I normally use some kind of broth. No wonder our mom made it so often. It was always the same one, saved her lot of work. You can't beat home cooking. Always adjustable?

 

[Claire]

Ha! Glad you liked it! True!!!! A freind told me she loved pea soup, so I brought her up a bowl and told her she needed to add at least a third cup of water every time she used it, after asking her if she's ever made it herself (no). I'm not sure she believed me. But it gets thicker with every heating (hmm.... can Alton 'splain that to us??). Part of the reason it is so hard to reheat on a stove top. No wonder this was a staple in my family of poverty stricken French Canadians!!! You get more food every time you reheat it. Yes, stock would be better than water. I tend to find a great chicken boullion I like, and when the soup needs more salt I add the boullion instead of salt. Water it to the thickness I like, then add the powder to salt it.