need help identifying some tools and kitchen equipment.

January 21, 2010 6:27 PM

Can anyone give the proper names for these items:

Item A - Seems like it is used for cooking in a giant cauldron

Items B and C - ??

Item D - Some kind of long cookware with a rounded bottom

posted by racecar to Grab Bag (15 answers total)

A is a propane burner, like for a turkey fryer.

B looks like a gauge for bolts, and C on the right a chain splitter

D is the pot you would set on A.

A and D are related, I don't know where you got B and C.
posted by sanka at 6:34 PM on January 21, 2010

Best answer: B and C look like a Flaring tool for copper tubing.
A and D do look like they belong together.
posted by archaic at 6:40 PM on January 21, 2010

Items B and C are a set, and they are a Pipe Flaring Tool.
posted by Duke999R at 6:42 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

duh...preview. archaic beat me to it ;)
posted by Duke999R at 6:43 PM on January 21, 2010

I can't believe I missed B and C. I uses them all the time.

sigh. hard cider.
posted by sanka at 6:44 PM on January 21, 2010

B is a flaring tool for metal tubing (i.e soft copper gas lines)

You clamp your tubing in the appropriate slot in B and use C to flare the end that is sticking out.
posted by davey_darling at 6:48 PM on January 21, 2010

Response by poster: There is a pot that fits the burner but it isn't the one in the picture, it has a flat bottom. In the pot pictured (item D), the bottom is so convex the whole thing barely stands upright. I guess if the ring on the burner (item A) was smaller it may hold the pictured pot regardless of the shape of the bottom, but any clue as to why the bottom would be curved?
posted by racecar at 6:53 PM on January 21, 2010

Found this: how B & C hook up with each other and to the pipe.
posted by crapmatic at 7:35 PM on January 21, 2010

Well, it seems that some pots are curved so that they are easier to clean.

Also, curved bottom parts make it easier to stir the contents; they don't have corners that you have to dig into. And woks have curved bottoms to distribute heat better (although this is probably not the case for your pot).
posted by oddman at 7:47 PM on January 21, 2010

The thick rim and curved bottom of item D (not to mention the lengthwise scratch marks on it) make me think it is meant to slide inside something else. It reminds me of the metal canister from an ice cream maker, although I don't think that's it.
posted by Orinda at 9:36 PM on January 21, 2010

Best answer: My guess is that D is an insert for some kind of a double boiler machine. Not exactly, but kind of like a butter melter for a movie theatre- you half-fill the square part of that gadget with water, then slip in the insert thing (item D), then there's a pump top that would screw on. There's an electric element inside to heat the water, which then gently melts the butter without burning it. The one at my old movie theatre job was smaller than this so I'm not sure your item is related to cinema butter, but maybe melting nacho sauce at Taco Bell or a stadium, something like that that you might need in a larger quantity?
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:38 PM on January 21, 2010

Oh, and if it is indeed from a double boiler or butter pump (pump is the word you want, not melter as I typed above), then maybe it's curved to prevent people from standing the pot of butter on the stove to melt it, which would burn it? Or maybe to increase the surface area on the bottom? Or to make it easier to clean?
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:44 PM on January 21, 2010

" B " and " C " is indeed for flaring copper tubing as others have said. I used these in shop in high school.
posted by Taurid at 10:54 PM on January 21, 2010

Best answer: "A" is known as a banjo burner or hurricane burner in home brewing circles. "D" looks like an insert for a commercial bain-marie.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:15 AM on January 22, 2010

Response by poster: thanks everyone
posted by racecar at 11:25 AM on January 22, 2010