What to do with this yard sale find?
April 7, 2010 12:37 PM Subscribe
I recently picked up two old stainless steel milk kettles (about 4 or 5 gallons each) and a 5 gallon pyrex glass jug. I don't know why I bought them since I don't know what I want to do with them, but for less than $10 for the lot, I couldn't pass them up. Any ideas?
Besides just using them as decoration or as flower pots, what else can I do with them? As a homebrewer / winemaker, I know that I can use the pyrex as a carboy, but I already have more than enough carboys...
Besides just using them as decoration or as flower pots, what else can I do with them? As a homebrewer / winemaker, I know that I can use the pyrex as a carboy, but I already have more than enough carboys...
For the glass jug, you could make your own little biosphere. Some of those last quite a long time. The folks at Makezine have one which is three years old.
Or you could take the four gallon milk kettle and the five gallon glass jug and try to figure out how to fill up one of them with exactly three gallons of water.
posted by adipocere at 1:01 PM on April 7, 2010
Or you could take the four gallon milk kettle and the five gallon glass jug and try to figure out how to fill up one of them with exactly three gallons of water.
posted by adipocere at 1:01 PM on April 7, 2010
As a homebrewer, then, you should also know that a lot of other homebrewers will pay good money for that glass carboy. You can't get them anymore. Profit?
posted by Thorzdad at 1:06 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by Thorzdad at 1:06 PM on April 7, 2010
You can't get them anymore
Yes you can.
If you're not inclined to use them yourself for anything, I'd try selling them to an antique dealer. You'll probably get more than $10 for each milk jug, depending on how common they are in your area.
But the home distillation sounds fun and interesting. I bet you could also cut one down into a kettle for homebrewing.
posted by dubold at 1:47 PM on April 7, 2010
Yes you can.
If you're not inclined to use them yourself for anything, I'd try selling them to an antique dealer. You'll probably get more than $10 for each milk jug, depending on how common they are in your area.
But the home distillation sounds fun and interesting. I bet you could also cut one down into a kettle for homebrewing.
posted by dubold at 1:47 PM on April 7, 2010
They make great "spare change" jars. Toss your pocket change into it at the end of the day and when it fills up, take it to Coinstar!
posted by The otter lady at 1:51 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by The otter lady at 1:51 PM on April 7, 2010
when it fills up, take it to Coinstar!
Of course, that assumes that you are either Superman or the Incredible Hulk.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:56 PM on April 7, 2010
Of course, that assumes that you are either Superman or the Incredible Hulk.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:56 PM on April 7, 2010
You should send the carboy to me. I'll mail you a couple six-packs in return. Seriously.
posted by box at 2:43 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by box at 2:43 PM on April 7, 2010
i assume by milk kettles you mean something like this? i've seen them used for umbrella stands before. paint it & sit it just inside the foyer/door. if your porch is big enough, you could actually paint it with an exterior paint & leave it on the porch for the same purpose.
posted by msconduct at 3:19 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by msconduct at 3:19 PM on April 7, 2010
Response by poster: Some really good ideas. So far, I like ecurtz idea of a still the best, but then I run the risk of nosy neighbors (and they are very nosy)! I have a friend who has been talking about making a still. I might give one to him.
-box- This thing is heavy! Much heavier than a carboy...Sending it would cost too much so I might look into adipocere's idea of a biosphere since that would be fun to do with the nephews.
The coin idea would be good, but I picked up an old church donation bin at a yard sale and that's where all the change goes. (Never put your hands in a donation bin since razor sharp teeth protect the coins.)
posted by toddst at 3:20 PM on April 7, 2010
-box- This thing is heavy! Much heavier than a carboy...Sending it would cost too much so I might look into adipocere's idea of a biosphere since that would be fun to do with the nephews.
The coin idea would be good, but I picked up an old church donation bin at a yard sale and that's where all the change goes. (Never put your hands in a donation bin since razor sharp teeth protect the coins.)
posted by toddst at 3:20 PM on April 7, 2010
toddst: I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I could pay your shipping costs.
posted by box at 3:29 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by box at 3:29 PM on April 7, 2010
umbrella catch near the front door of the kettle mouth is big enough.
posted by deezil at 4:21 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by deezil at 4:21 PM on April 7, 2010
Pickling jug?
posted by CharlesV42 at 4:33 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by CharlesV42 at 4:33 PM on April 7, 2010
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posted by ecurtz at 12:54 PM on April 7, 2010