What Izzit?

[lawman]

I got it right away but I'm 65.

[drive.google.com...]

[not2easy]

lol..I still see these things in stores. I won't give it away, but I don't think you need to be past 60 to know what it is, just sayin'.

[birdbrain]

see it in action [s3-eu5.ixquick.com]

birdbrain

[lawman]

They still use these things? Ha, used to use 'em on coffee cans, cans of spam. They would wind around the can and produce a sharp ribbon of metal.

[jimbeetle]

Man, now I'm remembering that Whoosh smell of coffee when the vacuum was broken.

[lucy24]

I still see these things in stores

With horrible corollary implication that the items they were used on are still in existence, though surely they're a few decades past the sell-by date by now? Coffee, OK, no harm done-- though probably also not much good-- but my immediate mental association was sardines.

I saw the subject header, didn't immediately register the subforum, and thought it was going to be another of keyplyr's robots.

[piatkow]

Corned beef is still shipped in oblong section cans with a key,

There are supposedly technical reasons why this makes it easier to extract the complete block of meat for slicing.

I have never worked on a deli counter so I don't know if any other processed meats are still shipped like this.

[not2easy]

Corned beef is what I've seen around still, and it is as fresh as other products in the store with either weeks or months to expiry. The commercial supply stores also offer ham and other meats in the same old type of packaging with the key on it.

[lucy24]

with the key on it

That's right! We didn't own the key thingie because it came on the package. (But in that case wouldn't incorporating a pull tab end up just as simple? It's the same type of seal.) And then if you're the kind of person who can never throw anything away, you end up with a drawerful of keys because some day one will be missing from the package and then you'll be glad you saved the other 42 of them.

[herb]

P38 I last used mine 1963

[diggerhistory.info...]

[lucy24]

:: detour to explore site ::

Gosh. I'd heard of tables for format, but using lists for format is a new one on me.

:: further detour to page source, which explains much ::

In my kitchen drawer I've got a butter curler. Neener-neener. (Also a cream separator-- the kind that fits in a glass milk bottle-- and a krumkake roller and, oh, lots of stuff. Enough for a Name That Thing quiz, possibly. I mean, you never know what you might need in 2027. Egg piercer doesn't count; I really use that.)

[Leosghost]

re P38* .. I last used mine about 3 hours ago..lives on one of my key rings with my car keys..
Most of the implements are hung on the kitchen wall, they get used daily..most are vintage.
Parmigiano-Reggiano ( can also be used for garlic ) press and grater..older than I am..
Butter curler..check
Olive pitter ..not to be confused with a cherry stoner..
Pinces for cracking crab claws..oyster knives..
Hand coffee bean grinders..pre WW2..one is even pre WW1..
More corkscrews ( this France ;) than you can shake a pair of 100 year old whisks at..
Hand operated things to make tomato puree with..and similar for making mashed potato..
etc..etc..
8 woks...none are electric..
One can never have too many woks..

I probably have few hundred kilos of kitchen tools ( owned a couple of restaurants, in the dim past )..and collect them ..Thought seriously of making a site to sell off some of my "doublons" ( can't remember the English word for things that I have two or more identical ones of ..Lucy ..help ? ) ..might yet do so..bought some domain names years ago, auto renew as all the others , but I haven't yet had the time to do it..

* Is that what it is really called ?..seems that I might have got a bunch of them in a military episode of my distant past..I think we would have called them .."folding combined bottle and tin openers..( forces personnel ).."for the use of"..But I can't see any makings on the one on my key ring..Usually the military stuff has markings..and serial numbers..for "marching in, and marching out"..

I may have a "chit" for it / them..or not.."Sorry Flight'..won't happen again"..

Tinned Coffee !..no thanks..I'll pass..likewise powdered eggs..and tubes of condensed milk..

[lucy24]

things that I have two or more identical ones of

You're looking for something fancier and more arcane than "duplicates" aren't you :(

Does a thing for making tomato puree really resemble a potato masher, or did you just mean similar in the sense of "hand-operated thing for making X". Do there exist potato-mashing machines?
<tangent>
I remember a litigant on courtroom TV saying that she was known for her cooking-- this had something or other to do with the case-- and when asked about the menu of the meal in question, one thing she listed was "home-made mashed potatoes". HUH? Why would someone who claims to be known for her cooking even need to specify "home-made"? It would be like someone bragging about their renown as a baker, and then announcing that they've made a cake from scratch.
</tangent>

tubes of condensed milk..

Does it keep forever? That would be a benefit. I think in Norway they put tomato paste in tubes, so you can use whatever amount you need instead of looking around for something to use up the remaining 2oz. of your opened can.

Hand coffee bean grinders.

I used to have one of those. Now I have an electric one but I've never used it for anything but grinding spices. Never buy anything pre-ground except ginger, which is qualitatively different from fresh root.

otoh I could never get the hang of a corkscrew. I have to use the kind with the two flat bits that fit around the cork. (I'm also inept at sharpening knives. Now that my father no longer lives within convenient knife-sharpening distance, I use a gadget someone gave me.)

And then there's the juicer that screws directly into the lemon, which cuts back on cleanup. Or it would if I could remember I own it.

:: wandering off to see if there's anything new [merriam-webster.com] ::

[not2easy]

I have one of those P38 thingies, kept in the Jeep for outings. I picked up a newer shiny one recently when we were out and too far from home.

Tomato paste in tubes sounds great, I already get tomato sauce in foil pouches that hold as much as a can but can be reclosed when you didn't want that much. I think the thing to make tomato puree by hand is a potato ricer, I have one that is a metal funnel shaped thing with perforations that fits on a little ring stand like you would use for a retort and you push the tomatoes or potatoes through the holes with a wooden pestle. Recently bought a Victorinox machine that can do the same work but without grinding my shoulder at the same time. There is a reason some things went out of style. ;)

[engine]

You guys! Hehehe. Bringing back memories.

Those keys are awful things. Well it is the resultant sharp edge that's left once opened that is the worst. And when the little tab breaks off no key can help.
I now use a modern can opener which can cope with the weird shape of the corned beef can: The new style can opener leaves no sharp edges exposed!

[johnhh]

Tomato paste in tubes.. we have that in the UK , I have some in the fridge, probably well past the 'use by' date !

Yep the key always seems to break off if not careful on corned beef.

Leosghost: We call it "doubles" probably from card colecting as a kid.

<aside> My daughter has a bean to cup coffee machine, fantastic, except for the price.</aside>