Best yard sale kitchen gadget find?
My mom and Aunt dragged my yard sale-ing over the weekend. Turns out, I was the biggest purchaser! I walked away with a food mill and a small cast iron pan with a patina so smooth I think it must have been used (and loved) for 30+ years. Total cost? $1.50. In your face Sur La Table (who wanted to charge me $40 for a food mill)!
What was your best yard sale find for kitchen equipment? My Aunt made off with a canning pot and rack for $3. Now if I can just get her to jar some plums...
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12 Comments:
My best find of late has been one of those hand-cranked stove-top popcorn poppers. A next-door neighbor was selling it in a yard sale and gave it to me free at the end of the day after numerous fools had passed it up.
I was popping corn in a large 12-quart pot, since I don't have a microwave, and this makes things much easier—no more having to shake the pot back and forth to avoid kernel burn.
Makes me want to watch movies just to eat fresh-popped popcorn!
Adam Kuban at 5:41PM on 08/20/07
Wow, I won't remember them all, but I find lots of great stuff at yard sales. First off, a $100 famous name pan and glass lid eons ago for $10, had never been used, it was "too heavy" for the gal (she needed the exercise, trust me). A faboo breadmachine just like my trusty Hitachi for $5.00, now I can run "dualling breadmachines". A fifties Dormeyer stand mixer in CHROME finish for $5,
An Aeternum pressure pan (they couldn't figure out how the lid went on) for $5 in the box, probably brand new, an immersion blender for a buck...... A really nice food processor for a couple bucks.
Also lots of older kitchen tools which were certainly made much sturdier than the new junk you buy cheap, and lots of items in "free" boxes just because the sellers didn't want to bother with them. We ALWAYS check yard sales for knives, and have found at least one that we figured was an almost $200 knife, it was $1 in the bottom of a box......
dmzapp at 6:12PM on 08/20/07
Best find was definitely a barely used salad spinner, retail $35, for $5. And the brand new espresso maker for $5 (wedding gift, never used) was pretty awesome. I think that model retailed for about $50. Most of my other appliances have been gifted or handed down to me, but I definitely keep an eye out at yard sales!
nerdling at 7:00PM on 08/20/07
Cuisinart food scale new in the box, $1, right when I started Weight Watchers. Perfect.
orangemiles at 9:57PM on 08/20/07
Not really a gadget, but I have found several good vintage cookbooks at minimal price.
JEP at 5:40AM on 08/21/07
best buy I ever found at a yard sale was a cast iron dutch oven about 40 yrs old, this thing was so well used but also cared for, .50 cents. I still use it constantly, especially camping. I also found a great mandoline brand new with a set of 5 blades still in the box for 2$
huney_bumper at 8:47AM on 08/21/07
Guess I should go yard sale-ing more often!
They don't count as gadgets, but I found a full set of French, clear glass dishes/cups/saucers, etc. for $5 at a garage sale once. I've since given them to the women's shelter, but they served me well for many years.
hereandthe at 9:28AM on 08/21/07
Vintage corn-on-the-cob holders, with cow-handles to stab into the base of the cob; cast iron skillets, including a tiny skillet for toasting herbs; and I know some people eschew them, but I bought an antique Deco electric egg cooker that works perfectly every time, and there's no "greening" of the outer yolk, contrary to everyone's assumptions about electric egg cookers. Also the poacher insert is indispensable.
Tom Steele at 10:45AM on 08/21/07
I definitely need to go yard sale-ing more often! Of course I have no more space to store additional small appliances so I'll either have to purge before I splurge or wait until our new house is built...in 3 years.....
My finds are lame compared to some of these: a Better Homes and Gardens bread book that I adore and an older Tupperware colander that was dirt cheap compared to what you'd pay for a new one. I use both items frequently so they've totally paid for themselves time and again.
AuntJone at 11:24AM on 08/21/07
A glass lemon juicer, the kind with an attached bowl, for about fifty cents. :)
Christina at 4:05PM on 08/21/07
I picked up a Bread Machine last week at a garage sale when I was taking a walk around the neighborhood. We've been having fresh bread every few days since then.
firewren at 4:06PM on 08/21/07
A used, but perfectly functioning, waffle iron for like $5. We've used it at least 20 times in the past two years, and it never fails us!
ChristineB at 7:17PM on 08/22/07