Episode 7: Revere: The Celebrity Favorite Heirloom Cookware

Dive into the world of top-tier cookware in this episode as we explore the timeless charm of Revere, America's favorite heirloom brand, and compare it with the elegant French craftsmanship of Mauviel. Discover what makes these legendary cookware lines stand out in kitchens around the world—perfect for home cooks and culinary enthusiasts alike. Whether you're looking to elevate your cooking game or just love great stories about iconic kitchen tools, this episode is packed with rich history, practical insights, and entertaining banter. Hit play and find out why these cookware legends continue to capture hearts and kitchens everywhere!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Greetings. Welcome to episode seven of the One Percentile Podcast. In this case, I'm going to be talking about an American invention of which uh in which they created the world's finest pots and pans. Now, uh for hundreds of years, the United States uh they were using uh uh cast iron cast iron uh pots and pans that had handles on them, and when the uh uh pans got hot, you had to use uh a towel or something like that to be able to pick them up. And so what uh a company which is called back then it was called uh Revereware, they decided to create stainless steel pans. And what they did is they uh developed and patented what is known as electroplating, and they would electroplate the bottom of these stainless steel pans with uh copper. And the idea of the copper is that it would spread the heat over the entire pan, and thus they didn't have any hot spots. Also, what they did is they attached a handle uh to each of these pans and it was made of uh bakelite, and consequently, the bakelite would not uh uh pick up any of the heat, so you could pick it up without having to worry about uh uh burning your hands. And this was done in 1939. Now, these pans were kind of expensive, and so were the pots, but what would happen is that uh when a uh a woman is going to get married or something like that, uh their parents or their friends would go and they would buy these full sets of uh revereware, and they would give them to them as a uh wedding present, and they were really well constructed, and they lasted so long that they would pass them down to their children. And and and this went on until 1970. And in 1970, uh one of the uh engineers at um his name was Kennedy, uh, was um working for uh revereware, and he invented and and got patent a way of taking this stainless steel and being able to put a solid copper uh bottom to it, and they had to put in a chemical between the stainless steel and the solid copper, and then they put it under great pressure and they got a patent for that.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

So they started selling these, and this is one of them right here. Here's the pan.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

This is copper, thick copper, and here is the inside, it's stainless steel. And the point of being is that the copper would spread the heat and had elevated sides here, and when you had to clean the inside, it was stainless steel, it didn't rust, and you could use uh uh you know SOS uh pads on it and everything else like that. So consequently, you had a pan that would uh spread the heat, and you could clean it, you could put it in the uh dishwasher, you could do anything. And then what they did also is to make it really look lovely, they attached a uh remember it's copper, stainless steel, and then they uh put on these bronze handles, and the bronze handles were held on with three rivets.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Now they also did the same thing with the uh covers bronze, copper, stainless steel.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

They sold these for about ten years, and um uh they they were so beloved and so useful is that uh again the the parents would give them to their sons or daughters because they were transferable. You never threw any of these things away. And here is uh what are the pots? There it is, stainless steel, there's all the copper right there, and and here's the handle. Now, you you didn't have to have a uh you know a dishcloth or something like that to pick up the handle because eventually the handles did absorb uh some of the heat, but they were so beautiful that uh they never had a problem with that, and the same thing with the uh the curves.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Now, there was a company uh in France that had a 400-year reputation, and what they did is they also made copper pans and pots, and this is one of them.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

And what they did is they had to go in and put in uh uh it's called tin, it's called tinning. Now the tin would be inside the copper, and thus the uh the uh the food that's being cooked or boiled or whatever it would be uh would not be transferred to the food. But the problem with the tin is that it wore out and it would start to flake out, and this is why uh the uh pans that uh Revere made with the stainless steel, they completely uh made these kinds of pots and pans obsolete. In fact, here is one of the uh uh this is you know one of the uh items that uh they use for hundreds of years. The cast irons.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

The cast iron pots and pans. And this is how you had to pick them up. No. When you cook with these, they develop a patina. Now this is this is one of them right here. There's a virgin pan, never been used, okay?

SPEAKER_01 7:09

But when you cook with them, and I cook with these things, and uh and and whenever I make uh eggs, uh I would always use this pan because uh this would hold two eggs, and you can scramble them, or it's uh you know, sunny cider or upside down, however you want. But it would have a patina, but the copper would still conduct. Now, eventually uh there is this, as I mentioned before, this French company that made these pans uh waited until the patents in America ran out. Then they decided, okay, let's take uh the idea uh and and and and make these pans in France, but they would make the copper thicker because they were gonna make it better than what these were. So the copper is thicker, the stainless steel is thicker, and uh, but they still had they still added a uh a handle to it, which was bronze. Now, the the problem that uh these pans had is that they had three rivets that went through the copper into the uh the stainless steel, but reviewerware wanted to have it look really really nice. So they machined this part right here down, uh, and and there were times when people would put too much food and uh in them, and and they pick them up and the handles would work loose. So, this other company, what they did is they had the the rivets go all the way through, and so they never had that problem, and that was inspiration for the Americans and for the French to complete two completely different kinds of pans, and they changed the world. These pans that the French are making are used by some of the great cooks uh in uh in the world, and um and they're very expensive. Now, uh Oprah Winfrey, uh, when when she first started out uh and and and bought a house, uh she'd have people go through the house and and you know, because she was very pre proud of it, and they'd go to the uh the kitchen, and she had these pans hanging from the kitchen. And what were they? They were all of these. These are the revere wares. Later, when uh Oprah Winfrey uh bought another house and she had a lot more money. Uh she'd have people go through their house again, a new one, and go to the uh the kitchen. And guess what? These are these new French pans hanging from there. And uh and that's that's the story of it. Now uh we we have some pictures of what the uh and here's one of the pictures of what the uh uh 1939 uh pot looked like.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

We have another picture that shows what the uh 1939 uh skillet looked like. Now the question is, where can you find these things?

SPEAKER_01 10:55

And they're sold on eBay. And what happens is that remember, you don't throw these things away. And so the parents they give them to their children, and then their children give them to their children, and eventually uh they get you know something newer or and and they'll uh start to uh put them on eBay to sell. Now, eBay will they still have some of the original pans that are in the box and everything else like that. So you'll get them looking like this. However, a lot of them have been used, and they have, you know, they they have this patina of being used. However, when you buy them, because they are used, you can get them at a really good price. All you have to do is get some copper cleaner, and you can just clean them like that, and they're gonna end up looking like this eBay. As Steve Jobs would say, one more thing, and that is uh I've reviewed uh a number of different people's broadcasts, and in the background, they would you know have these bookcases full of books. And what I want to do is on my back, my background, I wanted uh the the viewers to get an idea of the various uh interests that I have and things like that. And I as a child I was raised uh in a family uh with firearms, and I used to go hunting, and so I want to show you uh some additions that I've added to the background. The first one is this Winchester, it's a 3030 lever action, and this is the gun that won the West. Okay, below it is a uh is a lever action, below it is a a Winchester uh 264 Magnum, and it's a bolt action, and uh they are both classic uh rifles, and they are Winchesters. In conclusion, I want to add, and I have to read this. Please hit the like and subscribe buttons. All my links are down below, including my Patreon, which is now up and running, that includes exclusive content not found on YouTube. Thank you for watching.