Cooking Utensils

Note on Utensils: Some of the Utensils Mentioned have a quote by Johnson at the end of sentences. Samuel Johnson was the author of A Dictionary of the English Language. London, 1755.

Descriptions and Uses

1. Back: A cast-iron plate standing upright at the back of the fireplace to reflect heat.
2. Basin: "A small vessel to hold water." (Johnson)
3. Basinet: A small wooden bowl.
4. Bowl: A vessel to hold liquids, rather wide than deep
5. Butter Churner: A device used to churn and make butter.
6. Chopping knife: "A knife with which cooks mince their meat." (Johnson)
7. Earthenware: Potter's work; clay turned and shaped into bowls, jugs, and other vessels for the kitchen; fired in a kiln and glazed.
8. Gib-croke or Gib-crook: A pot-hook.
9. Mortar: "A strong vessel in which materials are broken by being pounded with a pestle." (Johnson)
10. Pail: "A wooden vessel in which water or milk commonly is carried." (Johnson)
11. Peel: A slice or thibble.
12. Pewter: "The plates and dishes in a house." (Johnson)
13. Posnet: A little skillet, though more commonly a little basin or porringer, sometimes on a tripod base.
14. Pot-brake, pot-crook, pot-hook: A trammel to hold pots; also commonly called a claw or lifter.
15. Prong: A kind of fork.
16. Salamander: A browning iron with a long handle used to brown or toast the surface of roasts or pastry.
17. Sauce-pan: "A small skillet with a long handle in which sauce or small things are boiled." (Johnson)
18. Skillet: Originally a deep, footed pan with a cover.
19. Thibble or Thible: A slice; skimmer; spatula.
20. Trammel: An adjustable rack from which pots were hung above the fire.

Pictures

1. For Images of Pot Hooks, Please See Colonial Kitchens, Their Furnishings, and Their Gardens p262
2. For Images of Butter Churners, Please See Country Cooking: Recipes and Utensils from Rural America p32

Sources: Country Cooking: Recipes and Utensils from Rural America p32 and Colonial Kitchens, Their Furnishings, and Their Gardens p249-282 (See Bibliography)