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Pasta Fazool

W. Hilditch

Active member
Pasta Fazool (e fagioli)
6/25/11 Pg 602 MB
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1 lg. clove of garlic chopped
1 tbsp Olive oil
Some parsley, basil, oregano & crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups of water & three chicken bouillon cubes
1 tomato peeled & chopped
1 - 8 oz can of tomato sauce
About a cup of small pieces of cooked pasta or more
1 can of Great Northern, Navy or .......... beans

Sauté the first three in olive oil in a large saucepan until tender.
Add the rest & season to taste. Simmer & serve w/fresh bread.



Hilditch
 
Hey Hilditch, what manufacture is that pan? BSR, Lodge, something on that order? (See, the things ARE useful--scrubbing aside!:chuckle:)
 
Sharon, a previous owner was nice enough to take a grinding wheel to what was on the bottom. I can get a ghost of 2 QT but not what was under that, if anything. It is a short space so I’m guessing maybe just China. The lid just has a small 2 inside. I’m also guessing foreign as this 2 qt. pan only holds 1 3/4 qt. to the brim. First $100 bucks takes it!



Eric, it is BSR’ish but the handle at a full 6” seems a little out of scale. If just the 2 QT was on the bottom I see no need for the grinder. ??

Hilditch

---------- Post added at 01:13 AM ---------- Previous post was Yesterday at 11:56 PM ----------

Eric & Sharon, you encouraged me to do some homework tonight & with the pics/info on Modemac was able to nail this down exactly. It is a BSR early Century circa 1960. It was larger than 1 1/2 qts. so I guess they rounded up and that 6” handle was standard. Thank you both.

Hilditch
 
It is a BSR early Century circa 1960. It was larger than 1 1/2 qts. so I guess they rounded up and that 6” handle was standard. Thank you both.

Hilditch

Actually 1966 or later, which is when they moved the size mark from the handle to the bottom. That's also around when they switched to DISAMATIC automation, and the automation switch is when they started using tabbed lids on lower-production models such as for saucepans and camp ovens / spider skillets. Tabbed lid handles could be cast in a single step with the lid instead of a loop handle, which requires additional work after the original cast. I've never seen one with that ring on it like yours, though.

Modemac is pretty much my main source for BSR info. When you were digging around there, in case you missed it he has a separate page dedicated to their saucepans.
http://www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Saucepans_by_Birmingham_Stove_and_Range
 
But no Made in the USA?

Hilditch

---------- Post added at 02:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 AM ----------

This had 5/16th font. I got my info from your suggested page. I'm confused as to what it would show between when Century was started in the 50's and 1966.

Hilditch
 
Yeah you're right, modemac has a lot of great info but some of the details from one page to another can sometimes seem a little contradictory. I assume it's from him learning more information but not always updating every relevant detail site-wide. Here's my understanding:

The change from Red Mountain to Century happened in 1957. But it was only a branding change, only affected the labels; the holloware was produced using the exact same patterns and manufacturing methods, and in most cases examples of Red Mountain and early Century are indistinguishable.

It wasn't until the introduction of DISAMATIC automated production that things changed; the earlier patterns were not compatible so they had to make new ones. This conversion to automation started producing items in 1966. And Century series produced via automation are distinguishable from the earlier manual ones.

As a result, early Century produced prior to automation are often called Red Mountain these days, since there's no practical difference. Modemac's pages are an example of that, as his main BSR page clearly delineates the Red Mountain to Century switch as 1957, yet his saucepan page lists Red Mountain as to 1966, where he dates the markings.

But any 2 QT saucepans made prior to 1966 would show Red Mountain markings regardless of which brand they were sold under, and those markings on the pot were 2QT on the top of the handle near where it met the pot. Since yours had the markings on the bottom, that indicates it was one made after the conversion to automation, so at least 1966.

And then the lids for this saucepan, apparently there is a distinguisher between Red Mountain and early pre-automation Century, and that is RM had basting dimples on the underside of the lid while Century were smooth. Personally I'm unsure if the timing of dropping the dimples and changing of brand names were exactly synced. But post-automation, they switched from loop to tabbed lid handles for the reason I mentioned earlier.

But the "Made in USA" question, I overlooked that - apparently there was nearly a two-year gap between the switch to automation and the inclusion of the "Made in USA" markings, which started in late 1967 through 1968. Thus there are examples of post-automation Century that are not marked "Made in USA", and that narrows the manufacture date of your saucepan down to between 1966 and 1968.

I want to qualify all this as that I'm entirely dependent on the accuracy of modemac's info; I certainly wasn't involved 1st person.

And apologies for going into this detail on your recipe thread, though the saucepan in question was used to make the recipe. Hopefully the topic was relevant enough to warrant inclusion here.
 
OK Eric. I appreciate the explanation. I'll call it a '66. I can understand them dragging their feet on new saucepan patterns. BTW, I think the ring on the lid is forged as the ends meet perfectly. Thanks again.

Hilditch
 
Thanks for the information and the recipe, guys. I'm going to have to try to make some of this. Now the temp. is cooling off, it's soup and stew time. The Wicked Witch soup was very good, even though I had to use the substitutes (I just couldn't find any trolls), so I'm trusting Hilditch has come up with another tasty idea.
 
You’re welcome. Some times when the poor make do they come up with comfort food winners. Not only with rich flavor, but like with pasta fazool one gets carbs, protein & vitamins too. Although not as nutritious, Southern poor-do - biscuits and gravy - is a pleasure to eat & will keep you going until the next meal.

Hilditch
 
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