Thrifting for the Kitchen

We love thrifting&mdash we could end the post right then and there. We try to go thrifting every weekend and if we don't make it, it's just that much more exciting when we get to go again. We've come home with plenty of treasures for the home, but it hasn't been until recently that we've started looking at items for the kitchen.

We previously mentioned in our What Is Your Favorite Kitchen Must-Have post that we really wanted a cast iron skillet and had been eyeing up the one in our boyfriends mothers kitchen. We wanted one that was already seasoned and didn't see the point in spending a lot of money on a brand new one.

While scouring the land of New Jersey, we went to our favorite thrift store &mdash Village Thrift. My boyfriend (who is usually one to go straight to the artwork and if he doesn't find anything, just sits there and waits for me) called me over to take a look at something. When I realized he was holding not one, but, two cast iron skillets &mdash I was thrilled.

We noticed the rust right away and turned to our iPhone. We googled how to get rid of rust on a cast iron skillet and found instructions (just need a potato, vinegar and an oven). Once we realized how easy it would be to remove the rust, we scooped them up. The larger pan sold for $10.90 and the smaller one for $4.90.

During the same trip, we also happend to come across a wonderful green glass bowl (sold for $1.00). We always have lemons, tomatoes and pappers around the house &mdash so we figured this would be perfect! We have white walls in the kitchen (we're not allowed to paint) and the green mixed with the vibrant veggies really pops against the white background and table.

What Kitchen items have you found at the thrift store?

(Images: Kristen Lubbe)

Comments (37)

vintage pyrex, of course! only the vintage stuff is made from borosilicate.

Fondue pot, toaster, electric rotisserie/grill, blender found at estate sales...all super cheap and in super great condition.

I bought two cast-iron pans a few months ago...the kind they put your fajita meat on at restaurants...small and oval-shaped. I think I spent less than $10 for the pair. I have yet to clean them up though. Glad to hear it can be done easily! (The main technique I found back then involved lard and a large bucket and several weeks.)

I buy lots of thrifted things for the kitchen! I've found several casserole dishes, some vintage Fire King baking dishes which'll last probably forever...pitchers, mugs, and I'm also growing a collection of unique wine glasses. I've also got my eyes open for individual-size baking dishes.

I do LOTS of kitchen thrifting. :)

The best, recent haul was a red Dansk Kobenstyle stock pot for $10. Other finds include various cast iron skillets and Pyrex ware, most of my cake pans, a Dru enameled cast iron pot, assorted jugs and mixing bowls and an almost unused Presto pressure canner for ~$20 or so.

Tumblers! I love my charmingly mismatched glassware. Also, casserole dishes, heatproof silicone spatulas, metal mixing bowls, you name it. I'm a student and thrifting took a huge load off of my wallet when setting up a new kitchen.

I got a fabulous enameled cast iron pan that someone left out on the corner the other week. It's orange and beautiful and 70's tastic and that someone would throw it away saddens me.

I also got a breadmaker for $10, which then broke when it threw itself off my counter during its second or third use (no, seriously, it must have been suicidal or something).

I'm about to start looking for mason jars, since it's almost canning season again.

I've purchased all of my old cast iron cookware from resale stores. Baking them in a self cleaning oven for an hour then cleaning up the remaining rust with steel wool has made them as good as new! I also recently found a Wagner ware aluminum roaster with lid for $6!

Mixing bowls, my beautiful hand thrown and painted fruit bowl ($4), another hand made pie plate, coffee mugs, extra plates for guests, large glass jars for storing dry goods, and art to go over the sink. Our apartment is decked out in thrifted wares, and we get complimented on our style constantly. Love love love.

@kestrel127 - I found a 13 inch cast iron skillet in the GARBAGE at work. It came with a donation and someone had just thrown it out! I gave it a good home.

I got an awesome vintage cake carrier awhile back that everyone tries to steal from me. I'm on the look out for a cake stand, preferably with a lid, and tart pans right now. I know if I wait long enough that I'll find them!

A vintage champagne bucket and a madeleine pan are my two best garage/estate sale finds. I also collect old Sunset magazine cookbooks and have picked up a handful of them over the years.

I wait to find any uni-tasker items I want at thrift stores, usually barely used or completely unused still with stickers on them.

My mini popover pan, waffle iron, L'Equip juicer, Soyajoy auto soymilk maker, Zoji rice cooker, white oval Crockpot, large cast iron skillet with lid, mini cast iron skillet, Magnalite roaster, all canning supplies, 7-pc CathrineHolm bowl set, and a spare Kitchenaid mixer (for the lake cabin) were all found while thrifting. I've also gone through a couple of thrifted ice cream machines and bread machines. Those are forever showing up.

And don't get me started on our dining and serving pieces. I pick up anything I recognize design-wise (Dansk IHQ, Eva Zeisel, Pyrex, Paul McCobb, Ben Seibel, etc.) and like to give it to the right friends if it doesn't work in our place.

I didn't thrift my cast iron pan, but I did rescue it from a pointless existence in my parents' garage. My mother was all too happy to give it to me after having used it just once, 20 years ago. It was rusty and smelled like rancid cooking oil.

I love thrifting for my kitchen!

My faves: vintage pyrex, 2 wagner cast iron skillets, commercial grade pots, a super old pale yellow Le Creuset pot (my fave), vintage coffee mugs, utensils...awesome!

-A cast iron pan: $2 (I'm tackling it tonight...it has rust and needs to be re-seasoned.)

-A bright yellow dutch oven made by Dansk: $4

-Pyrex casserole dish with lid: $3

We also buy various plates and mugs there, when we find a cool design. Also, spoons. We use spoons more than any other utensil, and individual spoons at normal stores are expensive.

The kitchen stuff is always the first place we look. One thing that I passed up that I still kick myself over was this vintage glass pitcher with a lid, with citrus on it. I didn't think I would use it, but realized later I could make different flavored iced teas by the batch, not the cup. I went back the next day and it was gone.

@hmo Accoring to Snopes (and a couple other sites I found), that might not be such a good thing. Soda lime glass is much more resistant to breakage from impact, though less resistant to thermal shock (dumping a hot glass pan into cold water, for example). Personally, I'm far more likely to drop something so I'll happily take the soda lime glass.

My favorite thrift find for my kitchen is my pickle jar. It's one of the ones with the wire closure and rubber gasket and I use it for red onion pickles.

A bright red electric wok! It is great for stir fries.

omg, i went thrift shopping earlier today! found a maneki neko tea set for $10. very similar to this one except with a black top on the pot (could be a replacement but fits perfectly) and no country markings:

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/headsupvintage/item/TSET-100

also found a scalloped edge white milk glass bowl for $7, two tablecloths for $1.50 each and a bunch of assorted measuring cups/spoons (always need two of the same size it seems) for $2.

never seen pyrex or cast iron at my local thrifts, too picked over. however, at the monthly flea market in alameda, i've nabbed several pieces.

My husband told me he was stopping by our local thrift store the other day and I told him to be on the lookout for a heart-shaped cookie cutter.

He brought one back home for $.50! Perfect! It made some lovely Hot Chocolate Hearts!

http://practicalepicure.blogspot.com/

Pretty vintage glass jars for dried beans and grains, two butter dishes (a pretty ceramics one and a vintage silver one), pyrex or other glass tupperware, and cookie cutters! Also art work, some shelving for our kitchen, place mats, and our compost bucket.
I regret passing up an amber turkey salt nest a couple of months ago--especially after pricing them out on eBay! :(

Oh, also almost all of my fancy or specialty dessert pans are from thrifting: coeur de creme molds, madeleine pans, long rectangular tart pans, baba au rhum mold, savarin mold, round french tart tins, heavy Nordicware molds.

I can't bear to pay the premium for these specialty items since I don't know if they'll get regular use but I'm more willing to take a chance on them if they're under $5.

le creuset skillet for $9! :)))

My favorites are a bright orange Le Creuset skillet, several Griswold pans of different diameters (all in beautiful shape), a cast iron griddle ($2, compared to $50 new), and Waterford crystal wine glasses. Oh, and a gorgeous bone china tea set. Thrift stores can be a treasure trove of kitchenware.

I don't have any myself, but if people have photos of their thrifted kitchen bits please put them up!

I mean, put links up.

I found a red le Creuset dutch oven, the best find ever, for only 3 euro's!!

Just this weekend we found a beautiful tea pot for $5. We've been wanting to buy one for a while now, and this worked out perfectly.

kitchen items are my favorite thrift purchases. There is always a great selection, and the hunt is half the fun :) I picked up a really cute (and funny) Pyrex 1qt covered casserole the other day for $.99. It's mostly white with orange/yellow chickens! I had never seen anything like it before. It made me laugh.

My brother got married back in October, and while they were hunting down essentials for their soon-to-be condo, he mentioned that he wanted a breadmaker but couldn't justify putting it on their registry when there were lots of other things they needed more. (We got spoiled growing up on Mom's homemade bread.) I was looking around a thrift store, probably for clothes, and looked at the housewares on a total whim and found a breadmaker that still had the original manual with it for $5! He cleaned it out and tested it that night and it worked just fine.

Bowls and more bowls, pans, pyrex loaf pan, cake stands, dish sets, equestrian-theme glassware, funny mugs for work...

I have bought a lot of vintage Pyrex, and Fire King. Vintage jars with red lids, a good deal recently was finding a set of 3 colorful Crate & Barrel mixing bowls for $3 that I use everyday for fruit, onions, whatever. I love thrifting for the kitchen!

I love thrifting store shopping! In fact, I'm going later today!
I have found so many great finds at thrift stores. Kitchen finds have been bar ware such as decanters, brandy snifters, and shot glasses. It's also a great place to find vintage silverware and dinnerware. I've written a couple posts about my thrift store finds. Here's one about kitchen thrift store finds (and a camera tripod for $3.99!)

http://themodestkitchen.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/more-thrift-store-finds/

I got a great turquoise, 19th-century style tin that's perfect for keeping a five pound bag of flour. I got two great French glass storage jars, some good plates and glasses, cute teapots, and many decorative tins. I used to go thrifting quite a lot for kitchen things.

always vintage pyrex, enamel cast iron le creuset and descoware.... always <$5

How can you tell whether a piece of Pyrex is made from borosilicate?

I just picked up an 8" Wagner skillet at an antique store yesterday! Apparently I looked like a woman scorned, carrying it around the store :P

Anyway, I'm excited to try it out!

This is great. I was looking up how to clean and season a cast iron skillet i found thrifting, and came across this article. I also found a dansk 3qt dutch oven and about 20 small wine glasses for my wedding. Stoked.