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Project Information

Jan 14, 2017

Now doesn't that look delicious? No, it's NOT wood. It's a corn starch based treat that's made with a cast iron cooking tool. I call them chinese pretzels. You can't just eat one.



Now that I now have a collection of these cast-iron molds and handles I need a better way of storing them instead of the cardboard boxes they came in so I designed a box in which to store and transport them.



The sides and ends were made with some scraps of walnut veneer plywood. A piece of 1/2 inch thick solid walnut was glued to the top edges to hide the plywood edges. The rest of the wood was 1/4 inch plywood.



The corners of the box were mitered. A 1/4 inch rabbet 3/8 inch deep was cut on the bottom edges of all sides of the box. On 3 sides of the box a 1/4 inch dado 3/8 inch deep was placed on the top inside edges of the sides and one end of the box sides for the sliding top.



A piece of solid walnut with mitered ends was glued on one end of the sliding top.



Nine dividers were made from 1/4" plywood and glued into carefully spaced and cut slots in the bottom with a scroll saw. The dividers were rough cut on the bandsaw and then put in stacks of 3 using double sided carpet tape. I used a template stuck to each stack and a pattern bit to make them all identical.



Each divider was glued to the front and back ends that formed the compartments that would hold the cast-iron molds.



The box was glued together and then the bottom assembly was glued into the bottom rabbet. A split wooden handle screwed to a polished piece of 1/2 inch wide piece of metal formed the handle which was screwed to the side of the box with #14 X 3/4 inch pan head screws.



The removable handles and cast iron molds fit perfectly in the box. Some of the irons were not the Griswold brand and they did not fit in the compartments so they had to be stored around the perimeter of the compartments.



The top sliding cover was decorated with scroll saw cut pieces of 1/8 inch thick solid oak that were traced from the cast-iron molds. Each piece was rounded over and glued to the top.



On the inside of the cover I used spray adhesive to attach the Chinese Pretzel recipe . To help protect the recipe I used clear packing tape over the recipe.



The box with the cast iron molds and handles weigh 6.5 pounds so the metal handle was the best option instead of a wood based handle which I was contemplating. I also think it looks better with the metal.



The handle was made so that it could be folded to take up less space.

Thanks for looking.

Comments and favorites welcomed and appreciated.

Gallery

Comments

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Looks delicious!

Nice box to store the utensils!
 

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Real nice looking work. One day I will be able to turn great looking pieces out. Im leaning new woodworking stuff everyday.
 

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Your last two posts are great. I need and will build the potting station and and organizer fro cookie templates.
 

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I'll be looking forward to trying this out when you come to visit me in Florida. Nice work Alex.
 

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Ken - When I come to visit you in Florida you'll have to remind me to bring you some
 

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Very nice and a project I will have to remember. It really brings home some childhood memories as we always had rosettes (struva) at Christmas. It was one of the traditions my Great Grandparents kept after leaving Norway. Never used a cornstarch recipe however.
 

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Great looking box Alex,
Very well constructed.

Bob
 

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Your projects are always so professionally planned and executed.
 

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Those look SO GOOD!!

In looking at the "molds", I cannot see how you would get what your pictures look like… Are the molds hollow on the other side pictured? I take it that you squeeze the batter into the mold… if not, what?

How do you COOK them? Oven? Deep fry? or what? Do you have to COOK one, then refill the mold to cook more? If so, it might take a long time to cook enough for a dinner for two… yes?

Can you give me a little guidance? I'd like to try it…

Your project is very nice…

What brand of molds do you have that are NOT Griswolds? Which ones do you like the best?

Thank you!
 

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Well designed and well executed!
 

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That's the word I was looking for … ROSETTES. Those are rosette irons.

This is the way you would use them with this corn starch based recipe.

Mix up the batter to about the consistency of latex paint … not too thick but not too runny.

Use an electric skillet with about 1/2 to 1 inch of peanut oil heated to 450 degrees.

Put the irons in the oil to heat up.

When the irons are really hot, take them out of the oil and lower it into the batter till the batter almost reaches the top. You don't want the batter to go over the top. Leave the iron in the batter for about 5 seconds and take it out and put it in the oil. If everything is right, the batter should start to cook on the iron and you can gently shake it up and down till the pretzel (rosette) falls off into the oil.

Wait till it gets a golden brown and flip it over. We use chop sticks to flip them. You could also use the rosette iron too flip them over.

When it's done remove the pretzel from the oil and place on paper towels that are laid over newspaper.

When the pan is full of pretzels, leave the iron in the oil so that it says hot.

Continue to cooking till all the batter is gone. You should end up with about 120 pretzels from one batch of the recipe … if you're lucky enough and haven't been eating them as you cook them … lol
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If you are lucky enough to have a rosette iron set or get one on eBay and want to try this recipe, send me a PM with your email and I'll send you the recipe.
 

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Extraordinary box for those cooking accessories. Too bad only sence of eye can enjoy here not taste.
 

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At my house, these are called Rosette Irons. They probably are found in many cultures, but mine are distinctly Norse.
I have my Mom's set of three irons and make a batch or two every Christmas. The batter is a thin egg, flour, milk mixture ….much like crepe batter. After dipping the preheated iron into the batter, they are deep fried and then dipped into sugar.
 

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Would that be like fancy funnel cake?

At my house, these are called Rosette Irons. They probably are found in many cultures, but mine are distinctly Norse.
I have my Mom s set of three irons and make a batch or two every Christmas. The batter is a thin egg, flour, milk mixture ….much like crepe batter. After dipping the preheated iron into the batter, they are deep fried and then dipped into sugar.

- jbschutz
 

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Excellent, makes me want to make some so I requested the recipe! Thanks for sharing.
 

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My mouth watered as soon as I saw the rosette in the picture. My favorite holiday treat to be sure!!!
Love the box. I'll be starting on something similar as soon as I can. I particularly like the handle storage solution, letting them wrap around the slots for the irons. Pure inspiration. Recipe glued to the inside of the box, perfect! The decorative rosettes on the lid will just tease you with the awesomeness to come. All around great project.
Just yesterday I received another half dozen designs of irons from ebay so your post could not have come at a better time. Thanks for sharing, and you're right, you definitely cannot eat just one!!! I feel like I've mastered self control if I can hold it back to just a dozen or so!
 

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This is a very cleverly thought out storage solution. Nicely done.
 

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Rosette Irons, we always sprinkle them with Powdered Sugar, then eat.
 

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Gittyup-Funnel cakes are different … they are made with a funnel … duh. These use CAST IRON molds that are dipped in the batter and then fried in oil.

jbschutz-I think rosettes use a different batter. You can sprinkle these with powdered sugar but I don't think it's necessary. They are good just as they are. I think if you try this recipe you'll like it better.
 
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