I waited a week before posting this, so I could give it a good tryout.
I picked up a Rival Little Dipper crock pot in a thrift store for $4.99. It was essentially brand new. Having seen posts on others using dip warmers for scuttles, I thought to give this 16 ounce dip heater a go as a lather heater. I have seen a number of these in thrift stores all at about $5. There is a photo of the item below.
Here is my review:
Pros- price; warms the lather quite well and keeps it very warm between passes; good size to bowl lather at 16 ounces; bowl is ceramic; there is some weight to it, so it stays put when using your brush; smaller than many available scuttles, seems to work well with lather from both soaps and creams. I tried KMF, Proraso creams and Tabac soap, so far.
Cons- short cord; needs to be plugged in about 15 minutes before you start using it to pre-warm; no on/off switch; uses power-35 watts; lather needs to be re-whipped between passes as the heat seems to affect consistency; cannot be submersed so it needs to be rinsed and toweled out. I use a paper towel for this.
Overall assessment- I will be continuing to use this product in my routine. IMHO the minor inconveniences are outweighed by having nice warm lather. We had a particularly cool morning last week and it was very, very nice.
I would not pay the $11-15 it seems to go for retail, but would do a little thrift shop shopping to find one. For $5 though, why not? Now, I have seen three of these in the last week here in Reno and we are a small city. Apparently, it is not a really useful kitchen appliance, but it seems to have a good use for us
Please let me have any feedback if you decide to dig one up and give it a go.
I picked up a Rival Little Dipper crock pot in a thrift store for $4.99. It was essentially brand new. Having seen posts on others using dip warmers for scuttles, I thought to give this 16 ounce dip heater a go as a lather heater. I have seen a number of these in thrift stores all at about $5. There is a photo of the item below.
Here is my review:
Pros- price; warms the lather quite well and keeps it very warm between passes; good size to bowl lather at 16 ounces; bowl is ceramic; there is some weight to it, so it stays put when using your brush; smaller than many available scuttles, seems to work well with lather from both soaps and creams. I tried KMF, Proraso creams and Tabac soap, so far.
Cons- short cord; needs to be plugged in about 15 minutes before you start using it to pre-warm; no on/off switch; uses power-35 watts; lather needs to be re-whipped between passes as the heat seems to affect consistency; cannot be submersed so it needs to be rinsed and toweled out. I use a paper towel for this.
Overall assessment- I will be continuing to use this product in my routine. IMHO the minor inconveniences are outweighed by having nice warm lather. We had a particularly cool morning last week and it was very, very nice.
I would not pay the $11-15 it seems to go for retail, but would do a little thrift shop shopping to find one. For $5 though, why not? Now, I have seen three of these in the last week here in Reno and we are a small city. Apparently, it is not a really useful kitchen appliance, but it seems to have a good use for us
Please let me have any feedback if you decide to dig one up and give it a go.
