I made this drop lid from a piece of wood left from the construction of our tiny house lab. Let me present it to you…
A multisized lid
In this piece of wood, I cut a circle the size of our medium-sized pan.
It is a large lid for our small pans…
…and a small lid for our large pans.
A lid smaller than the pan, that rests directly on food, is used to simmer food in Japan. It is called ‘drop lid’ in English, and otoshi buta in Japanese. I like it as it reduces the volume that we need to heat up.
A multisize lid, that’s the 1st function of this lid.
A handle
To hold the lid without burning myself, I made a handle.
A safe and handy handle, that’s the 2nd function.
A lid that stands
Nice! But don’t you sometimes find yourself holding an oily lid that you don’t know where to put? I always make everything dirty with oily lids. I designed the handle so that it could also be used as a kind of foot. As it is symmetrical, one can always put it straight on the counter, whether one holds it with the left hand or the right hand.
A lid that can stand, that’s the 3rd function.
A spoon holder
Usually, though, there is a moment when I want to stir. I take the lid off, I stir, I put the lid back. Then, I find myself holding an oily spoon. Where to put it? I put it anywhere and, again, I make everything dirty. I needed some kind of minimalist spoon holder, so I integrated it into the handle.
I made an integrated spoon holder, that’s the 4th function.
A spoon holder that stands
And, wait. Sometimes, I take the lid off, but I don’t want to use the spoon right away. I want to add ingredients with both my hands. For instance, holding a chopping board with one hand, pushing the vegetable into the pan with my other hand. Hence, I needed another spoon holder.
A standing-mode spoon holder, that’s the 5th function.
And that’s it, it makes for a wonderful handy minimalist drop lid, doesn’t it?
But what about the 4 other functions?
I have to say, I discovered these 4 bonus functions by chance when I was using the lid.
A food display stand
While I was cooking this big green grain-free cookie, I realized the lid could nicely hold food when put upside-down.
A food display stand, that’s the 6th function.
A chopping board?
After cutting my pancake directly on the lid, I wondered if it could be used to chop vegetables. But it didn’t really work, it was not stable enough. Hence, chopping board is not the 7th function.
A trivet
When this lid is put upside-down, a normal person could also see it as an old-style trivet, convenient when my bamboo trivet is not available.
A trivet, that’s the actual 7th function.
A tiny stool!
An abnormal person, though, would see a beautiful mini-stool. Super convenient for picnics in the wild!
A tiny wood stool is the weird 8th function, but it is not the weirdest.
A hat?!
The 9th function: a unique-looking replacement hat.
And here is the deep teaching of this story: Although multifunctionality is great, it might have some limits…
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I am a kind of researcher-explorer. I am French, introverted, and hypersensitive. I value a lot freedom, creativity, and altruism. I am curious about almost anything, but I do have a preference for topics around simple living: permaculture, nature, craftsmanship, autonomy, philosophy, the mysteries of life… More about me and my work >
