Taking A Chance

W

W. Hilditch

Active member
I bought a new 2 gallon long legged spider cauldron/pot. No writing on it except the #3 on the pot and the lid. I was told it was make in China and was pre-seasoned with flaxseed oil, neither of which I can prove. After doing some grinding to get the top to fit better and clean up some rough spots I sanded the interior with course paper to take off some of the mountain tops that would have eaten my wood spoons. The pre-seasoning seemed quite soft. Not lodge quality, but it comes in third.

After cleaning I cooked 3 batches of popcorn in canola, touched up the bare spots with lard, sprayed the outside with a canola mist, and baked it for an hour and a half at 480° F letting it cool in the oven. Next will be a couple of small batches of bacon. After I take the bacon out, the grease will be left in the pot and I’ll throw in some sacrificial popcorn. Wipe it out, one more round in the oven and it should be ready to cook.

I just hope that original coating of flaxseed oil or whatever it is sticks and hardens up.

Hilditch
 
My pre-seasoning is done. Before the final bake at 490° for close to two hours I did 4 strips of bacon, 2 @ and two batches of popcorn. It just didn’t look right after 1 hour - blotchy. I even discovered what the cooks knew in the 1800’s. If you don’t have canola or peanut oil handy, popcorn cooked in bacon grease is really, really good. After the oven the pot was heated on the stove to smokin’ and the original coating has held up to the flame and interior heat. I like this pot. The legs are 4” tall on the outside and is basically the same as the one on Pg. 63 of the grey book, but now made in China. The pot is ready for cookin’. Note: the inside is not near a rough as it looks in the pic.




Hilditch
 
Thanks again, Hilditch! This is a nice exposition on how a new piece of CI can be made ready to use. I like the old ones very much, but it is really good to see how to make a new piece as useful as an old one.
 
Pot, cauldron, potjie (in South Africa 'pot for food'), groBer Kessel and so on. Same thing, different language/places.

Hilditch
 
Been thinkin’. Fill in the blank. If I didn’t have a ______________, I could use my cauldron.

Stock pot
Chicken fryer
Sauce pan
Wok
Dutch oven
Kettle
Skillet
Griddle



Hilditch

PS: 18#’s with lid.
 
I'm kinda new to actually talking to people that know what they are doing. One question, what is the purpose of the popcorn? I assume it is the old fashion popping corn in a jar.
 
It's just a simple way to heat up and coat the inside surfaces of the pot and lid with a seasoning fat without using the oven to do it. And you get to have popcorn.
 
I've never filled the house with smoke when doing manual seasoning. Odor, yes; smoke, no. A refined, high smoke point oil and good ventilation help with that. Just cooking in a pan gives the best seasoning over time, though.
 
Yes, this can be used as a skillet. No, those are not bacon but trimmings off the sinew free steaks on a splatter free stovetop.



Hilditch
 
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