A cracked Potje

[Tengu]

(Did I spell that right?)

Local Antiques shop has a 3 litre one for £20.

I pointed out it has a crack in it.

They will sell it as a planter. `no one cooks in cast iron anymore` (I assume they do not watch fancy cooking shows)

Im sure I can get it welded.

Worth bothering with? (It has a lid BTW)

 

[Toddy]

I don't think it's worth bothering with if you intend to use it for cooking.
Cast iron is notoriously difficult to weld, and it's usually only where the casting edges are that are welded, afaik.

Happy to be proven wrong, but I'm pretty sure that it's not an easy or straightforward thing to do.

M

 

[Nomad64]

https://www.southafricanshop.co.uk/store/show_category/2189

 

[Tengu]

Yes, but a bit beyond my budget...

 

[Nomad64]

Yes, but a bit beyond my budget...

A brand new 3 litre potjie is £45.

£20 for a broken one is hardly a bargain unless you are confident about getting it fixed properly for free or very cheaply.

Edit: If the potjie has a “3” cast into it, that is not its capacity in litres - see list in link in previous pist.

 

[Robson Valley]

Keep walking. If you want cast iron, surely you can do better. Maybe potjie have some sedimental value.
Cast iron is enjoying a great resurgence in interest in North America.
Lodge is the best/oldest, even KitchenAid has put their marque on a selection.
People are re-discovering how seasoned cast iron is as nonstick as teflon.

I watched the videos from the Winter Moot. Great open fire cooking expertise. That is bushcraft skill.
And, looked to me like most was done in cast iron treasures. Might need to watch them again.
(The cardboard box meat smoker ought to put Bradley and Weber in their places). That was funny.
Do NOT watch those videos on an empty stomach.

My kitchen is chock-full of pots, a 50 yr old wok and relatively new coated pans (Rock brand).
I do cook on a cast iron griddle which spans 2 elements on my electric stove.

 

[demographic]

Whilst it is possible to weld cast iron with a high nickle content electrode its a bit of a faff and usually requires preheating the entire cast item with a large blowtorch, doing the weld with a Manual Metal Ark welder (stick welding to most people) then dont let it cool too fast after welding.

There's a bit more to it than that, including not allowing it to preheat too much either.

In short, if your welding the exhaust manifold off a ancient posh car its worth it cos getting another might be a pain, a glorified cooking pot? Not so much. Just look on Ebay and someone will have one cheap enough with less faff.

 

[Nice65]

I got a Dutch oven with lid lifter from eBay delivered for £19.90 a while ago. I can’t see them now for less than £32, but even at that price it’s better than a cracked one at £20.

 

[Billy-o]

It can be quite cheap here, cast iron. I got a green enamelled dutch oven for $40 which is great and used for everything (here in Vancouver), but the enamel is, though not exactly fragile, it's not super tough and you can see that. It was made somewhere in Michigan.

We have a pile of Le Creuset stuff in Toronto which we have picked up a bit at a time since the early 1990s. No dings or chips, and if it weren't for the colours dating them you couldn't put an age on them; though they are used all the time.

I was at a conference in Newcastle in, I am guessing 1998, sidled off for a haircut and headed back via a John Lewis. There was a lovely lemon yellow fry pan with a long wood handle there on sale. I was late for the conference and by the time I got back to the shop, it had gone. Never saw anything like that again in a solid colour. They went to the current graded tones after that, with only that kind of stone colour as a solid option.

I was looking at a Le Creuset fait tout the other day ... about $450. Kind of blew a raspberry and wandered off

EDIT - Oh .. turns out you can get some astonishing second hand le creuset bargains on ebay. This is going to get heavy, if not exactly spendy. Sound 26cm fry pans for around $25. Bit of scuffage on the teflon, but I'll be helping that to get off in any case Got one on the way!

 

[Nomad64]

FWIW, below are the prices South Africans pay for their potjies - these are the top quality ZA made ones, the Chinese/Indian knock-offs are much cheaper.

The current exchange rate is about 20 ZAR to GBP.

https://bestduty.co.za/shop/

A 3 litre potjie is < GBP 30

https://bestduty.co.za/product/best-duty-pot-3-leg-1-size-3-0l/

and a 70 litre one suitable for boiling cartoon missionaries is < GBP 200

https://bestduty.co.za/product/best-duty-pot-3-leg-25-size-70-5l/

Not much help to the OP but just gives an indication what they cost in the one country where they are in routine use.

 

[santaman2000]

70 liters doesn’t sound al that big to me. That’s only about 18 gallons. The one my grandmother used to boil the laundry back in the day was about that size; as are the ones used at family fish fries.

 

[Nomad64]

70 liters doesn’t sound al that big to me. That’s only about 18 gallons. The one my grandmother used to boil the laundry back in the day was about that size; as are the ones used at family fish fries.

Santaman, Potjies of whatever size are a big part of South African (particularly Afrikaaner) culture and if you want to get into a pi55ing contest about the comparative size of US and ZA cooking pots, you are probably better off posting on one of the South African 4x4, outdoors or hunting forums. You may need to set your G00gle translate to Afrikaans and be warned, they probably play a bit less gently than folk on here!

FWIW, below is a photo of biggest of the three cauldrons sitting in my yard,



Its about 32” across the top and 18” high which if my O level maths is correct, (taking a bit off for the curve) is about 50 imperial gallons or 60 of those cute little US gallons!

 

[Billy-o]

Dunno about that Nomad64 ... I feel fairly sure that Santaman can punch his weight in an exchange, and there is a sticks and stones things comes to mind regarding internet discourse conducted from the armchair, in any case.

All he said was that 18 gallons isn't as great a volume as you indicated with your typically racist remark

 

[Tony]

Dunno about that Nomad64 ... I feel fairly sure that Santaman can punch his weight in an exchange, and there is a sticks and stones things comes to mind regarding internet discourse conducted from the armchair, in any case.

All he said was that 18 gallons isn't as great a volume as you indicated with your typically racist remark

While the comments made are a bit condescending, a little snippy and maybe inappropriate I don't see where the negatively used racism card comes into play.

It would be good if all parties could keep to the subject and refrain from pointing fingers or throwing things.

Thanks

 

[Nomad64]

While the comments made are a little snippy and maybe inappropriate I don't see where the negatively used racism card comes into play.

It would be good if all parties could keep to the subject and refrain from pointing fingers or throwing things.

Thanks

Tony, Apologies - even with the ” “ at the end, my reply to Santaman probably came over as a little less light-hearted than intended.

I was really just trying to make it clear that I had no intention of getting drawn into another of those trans-Atlantic “my mum’s cooking pot is bigger than your mum’s cooking pot” type debates.

 

[santaman2000]

Tony, Apologies - even with the ” “ at the end, my reply to Santaman probably came over as a little less light-hearted than intended.

I was really just trying to make it clear that I had no intention of getting drawn into another of those trans-Atlantic “my mum’s cooking pot is bigger than your mum’s cooking pot” type debates.

No offense taken. My comments weren’t meant as a comparison of here vs there. Rather a comparison of “then” vs “now.” In my experience this type pot is used for either communal cooking or by large (past generation sized) families. In the case of my grandparents generation they were mainly used for boiling the laundry by the creek. Until the last 20 years or so I would more likely have associated them with scenes from my grandparents or with stereotypes of witches brewing a potion than I would have with South Africa.

your math seems about right for a cylinder although it’s probably slightly less for a truncuated cone such as your cauldron.

 

[Van-Wild]

I have a Potje pot (pronounced Poke-E). Its bloody awesome. Seen here in southern Austria when travelling.... They're bloody awesome and super cheap if you buy direct from South Africa or like me, know an Afrikaaner!

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[santaman2000]

I have a Potje pot (pronounced Poke-E). Its bloody awesome. Seen here in southern Austria when travelling.... They're bloody awesome and super cheap if you buy direct from South Africa or like me, know an Afrikaaner!

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I’m sure the price is cheaper that way but what’s the postage like?

 

[Nomad64]

I have a Potje pot (pronounced Poke-E). Its bloody awesome. Seen here in southern Austria when travelling.... They're bloody awesome and super cheap if you buy direct from South Africa or like me, know an Afrikaaner!

Better yet, go on a road trip to buy one yourself!

 

[Van-Wild]

Better yet, go on a road trip to buy one yourself!

View attachment 57663

Hell yeah! Gotta be on the bucket list ain't it? Furthest south I'm planning at the moment is Morocco.......

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