Trade Kettle.

[Le Loup]

My copy of an 18th century brass trade kettle. I could not find an exact copy of an original, so I bought one & cut it down to size & made & fitted the correct bail lugs. The finished product is what you see above.

The kettle & the wooden spoon is all I carry for cooking, I have my knives of course, & a pointy stick for cooking meat is easily fashioned on site. My youngest son made this spoon for me, his first attempt. I think he did a pretty good job, I love it
Keith.

 

[Janne]

Looks great!
How do you manage to keep the tinning intact? Careful cooking?
Tell your son he did a fantastic job, better than many of us here, specially me!

 

[Tengu]

I have a brass pot like that but it isnt tinned.

Some kind of small jam pan I think

 

[Janne]

Pots/pans made for boiling or melting sugar are not tin lined because of the high temperature of the sugar.

 

[DocG]

Well done to your son for the spoon (+ well done to Dad for the pan ).

 

[Toddy]

That's a jeely pan. Tengu's right, it's just a maslin pan. Some of them were tinned originally but many were left just brass because a little bit of the copper leaches into the jam and acts as a safe fungicide.

There are three of them in my shed if anyone nearby wants one.

Nice spoon

M

 

[Janne]

In central Europe Germanic and Slavic countries) they use unlined for 'sugar work' and jams.

I wish I lived close to you, we could barter.

Next week I am taking an old three legged pot to have a draining hole welded shut.
Cast Iron, pre cooker age. I estimate made before mid 1800'.

It was used as an outside flower pot.

 

[Toddy]

I have one of those, made in the Carron Valley in Scotland. It's never been punctured so mine's sound. It's called a Falkirk pot.
Probably not far off the date of yours, mine dates to the early 1800's.

M

 

[Janne]

I checked online and yes, exactly like that. Mine might even come from Scotland, as there were lots of trade between!

I have a couple I found inside the cellar, but only one is in a very good condition. One hole, good remaining iron thickness, not much rust.

The Scottish ones, were they marked? I need to remove several layers of Hammerstein paint.

 

[Toddy]

Well mine says Carron on it. On the side, top bit near the rim. Letters cast with the pot, they're around a cm high and the name spreads out in a slight curve maybe 8cm long.
These weren't high quality items, they were still refining both their smelting and their casting techniques when they made their domestic pots. Useful though, and with reasonable care they seem to be very long lasting as well.
You're right too, a lot of them were exported.

 

[Janne]

I will check if I can see any name on Saturday.

Maybe not refined casting, but that just gives it character!

Depending on weather, I might remove the paint already next week, if too cold now, then in summer.

The company that take care of my boat have promised me they can weld it up, but I need 5o clean it up first. They are big on Health and Safety.

 

[Le Loup]

Well mine says Carron on it. On the side, top bit near the rim. Letters cast with the pot, they're around a cm high and the name spreads out in a slight curve maybe 8cm long.
These weren't high quality items, they were still refining both their smelting and their casting techniques when they made their domestic pots. Useful though, and with reasonable care they seem to be very long lasting as well.
You're right too, a lot of them were exported.

Thank you for the information Toddy, appreciated. I had not heard of the Falkirk Pot, so I looked it up. Reminds me more of a camp oven. Bit too heavy I guess to carry on foot
Keith.

 

[Nomad64]

Thank you for the information Toddy, appreciated. I had not heard of the Falkirk Pot, so I looked it up. Reminds me more of a camp oven. Bit too heavy I guess to carry on foot
Keith.

Toddy’s “Falkirk pot” is what South Africans call a potjie (pronounced poykey), sometimes jokingly called the “Mandela microwave”.

Potjies are still very much a mainstay of outdoor cooking both in rural villages and amongst white South Africans where stews and sauces slow cooked in potjies are as essential to a braai as steak.

AFAIK, the original manufacturer in South Africa was the Durban Falkirk Iron Co however today, the main (only?) South African made brand today is Best Duty although there are inevitably cheaper Chinese imports.

Most supermarkets (and anywhere else you would buy a saucepan) will have shelves full of potjies (along with the Dutch ovens we are more familiar with in the UK) with sizes varying from cricket balls for sauces up to ones you could boil a small missionary in.

http://www.potjiekosworld.com/equipment/

A quick look at Graces guide shows Toddy’s Carron Co ironworks were around from the mid 18th C but that there was a split in the early 19th C when the Falkirk Iron Co was founded.

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Carron_Co

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Falkirk_Iron_Co

Not sure what (if any) the connection is between the Falkirk Iron Co and its Durban namesake which made potjies in South Africa until the 1990s - if you scroll to the bottom of the recipes listed below, you will see a “Falkirk” branded potjie in use.

https://briefly.co.za/19100-traditional-south-african-potjiekos-recipes.html

Here is my potjie on its very first outing, camping in the bush in KwaZulu Natal.



It subsequently spent three years bouncing around in the back of my Landy in the African bush and has produced hundreds of delicious meals and still gets regular use.

 

[Toddy]

I have to say that that pot is really a modern well made clone of my very old one, apart from the legs.

The Carron Valley Iron company was founded in 1759, and Falkirk is a nearby town.

@Le Loup
I don't know what weight is in your trade kettle, but this little iron pot isn't as heavy as one might expect. It's actually a fair bit lighter than any of my other cast iron pieces.
I'll weigh it if you want to compare ?

The shorter and spikier the legs, supposedly the older the pot, until we get very modern ones without.

M

 

[Le Loup]

I have to say that that pot is really a modern well made clone of my very old one, apart from the legs.

The Carron Valley Iron company was founded in 1759, and Falkirk is a nearby town.

@Le Loup
I don't know what weight is in your trade kettle, but this little iron pot isn't as heavy as one might expect. It's actually a fair bit lighter than any of my other cast iron pieces.
I'll weigh it if you want to compare ?

The shorter and spikier the legs, supposedly the older the pot, until we get very modern ones without.

M

My brass kettle weighs 476 grams Toddy.
Regards, Keith.

 

[Toddy]

My iron one weighs in at bang on 1700g.
It is a lot heavier, but it's a lot lighter than a cast iron Dutch oven of the same size.

M

 

[Le Loup]

My iron one weighs in at bang on 1700g.
It is a lot heavier, but it's a lot lighter than a cast iron Dutch oven of the same size.

M

Keith.

 

[Erbswurst]

One is for carring it, the other for the house, I guess. I thing the cast iron pot is mainly lighter, because people where poor and the material expensive.

The brass kettle of 476 g has which volume???

The spoon weights what?
Does it have a normal size like most stainless spoons nowadays?

Wooden spoons had been standard in most houses until when? Was there only wood and silver or did other spoons exist as well?
Was the wooden spoon carried in the woods because it is lighter than metal or was that simply the standard 300 years ago?

 

[Le Loup]

One is for carring it, the other for the house, I guess. I thing the cast iron pot is mainly lighter, because people where poor and the material expensive.

The brass kettle of 476 g has which volume???

The spoon weights what?
Does it have a normal size like most stainless spoons nowadays?

Wooden spoons had been standard in most houses until when? Was there only wood and silver or did other spoons exist as well?
Was the wooden spoon carried in the woods because it is lighter than metal or was that simply the standard 300 years ago?

The majority of 17th & 18th century kettles for the home & for trade were made from brass or copper.

1) My tin lined brass kettle holds 1 Litre 100 or 2 pints up to the bottom of the lugs.
2) This wooden spoon is desert size & weighs 29 grams.
3) Spoon materials were generally wood, pewter or silver. Obviously the middling sort used either wood or pewter.
4) What spoon type was carried was purely personal choice & availability I would imagine, there is very little primary information of what spoons woodsrunners carried. I would imagine that some carried no spoon at all or kettle. Again, personal choice & dependent on the nature of the venture.
I carry a wooden spoon because it suits my character, I prefer a wooden spoon. It is lighter than a pewter spoon & I would not likely be using a silver spoon.
Keith.

 

[sunndog]

What makes that a "kettle" rather than just a pot?

Since there's no spout, even just a pressed shape in the rim or a lid?