What metal is this?

[Tengu]

 

[British Red]

Almost certainly brass (its a jam pan)

 

[bilmo-p5]

Almost certainly brass (its a jam pan)

+1 to that.

 

[Tengu]

But its pinky rather than yellow

 

[blacktimberwolf]

I'd say copper.

 

[Biker]

Any takers on plutonium?

I'd go with copper too, we've got a jam making pot in the basement that used once a year and that's copper. Haven't seen a brass one before though. MIght be better identified with better photos perhaps.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

I'm not sure you can cook with brass, it being an alloy & with a relatively low melting point, but I could be wrong. Copper was/is used for cooking utensils because of it's excellent heat distrubution qualities. Either it's a small bucket or those floor tiles are on the large side.

 

[British Red]

Course you can

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=br...7SUNC_en&redir_esc=&ei=OOPOTbOJKIex8QPdrtHyDQ

Red

 

[bilmo-p5]

Melting point of brass is 900 - 940°C. Nothing you are likely to cook in a pan like that will get anywhere near that temperature. Boiling jam, which as BR has said, is what this pan is for, only gets up to about 150 - 180°C.

 

[Tengu]

its 7 inches across

copper is pink....when polished, isnt it?

 

[Ogri the trog]

Not always, but if it has been subjected to a regular dose of fruit acids - it is very likely!

Although - brass can be similarly affected.

Ogri the trog

 

[Toddy]

Tengu, brass jelly pans work because they leach miniscule amounts of copper into the jam. This prevents mould.
Generally brass pans do become 'coloured' with use as the fruit acids affect the surface.

That said, I have two shaped just like that but they're aluminium with the lugs cast on, while the brass ones have iron lugs riveted on.
I don't use the aluminium ones for jam, I use them for dyeing.
Fruit stains aluminium pink.
Generally the brass pans had a rolled rim round an iron hoop. That's a very thick pan you have there.
Is the body of the pan grey or dull yellow ? I can't see clearly in the photo.

cheers,
M

 

[Corso]

But its pinky rather than yellow

Its had alot of jam in it

 

[launditch1]

Could be Gun metal..
Prehaps the alloy is copper rich making the pinker hue.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

What you could do it scrape or sand a small surface area (where it won't show) if the underlying colour is yellow or gold then it may be brass, if it's reddish then it's more likely copper.
At only 7" across & not very deep, I can't see it being used for jam making, unless it was previously owned by leprechauns.

 

[Loenja]

could be brass but the sinc has corroded at the surface, leaving the copper

 

[Gagnrad]

At only 7" across & not very deep, I can't see it being used for jam making, unless it was previously owned by leprechauns.

I guess that'd hold around 2½ pints, which would fill—what?—around half-a-dozen jars.

What else? and why the looped handle? Unless it's some kind of small "camp kettle".

This, online, is not unlike it, although it looks more "finished" in design and possibly older:

http://www.mfbantiques.com/pages/pictures/BrassBran.jpg

That's described as a "bran pan". The term's new to me—I wonder if a "bran pan" was for making hot mash for a horse or something.

 

[Tengu]

its deeper than mine

 

[sakotrg]

It could be Kunifer, a copper nickel alloy normally 90% copper and 10% nickel.
It is used in seawater piping systems, one way to tell is to polish it up and it should come up similar to gold in colour.
Has the bottom been welded in place? it looks like an edging in silver around the inside edge on the photo

 

[Whittler Kev]

.
Fruit stains aluminium pink.

Didn't you say it had a pink tinge?