Added this to my collection, recently. It was found locally, here in Maine.

I have no doubt, it is Revolutionary War era.

13 inches in diameter and almost 8 inches deep.



The original bail is still intact.

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Non gratum anus rodentum

Now THAT'S a jambalaya pot!!!!!
Man I do loves me some good cast iron.

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Caj,

I am negotiating a 30 gallon rendering pot that would make a heck of a pot for you....

Heres the deal. They want $X for it.. if it is 18th century it is worth 5 times $X.Is 19th century it is worth 1/2 X..

But the Food tastes the same....

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Down here when we render we also make gratons (chicaronnes if you're mexican or just plain old pork skins if you're from Mississippi ))

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Up here, I cannot find nuthin about Rendering Kettles. Really could use some help

Folks I know, have no clue about them. Up here, we look at these 30 gallon pots up to 100 gallon as maple sugarin pots...

Cool subject.

The pot above is about 4 gallons.

Wanna see some neat history that documents it..?

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I would.

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Dum vivo cano

I'd be interested in seeing it.

Andy

You could make a pretty good sized Jambalaya in this one


It is a sugar kettle used in the early sugar industry for boiling down cane juice. This one is 5' Dia. I have a 7 footer also.
Steve W

Bit of background, first. Until recently....the piece above would have been dated 19th century. By experts.

Here is a period Paul Revere engraving. Note the kettle, top left.



Here in Maine, a bit of Rev War history involves Arnolds March. Contrary to revisionist history "B. Arnold" was a Patriot in the beginning.

Bits of the pot recovered at Arnolds Log Hospital...



Recovered pot from the Gunboat Philadelphia, sunk 1776 Lake Champlain

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Those documented samples look just like yours, Giz! Nice score!

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Even older, even crankier....

That ought'a work just fine!

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Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

Hey Giz,

How many pounds of lead would that 'un hold? We could mould round balls and Minies for quite a while.......

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Great find. That is a nice size for a small stew or to deep fry fish. Larry

You want to sell that?????

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There's a Yankee (OK, he's from Ohio, but to me everyone north of Alexandria, LA is a yankee) here that I've become friends with recently. He's a bachelor on his own for the first time and has no family within several hundred miles, and despite a decade age difference we've got quite a lot in common. I've been teaching him to cook quite a lot since it's what I love to do, and I helped him cure his first cast iron skillet a few weeks back. He was amazed that I had this kitchen full of high end pots and pans, but more often than not I reached for my cast iron for everyday cooking. I explained to him after we put the cure on his skillet that with proper care that piece could be passed down to his grandkids, and the proof of that is in the first post! Fantastic find, gizamo.

Katrina ruined my grandfather's cast iron, and it was thrown out before I could get to it to see if it could be restored. I halfway considered donning a hazmat suit and combing the debris piles to see if I could locate it.

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I don't do serious very well.

Sorry, it is promised to my sister. Being in the sugar industry I've been able to inherit or collect 8 of them over the years
3 @ 4'
3 @ 5'
2 @ 7'
Each of my sons got one of the 4' and will get one of the 7' each
The rest are in my yard with goldfish and the usual water plants in them, but I'm not thinking of selling them till I move into town some day.
If I see or hear of one for sale I'll let you know.
There were some guys stealing them in the area but the sheriff got ahold of them a few months ago. Ran them down in a sugar cane field with a stolen sugar kettle in the back of their pickup, how's that for justice!
Steve W

Ya know-if I saw somebody humping it down a headlane with a 5' sugar kettle on his back...well I think I'd just let him have it
I've seen those things bust up a Pick up spring or two also

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Here is a pic of one...similiar to the kettle mentioned above.

It is about 3' in diameter

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Gizamo that is an iteresting kettle I have neverseen one like it down here. What diameter is it and what was it originally used for?
We have smaller kettes 3-4' diameter which were used to process Indigo a plant that was grown down here long ago to make blue (indigo) dye.
Some times they have knobs , usually 4, cast into the sides like yours does.It looks like the bottom part of yours was maybe welded to the top half? I believe something similar was used to render oil from whale blubber on the whaling ships out at sea.
Steve W