cauldrons

[William]

Interesting. How often must one do that, do you know?

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by William

Interesting. How often must one do that, do you know?

Like modern non-stick pans, I imagine it depends on how careful you are and what you cook. I have housemates who use steel forks to stir their frying pans, those don't stay non-stick long. I have been too poor and too migratory to get some copper cookware and see what using it is like. I'd imagine that people trekking through bad country are more likely to scratch the coating than people at home who know where to find grass that is good for cleaning and a set of wooden spoons on the mantle.

At most TLs, Housekeeping skill involves some processes which can kill you but which people within a society take for granted. We have cleaning chemicals and electricity, our grandparents had gas-fired stoves and horses, low-tech people had dodgy food preservation and cooking over open fires in wooden houses and washing clothes on the banks of a fast-flowing river.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

At most TLs, Housekeeping skill involves some processes which can kill you but which people within a society take for granted. We have cleaning chemicals and electricity, our grandparents had gas-fired stoves and horses, low-tech people had dodgy food preservation and cooking over open fires in wooden houses and washing clothes on the banks of a fast-flowing river.

I had gas-fired stoves until less than five years ago. They seem to be really scarce in both Riverside and Lawrence. I wish I still had one; they give much superior control over cooking temperature.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I had gas-fired stoves until less than five years ago. They seem to be really scarce in both Riverside and Lawrence. I wish I still had one; they give much superior control over cooking temperature.

A good gas burner is great - fast and precise heat control. Cheap ones seem to have too effective settings - 'too little' and 'too much' and I prefer electric over that. Overall I like electric elements for things like frying steak in an iron pan - the whole system holds heat well which is what one wants for that. For quick work gas and lightweight (copper, if you have them) cookware is better.

[Inky]

Agreed! With a gas cooker you can turn it down if you notice something boiling over and it will turn down then, not in five minutes' time when the hob's cooled down. They've improved a lot, but they're still not as good. I'm not sure why electric cookers have become standard given this. Off-topic grumble over.

Two possibly relevant pieces of information:

As somebody mentioned, at one time cauldrons weren't cast but pieced together from sheet metal. Here's a 3000-year-old example from the British Museum, TL1 or TL2. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collec.../H_1861-0309-1

And here's a small firm in Canada that makes various cast-iron items. They have cauldrons for between $210 and $280 (100-150 GURPS dollars or thereabouts). https://bristowironworks.ca/?s=cauldron

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by Inky

As somebody mentioned, at one time cauldrons weren't cast but pieced together from sheet metal. Here's a 3000-year-old example from the British Museum, TL1 or TL2. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collec.../H_1861-0309-1

Interesting link. I’m curious if a riveted pot like this would be fully watertight, or would it seep through a bit here and there? I don’t know anything about the techniques involved.

[bocephus]

Originally Posted by Dalin

Interesting link. I’m curious if a riveted pot like this would be fully watertight, or would it deep through a bit here and there? I don’t know anything about the techniques involved.

It "could be" water tight for sure. Its could also have leaks if the edges werent fitted well or a rivet wasnt fully secured (or came out).

Im actually quite impressed with the simplicity of scholarship and the ease of answer that we got here.

As somebody mentioned, at one time cauldrons weren't cast but pieced together from sheet metal. Here's a 3000-year-old example from the British Museum, TL1 or TL2. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collec.../H_1861-0309-1

Nailed the bulk of the question and helped answer the question I had in my own post that "I didnt think that Cast Iron was even possible at TL1-3" but even as I said it I wasnt sure what was.

I still maintain that even the rivet version would be a very expensive piece of hardware, not so much the materials cost, but because of man hours and up to TL3 it would represent the higher end of the skill set. I dont know if it would be considered Master work, but I could see this being a Journeymans piece at TL2. Consider the amount of technology in this from making precise holes, fitting the pieces, shaping the whole pot, making the rivets, placing the rivets, and in the end getting it tight enough to use.

Instead of thinking of it in terms of price based on a modern economy, think of how long it would take your Status0 household to be able to afford this and move the price accordingly. Clay pots are available and much cheaper, even hide pots can boil water. This size container is a luxury item, possibly even a status item, till TL4+ IMO.

Using that I would say that pot would represent at minimum a full months wage if not two, just to acquire this item, and I mean the full month not the portion of the wage that wasn't going to food and living expenses. Stuff like this was probably part of a dowry, to help establish a new household.
This is something people took care of and spent time and money to maintain. This is one of the primary functions of a "Tinker" was to mend pots, its one of the reasons villagers would welcome or at least not be hostile to these outsiders.

Which actually makes me wonder how accurate is the modern ideal of a "Tinker" who travels around sharpening blades, mending pots, and trading in the small essentials like pins, salt, whetstones, fabrics, etc... Im opening a new thread for this....

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by Rupert

A good gas burner is great - fast and precise heat control. Cheap ones seem to have too effective settings - 'too little' and 'too much' and I prefer electric over that. Overall I like electric elements for things like frying steak in an iron pan - the whole system holds heat well which is what one wants for that.

Yep. You need a high-end gas cooker to get decent heat control. You can get the same precision much more cheaply with electricity.

[DanHoward]

Making a cauldron is no different to making a helmet. If a craftsman can make single-piece iron helmet then he can make a single-piece iron cauldron. Riveted ones were more common (just like helmets) but single-piece ones existed.

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by Dalin

Interesting link. I’m curious if a riveted pot like this would be fully watertight, or would it deep through a bit here and there? I don’t know anything about the techniques involved.

They had techniques such as brazing if they needed to seal a leak.