cauldrons

[William]

Originally Posted by Dalin

All of this reminded me of a magic item in the recent D&D adventure, Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden: the Cauldron of Plenty. Check out this physical description: "This cauldron is made of thick copper that has turned green with age. It is 4 feet wide, has a mouth 3½ feet in diameter, weighs 50 pounds, and can hold up to 30 gallons of liquid."

At some point I tried to calculate how thick the sides would be in order to only have a volume of 30 gallons. Needless to say, it required a lot more than 50 pounds of metal!

I'd be more worried about eating out of a copper pot that was likely to give everyone verdigris poisoning...

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Dalin

All of this reminded me of a magic item in the recent D&D adventure, Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden: the Cauldron of Plenty. Check out this physical description: "This cauldron is made of thick copper that has turned green with age. It is 4 feet wide, has a mouth 3½ feet in diameter, weighs 50 pounds, and can hold up to 30 gallons of liquid."

At some point I tried to calculate how thick the sides would be in order to only have a volume of 30 gallons. Needless to say, it required a lot more than 50 pounds of metal!

Well, it might have been a very shallow cauldron... an average depth of about seven inches would do.

[ravenfish]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Well, it might have been a very shallow cauldron... an average depth of about seven inches would do.

A sort of a huge, hollow discus? The frisbee of Aquarius?

[Polkageist]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Well, it might have been a very shallow cauldron... an average depth of about seven inches would do.

Oh come on, that's a sautee pan! Completely different!

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Polkageist

I know, right?
Cookpot, 2 gallons, somewhere around $50. Roll your merchant skill to find a good deal.

Except that things like this were not so cheap before the late 19th century. A riveted-and-forge-welded Viking Age cauldron, a forged copper pot with a tinned lining, a cast-iron pot, and a modern homogeneous steel pot are not really the same item. And this matters because iron and bronze cookware are likely to be lootable treasures at TL 1-3. Remember how excited the Iliad gets about giving tripods? Or how excited indigenous peoples in the Americas were about iron pots- much more practical to take hunting or raiding than their old clay and bark pots!

The price of a basic helmet is probably a good sanity check for the price of a small (~2 litre) cookpot.

[Polkageist]

Ah, yeah, I wasn't paying attention to the time period.
Good estimation there though, they're both bowl shaped and made of metal. Shave some cost off because it doesn't have to be tough like armor, but add some back because it has to be bigger, so a bit of a wash.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by William

I'd be more worried about eating out of a copper pot that was likely to give everyone verdigris poisoning...

That is a question. How seriously toxic is copper? Is it the copper as such, or some specific compound of it?

[Anders]

Originally Posted by whswhs

That is a question. How seriously toxic is copper? Is it the copper as such, or some specific compound of it?

So very acidic foods (like vinegar) leach out copper in dangerous amounts. The normal way to combat this is by lining the copper pot with tin. But tin is a soft metal, so you must be careful not to scratch it.

[Polkageist]

Originally Posted by whswhs

That is a question. How seriously toxic is copper? Is it the copper as such, or some specific compound of it?

Not so much so that it's still a popular for luxury cookware.
https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/01/...-cookware.html

In context of this thread, a copper pot would be much more expensive. But then again, that's true to life.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Anders

So very acidic foods (like vinegar) leach out copper in dangerous amounts. The normal way to combat this is by lining the copper pot with tin. But tin is a soft metal, so you must be careful not to scratch it.

Renewing the tinning is not so hard either. Francis Galton gave advice on how to do it in the backwoods in The Art of Travel, or, Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries, fifth edition (John Murray: London, 1872) under Metals

“Clean the copper well with sandstone; heat it, and rub it with sal-ammoniac till it is quite clean and bright; the tin, with some powdered resin, is now placed on the copper, which is made so hot as to melt the tin, and allow it to be spread over the surface with a bit of rag. A very little tin is used in this way: it is said that a piece as big as a pea, would tin a large saucepan; which is at the rate of twenty grains of tin to a square foot of copper. “

That book also has a handy list of supplies for a late 19th century expedition, with weights.