Old Gate Marked Kettle

Eldon B

Member
Hi There!

Today’s purchase…..I bought a gate marked old kettle today. I wasn’t looking for a kettle and it is going to be a challenge to restore but I was sort of pushed into it.

The guy that I bough the #14 Griswold skillet from wanted me to buy it from him as he knew it was going to a good home and would not be abused. It was owned by his grandfather and he remembers him making Brunswick Stew in it. He only used it as a cooler at times, that is why it is so rusted in the inside. He dropped his asking price by 1/3 and I went to look at it and came home with me!!

It is old and rusted but it does not have any holes or crakes that I can see. I put a $1 bill on it and a quarter on the bottom to give it some sort of scale in the pictures. It is 15 ½ inches on the widest outside diameter at the mouth of the opening and stands 13 ½ inches tall. The only marking that stand out on the bottom are a number 10 and the letter G.

I am not sure what I am going to do with it, but I will attempt a restoration soon. I’ll post a picture when it is done.

Anyone have any suggestion how it use it, what to cook in it??
 

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I have its twin. Same ears, same double bottom double gate marks. same 10 G. It sits on my fireplace with split oak firewood in it as "decor." As far as what to cook in it, why not Brunswick stew?
 
I've never poured liquid in my to figure the volume, but I believe the 10 G stands for 10 gallons. Solving for the volume of a sphere will get you closer to the actual volume than solving for a cylinder. V=(4/3) [pi] r3 If I did the math right and using my inexact measurements I came up with about 2450 cubic inches. There are 231 cubic inches in a gallon.
 
I know this may seem gross but Years ago you would build a fire around that size pot with water in it at a chicken killing. You would cut their heads off with an axe on a chopping block and then dip them in the boiling water so the feathers would pull out of the skin easier. The larger sizes would be used for washing clothes and scaulding hogs at a hog killing. You would also use these pots for rendering the lard from the pigs fat with the by product being cracklings. They were also used for cooking chitlins or pigs feet. Down south they used or ate every part of a pig. We used to say eat everything but the hair and the squeal!
 
I loterally just bought the same one today! Its my first cauldron and its gonna cook food for the bou scoits when my kid goes on his camping trips. Chicken and dumplings or any stew will be great!
 
I loterally just bought the same one today

Hi Robert,
What shape is your in? Is it rusted like mine or are you able to use it right away?
I am still looking for a container to submerge mine in for a vinegar bath; one just big enough so I won't have to use gallons and gallons of vinegar and water.
Cheers!!... Eldon
 
Your don't necessarily have to fill the container you find with 50/50 vinegar/water. The kettle, placed inside it and filled with plain water, will displace most of the container volume. Then you would only need fill the difference with vinegar and water. Scoop the water out of the kettle to remove it from the container. Scrub the outside, repeat if necessary, then dry and apply some oil to prevent rust. Save the vinegar solution to then treat the inside. You might be able to pull it off with a 20 or 30 gallon plastic trash can if you figure out some way to keep the feet from puncturing the bottom.
 
If it is a 10 gallon cauldron, you can get a 15 gallon plastic wash tub for pretty cheap. Couple gallons of vinegar, couple gallons of water for the outside. Lean the cauldron on its side when cleaning the inside and you don't need much vinegar, just need to rotate it a few times to get all the sides.
 
https://imgur.com/a/G68jq

I have a large e tank i built from mostly free parts. The drum can easily be sourced from a maintenence shop.

Hi Robert,

What is the diameter of your e-tank, did your kettle fit into it?

I haven't seen a drum like that, what originally came in it? I don't understand what you mean by a maintenance shop, would you please enlighten me a little more as it looks like what I should be hunting down; I certainly could use something that size.

Thanks for you help!!.... Eldon
 
Its just a 55 gallon drum. By maintenance shop i mean any auto repair shop or industrial facility. Most of them get cleaner products in them. I work for the fire dept and we go through at least one a month. I used metal roofing for the sacrificial anode.
 
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