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Round-bottom pot

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I just remembered I had this "weight-saving 14 gauge carbon steel pot for the primitive camp." 006.JPG
Actually, it's a wok I inherited long ago and have never used and don't intend to. In the house, anyway. Looks like my aunt used it once and lost interest; it is not tinned, that's bare steel inside, note spot-welds. 12" across and 3 1/2" deep, the same thing made in USA is still available today for $22.95, one-handled Chinese ones even less. What say I ditch the round handles and rivet on one straight handle? And three legs?004.JPG
Page 183 in "Antique Country Furnishings" shows three such "round-bottom spiders." I'm looking for something lighter than my period incorrect cast iron...
 
I'm looking for something lighter than my period incorrect cast iron...

So you're going to convert a steel walk into something also incorrect? ;)

The problem is...there really isn't anything "correct" for a fry pan. Our cast iron isn't right, as it's too thick. We don't make the thin, rolled iron anymore, which is what we really should be using, dipped in tin, as our tinware. Undipped it was formed into frying pans.

You can find imported copper "saute pans" that are tinned, but you cannot fry in them as the tin will melt. (Hoping it's all tin and not something with lead btw)

There is something similar to a wok, but it's made out of brass. You can find it within https://www.scribd.com/document/235525633/Food-Preparation-Skillets-Posnets-Pans

Your best bet...., if you can't find a copper frypan that you can afford (hint hint), untinned (which you must keep free of verdigris), then you want a thin, carbon steel frypan. A Johnson Rose brand, all steel frypan, if you season and carbon it well will look a lot like iron. https://www.lionsdeal.com/jr-3832.html

A little fancier, and a bit more durable, with a longer handle near that campfire is a Winco carbon steel frypan. https://www.lionsdeal.com/wi-fsfp-12.html.

I use the first of the two. They aren't perfect for the time period but they are light they work very well, and when they take on a brown color you have to look hard to see the "made in China" stamp.


LD
 
If you are going to a rendezvous it probably would be OK and practical too. If you are capable of changing the handle and adding feet pick up a steel frying pan at a flea market and go to work on it.
 
LD; thank you, the two carbon steel examples are exactly what I've been looking for. And the price is most affordable. But I avoid Chinese goods when possible. Forming these items by hand from scratch with mild steel sheet is possible here but the time spent would be outlandish. And still not correct!
hawkeye, I'm on it.
 
Dave, I'll add that I just can't get enough Italian replica's and Chinese electronics!
The historical accuracy aspect of our stuff fascinates me. Though guilty of wire nails and sisal rope, I plead "prototype" and am in awe of those that seek perfection. I really like my enamelware's weight, though...
 
Hawkeye, I am with you my skillets began life as all steel models picked up at flea markets , a quick removal of the molded handle with a dremmel and replace the handle with a piece of flat steel from the hardware store. You can put a twist in the handle, and a bend on one end to hang it with when not in use, a bit of pounding will flare out the one end where you fasten it to the pan, a couple of rivets made from 10 penny nails to fasten the handle to the skillet and viola a not so historical correct frying pan. The neat thing is you can make the handle what ever length you want to work over the fire pit. After a few uses it takes on a nice color and seasons as well as a cast iron one with a lot less weight. These have traveled with the wife and I to quiet a few events and we have never been questioned.
 
Or... you could forget the cheap Chinese manure and the foreign gear and just buy American Made, ie., Lodge carbon steel and keep Americans working...… just saying.
 
I would be willing to bet the description of my camp skillets and the places I bought them that they are American made at one time in the past, really do not want to get in a pi%%ing game with anyone just trying to pass along things that have worked for me. Them folks need to eat also.
 
Instead of ditching the handles, I ditched my idea of a single long handle plus legs. My metalworking area is unheated so I used our brief window of thirty three-degree days to finish this project. I came up with a "detachable bail."009.JPG
I used heavy gauge wire to make a pattern and 5/16" round for the bail. "Used metal." The large radius was formed cold, the small one heated and formed around 1/2" round stock. A good bit of fiddling to get things to fit just so.010.JPG
The rings are hub bands from wooden wagon wheels, different sizes. Now I ask you Dave, how period correct is that!012.JPG
And it hangs well. So, the whole exercise here was to cut weight from my camp. The wok plus it's bail and ring weigh 4 1/4 pounds; the "Favorite" cast iron pan it is to replace? 3 3/4 pounds. A lid might be a nice addition...
 
I like it! Question though, or really an observation ….. do you think the 'hook area' for the handles should be wider to deal with the weight distribution with food in the pan? Just thinking about those round handles attached to the pan and the bail that hooks on - the contact / attachment area is very small and if the food is not perfectly centered in the pan then when you lift it your vittles may end up in the fire or in the dirt when you remove the pan from the fire. I could see that happening with my luck. Overall, a very ingenious and simple solution.
 
Or... you could forget the cheap Chinese manure and the foreign gear and just buy American Made, ie., Lodge carbon steel and keep Americans working...… just saying.

I hate to say it, but if a person wants to be as historically correct as possible, buying American isn't always it. During colonial times, imports where everywhere.
 
Instead of ditching the handles, I ditched my idea of a single long handle plus legs. My metalworking area is unheated so I used our brief window of thirty three-degree days to finish this project. I came up with a "detachable bail."View attachment 21297
I used heavy gauge wire to make a pattern and 5/16" round for the bail. "Used metal." The large radius was formed cold, the small one heated and formed around 1/2" round stock. A good bit of fiddling to get things to fit just so.View attachment 21298
The rings are hub bands from wooden wagon wheels, different sizes. Now I ask you Dave, how period correct is that!View attachment 21299
And it hangs well. So, the whole exercise here was to cut weight from my camp. The wok plus it's bail and ring weigh 4 1/4 pounds; the "Favorite" cast iron pan it is to replace? 3 3/4 pounds. A lid might be a nice addition...

That's a nice little Wok, I have often thought a Wok would make the perfect trekking pot.
The Wok has extreme versatility.
 
Thanks for your keen observation and compliment, Boom Stick. Fortunately, the height of the wok handles and the depth of it's bowl keep the center of gravity low enough to avoid capsizing. Just, though. I checked the balance using the wire pattern and non-food items first to get an idea; it's fair, but your point is well taken. Aiding the balance and more by luck than by design, the angled wok handles interfere with the precisely fitted bail loops as the wok tilts.
 

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