Cup used as a kettle.....

Thanks Keith. You probably did cover it as it seemed familiar. Mostly the wire bail was to suspend the cup over the heat source, the claim was that as long as there is liquid in the cup, the solder will hold. But, kinda hard to keep only the cup, and not the handle over the heat.

I'd like to keep things cup/large mug size as I'm usually only heating lunch and/or coffee being only out for a day. And, if I keep things small enough I can carry 2, one for coffee and one for soup or broth. This would suffice me even on the very rare occasion I get out for an overnight.

What is the smallest pot or kettle we can document?

 The Goose bay example is said to hold 2/3 cup.
 Doesn't that seem hardly worth its size, weight or space?
 I've also seen it stated elsewhere that there is no documentation that supports that Long Hunters and other woodsmen ever carried a kettle or boiler.
 This makes me wonder about the documentation-to-use transfer.
 As we know, there are many that won't use items that can't be documented yet if it doesn't make sense it begs the question about the way the documentation is being interpreted

The larger the cup/kettle/pot, the longer it takes to heat the contents. Sometimes we only want a small amount of coffee, tea, soup/broth, or in the case of beer/rum, maybe not so small an amount...

In California, "stone boiling" Amerindians used to cook food in woven baskets. This is done by heating rocks in a fire, dropping them into a basket with the intended meal, and stirring the contents, and the heat from the rocks is transferred to the food. Elsewhere, pottery was used instead of baskets. When I learned about the method, I was tempted to use a gourd container instead of a basket or metal container. Although it would be historically and ethnographically correct in a limited context for parts of the American far west and Great Basin, "stone boiling" doesn't seem to have been recorded in the eastern United States.

www.thoughtco.com/stone-boiling-ancient-cooking-method-172854

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_boiling

Or, so I thought.

Recently I found an archaeological article that has me rethinking whether this method may have been used:

knowledge.library.iup.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2244&context=etd


Archaeologists often find fire-cracked rocks in the context of former hearths, camp-fires or cooking locations. Depending on the stone, fire-stains or burned stone surfaces, particularly on larger rocks has been interpreted as the by-product of stones being heated and cracked but not used to prepare food by stone-boiling. Sandstone and soft rocks would not be a first choice for boiling stones. Small, smooth, rounded surfaces, along with being hard and dense would be ideal as these would hold heat longer and are easier to stir in a basket or other organic type of container.

The "Monongahela" culture existed in southwestern Pennsylvania and the northern most part of West Virginia, roughly during the years AD1000-1650. The area they lived in was located between the Iroquois Confederation to the north, and Cherokee to the south. The "Mon" people disappeared not long before Europeans/whites entered the area, and the reasons that happened are not well understood. A prime suspect is the effect of diseases introduced by Europeans into North America that spread well into the interior of the continent and disrupted and destabilized indigenous cultures long before whites traveled very far into the interior.

Pottery and metal cooking containers are not easily carried on treks or by small groups of hunters, trappers, etc. Clay pottery is too easily broken to be carried, and before the introduction of metal by Europeans, what did Amerindians do to heat water if they didn't have a pot on the trail? The possibility that fire-cracked rocks might have been used, and not recognized by archaeologists for what they really were is to say the least, an intriguing possibility.

A small gourd container is highly portable, easily made and replaced if damaged or lost, could be used instead of a metal cup if stone boiling is used. Gourds are seldom preserved and recovered in archaeological contexts, although fire-cracked rocks are.


I'm going to rethink the idea of stone-boiling.

 I think that it all may depend on if you plan on moving more or setting up in a station camp and of course, your numbers.
 At a station camp with more than a couple of folks around your fire, you might want a boiler.
 I don't know that you NEED to hang a mug over the fire which would necessitate a bail but it is good to have the option, however, if its becomes a PC issue than it might not be worth the arguments.
 Another mention that Iv'e heard in favor of carrying 2 mugs of whatever sizes was that the person didn't want coffee that tasted like soup/stew or soup/stew that tasted like coffee. So each one was dedicated to one or the other...
 Speaking to PC: how many folks used tin lined copper or brass vessels? Not supposed to be PC from what I understand

I am always researching & trying to lighten my load, but for me it comes down to having to compromise between two principles: minimum weight & maximum self reliance. I use my kettle to catch rain water running off my oilcloth shelter, I use it to melt snow, I use it as a bucket to carry water, & I use it to boil water to sterilise it. I could eat greens that I forage raw, but find it better to boil them with other ingredients, especially stinging nettles. When having to drink dirty water I use linen bags to strain the dirty water into my kettle before boiling. This is easily done at the water's edge. For me the extra little weight is worth the convenience of carrying this kettle, especially since & have cut it down to a correct size, & got rid of the heavier cast bail lugs.
Keith.

Kettles dug up at the turn of the 20th century included many approximately 5 ¾ inches in diameter and about 3 inches deep. Some were tapered, about 5 ½ inches at the top and about 4 1/8 inches at the bottom, still about 3 inches deep. The ears were cut out and riveted in place.

thehistoricfoodie.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/native-americans-and-the-use-of-brass-kettles/

“50 brass kettles of two, three, and four pounds apiece, thin beaten, and light to carry when they go a hunting or to war…”. New York State Museum. Bulletin 55. 1901.

“There we found the kettle which we had concealed when we passed here the last time”. (7)

Callaghan, E.B. Documentary History of New York. 1849-51. NY.

thehistoricfoodie.wordpress.com/category/native-american-foods/

Straekat, I've done the stone boiling routine. Thank you for the additional info on it. Way too much trouble for a quick hot n wet.

SH, you are exactly right. Whole different ball game if working out of a spike or base camp, especially with a group of other hunters.