Antique Cast Iron Potbelly Cauldron Restoration

Welcome back, Ladies and Gentlemen. I found this potbelly cauldron at a local plant nursery, they had plants grow in it as a display for many years as you can see by the amount of rust.

I convinced them to let it come back home with me. As you can see, I restored it to near perfect condition.

With that said, I hope you enjoy the video.

If you have any suggestions for improvement, or compliments share them below!

Here is the seasoning process I followed.

Begin the seasoning process by heating the cast iron piece in a 200°F/100°C oven. When it’s reached the temperature (15-30 minutes), remove it from the oven and place it on a paper towel. Pour a little flaxseed oil onto the piece, and rub the oil all over the cast iron with your hands or a clean brush, making sure to cover every surface and crevice. Then, with a paper towel or rag, rub all the oil off. Continue until it looks as though there is no oil left on the iron’s surface. The iron should look dry instead of shiny with oil. Fear not: there is still a fine coating of oil on the piece, and that is just the amount you are looking for.

At this point, put the cast iron in a cold oven. Ideally, the cast iron should be placed upside down just in case you were not thorough enough in wiping off the bulk of the oil, and–for further safeguarding–you should line the next rack down with aluminum foil on the off chance you’d need to catch an oil drip. (If you wiped properly, all this will be overkill.) Finally, turn the oven to a baking temperature of 450°F-500°F or 200°C - 260°C, or essentially as high as your oven goes, and let the cast iron heat along with the oven.

When the oven reaches temperature, let the cast iron bake for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and let the cast iron cool inside the hot oven for another two hours. It should be cool enough to handle by that point.
The cast iron should now be starting to look a little black, but it will still be matte. In order to get that shiny proper seasoning, the process will have to be repeated until you are happy with the finish.
The end result, however, is definitely worth the seasoning time.

Here is the recipe I followed.

1. Heat approximately 50ml of Oil in the pot for 5 mins.
2. Add 4 Large Chopped Onions and stir until browned.
3. Add 250g rindless bacon, cubed.
4. Add 225g smooth apricot jam.
5. Cook the bacon and jam for about 10 mins.
6. Add 15ml Worcester sauce.
7. Add 6 chicken drumsticks with 100ml water.
8. Cover with the lid and allow to simmer for 15 mins.
9. Add 15 baby potatoes.
10. Cover with the lid and allow to simmer for 10 mins.
11. Add 250g carrots, chopped.
12. Add 250g mushrooms, sliced, diced or whole.
13. Cover with the lid and allow to simmer for 30 mins.
14. Mix 1 packet oxtail soup and 1 packet onion soup with 250ml cream and 250ml mix. Add it to the pot.
15. Cover with the lid and allow to simmer for final 30 mins.

0:00 Intro
0:45 Cleaning
2:59 Casting Defect Grinding
3:34 Sandblasting
5:40 Seasoning # 01
8:34 Seasoning # 02
9:32 Seasoning # 03
11:09 Before & After
12:20 Test & Recipe

Видео Antique Cast Iron Potbelly Cauldron Restoration канала AJ Restorations