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List Price: $275.00
Sale Price: $233.25
Today's Bonus: 15% Off
So I'm not your average consumer for a jambalaya pot. I'm a practicing pagan, and very active in my local faith community in Wisconsin. Cauldrons are a frequently used symbol and tool in our practice, and I was looking for one that would be big enough to actually hold warm cider for a fall celebration. When I tried to find one to purchase, however, I discovered that large cauldrons run in the $500+ range, so was very discouraged until I started randomly searching Amazon for cast iron products and found this! When seasoned all over, this jambalaya pot looks almost exactly like what we think of as a classic cauldron. I bought it, seasoned it and used it at our festival to much applause. I would highly recommend this product to other pagans. Why shell out an extra $300 just to buy a 'cauldron' when you can just rename a 'jambalaya pot' and no one will ever know the difference?
A few notes on the logistics of owning this product.
1)It is huge. I read over the specifications, but was still amazed at how big and heavy it really was. When I was transporting it I was glad I have a station wagon type car, as it wouldn't have fit in a normal trunk.
2) It is heavy. I was able to lift it with difficulty, but to transport it longer distances really needed either a strong man, or two people each holding one of the pot-hooks (Don't loose those!) When it was full of liquid I would not have even wanted to try to move it. That would have been impossible and dangerous when the liquid was hot. If you need to transport the cauldron off the fire for serving you'll have to empty it first.
3) Before using it you need to clean and season it. While I've seasoned cast iron pans before, preparing my cauldron what a whole other story. I had to wash it in my bath tub as it was much too big to go in the sink, and then clean off the scratches the legs left on the bottom of the tub. There is no way to season this in a conventional oven, it would probably break it. To season it you really need to use an open fire. I was lucky that there was a camp-fire at the event the day before I wanted to use it. I spent several hours carefully wiping Crisco over the whole thing, which turned it a really beautiful black. While purists will tell you to use bacon fat to season, I found that vegetable based Crisco worked just fine. There were vegans in the group would would be drinking out of it and I didn't want to offend anyone.
4) The stand it comes with is adequate, but I was a bit worried about how sturdy it really was when I had it full of liquid over the fire. I ended up not using the feet that came with the stand, and sunk the legs as deep as I could push them into the ash of the fire pit. The entire time I had it over the fire I watched it like a hawk for signs that it might be tipping. It did fine, but I'd monitor it to be sure.
5)It takes a while to heat up when its full of liquid, but not as long as you would think. I was really worried the cider wouldn't heat fast enough, so I built up the fire very hot. This resulted in me finding out how very well this pot heats liquid. In under 10 minutes the whole pot was scalding hot. I ended up having to damp down the fire and add more cider to keep people from burning their tongues! Cider is the only think I've cooked in it, but from that experience I would say it works VERY well to cook in. The 10 gallon model is so large I am sure you could feed 15-20 hungry people out of it.
My only complaint with the quality is that the stand could be more sturdy. The vessel itself is very high quality. Its very thick sturdy iron, and seemed to heat evenly. The protective wax coating it was shipped with came off fairly quickly, and when seasoned it was really a thing of beauty. I'm considering investing in another, smaller, pot from Bayou Classic so as to have a more reasonably size cauldron, and one I could cook with on camping trips for a smaller group. I would highly recommend this product for both jambalaya fans and for pagans in search of reasonably priced working cauldrons.
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The product is well constructed if you get all the parts! I did not receive the ring that the pot goes in to place on the stand. After talking w/Mike from Bayou he told me he could not help that I needed to have Amazon contact them. So Amazon did w/ me on the line and Mike still wasn't helpful. I mentioned this product came from his company and by him not supporting that, this is poor customer service. He said I was Amazons customer not Bayou. I said you are selling your product through Amazon and you are supporting your product to me the customer.
After Timothy from Amazon spoke with Mike from Bayou he finally said he would look to see if he had 1 and would might call me back in about 30 min if he finds 1 to ship.
After spending 56min of my time on the phone Amazon wasn't sold that Mike from Bayou was going to follow through so is making it right. Too bad I spent approx $200 after shipping and still had to fight w/ manufacturer to get what I needed to be able to use the pot as intended.
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Purchased this pot with the stand and hooks.
Pot arrived packaged very well and coated in paraffin. Melted off the pariffin and seasoned the pot using our outdoor gas grill.
The Price was right with free shipping and a $30 credit for signing up and paying with Amozon credit card.
Wish I would have bought the lid with it as I couldn't find one of size locally. I made a lid out of an aluminum pizza pan I got at a flea market. It works but I'm sure the lid that is offered would fit much better.
I am very happy with this pot for the money spent.
Honest reviews on Bayou Classics Cast Iron Jambalaya Kit
Arrived UPS in fine shape--uses mini-wooden pallet inside heavy carton for protection. I have cooked two beef stews (one for 15lots of left overs-every one in family loved it and took some home and my dogs got some after a week). Another for about 40 in a pot luck Birthday event--still leftovers and everyone raved over it. Cooked one over fire and coals and one over a propane burner. Fire adds ambience but burner is bit quicker and easier but noisier. I will probably do wood when I have time and propane when away from home. Stand is well designed and sturdy for coal or gas. Unit just fit in my Oven for curing--twice at 500 wth Crisco and fan on high. Recommend the cover lid of course, the wooden stir paddle (paddle slides under lid handle to remove from pot) and big 22in aluminum laddle. Am looking to buy Lodge folding lid holder now. Next year plan on event for 150 hungry cavers, butterflied young steer on big outdoor grill, and will use cast iron pots for the sides. Highly reccommend for large group, leisurely cooking with low failure rate,and added ambience. Great addition to your outdoor cooking if you don't mind handling 50-60 lb empty pot (the included pot hooks work well).
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Bayou Classics Cast Iron Jambalaya Kit
THIS POT IS GREAT FOR COOKING ANYTHING, HEATS UP FAST, GREAT FOR CRACKLINS, STEWS, CHICKEN&NOODLES& ECT.ONCE IT HEATS UP TURN THE FLAME ON LOW AND LET HER COOK.
