Skip to main content

The Cowboy Cauldron Lets You Cook Like a Rancher (No Ranch Needed)

We’ve made it through much of the crappy cold weather. Spring is just over the horizon and beyond that, the beautiful warm summer months. That means it’s time to start planning for grilling season. How you ask? Saving up for a new grill, that’s how. What better way to get excited about late spring and early summer than unveiling a brand new grill.

There are tons of grills out there, many are beautiful, many are super functional, but only one is going to make you feel like Clint G-D Eastwood: the Cowboy Cauldron. (If you just heard an Ennio Morricone song playing in your head, then you definitely need one of these.)

cowboy cauldron grilling
Cowboy Cauldron Co./Facebook

Unlike a grill, a Cowboy Cauldron adds a rustic talking piece to your outdoor entertainment space, carrying a timeless aesthetic that will match any patio furniture whether traditional or modern. Case in point: Award-winning chef Michael Chiarello loves his cauldron so much that he featured the fire pits on the cover of his NapaStyle Catalog. Cowboy Cauldrons are catching fire at boutique hotels, restaurants, ski lodges, dude ranches, and even business offices; users loving the design for its functional yet sculptural uniqueness.

Recommended Videos

The man behind Cowboy Cauldron Company, Mike Bertelsen, says, “We’re seeing a lot of interest in the culinary and celeb chef universe, with a bunch of chefs requesting them … plus older hipsters, 35- to 45-year-old guys who like being outside and like to entertain.”

Apart from its aesthetic sizzle, Bertelsen remarks that cauldrons have an almost magic ability to connect family and friends. “Almost every day I get a picture on email or Facebook showing a customer with their cauldron and what they’re doing with it and how much they love it,” Bertelsen says. Which, for him, is his biggest success yet. That’s because, before Bertelsen was an iron-cookin’ cowboy, he worked as a high-power lobbyist for the mutual funds industry. He made the drastic career switch to create a better family lifestyle, and now that intent is spreading like wildfire thanks to a simple cooking pit.

cowboy cauldron
Cowboy Cauldron

In the process of fitting the right cauldron to each family, Cowboy Cauldron walks its buyers through a fit process that helps recommend the right cauldron for the desires space — depending primarily on the amount of space available and the number of people being entertained. Their full range runs from 24 to 42 inches in diameter.

Cauldron cooking pro tip: Make sure you’re wearing pants that cover your legs and workman gloves when you’re setting up or touching the cauldron. They get pretty darn hot.

So the real question is: Are you an urban cowboy or big-time ranch boss? Each cauldron unit comes complete with tripod frame, suspension chain/hook/pin assembly, cauldron basin, two-piece, removable fire grate, and a double-hinged cooking grill. Prices range from $1,420 to $3,825.

The company offers other utensils and accessories to build out your collection, including pot tongs, pigtails, trammels, cauldron covers, and hand-wrought chains that are crafted by a blacksmith who works for the company full-time. “He’s pounding out these awesome pieces of art that will be around for hundreds of years. We’re keeping that craft alive. I’m pushing him hard to produce new things,” says Bertelsen.

As for the options of what to cook (this is the good part), go Cajun with a huge pot of seafood jambalaya; classic cowboy by heating beans, meat, spices, and peppers into a chili stew; or south of the border with a steaming bowl of pozole. Other than boils and stews, you can use your cauldron as a grill by piling it with wood and cooking up some killer meats.

Article originally published by Jahla Seppanen on September 8, 2017. Last updated by Sam Slaughter on February 19, 2018.

Jahla Seppanen
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Born and raised off-the-grid in New Mexico, Jahla Seppanen is currently a sports, fitness, spirits, and culture writer in…
Don’t be afraid of using Scotch in cocktails – these bartenders show you how
Beatnick on the River

As today is National Cocktail Day, lots of us will be reaching for our home bars to try out something new. That could be working with a new spirit or an unusual liqueur -- or even digging in the garden for some fresh herbs to add to a mixing glass. But there's one spirit which plenty of people enjoy drinking but rarely mix with, and that's Scotch.

Scotch is most often enjoyed neat, and it used to be the case that even thinking about mixing with it was considering wasteful and unsophisticated. But that time has passed, and now plenty of bartenders and experts are interested in what this powerful, smokey whisky style can add to a cocktail.

Read more
AeroPress Clear XL is here— and it’s bigger, sleeker, & clearer
A crystal-clear, extra-large brewer
AeroPress Clear XL

The renowned AeroPress, a manual brewing system that quickly brews bold coffee, has launched an even bigger, sleeker, and clearer model. The AeroPress Clear XL is the latest evolution of its popular AeroPress Clear, which now features a 20-ounce capacity. After the launch of the AeroPress Clear, fans of this brewing system requested a larger version for bigger brews. The new AeroPress Clear XL expands on the convenience and innovation of the original model, offering a larger size without compromising the brew's taste. The precise, see-through nature of this design is excellent for watching the brewing process from start to finish (an aesthetically pleasing feature I can surely appreciate)

Made in the USA, the AeroPress Clear XL offers a simple yet effective brewing process for home and cafe use. It uses the brand's revolutionary 3-in-1 brewing technology to ensure the signature smooth, full-bodied, grit-free coffee that AeroPress is known for. You can even travel with this brewer, ensuring you have access to a quality cup of coffee anywhere. Like the other AeroPress Clear sizes, the XL is shatterproof and dishwasher-safe for easy, efficient cleaning and use. The AeroPress Clear XL retails for $89.95 and is available now for purchase (or to gift to the coffee lover in your life).

Read more
Want to sound like a wine pro? The wine buzzwords of 2025 you ought to know
The descriptors you should comprehend
Erin Lindstone.

In wine, it pays to know what you're talking about. You can get lost in the lingo and end up with something you never would have ordered. But, if you crack the code, you'll be in with the cool wine kids and enjoying exactly what you were after.

Now, there's helpful wine terminology, which can help you navigate the field. But there are also buzzwords — descriptors sommelier-types like to throw at wine to paint a better picture of its build, style, or texture. This story is focused on the latter and will set you up to converse in even the hippest wine bars in the land.

Read more