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.)
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.
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.
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.
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