Chugun (pot)

Chugun (pronounced "chooGOON"; small one: chugunok) is a crock initially made of cast iron, hence its name: "chugun" in Russian means "cast iron". It has a special shape: narrow at the bottom quickly turning into a round bowl, that permits handling of it in the Russian stove with a special implement called ukhvat, a long wooden handle ending with the two-pronged metal "grabber". Later chuguns were made of aluminium as well. This kind of ware had become widespread in Russia since the break of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Handling a chugun with an ukhvat

Standalone small stoves had special metal rings to fit bottoms of chuguns of different sizes.

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  A variety of chuguns and chugunoks are used to prepare an entire meal
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  Ukhvats of varying sizes, fire iron, and chapelnik (to handle pans)
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  A stovetop with iron fitting rings

The implement gave rise to Russian surnames Chugunov and Chugunkov.

See also

• Dutch oven
• Kazan (cookware)