Tools of the Magickal Trade: Cauldron

Cauldrons are a feminine tool and associated with the element of water...most are made out of metal. Some ways that the Cauldron is used:
Scrying in Water
Holding Energy: The bigger the cauldron, the more energy you’ll be able to hold.
Symbolic of fertility
Letting things burn such as paper
Burning Cauldron Splashes

Elementally:
Earth:
Layer salt, wax shavings, three powdered or ground herbs, lighter fluid and ivy leaves in the cauldron while focus and chanting. Use a candle to light it. When the smoke starts to roll, extinguish the cauldron by putting the lid on.
Air:
Using tongs, put a chunk of dry ice is a small glass or ceramic bowl and place the bowl on a cloth in the bottom of the cauldron. Allow the cauldron to smoke as long as the ice lasts. The mists create excellent images for scrying.
Fire:
Cover the inside bottom with dirt or sand to dissipate heat. Light incense charcoal and add either salt-peter for flame and spark or flash powder for a different but spectacular effect. To assist in releasing or firing off peak energy, try using flash "bombs". Make a small pocket in a piece of flash paper, fill with flash powder and tie with thread. The "bomb" should be about the size of your smallest fingernail. The results are spectacularly bright, so use the powder sparingly. Don't look directly at the flash as you drop the "bomb" in the cauldron.
Water:
At least seven days before the ritual, place equal quantities of three appropriate herbs in a pint glass jar. Fill the rest of the jar with Everclear (200 proof alcohol), cap tightly, and shake gently while concentrating on the purpose of the ritual. Add a chant if its feels right. Let the jar rest in a dark, warm spot and shake twice daily, charging with purpose. Before the ritual, place a fireproof ceramic or glass bowl in the cauldron. Pour in the herb mixture, being careful none spills into the cauldron. Light with a candle to produce a beautiful blue flame.

Care: Make sure that you clean your cauldron after every use... it is so important especially cast iron...

Personally:
The tool I have been using this tool a lot lately... I own 2 and neither are used for food the first one I ever owned is a smaller cast iron with a pentacle and then the one a bought most recently is a larger cast iron...

it depends on what I want to use the cauldron for when i choose which one i use... mostly though I use the smaller caldron for burning scrolls and the larger one i use for cauldron splashes because its safer when its splash is burning...

Some info taken from http://www.witchway.net/ritual/cauldr.html

Added comments:
It can also be used for cooking keep this one separate from the others that you use though. A tool that is a symbol of transformation and of the Goddess being the "essence of femininity and fertility" according to Scott Cunningham "reincarnation, immortality, inspiration"