Instagram Is Loving Andrew Zimmern's Flaming Cauldron Photo

Andrew Zimmern's recent Instagram post shows a photo of the chef holding a flaming stick near a massive cauldron of burning wood that's suspended by a chain from a large iron tripod that looks to be bigger than the chef himself. Looking at it, you might wonder what spooky summoning Zimmern is up to this Halloween. Is he honing a different kind of "craft," sifting through spells and incantations ahead of the eeriest holiday of the year? 

One user commented, "The beacons are lit!" leading us to wonder if Zimmern is initiating some sort of communication system to alert those who are near the autumnal lakeside setting about trouble brewing. Another said they were "digging the lord of the flies x lord of the rings vibe, az." If we saw that scene without context, we would wonder why Zimmern holding a flaming torch to the even larger flames of a lakeside cauldron.

"Weekend BBQ prep," it turns out. "What are you up to this morning?" Zimmern asks innocently in the photo's caption as if everyone's barbecue prep involves igniting a witchy cauldron full of timber. Zimmern's olive green wax jacket and Indiana Jones-esque hat add to the adventurous, woodsy vibes of his spooky season exploits, and we're betting the resulting barbecue is going to be frighteningly good.

It turns out that Andrew Zimmern is a pretty big fan of cooking with cauldrons, in particular, the Cowboy Cauldron, which functions as a fire pit and grill (via the Cowboy Cauldron website) and looks suspiciously like the spooky flame fountain in Instagram post. In a 2013 interview with Maxim, he spoke about his (literally) burning passion for the device: "I use a Cowboy Cauldron at home. It's my current obsession. I love them, it's like a barbecue pit on a tripod." As Zimmern counted the ways he loved his Cowboy Cauldron, he explained, "I can do really low, indirect heat cookery and then during the last minute, I can slide the meat right over on top of the fire." 

While he was standing alone in the photo, that solitude might not have lasted. Zimmern told Maxim that "grilling's very social," the kind of thing you can do with pals. And in this case, it's at least very social media. The post has received more than 5,000 likes. One commenter called the cauldron scene "next level." Another likened it to a "Survivor" episode. We can't help but agree with the user who commented on Instagram: "I'm jealous this is how you spend the morning."