The trade kettle was an interesting marketing piece, as the shape allowed the pieces to nest inside of each other. Sets of up to seventeen pieces have been uncovered at some historic sites. The fur traders, however, traded these kettles to the Native Americans, not as complete sets, but as single pieces. They even sold the bales (handles) separately! The copper kettle was more forgiving than cast iron, and was much better suited to the traveling lifestyle of the early Native Americans. The copper kettles would bend rather than crack, thus making them more highly prized than the heavier, more brittle and expensive cast iron pots.

The copper kettles had one major flaw; the copper could react with acidic foods and release copper sulfates into the food being cooked and poison the people who ate from that pot. One method to alleviate this problem was to line the inside of the pot with tin. Several kettles discovered at historic sites have this "tin wash." Most kettles, however, were not provided with this layer of protection.