Alchemy Factory Cauldron Recipes & Heat Draw

Quick answer

The cauldron is the only heating consumer in Alchemy Factory whose heat draw depends on the recipe, not a fixed number. For example the clay recipe runs at 4.6 P/s and produces about 16.7 clay per minute at base speed, rising to 6.9 P/s at +50% factory efficiency. Always read the recipe's tooltip P value when sizing a furnace.

The cauldron among heating consumers

Heat is measured in P per second. Most consumers draw a fixed amount no matter what they process — a crucible takes 4 P/s whether it is making planks, stone, or plant ash. The cauldron is the exception: its draw is set by the recipe it is running.

That means two furnaces running different cauldron recipes can have very different total draws. When you stack consumers, add up each one's recipe-specific P value rather than assuming a flat rate.

The clay recipe numbers

The documented clay recipe runs at 4.6 P/s for about 16.7 clay per minute at base speed. At +50% factory efficiency the same recipe draws 6.9 P/s. The output rate rises with efficiency, but so does the heat demand on the furnace beneath it.

Because the draw is recipe-specific, the right furnace size for a cauldron depends entirely on what you are cooking. A furnace that comfortably runs crucibles may starve a cauldron on a heavy recipe.

Black powder from the cauldron

Black powder is a mid-game cauldron output and one of the highest-heat fuels in the game. Its heat value and sell price were both doubled in the June 2026 patch (v0.5.4467), so any fuel comparison dated before that undervalues it.

As a powder-tier fuel, black powder sits above refined charcoal and coke and below the potion-tier blast and panacea potions. It is a strong choice once you have a cauldron line running mid-game recipes.

Cauldron and the Advanced Athanor

The June 2026 recipe rebalance rebuilt every Advanced Athanor recipe around four catalysts: Unstable (alters output probabilities), Fertile (doubles output), Resonant (generates all outputs at once), and Eternal (consumes no materials). These catalysts were introduced with that rebalance, not with the base cauldron.

The cauldron itself stays the workhorse for liquid and potion recipes; the Advanced Athanor is the late-game extension where catalysts change what a recipe yields.

Sizing a furnace for cauldron recipes

To size correctly, read the tooltip P value of the exact cauldron recipe, then add it to the other consumers on the same furnace. A worked example from the guides: three crucibles making plant ash need 3 × 4 = 12 P/s, plus the furnace's own draw in that version.

Remember that fuel type never changes how fast a consumer works — only how long the heating device runs before it needs the next item. Pick fuel for uptime, not for speed.

What is still unconfirmed

Exact P values for many individual cauldron recipes beyond clay, and the full list of cauldron outputs at every tier, are 待确认. The base-heat-cost removal in version 1.0 also changes older worked examples, so always re-check against your current patch.