Cooking pots, pans etc
 

Did the usual searches and found stoves/burners etc but could not find anything on the pots and pans used on them. I know it will be in the archives somewhere, just couldn't find it.

Need some recommendations of what type/brand is the go. It's not hard to work out that the aluminium ones would lose any protective coating real quick. I realise the good gear will be expensive, that's why I only want to do it once.

Help!

MSR has some good stuff.
Most times, cook kits are similar to tool kits. There are things included that you don't want and will never use.

I have a set of MSR stainless pots, called "Alpine". Excellent durability, easy to clean because you can use steel wool pads, usefull sizes for 2 hungry guys and not too heavy (about 700 grams IIRC). Decent price (€30-40?)

On my last backpacking trip a friend brought a set of SnowPeak titanium pots. Very light (about half of Alpine would be my estimate), a bit smaller sized and also harder to cook with. You have to constantly stir the food because heat doesn't distribute evenly. We used lots of oil and luckily had a Primus Omnifuel stove that allows for accurate heat regulation. Expensive (€70+)

Of course I am a lightweight gear freak so I am now also looking for titanium pots. Haven't decided which one yet, although I like the one by Trangia. It has the same weight and sizes as the MSR titanium but includes a lid and cost €65 compared to €120.

Cheers,
Lukas

Another vote for the MSR Alpine cookset, and I'm also looking at the Ti set too, but it IS expensive. I feel the quality of the MSR Ti kit is better than thre trangia: it just feels stiffer, and less likely to be bent/dented

a

I agree on the titanium pots. They are lightweight, but they do not conduct heat effectively or evenly. I have had to watch out for burning food in the pot's hot spot.

Doing it over again, I'd go with stainless steel.

Good to know. I haven't seen either of them, but what you say makes sense since the weight of the Trangia including the lid is the same as the MSR without.

I will go and visit my local camping/outdoor shop this weekend, they are very knowledgeable and test all the products they sell. I'll keep you guys informed on what they say.

Lukas

Forget the few grammes difference ;-) I'd go for the stainless steel any day. Reckon it's easier (and cheaper) to save weight by reducing nonessential luggage. All you need is 2 pots fitting into each other, the smaller with a normal lid, the larger with a saucepan as lid.

What kind of stove have you got? Stainless steel has the further advantage that it can be used on petrol stoves. The alu pots don't cope with the higher temps.

I am with Vaufi on this one, my saucepans cost less than 10Euros from the local supermarket. they have been fine.. stainless with alu sandwich. dont burn easy. same applies to teh frying pan. Only snag i have had is they do tend to slide off the gaz stove if on even a little slope... so i need to roughen the stoves arms. Unles some one has a better fix?? they could be used on wood embers or charcoal too.

Stainless for me
 

I’ve tried most materials for pots over the years and still tend to go back to my old Peak stainless set, they have a close fitting lid to help speed up water boiling, and can be used on any cooker that you are likely to take on a trip, even been known to use them on open fires, and as LucasM said they are easy to clean with wire wool or pan scrubs, (which is a good thing with my cooking) and seem to last forever. Must have had my set some 14 or so years now.

Iain

aluminium?
 

I didn't understand why not aluminium?

Thanks,
Helias

Bike vibrations can kill Teflon very quickly ,take as few pans as possible and pack them with a buffer between the teflon surfaces .

I have a real nice set of teflon coated pots and pans and a real cheap stainless steel ones but guess what, seems I'm always using the cheapies. The stainless steel is more durable, don't worry about damaging coating and like others say you can clean them with some steel wool. My teflon ones cook better and more evenly but the stainless is so much easier that its what I use.

Like a marriage of many many years that only gets better with time, alas, how to ever part with my Svea 123 stove coupled with its specifically made Sigg pots? I bought the two together in 1969 and have used it ever since in every possible situation imaginable. Saudi desert, Indonesian jungle, camping numerous times in the Pyrenees mountains at 3,000 feet in the winter, twice across Afghanistan and in driving rain in Iran on an MZ 250 sport bike, in a New York hotel room, among much other unforgettable craziness. With time, as with a lady, one's eyes wander, but you know how it is, you just keep coming back. About 15 years ago I bought a Coleman Multi-fuel stove, and it's true, it works perfectly like a blowtorch and is very reliable, but who needs a blowtorch to save 3 minutes? Plus the Coleman runs badly on unleaded petrol. Then about 10 years I bought the "new" Svea 123R Climber, lord knows why. It in principle cleans the jet with a little needle, and is much more difficult to adjust when lit. I still use a little strand of copper wire to clean my original Svea 123 after each use. My Sigg cook set is in aluminium, anathema for those concerned about Alzheimer disease, yet I'll bet that for those who seek adventure this isn't a first consideration. During 50,000 kilometres on my MZ in Iran I only used unleaded petrol in my Svea, and it seemed to clog after a few years. So I simply rinsed the tank about 5 times with white gas when it was finally available in Turkey, and it ran like new. If ever less is better, or was, then the Svea 123 is it, at least the Svea without the integrated cleaning needle, available on e-Bay; even the corresponding Sigg pots can be found. New parts are readily available everywhere by mail order. I've included a clip from YouTube, but if that doesn't pass I can post photos. Hope this helps….

YouTube - Sigg Tourest & Svea 123

cooking vessels
 

If I didn't have a lightweight Peak set from 20 years ago I would buy two stainless "nesting" saucepans from a supermarket. A sandwich constuction to avoid the hot spot from petrol stoves. A big bonus if they can sit on eachother, and the other way round where you put one inside the other and heat water inbetween the two. Slower, but unburnt food for a change. The Peak is so thin its almost impossible to not carbonise the bottom layer of food if not using lots of water or oil.
Aluminium is hard to clean, and there is this problem with Alz...Alz...Alz. Personally I distrust all miracle coatings, can't use proper tools and not sure whats released at high temperatures.
I have a 25 cm stainless wok, folding handle, very handy, have actually made some good meals. Works OK for european cooking, not only asian.

Peter, in Oslo

Too much of a good thing....is just wonderful. Mae West

Trangia all the way
 

I can't speak highly enough of my Trangia - I went for the teflon coated version and after a year or so of use the surface does seem to be 'gritting' slightly.

I'm thinking now I should have gone for the stainless steel jobbies - but I don't think I could be without my non-stick frying pan!

Neat package which combined with multi-fuel burner is simply perfect.

MSR pots: very good, very durable,a dn seal pretty well as the handle flips over the lid and clamps down on the opposite side. Origaso flat pack plates and bowls also very good and take next to no space!! Stove: not what you asked about, but anyway its a Primus Omnifuel: very capable

Here in OZ we can get some cheap stainless steel pots and panikins .. made in thailand (like the MSR stuff .... probably the same factory). I've the 1 liter panikin - comes with a lid (to keep the embers out) and a long handle .. it is fine. Less than $aud20 some years ago. Branded on the back "Rocket".

I'd like a very small fry pan.. non stick .. rugged (has to be with me). Yet to find that..

that TEFAL Cookset link did not work above ..

Google picked up this
Tefal - Product Reviews - OUTDOORSmagic

....
Several frypans over at REI .. search on frypan REI: Outdoor Gear & Clothing for Skiing, Snowboarding, Snowshoeing, Camping, Hiking and More
Note they only post MSR products to the USA .. pitty - 160mm diameter is geting towards small ..

The 'open country' one is 200 mm
the 'Evernew' is ti .. 160 mm on special at $usd30 ... maybe. I'll do some measurements on the pack at home...

I've done this....

Trangia 25-5 Review (video)

Maybe worth a look if you want to know more about Trangia.

m

I do quite a bit of camping, have done since I was little (was a scout!) & bought some 'dixie' tins maybe about 10 years ago, three of them fold up into the largest one & you can pack your Knife fork etc in the middle of them - still have them, they are a bit bashed but are still fine to use, cook in them & eat out of them so no need for plates etc so saves on washing up!!

The MSR Alpine cookset is fantastic and use it myself.
Use a bit of sand from a stream as a scourer - no bother!
Here's a wee secret though... MSR cooksets are made in the same factory thats makes "555" and "seagull" brand. 1/3 of the price and same steel. The design of the MSR cookset for my use is better.
I use mainly the 1.5 ltr pot and the 1 ltr Titan Keatle. The Kettle comes with a well fitting lid. it's a good size to eat out of like bowl. titanium loses it's heat quickly so to drink your brew out of it works well without burning your lips like you would out of a issue cups canteen.

If your ready to snap your toothbrush handle off to save weight.....There is discussion in the light weight hiker groups about titanium - It's naturally heat reflective! So the thought is on a long trip you would use more fuel using tit' than SS so you need more fuel. more fuel-more weight. making SS "lighter" in the long term. -- Very Extreme thinking about weight. But if the tooth brush is looking heavy...

A low cost cookset is as suggested on other posts - Get normal household pots cheap and take the handle off for easier packing. Go down to your local camping shop for a "pot gripper".. a wee handle to "grip the pot.

Meh! I'm happy with my army messtins, and I have a Colman 553 stove and a big billy can it sits in. Sorted. :clap:

Hi,

My cooking kit is as follows:

Small trangia frying pan, Coleman Sportster Stove sits in it, then a trangia bowl on top, the frying pan acts as a lid for that. Small tongs for getting it on and off the stove, lighter.

Then a Crusader Metal Cup for brews.

Knife(sharp, can also spread) Fork, Spoon

Salt Pepper and Hot Sauce, various sachet drinks and soups, small amount of rice and pasta for just incase times, when places are closed and I neeed to feed myself.

All stored in a Blackhawk Gasmask Pouch, Simple Small Light and Versitile.

matt great review of the trangia system. I used a simliar model on all of my duke of ed courses, it is very robust, is good in most weathers:stormy:, but does take along time to boil/cook anything.

For my Gold DOE we got a gas conversion kit for it which reduced boiling time by alot and you had alot more control over the heat coming out so cooking was easier.

But the conversion kit you have seems to work even better than the one we had, and i like the idea of being able to use petrol to cook with.

The pans we had where alloy ones which where a real pain to clean and transferred heat really badly so the centre would be roasting and outsides just hot, and would corrode slightly if you used metal pads to clean it. Not very tasty. And the kettle is a great and easier way of boiling water, and cooking eggs

I think i will be choicing a Trangia system but which one i dont know yet.

Our "cookset" consists of two stainless Revereware pots purchased at the Salvation Army for three bucks 15 years ago. The same make and brand 12" frypan complements the set and is rounded out by (and I am not joking) a double-bottom 3 quart Revereware rice cooker. We spent less than 20 bucks for all of them and have used them for all these years with no sign of wear. On the road through Africa we expect to do most of our cooking with local foods and the rice cooker doubles as a steamer for veggies. Good food to us, is an essential part of life and not being able to cook something for lack of a pot or pan is senseless. I think (lordy, stepping into the debate brown stuff now) that before going light on the cooking gear a person would be better served by cutting down on the non-essentials such as a laptop, GPS, portable televison, massage pack for the WOTB. We will experiment with all local foods and if we like it, we'll learn to cook it for ourselves. If we don't like it, we are well equipped to cook whatever shows up in a method that satisfies our tastes.

Optimus Crux
 

For the weekend jaunts I use the Optimus Crux (its tiny and folds up) & a small C100 Butane cylinder + an Optimus Terra Solo Cookset (a small pot with a small frying pan lid good for the egg banjo) + Folding Titanium Spork. (All of the above fits in the Cookset)

http://www.venturesport.co.uk/images...duct_11333.jpg

http://www.thehighroute.com/Images/O...g%20System.jpg

And a Tatonka GSI Mug, which can also go on the burner if needed (and it fits on the bottom of a 1L Nalgene - no problem).

http://www.wickedgrin.net/external/mug.jpg

For anything longer I'd go with a something that can burn multiple fuels i.e. Petrol, something like a whisperlite... + maybe a weekend Cookset (same sort of thing as the solo just bigger), if there is more just me that is. I don't bother with plates & cutlery.

i use the trangia too, my -27 has the gas burner option and boils .75 litres in no time at all because more of the heat is used, saving a lot of fuel.
ive got the non stick alloy pans which have been excellent so far, if they become a problem in the future i can always change them all trangia components are available singly. i only ever use one of the pans so i have a spare, so the system should last me a good many years and it was on offer at £60 inc gas burner, which should usually be £50 on its own

Recently I bought this Set:
http://www.globetrotter.de/jpg_prod/...17-i61631b.jpg
Tried it for the first time at the German HUMM last weekend and was pretty satisfied. It burns grain alcohol and comes ready to use with everthing you need. The burner is basically a clone of the trangia.

Off course alcohol stoves are not big in terms of energy output. This one is no different but the wind screen is pretty good and the pots have kind of a heat exchanger on the bottom which makes boiling water quite fast.

All the pieces fit neatly together and the pots have orange plates that fit the heat exchanger at the bottom, so you avoid grindig off the non-stick coating and smearing soot all over them when you put it all together.

Bought it for about 90€ Globetrotter in Germany and feel pretty happy about the purchase. After all just a coleman sets you back roughly the same...

:scooter:

The last time I was at the camp store I was advised that Coleman Australia was not importing the dual fuel burner any more. Might be a little dear for the local market?

Glen