Camp cookware . quality . not cast iron . what's the best?

[Doc4]

Camp cookware. Pots, pans, and the like.

I'm looking to get a few pieces of high-quality stuff ... the sort of stuff that I can use for decades to come, and have it worthy of being inherited once I pass on ... the "saddleback of camp pots", if you will.

I have my cast iron items already.

No new cast iron.

I'm looking for steel or the like ... durable, lightweight (not "hiking up the mountain" lightweight, but "comfortable for grandma and the grandkids to use" lightweight) and no friggin' teflon coatings. The fry pans seem pretty common, but what about pots, kettles, and the like?

I'm looking forward to your suggestions.

 

[AllenG]

Car camping cookware and not hiking cookware, correct?
i would recommend Revere ware stainless steel ot copper bottom. http://www.shopworldkitchen.com/revere
I've got a fry pan that my mother gave me at least 25 years ago, and she got it 25 years before that. It's fried many an egg/trout/steak over a campfire, survived my college years, seen duty in more than one sandbox, and never complains when stuffed between ice chests in the car's boot.

 

[Jim]

Grab something at a garage sale- stainless of that quality is going to be expensive- steel will need the same care as cast iron and is almost as heavy..or how about a generator and a microwave? (seriously I saw this once)

 

[_JP_]

By your given standard, almost any quality kitchen pots and pans will do.

If by camping cookware you mean something that is more pack able for travel, then you might want to start looking online at campers and outdoors supply places. But I think that you find most of he stuff there geared towards backpacking. So check our RV and travel trailer supply places as well. They should have sets that nest together and pack down for travel.

 

[Doc4]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. (And yes, for "car camping".)



... and no generators, lol. I remember camping in Denali up in Alaska a couple years ago, and ... we were the only ones there in a full-up campsite with a pick-up truck and tents, and campfire. Everyone else was in these giant mobile apartments with the annoying generators running late into the night (or 24-7 in some cases ). I think some of those people never came out of their cocoon at all while they were there ...

 

[bvance554]

Just curious why you're looking for what it is you're looking for. You already have the best in your cast iron pots, and the only other pots, pans, etc that may be durable enough to pass on would be stainless steel pots. But I have some stainless steel pots, and although durable, when compared with cast iron they simply suck.

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

You already have the best in your cast iron pots, and the only other pots, pans, etc that may be durable enough to pass on would be stainless steel pots. But I have some stainless steel pots, and although durable, when compared with cast iron they simply suck.

Vance:

...I agree in that you can't go wrong with cast iron cookware for car camping.

"[Car camping]...has opened the earth to me and let me sense the rhythms and hierarchies of nature". Charles Fergus

 

[Alacrity59]

Hey Doc4.

I have some enameled pots in my camp kit. Thin stuff not enameled cast iron . . . I wonder if this stuff is made still. Always worked well for the pasta. I was going to say "other" boiled dishes . . . but it was always pasta.

 

[Doc4]

Just curious why you're looking for what it is you're looking for. You already have the best in your cast iron pots, and the only other pots, pans, etc that may be durable enough to pass on would be stainless steel pots. But I have some stainless steel pots, and although durable, when compared with cast iron they simply suck.

Cast iron tends to be too heavy for SWMBO to enjoy using, and she is a 'clean freak' who likes cleaning all the pots and pans with soapy water no matter what ... so cast iron doesn't really fit the bill too well.

 

[lamina]

I've found my whole kit in the bay. Try the titanium sets, 3,4 or 9 pieces, all are available, used or brand new.This year I bought a nice 70's VTG NOS Regal whistling kettle for some dollars...

 

[Deltaboy]

Enameled Cooking ware from Academy or REI will fit the bill nicely.

 

[Acmemfg]

DeBuyer cookwear...you will need nothing else and it will last through the next 5 decades
http://www.debuyer.com/product.php?id=594&cat=63&background=orange3

 

[LegendofVogel]

I have a coleman all steel skillet. ITs about 11" by 8" and flat with a slight lip and two handles. Its great for hiking because you can just lash it flat to the outside of your pack. Probably weighs 5 lbs maybe??? I love it.

 

[fast14riot]

I use Calphalon triple layer with forged and riveted handles. I purchased an 8" 10" and 12" pan at the fleamarket for $55 total. The 12" is $100+ retail. Their pots are great as well. Head down to your local restaurant supply and look there, the stuff is designed for hard use and holds up well. Plus SWMBO can handle them and determine if it will be adequite. With stainless though, you should use a saturated fat for non stick, I.e. butter or lard. Something about oil and such that just doesn't work well with stainless.


-Xander

 

[ArNav]

Buy a nice army cooking kit. German, Swiss, Russian, you have a lot of choice. Useful, all-in-one, light, small, and built especially for field trips.

 

[Deltaboy]

Buy a nice army cooking kit. German, Swiss, Russian, you have a lot of choice. Useful, all-in-one, light, small, and built especially for field trips.

Good call I have a set from German that I love for solo camping.

 

[stuart12dz]

What's camping? "When your sleeping bags a tiltin', you will find me at the Hilton and when you tire of the diet, come and join me at the Hyatt".