Outdoor Camping Cookset are very expensive depending on the construction and made. Many have made the wrong choice after a few field trips, most ended getting a Cookset too small or to large and heavy.
We never narrow our Camping Cookset just for Camping, we use it both for outdoor activities, home or traveling. Our choice of cookset have to very versatile, durable and light. Over the decades I have made some wrong choices but now we are clear on what we are getting into.
Before we select a cookset, we first have to identify how many people are we cooking for. Simply break down to these groups. Bigger group more than 5 person will not be discussed here as you probably need Kitchen Cookset.
TYPES OF CAMPERS COOKSET
- Soloist (1 person)
- Partner (2 person)
- Family / Group (3 to 4 person)
First we will discussed type of Cookset construction and their usage practicality but we first have look into their construction.
- Stainless Steel
- Aluminium
- Titanium
- Cast Iron
Stainless Steel
Ideal for: Bike, Car, Kayaking Camping
This comes in 2 variations lightweight and heavyweight, personally we had own the heavy weight MSR Alpine Cookset but sold it away (wish I have not done that). MSR Alpine Cookset was very durable and most of the time we made perfect even from cooking rice without any burnt. The cookset have a thicker base thus it distributed the heat rather evenly especially for the fry pan. The trick to frying is to let the pan heat up till smoke from the oil then only you dump in the ingredient. This will prevent fish, eggs or meat from sticking the pan.
The other version will be thin walled stainless steel cookset as you can see below pic with discolouration, mostly we got it in Taiwan Supermarket. This cookset gets dented easily and burnt the food rather fast. The benefit is the weight, it is twice as light compare to the thick wall type. The material tends to discoloured after prolong usage.
PS Zebra brand from Thailand makes good cookset, MSR was using them. You can find it in locally. Think about it.
MSR Stainless Steel Alpine Cookset, fry pan sold separately
Thin wall Stainless Steel Pot discolouration
Aluminium
Ideal for: Hiking, Bicycle, Bike, Car, Kayaking Camping and Traveling
Back in the days of World Wars, soldiers were issued with Aluminium Mess Kit and you can still find such construction from different maker such as Trangia. The are durable however the setback it leaves a black residue when cleaning with a scourging pad. Does not spread the heat evenly.
Aluminium Polished Cookset are much better than earlier mention. Their construction are thinner and prone to dents. However they will not produce any reside when washing with a scourging pad but do leave some marks. Does not spread the heat evenly, example our Uniflame Yama Cookset.
Aluminium Hard Anodized are specially coated and heat mostly using Teflon base. Their construction is much harder compare to the two above. We own a MSR Duralite Cookset for 15 years and the coating all started to peel. Now we have decommissioned it due to health reason. They spread the heat reasonably but still heavier compare to the earlier both Aluminium type.
MSR Duralite and Uniflame Yama Cookset
MSR Hard Anodized wearing off mostly cause by the Pot Handler
Titanium
Ideal for: Hiking, Bicycle, Bike, Car, Kayaking Camping and Traveling
Most expensive of the lot also one of the toughest and lightweight construction. So far we are in love with it and cleaning was easy, we could use a steel scourging pad and it still will not damage the surface. At the moment we owned the EPI Titan Cookset. We are looking to add another Evernew Titanium DX3 Cookset to our current because at the moment we only have a soloist cookset. Evernew Titanium DX3 has a 1.3L pot and a fry pan which is suitable for Partner or solo camping. The only setback is this cookset have coating on both pan and pot however they are using ceramic the best and more durable coating. Then again any coated or treated pot will still fail in time, at least ceramic is much healthier than Teflon.
Evernew Titanium DX3 and EPI Titan Cookset
Cast Iron
Ideal for: Bike, Car Camping
The heaviest cookset in this category, this mainly focus to luxury or family camping. However cast iron distribute the heat very evenly and cook pretty good gourmet. We only have the 7" and 6" skillets. We have no plans to own a Dutch Oven just yet. Hey, we do use a cast iron wok at home :)
What Kind of Cookset should you get.
It all depends on your outdoor activities.
Family or Group
If you have a family or group of 4 who goes camping and hiking, we had use the MSR Duralite, it has a 2.0L and 1.5LPot with a 7" Fry pan. Not necessary to get MSR but something of this size. Fry pan of 8.5" like the Primus LiTech should do the job.
Partner
Go with at least 1.3 to 1.5 Pot, Fry Pan 6" to 8.5".
Soloist
Some Soloist prefer kettle style like the Jet Boil or Snow Peak Trek 900 where they only boil water for their freeze or dehydrated meal.
If you are looking for cookset with a pan then have a look at Evernew DX3 or something similar size. If you choose Evernew DX2 it will something similar to Snow Peak or EPI Titan which have 0.65L pot, I rather pick up the Uniflame Yama Cookset with larger capacity.
How to Use the Cookset
Besides Cast Iron or heavy base Stainless Steel Cookset, all other construction cannot be subject to high heat, this will create a heat spot even if you are cooking noodles in water, the noodle will get stuck to the pot bottom especially so if using Titanium Cookset. You will need constant stirring to prevent that from happening.
Some of our replacement Primus LiTech Fry Pan with Silicon Ceramic Coating, been using more than 3 years now mostly at home cooking for 2 or car camping, suitable for me and partner.
Our replacement frying pan Primus LiTech 8.5" over MSR Duralite 7.5"
Our Final Thought
Because of our activities we will go with Titanium setup. Except for Car camping we will add the Primus LiTech Fry Pan for Gourmet cooking.
Our cookset have traveled many places, Dubai, Holland, Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia, India ....etc. The list is too long. Yes, we always bring our cookset when traveling, we enjoy our morning cup of coffee or taste the local instant noodles otherwise preheat leftover food.
So we do not mind investing in a good all rounder cookset, what do you think leave us a comment.
Photos of Cookset in Lake Toba Inonesia, Dubai Hotel room,
India Midnight Train and Wild Hot Spring.
4 different cooking methods, Alcohol, Electric, Tablets and Fire
PS Do not waste $$ buying cookset for Kitchen, instead look beyond the horizon and get a decent all purpose Camping Cookset. No point keeping a cookset just for camping.
We have spent move 1.5K for both outdoor and our kitchen for the perfect cookset.
Just my 2 cents
Cheers
Spencer
No comments:
Post a Comment