Pan

On solo trips, never. Group trips, yep.

Car camping, yep. Portaging... probably not. But does make for fun cooking and good eating...

What I find rather humorous is not so very long ago cast iron was the choice of practically all outdoorsman along with canvas tents and 100lb canoes. I must sheepishly admit that I would not compare very favorably against the average tripper of yesteryear and would likely be ground into the duff rather quickly if I were to carry the loads that they routinely carried.

I grew up eating from cast iron and rather like it. Now I use enamel coated Le Creuset cast iron cookware at home and find it the ultimate cooking ware and unequalled in performance and clean up. (yes I gave it away, not only do I do most of the cooking I also do most of the dishes at my place........very domestic for an accused male chauvinist ;-)

If I were base camping with a group and cooking over an open fire I would likely lean towards bringing the beast.

I love Dutch Oven cooking and have taken my cast iron dutch oven on many river float trips, but it's too heavy for me to portage.

I dunno, I'd maybe consider taking a skillet if I had a kid to carry that pack. :-)

In all honesty, if I had a larger skillet I might. It'd take the place of the griddle which only gets used for pancakes and hash browns.

After 20 years of trips, we finally started bringing a cast iron pan last year! It was a good move only now it wish it was 12" rather than 10".

quote awbrown: "I love Dutch Oven cooking and have taken my cast iron dutch oven on many river float trips, but it's too heavy for me to portage. "

I have 2 cast Aluminum DO that I used for car camping with groups... Early in my BW trips I brought one along but eventually decided I would rather paddle, explore, lounge, and read rather than trying to keep decent coals for the thing. debating the merits of Al vs Iron isn't worth the battle but I like mine a lot.

dr bob

I could see using one on a base camping trip without many long portages.

I was amused by the video at the end of the article. "Rob" taped himself carrying the canoe up the stairway portage - saying he is a "hard ass". It struck me as sort of funny. He should see what some of our guys have accomplished, especially on the Kruger Challenge .

The best thing to use over a fire is hands down cast iron, I swear by it. BUT after the portages in Quetico summer I was swearing at it. I will switch to something else if the trip involves a lot of tough portages!!

I’d take one along if I had the cooks he had along, but for me it would be extra weight and a waste.

I am mostly a eat to live type of guy, not a live to eat.

T

With our group of 8 guys we bring a 10” and a 12” cast iron fry pan. There is nothing better for cooking over a fire with. It’s not too heavy if you put it in the young guys pack. We take a tow and base camp with this group so no big deal.

Cast iron every day at home. My kids buy me electric griddles and it's just not the same. I like my cast iron!

quote nctry: "Cast iron every day at home. My kids buy me electric griddles and it's just not the same. I like my cast iron!"

same in our home, not on the trail.

quote nctry: "Cast iron every day at home. My kids buy me electric griddles and it's just not the same. I like my cast iron!"

I have a Le Creuset enamel coated cast iron deep skillet at home complete with heavy lid. Whats great about it is you can brown your chicken in the pan on the stovetop, scrape anything stuck to the bottom off rather easily via a flat wooden spoon and then pop right into the oven with the lid on. Results are amazing, just add all sorts of vegetables and sauces etc after browning. Lots of ways to do it and puts regular chicken to shame. I caught wind of these in a chicken cookbook where the author flatly stated that I must have this specific pan before using her recipes. I resisted for a few years as the French are rather proud of their pans. I finally broke down and picked one up and now I use her recipes. When I have folks over they think I am some sort of chef LOL (nothing could be further from the truth).

I also have a very large oval shaped fry pan from them. They just clean up so much better than traditional cast iron. No soaking, no scraping.........the cats meow!

Carry cast iron through the woods? Not for me.
Use cast iron for as much cooking as possible at home? You betcha!

quote jcavenagh: "Carry cast iron through the woods? Not for me.
Use cast iron for as much cooking as possible at home? You betcha!"

I do the cooking and menu planning. The guys tell me "if you need it, we will carry it". Even so, I was reluctant to make them carry cast iron. After carrying it last year, it's not really a big deal and I really liked cooking with it.

Absolutly love cast iron. That is all we cook with at home. My favorite is a #9 Griswold I rescued from a trash heap. It had lived in an old garage for about 40 years and was covered in rust. A little elbow grease and boom!, my favorite cooking pan now. It is lighter then Lodge brand cast iron, and so I have brought it on a canoe trip or two, but not all of them.

Also own a #24 Le Creuset with a nice long handle. That one is amazing over a fire. I usually bring either the Griswold or the Le Creuset car camping. Nothing compaires to cooking over a fire with cast iron.

Finally, I have a little cast iron tea pot that I always bring winter camping. I just leave it on the stove and always have hot water for tea at the ready. Its smaller, so the weight doesn’t bother me.

quote nctry: "Cast iron every day at home. My kids buy me electric griddles and it's just not the same. I like my cast iron!"

+1. Ben knows how to cook his bacon, eggs, & pancakes on that cast iron. :-)

I absolutely love my Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven, and skillets, however I wouldn't bring into the BWCA, because its far too heavy, and there are other things i'd rather carry like chairs etc.

I might consider throwing at least the skillet on the pulk though for winter camping.

I almost always bring the cast iron car camping, and use several times throughout the week at home.