Love to fry some fish but hate carrying your typical heavy pan? Suggestions?

Hi Tigag,

I have several camp frying pans and enjoy cooking with different ones year around, while camping and at home. My favorite is the Fry-Bake Pan in the Expedition size for its versatility, ease of cleaning, history, and U.S. manufacturing. Yes, the price is higher than most, if not all, other camp fry pans; however, the pan with the lid also serves as a Dutch oven.

Feel free to send me any questions you may have. I don’t post often here but check the site out most everyday.

Bodean

My favorites are the GSI Bugaboo Teflon coated Aluminum Skillets. Depending on crew size I choose between the 8 inch (13 oz.) for small groups(2 people), and the 10 inch (19 oz.) for larger groups (anything bigger than 2). They are strong, provide a stick free surface, high side walls, have-fold in handles, and are relatively light. Over years of use, the 10 inch has bowed (waves) in the on the bottom due to uneven heat (8 inch did not), My only negative comments are the bowing and having to be very careful not to burn and scratch the Teflon. They can't compete with cast iron, but who wants to carry it?

tigag: "Love to fry some fish but hate carrying your typical heavy pan? Suggestions?"

I struggled to fry fish for many years with lightweight pans and variable temperatures while cooking. My group said "pack the extra weight... we bring a lot of extra comforts anyway", so a cast iron pan is now standard.

We never noticed the change of weight in our packs!

Banks Fry Pan.

Fry-Bake pan is my all time favorite.

Loony_canoe: "My favorites are the GSI Bugaboo Teflon coated Aluminum Skillets. Depending on crew size I choose between the 8 inch (13 oz.) for small groups(2 people), and the 10 inch (19 oz.) for larger groups (anything bigger than 2). They are strong, provide a stick free surface, high side walls, have-fold in handles, and are relatively light. Over years of use, the 10 inch has bowed (waves) in the on the bottom due to uneven heat (8 inch did not), My only negative comments are the bowing and having to be very careful not to burn and scratch the Teflon. They can't compete with cast iron, but who wants to carry it?"

Loony is right on the money with this one. I love my 10" GSI Bugaboo for my group of 4. It has a nice fold down handle and it's fairly lightweight and stable enough to fry fish in. Mine hasn't bowed, but I always cook over my cook stove and never a fire.

On the cast iron front, I typically hit the same parts of the BWCA and my camping mentors had been camping in the area long before it was the BWCA. They would always talk about how certain islands used to have communal cast irons skillets hanging off a nail in the tree in the typical camp site. You just used it when you were there and hung it up before you left. Sometimes I think to myself.....I wonder how far into the woods I would have to stash a big 12" cast iron pan so that it would be there the next year when I came back? I am too chicken to risk it though. It would probably rust like crazy anyway.

I’ve got the GSI Glacier and loved it last year. I bought the 10 inch. I remove the handle and keep that rolled in the utensil roll up. Then stack plates in the pan, and cook kit on top of that. It nests even with the cozy I have around my pot system which is nice.

Pan is great though and cooks as evenly as a smaller fry pan can for camping on camping stoves.

Ryan

I like my MSR ceramic skillet coupled with the dragonfly stove. The stove lets me control the heat really well and our fish dinners are more like cooked-in-butter than deep-fried-in-oil. The skillet is lightweight, super easy to clean, and has held up to lots of use for several years. Granted, we rarely cook for more than four people so its smaller size hasn't been too big of an issue.

We used to always carry cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens….as we got older and started doing longer trips, we worked at cutting weight and went to aluminum Dutch ovens……we then discovered the previously mentioned Banks Fry-bake pans and haven’t looked back! A little pricey, but we’ll worth the money! They used to offer “blems” on the website for a discount…anything we could fry/bake in the cast iron, we can do with these. You can use them on a gas stove or wood coals.

Mike

I switched to an IMUSA caldero aluminum cooking pot. I replaced the knob with an eye bolt and use it like a dutch oven and a skillet. It will not take as much heat as iron, but light and versatile.

JATFOMike: "We used to always carry cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens….as we got older and started doing longer trips, we worked at cutting weight and went to aluminum Dutch ovens……we then discovered the previously mentioned Banks Fry-bake pans and haven’t looked back! A little pricey, but we’ll worth the money! They used to offer “blems” on the website for a discount…anything we could fry/bake in the cast iron, we can do with these. You can use them on a gas stove or wood coals.


Mike"

Do you use a certain pot gripper for the Banks pans?

I picked up an aluminum cast skillet from Boundary Waters Journal for our trip last year and its perfect for fish, definitely bringing it again this year.

Finnboy: "

JATFOMike: "We used to always carry cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens….as we got older and started doing longer trips, we worked at cutting weight and went to aluminum Dutch ovens……we then discovered the previously mentioned Banks Fry-bake pans and haven’t looked back! A little pricey, but we’ll worth the money! They used to offer “blems” on the website for a discount…anything we could fry/bake in the cast iron, we can do with these. You can use them on a gas stove or wood coals.



Mike"

Do you use a certain pot gripper for the Banks pans?"

You can purchase a pot gripper from Banks. I picked up one of the pans used from someone on this site, and it is a great piece. They do sell cosmetic seconds which will save you a couple buck.

I also have the 10" GSI Gourmet pan, and this is my go to on my solo trips as I do not mess around with campfires when alone.

Banks Fry Bake Pans

GSI 10' Gourmet Pan

I'm with others on here in recommending the fry bake expedition. I may or may not bother with the lid depending on what I'm cooking, but otherwise the pan pretty much always goes with.

Love my fry-bake pan. I find it a bit harder to clean than others are saying though.

I have been using an aluminum camp griddle from Piragis aka Boundary waters catalog for 4 years and love it.

After using it a bit it seasoned up nicely and cooks very similar to cast iron over open fire. It does fine on the camp stove too. It's a great compromise to cast iron at under 3 lbs.

I like the rectangular shape of the griddle (I'm cooking for my family of 4 most trips and it is perfectly sized for our needs).

It's also rugged and cleans up well.

I have considered getting the expedition fry bake pan others have already mentioned to try it out but so far the camp griddle has been great.

https://www.boundarywaterscatalog.com/bwca-griddles/camp-griddle-10x13-inches-5819

I like the Primus Campfire stainless steel 12" fry pan. Durable. But no lid. No finicky teflon coating for me. That stuff is PFE whatever, too...the "forever chemicals" everyone is now trying to stop.

Lot of people like the Pathfinder stainless fry pan from Self Reliance Outfitters. It even has a lid. But it's only 8". Kinda small. (TWSS) (Sorry...couldn't resist.)
Good for solo I guess.

Crashdavis: "I switched to an IMUSA caldero aluminum cooking pot. I replaced the knob with an eye bolt and use it like a dutch oven and a skillet. It will not take as much heat as iron, but light and versatile.



"

I just picked one of those up on amazon. So dang cheap and relatively light - I figured I would try it at home and see how it went, but for under 12-15 bucks it seems like a steal.

Any issues to be aware of? Tips?

Firebox!!! They season similarly to cast iron at about 1/3 of their weight. I will never change.

I carry a pan similar to this: Cast Steel Fry Pan with Handle

The difference between that & mine is that mine does not have an attached handle (same retailer, just a different model). In hindsight, I’d probably have gotten the one with the handle. It works fairly well though a lighter pan such as this will most always hot spot more than a heavy cast iron. Use adequate oil when frying & it should even it out.

If you are okay with a bit more weight, I think these are the best iron-based fry pan money can buy: Stargazer Cast Iron

My brother-in-law is a huge foodie/cook & I was surprised how satisfied he was with the one I got him, he said it is his favorite pan, which is a pretty big deal to somebody that takes cooking as seriously as does he. I’m going to be buying another one for myself for cooking this winter (mine is buried in storage).