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gkimball	03/10/2019 03:32PM   Its always a mixture. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't make anything in my titanium fry pan without burning it, so I switched back to to a CSI coated aluminum unit. No problems now. I have use a10" (I think) CSI anodized aluminum dutch oven when with companions and it works very well. Very light for what it does and very easy to clean up. I use small sized titanium pots when soloing and they work well. When with companions I used larger sized stainless steel pots. I cook only over a stove so no fire black issues.
OCDave	03/08/2019 04:11PM   bwcasolo: "Shopping for a new cook kit does bring a few concerns on what to get next. My wife is not comfortable with teflon, i get that. I am looking into the different other material options. I will, on solo trips, cook over the fire. I will fry fish and make bannock so I know, without Teflon, there is some clean-up. I know it's the high heat that will make a bigger mess. I am looking into titanium. I know it is a thinner material, collects heat faster. Gearing towards stainless. What are your thoughts, recommendations? Thanks." I can't make anything except boiled water in titanium without scorching it. In fact, I suspect I have also burnt water a few times using a titanium mug. With a good stove, any old pan will work. Over fire for front country camping I use Cast iron or a steel griddle I inherited. The griddle weighs just a bit more than my 12 inch Lodge Deep "Chicken fryer" Skillet with lid. These tools allow me to turn out pretty tasty meals but, I would never portage with either. Over a fire for back-country cooking, the best I have found or been willing to carry has been the Fry-Bake Deep Alpine. Even after turning what was supposed to be brownies into baked-on charcoal in this pan, clean up is easy and the pan is like new. I made a Reflectix cozy for mine and use it the way I might prepare "Cook-In-Bag" meals. It is the best Bacon/Egg/Pancake pan I have used for back-country camping. It can easily turn out a Ramen dish for 2, crisp hash browns or simmer rice meals. I understand is bakes reasonably well; I never have the patience to bake when back-country camping, (the brownies were on a Boy Scout overnight trip and I wasn't the baker). What I like most about my Fry-bake is the absence of a handle, rivets, or coatings to interfere with clean-up. Anything stuck on can be scoured out with a tablespoon of sand without risk to the cooking surface. While my Fry-Back pans are not inexpensive (In addition to the Alpine Deep I have an Expedition), had I purchased them first, I'd have saved $100's on the lesser pans I could have avoided buying.
Rs130754	03/09/2019 02:49PM   I agree with OCDave on the FryBake. I am no backcountry gourmet but have made some decent meals and it really is amazing out well it cleans up. I made some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in mine but put parchment down and there was virtually no cleanup. Now I just bring several cutouts and it helps keep baked things from sticking. It really is amazing how you can scrape with metal and they hold up. I have both the expedition and deep alpine, if I were to only have one it would be the deep alpine. Also bought mine as a seconds and I could see nothing wrong with it, saved a few bucks that way.
mschi772	03/09/2019 04:03PM   Rs130754: "I made some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in mine but put parchment down and there was virtually no cleanup. " If you're down with bringing some oranges with you, you can do cinnamon rolls with nothing more than a fire grate and a sheet of foil. One of our breakfasts/snacks is oranges and cin rolls. Cut the orange in half, scoop the fruit out to be juiced/eaten. Put a cin roll in the orange peel "bowl". Set the orange peels+rolls on the fire grate and lay the foil over them (fold the edges of the foil down toward the grate). The peels will keep the bottoms of the rolls from burning, and the foil ensures the top gets the heat it needs. Orange peels can be packed out or used as fire starters later. Not that the Fry-bake is a bad way to do it, but this is a fun way to reduce dish-washing and impress your friends a little.
schweady	03/07/2019 02:26PM   When I run our MSR WindBurner, my new favorite is the WindBurner Ceramic Skillet. It was just upgraded last spring to non-stick perfection.
mschi772	03/07/2019 07:57AM   I wouldn't enjoy cooking with Ti because of how thin it is. Heat dispersion is kind of the opposite of cast iron in sense. I do like Ti for my bowls/utensils, however. Ti is naturally antimicrobial, and Ti bowls allow me to heat/cook food in them in a pinch unlike silcone or plastic. I use stainless steel (pot) and anodized aluminum (Fry-bake pan) currently. I'd love to have a good cast iron pan even if I wouldn't take it with me on every trip. I'm not a fan of Teflon, either.
butthead	03/07/2019 10:48AM   Frypans! Getting lots of attention, I mentioned my MSR Alpine Gourmet SS/Al bottomed pan, Even heating and scrub-able with sand,steel wool or wire brush. Only one size though so Primus offers very similar in 8 1/4 inch and just under 10 inch. Another choice I often take is carbon steel a bit cheaper, take seasoning like cast and cook as well. Heavier than SS clad Al, lighter than cast iron. Lots of sizes and styles available for a variety of suppliers. While I do not own a FryBake I have made improptu version often with carbon steel gold pans, plastic pans left steel pans right. These things are very versatile for cooking and serving, serving up pressure cooked chicken, wild rice, and vegies. A bit of creative thinking/mix and match and you can do some real baking. butthead
flynn	03/10/2019 03:51PM   Titanium pots and cups are great for heating water for dehydrated meals, coffee/tea, etc. Titanium pans are a no-go as far as I'm concerned. They don't spread heat evenly enough, so you end up with hot spots and completely uncooked spots in the shape of the burner flames. Over a fire grate, it's a little better, but titanium will change temp rapidly and so it will still get hot spots. I use a stainless pan that came in a Primus 3L/1.8L/pan kit and it works so much better than my titanium pan. It would be nice to have some non-stick for frying stuff, but I try to avoid non-stick/non-natural coatings whenever possible. Stainless can be a bit of a pain to clean but that's the price I choose to pay for peace of mind. If base camping, I would not hesitate to bring at least one (properly seasoned) cast iron pan and maybe a Dutch oven too if the group was large enough.
tumblehome	03/09/2019 07:01AM   OCDave: "bwcasolo: " I am looking into titanium. I know it is a thinner material, collects heat faster. Gearing towards stainless. What are your thoughts, recommendations? Thanks." I can't make anything except boiled water in titanium without scorching it. In fact, I suspect I have also burnt water a few times using a titanium mug. " We need to talk :) Back in the day I used plain aluminum pots. One day I boiled some water for drinking to sterilize it. I could not drink it, it tasted so bad. And I was unaware at how much aluminum ended up in my water. I didn't notice this when cooking but it's probably not a healthy choice. I switched to SS pots and pans. Happy now. Haven't tried Ti or ceramic. Tom
HappyHuskies	03/07/2019 08:14AM   I love my titanium cookware for fast and light trips where I'm just boiling water to rehydrate meals. Not as much love for titanium if I'm actually cooking. The titanium cookware I have (mostly Snow Peak and a couple of Vargo pieces) tend to have hot spots that lead to scorched/burned food. For cooking I prefer relatively thick aluminum cookware that distributes heat evenly, but is still (relatively) light.
butthead	03/07/2019 07:44AM   I've got stacking sets of Stainless, Titanium, and individual Anodized Aluminum pieces. Used and disposed of plain thin Aluminum type cookware as too thin for anything other than water boiling. SS, strong, easily cleaned (survives wire brushing), versatile, longest lasting, can burn spots, heaviest of 3 types (but not much), medium to high cost. One liter/quart MSR SS pot. Ti, lightest (again by a bit), easy to clean(again survives wire brushing and can be heated to the point of burning clean),, durable, strong but warps with heat and time, burns food easiest, expensive. One liter/quart Snow Peak. turning burnt food to ash for cleaning Anodized Al, fairly easy to clean, versatile as SS, heats the most evenly of the 3 and heats fast being the most efficient fuel wise, mid weight between the 3, least costly, least durable far as the metal surface. Can scratch the anodizing and wear it thru with scrubbing. One liter/quart Alocs. My favorite pot is Anodized Aluminum the Alocs. Favorite frypan is an MSR Alpine Gourmet Stainless Steel with an Al insert in the bottom. butthead
Wally13	03/07/2019 03:34PM   Schweady, I used the MSR Windburner Ceramic Skillet with my Windburner stove and they worked well together. I liked the no stick for sure.
bwcasolo	03/07/2019 05:56AM   Shopping for a new cook kit does bring a few concerns on what to get next. My wife is not comfortable with teflon, i get that. I am looking into the different other material options. I will, on solo trips, cook over the fire. I will fry fish and make bannock so I know, without Teflon, there is some clean-up. I know it's the high heat that will make a bigger mess. I am looking into titanium. I know it is a thinner material, collects heat faster. Gearing towards stainless. What are your thoughts, recommendations? Thanks.
johndku	03/07/2019 06:27AM   For what it's worth, I'm happy with a set made of anodized aluminum. Lightweight, cleans easy, though I do take extra care cooking over an open fire.
schweady	03/07/2019 10:02PM   Wally13: "Schweady, I used the MSR Windburner Ceramic Skillet with my Windburner stove and they worked well together. I liked the no stick for sure." I couldn't do this with the original pan without the ceramic coating. (Walleye were fine, but those pancakes were a bust.)