Help! I'm turning into my wife

[Boris]

I've started buying things, not because I need them but because I want them.
Despite saying earlier that I could be bothered with faffing around with liquid fuelled stoves, last week I bought one and for no other reason than because it was cheap on ebay. Now, just to compound things, this week I have bought a new cooking pot. Not sure why but it was very, very shiny.

If Mrs H finds out I'm in big trouble. I think I'll put them in the wardrobe and claim I've had them for ages. That seems to work for her.

[DaveS]

Similar to mine. They are brilliant. I wouldn't be without mine now.

[Madhouse]

Now thats something we need , new pots and pans for camping , I have heard they are different thickness (thinner for camping) than the normal ones at home . Is that true can anyone out there tell me as this means we will have to buy some for camping.

[Boris]

Now thats something we need , new pots and pans for camping , I have heard they are different thickness (thinner for camping) than the normal ones at home . Is that true can anyone out there tell me as this means we will have to buy some for camping.

I can't get on with the thinner ones. Yes they are lightweight and I suppose that's important if you are backpacking but I tend to burn everything using them. I bought the MSR one above as it was thick bottomed and therefore quite heavy and that has helped a lot.

I haven't tried it yet but I am hoping to use the one above as a small frying pan as well.

[DaveS]

I'm looking for a new set of pans at the moment.
I bought some cheap Alu one's from Lidl's with a burner and gave away the burner. They get scratched very easily and can be difficult to clean.
So have been nosing around to find a set that's small and non stick, but includes a fry pan of some description.

[Jenna]

i find the cheap ally ones a problem, so much so i still use mess tins!

Had a hunt arround and and most people say you need the titaniium ones if you want lightweight, anyone using Ti cooksets?

[2gocampin]

Hi all,

Choosing your pots and pans should be based on 2 factors:

1. Space, weight and size, depending on how you are going to transport them to the site (Backpacking or Car)

2. The fuel that your chosen stove runs on.

The 1st one is obvious I know but the second is the most important. The type of fuel your stove uses makes a massive difference to the power (BTU) or boil time when cooking. Lower output stoves should be used with thinner pans as higher output stoves need thicker pans to cook properly.

Use lightweight pans on a high output stove and it will burn, use heavier non stick pans on low output stoves and it will take forever to cook anything.

I have made a quick list of regular fuel types and their burn rates which should help in choosing you pans:

Butane or lsobutene

The advantages of these gases are that they simmer well and burn cleaner, however as the cylinder runs down the pressure decreases and the boil time and the BTU output drops.

The type of stove that uses these fuels, for example the Campingaz Chef Double burner & grill, tend to have a BTU of around 1100W to 1500W per ring and a boil time of about 5 to 6 minutes.

100% Propane

Don't confuse these with the Butane/Propane mix cylinders

These gas cylinders are used on the latest type of gas stove like the Coleman Perfectflow range. They tend to deliver higher BTU ratings as well as faster boil times with an average output of around 2500W per ring and a boil time of about 4 to 5 minutes.


Liquid Fuels

These stoves, depending on what fuel you are burning, have the highest output of them all as they burn hotter. Depending on the fuel used the BTU rating can be as high as 3000W per ring and a boil time as low as 3 minutes.

So using the above you can see that if you put lightweight pans on a liquid fuel stove its going to burn as much as a heavier pan from home on a Butane stove will take longer to get up to temperature and also harder to maintain a simmer level.

Hope this helps

Gary

[DaveS]

Good post and all makes logical sense!