Titanium, aluminium or stainless steel cookware

[wildernesswanderer]

I'm looking at pots, need a pot for two and a frypan, what's the best for cooking, I've heard titanium may be the lightest but is more suited to just boiling water, aluminium cooks better, is this right, what about SS.

Also are these new heat exchanger post like Optimus, Primus etc make.

I'll be using a Primus Omnilite Ti mostly on gas if that makes a difference for the type of pots I should look at

[Strider]

SS usually too heavy. Anodized aluminum seems to be the go these days, though I'm still using old Duossal trangia pots.

Seen these?
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11326

[Onestepmore]

The experts are going to say - we need more information!

How many people? Solo hike, couple, group? You've specified two.
How many days are you planning for?
Base camping vs hiking?
How complicated is your cooking repertoire?
How important is weight carried?
Cost implications?

I too need to get a good 2 person compact cookset for hiking uses, for 2 - 3 day use only. At present using a non-stick 2 pot set that's too big for two. Looking at the GSI dualist set atm.

[jacko1956]

I sometimes carry a SS billy when I have ready access to woodfire (Firepit provided etc) as it can just go straight on fire and I can just keep boiling water for all and sundry with no fuel useage.
For hiking I use an alcohol stove and couple that with titanium pot as the expense is worth it for weight and durability.
I essentially only boil water so this meets all my needs. A pot cozy (I have one for the billy as well) allows me to boil and then remove from flame and allow "simmer" to happen in the cozy.
If you have more involved cooking needs I would suggest an anodised aluminium "set" may be a better option.
No single setup will suit everybody.
Evernew and Snowpeak seem the main suppliers of titanium pots. Their websites (especially Snowpeak) are very good to browse options in titanium. I have Evernew, my son bought Snowpeak.

[wildernesswanderer]

Two people, sometime myself
anywhere from 3 days to maybe 6-7
Hiking
don't know but more than two minute noodles, need a frypan, want to make pancakes at least one morning.
Weight wise, I'm not a gram counter but also don't want to carry 2 kg of cookware.
I'm not to worried about cost as long as it will last and do the job I want

Does that help

[jacko1956]

Check out options... includes frypan.

http://www.evernewamerica.com/ti_nonstick.htm

[Mark F]

Material - I suggest either Ti or aluminium and forget stainless - if aluminium then get a hard anodised version. For quick meals I find Ti is fine but doesn't fry terribly well but this really depends on how you run your stove. I keep my stove throttled down (usually the most fuel efficient method) and can cook most things in thin Ti cookware. If you turn up the flame then Ti will burn most things - it doesn't spread the heat as well as Aluminium.
Capacity - 0.9 to 1.3 litre seems to be the sweet spot for 2. (0.5 to 1 litre for 1) - depends on how and what you cook.
Design - try for squat rather than tall and thin (opposite of choosing a love interest!). Squat pots will capture more heat as the flame will spread rather than just shoot up the sides.
Heat Exchanger pots - I am waiting to receive a 1 litre heat exchanger pot (Fire-Maple FMS-XK6 hard anodised aluminium 190g $29) for testing to determine the real increase in efficiency (30% claimed). I suspect that in most scenarios the increased weight (70g over a Ti pot of similar capacity) does not justify them - certainly not for 2 to 4 day trips but there will be a specific trip length where the increased weight of the pot will be compensated for by the reduced fuel usage. Personally I am not concerned whether my water boils 30 seconds faster. Heat exchanger pots are likely to concentrate heat in the outer ring of the base where the heat exchanger fins are attached and create a hot spot so they may not cook evenly.

[Onestepmore]

[quote="jacko1956"]Check out options... includes frypan.

http://www.evernewamerica.com/ti_nonstick.htm[/quote

Looks very yummy (pun intended!)
Thanks for linking

[madmacca]

SS has a density of around 8 g/cubic cm, so too heavy. Alu is 2.7 and Ti 4, but Ti is stronger, so can be made with thinner walls, so Ti has a slight advantage in pot weight.

But heat conductivity, rather than strength is really the quality you are looking for in a pot, and here Al has the advantage. And Al is much cheaper. I know a lot of the UL crowd swear by Ti everything, but it seems to me Al is better in a cook pot.

[corvus]

For what it is worth as a gear tragic I have a big collection of cookware Al,Ti and Adonised Al and personally have found if you want to "cook" rather than just boil water or re heat Adonised Al is my choice and bugger the few extra gms
corvus

[Craig D]

If you're planning on doing anything more than boiling water then go the aluminium. Titanium pots aren't that much lighter, are terrible to cook with and don't conduct heat as well.

I'm a huge fan of the humble Trangia pots. They are light, durable, well shaped, easily obtainable locally and come in ideal sizes. Get the smaller pot (for the Trangia 27) for one person, the larger pot (Trangia 25) for two people. Costs are about $15-20 for raw aluminium, double that for hard anodised.

Be warned that not all coated aluminium cookware is created equal. The hard anodised Trangia pots seem to hold up extremely well, whereas the coatings on some of the cheaper cooksets are not durable at all. The grey anodised-looking coating on a cookset I looked at in Kathmandu could be scratched and scraped off with little more than a fingernail

[wildernesswanderer]

Thanks for the replies,

I ended up buying a GSI Pinnacle Base Camper

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/products/pdp ... _cooksets/

With two pots and frypan, two strainer lids that can be used as plates, a chopping board and the cover is also a sink I have everything I need, if I want I just leave bits at home, but I have the main one covered, a frypan for pancakes and that will keep the other half happy.

[Onestepmore]

You're all set now! I need to do the same thing cookware-wise. I got a great bargain buy with a Trangia 25 for 'family' outings from the forums here, have a Jetboil for water boiling and day stuff, need something we can use multi-day and overseas. I too am thinking the Primus is the way to go due to import probs with the MSR Ultimate. Just the pot choice dilemma.
(And the 'stuff' junkie in me wants to play around with the minimalistic super UL stoves and tiny ti pots, or the little solid wood fuel stoves like Bushbuddy etc, but we'll just keep that a secret from hubby)

Grats on your decision making!
May your teas be well brewed, and your pasta non-burned on the bottom!
Go-go pancakes (blueberry buttermilk are the best - PM me if u want a recipe)

[wildernesswanderer]

Will be trying them with the stove this weekend, see how they all go.

[etrangere]

I agree with Craig D, the trangia HA pots are extremely well made

[Strider]

I agree with Craig D, the trangia HA pots are extremely well made

If only a lid was available.

[etrangere]

I agree with Craig D, the trangia HA pots are extremely well made

If only a lid was available.

Try the Trangia Tundra lid, code Nr 602523, fits all 1.5 litre and 1.75 litre saucepans. So can be used with the Trangia 25 series

http://www.trangia.se/english/2917.tran ... ories.html

An added note I have the Billy with lid and pail for the 27 series on the accessories page. Fantastic for car camping esp when combined with the gas burner.

[Strider]

I agree with Craig D, the trangia HA pots are extremely well made

If only a lid was available.

Try the Trangia Tundra lid, code Nr 602523, fits all 1.5 litre and 1.75 litre saucepans. So can be used with the Trangia 25 series

http://www.trangia.se/english/2917.tran ... ories.html

An added note I have the Billy with lid and pail for the 27 series on the accessories page. Fantastic for car camping esp when combined with the gas burner.

I use the existing pots from my 27 series. Have got a dodgy lid, but would just be good to have the option of a proper well-fitting one.

[wayno]

was talking to staff at the bivouac store and they said they stopped stocking titanium cokware they were getting so many complaints about how poorly it was dispersing heat and cooking. plus the price is very high for little weight gain

[madmacca]

was talking to staff at the bivouac store and they said they stopped stocking titanium cokware they were getting so many complaints about how poorly it was dispersing heat and cooking. plus the price is very high for little weight gain

Yeah, after you factor in extra fuel consumption, Ti may actually be heavier.

[Rico]

A titanium pot is ideal for warming up liquids or boiling eggs and veggies, If used for this function it is safer than aluminium and steel as it doesn't react with acids, it is more durable if used on a wood fire or camp stove as it deforms at much higher temperatures, and it is the lightest material you can use for its strength. Also it will never rust even if left wet and any old stain and bad odour can be removed really easily. The fact that titanium transfers the heat very poorly is an advantage as you will not burn your hands on pot handles that much, because it will remain relatively cool. And you will not need more fuel to boil water than with any other metal....

But if you try to grill fish or fry your bacon on a titanium pot you risk to burn it, as the heat will stay concentrate to the point where the flame is touching the metal and it will not propagate enough (the famous hot spot)

I use a titanium pot to boil water for my pasta or noodles when hiking, and I warm up the sauce in the lid which doubles as frypan. The lid is kept warm by the steam and it will never become warmer than 90C so I cannot possibly burn my sauce. When drying the pasta I collect the water in my titanium water bottle to make myself a nice tea to drink with my meal. This means that boiling 500g of water I cook my pasta, I warm up the sauce and I make myself a cuppa! The titanium bottle will not keep the smell of the tea afterward, and it doesn't release a metallic or plastic taste.

And in the very rare occasion where someone catches a fish for dinner I use my titanium tent pegs to build a simple grill, as they will not deform with the heat!

[Wolfix]

Pasta flavoured tea!

[Solohike74]

I find aluminium is very light, plus as it heats up fast and disperses heat fast, it means needing less fuel so thats 2 weight savings in one. Unless you want to cache an old stainless steel saucepan in a hut and leave it there like people do, I guess you won't have the hard slog each time you go in.