Need a new cookset!

My cookset went missing so I'm in the market for a new one. I just need a small kettle and matching fry pan/lid. Any recommendations? Thanks.

Before we start recommending: Do you do actual cooking or just rehydrate freeze-dried or dehydrated food? If the former, look for anodized aluminum even though it's heavier. If the latter, all you need is something in which to boil water. For that, titanium is the lightest. For the least expensive, but still light, the Stanco grease pot is the classic.

Since I just need to boil water, I use titanium, although I am still hoping that before I pass on, I'll be able to catch a fish to fry!

If you already use or want to try an alcohol stove, the Trangia Mini is a good complete kit with a coated fry pan/lid, an aluminum pot, burner, stand and pot lifter. And it's reasonably priced.

If you normally just boil 2 cups of water, the Snow Peak 3-piece titanium cookset is worth considering, but it's expensive at $50. Leave out the smaller of the two pots and it weighs 4.7oz. The larger pot by itself without the lid is 2.5oz. If you don't use the lid as a fry pan, you could make a light one from foil or an aluminum cake pan.

DustinV mentioned the Trangia kit. It's kind of neat, but not super light. Mine weighs 12.5 ounces, and needs an additional windscreen in the slightest breeze. The pot's a little larger than the Snow Peak set, though.

Evernew also makes some good Titanium cookware. I have the 1.3L pot with the regular lid, but they make it with a fry pan lid too, and also a smaller 0.9L version. When I bought mine, it was $35...I see now they're more like $75! I like the silicone rubber tubing on the handles so you don't need a pot holder.

Hi OregonMouse...Actually you will find that Aluminium cookware is lighter than Titanium cookware, but even though it's heavier, Titanium offers several major advantages over Aluminium that make it a far better choice for cookware, even if you have to pay a lot more for it. For a start, in recent years scientists have discovered that Aluminium is toxic when ingested...The surface of Aluminium pots is slowly dissolved by the acids found in some foods, and when these foods are subsequently ingested over a long period of time, it causes brain plaques, directly leading to Altzeimers desease. Titanium, on the other hand, is completely non-toxic (although there is some dispute over the toxicity of the oxide TiO2 (Titanium Dioxide). It is uneffected by food acids or alkalies, and it is totally inert inside the human body, which is why it is used for things like artificial hips. Titanium is also stronger than Aluminium (about the same strength as Steel) and it has a melting point about 2.5 times higher than the melting point of Aluminium (Over 1600 degrees C vs around 660 degrees C) making it ideal for use in cooking pots, which are exposed to high temperatures. But it is really it's lack of toxicity that makes it the best choice, IMHO.

Blimey Bill!...That Trangia stove of yours is actually super heavy! 12.5 oz is about 354 grams but my powerful 2700 Watt BRS-3000T Ultralight Titanium stove only weighs 25 grams (0.88 oz)! And the optional ultralight Titanium windshield to go with it only weighs 18.1 grams (0.64 oz)! So even when you factor in the weight of a gas canister, the BRS and windshield are still quite a bit lighter!

The folklore about aluminum cookware causing Alzheimer's, which started in the 1960s, was discredited decades ago! Unfortunately, it's still around on the internet, although not in valid scientific sources.

Titanium cookware (which also, in popular "medical" circles, has been implicated in Alzheimer's, along with zinc and many other substances, without scientific proof) has low conductivity which results in hot spots and burning of the food when used for cooking. Aluminum distributes heat evenly so is far better for actual cooking.

Aluminum cookware is thicker (and therefore heavier) than titanium because thin aluminum dents very easily. It's worth the extra weight if you do real cooking, though. I use a titanium pot, but all I do is boil water to reconstitute my dehydrated meals.

Tha anodizing process makes aluminum far less likely to corrode, and also reduces problems of food sticking, which is why I suggested anodized aluminum.

It is Titanium's low conductivity that makes it ideal for storing water in because Ti bottles stay cooler than in the sun than bottles made of Stainless Steel or Aluminium...And of course it allows you to pick up a Titanium pot shorty after its been heated without burning yourself. That is another of it's advantages. You are right about the hot spot problem, but this only occurs over some canister stoves
that do not have sufficient spread of the gas flame...This becomes self evident when using a Ti pot over an open fire, where the much broader source of heat gives much more even heat distribution over the entire bottom and sides of the pot, elminating the said hot spots. However, if your only using a Ti pot to boil water and then using that water make hot drinks, or to re-hydrate lightweight dehydrated meals, as most people here will be doing, then the hotspot problem becomes irrelevant.
As for Al toxicity, there is plenty of scientific evidence that Aluminium is toxic, and most medical doctors are well aware of it so some here might see it as very irresponsible to potentially risk someone elses life by recommending pots made of it. Have a read up on the dangers and it might change your opinion: https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/concerned-about-aluminum-dangers/

I trust only health information from standard scientific sources, sorry. There is a lot of folklore out there on the internet, much of it not based on evidence obtained from peer-reviewed, controlled scientific studies. I've followed this controversy since the 1960s, and I'm sorry to see so much folklore on a theory that has been discredited for many years. I've found that most sites advertising themselves as "natural" base their info on bits of anecdotal evidence cherry-picked to support already-decided conclusions. I do have sufficient scientific/academic training to know the difference!

In any case, the anodizing process for aluminum takes care of issues related to corrosion, and produces a relatively non-stick surface, which is why I specifically recommend anodized aluminum for those who are going to do real cooking.

Here in the western US, most of the prime backpacking season is also forest fire season, when wood fires are not allowed. Open fires are also forbidden any time of year at higher altitudes (near and above timberline). During fire season, most jurisdictions restrict us to UL-approved stoves with an on/off switch, which means either canister or liquid pressurized fuel stoves. So we're stuck with those stoves, like it or not.

For real cooking, as opposed to boiling water, aluminum is definitely superior to titanium--I've used both, and have found uneven heat, with spots of sticking/burning and other spots practically raw, a big problem when trying to cook with titanium. After having to toss a couple of Ti pots, I gave up trying to do anything with them but boil water. It's only very recently that I gave up cooking when outdoors, and I've been backpacking/horsepacking for 76 years now..

No rational reason, but I love my titanium cook set. I do real cooking too, but am very careful with watching the pot, stir a lot, cook with lots of olive oil, and my stove simmers very well. Any light enough aluminum pot ends up smashed and bent. I really do not worry about my pot being toxic. Titanium pots are expensive but are a long-term investment.

This is my cook gear that I use about 80% of the time;

Titanium stove (Snow Peak) with home-made wind screen 4.2 oz
Small titanium pot and lid 5.7 oz
Titanium cup and spork 2.2 oz

Other pots I occasionally use (all titanium)

Solo Cup and lid 4.5 oz
Medium Pot and lid (2-3 people) 8.2 oz
Large pat and lid (4-5 people) 10.3 oz
Titanium fry pan (large pot lid fits) 4.8 oz

A good wind screen REALLY saves gas. A friend mande mine from very thin light candle reflector by punching a few holes and making slits that fit the stove tines. You can buy one made to fit the SnowPeak stoves, but it is heavier.

Pot sets are expensive, so be sure you actually need or will use all the pots. If I had it to do over again, I would just by the one pot.

About the only reason I use the solo pot vs the small cook pot is if I am using my small pack (basically a day-pack) for a weekend trip. The solo pot is designed for the small butane can to fit exactly inside. Then I also delete the drinking cup, so my only gear is solo cup, lid and sporke.

The two larger pots of the set are mainly used car camping.

Oh, about frying pans. Depends on what you use it for. When my husband goes with me and we seriously fish, we take a big regular frying pan. The titanium frying pan is just too small to cook large fish.

If not worried about weight, and you are a serious backpack cook you may want to google "frybake". This is company that makes a cook set that does it all and can be used as an oven too. Their sets come in several sizes. They too are quite expensive. They are not titanium- cannot remember exactly what metal.

Put the pot on too ! 4oz around ? Plus the cannis5er 4oz?

If you want lightweight the cone systems or the evernew meths comes in a fair bit lighter at around 7oz

Mine cosists of a 6.5inch aluminium frying pan and double skin lid (8oz) trangia(3oz), stand (2oz) and a wind shield (5oz).

Could be lighter, but its robust and simple and it works in harsh weather. I like the frying pan does everythung the saucepan does, flat pack, fries as well, more efficient.

Unfortunately, the anodising process does not prevent Aluminium getting eroded and getting into your food, because the anodised coating itself is composed entirely of Aluminium oxide, which is just as soluble into food acids as an Al pot itself is.

I have encountered the "hot spot" problem too when trying to cook in my Ti pots, but I put that down to the fact my ultralight BRS3000T canister stove has a very narrow area of flame, which is directly under the centre of the pot above. If I could somehow widen the area of that stoves flame to cover the entire bottom of the pot then the hot spot problem would disappear, and cooking in my Ti pots would become easy rather than a chore. How or if I could even modify the diameter of the flame area on the BRS I am still not sure...I may attempt it at some point but in the meanwhile I may have found another solution...An even lighter stove! I bought the Esbit ST11.5-Ti, solid fuel Titanium folding stove yesterday, that uses smokeless , sootless, Hexamine tablets/cubes, that apparently work better at high altitudes than canister stoves. It is currently the lightest Titanium stove in the world, weighing in at just 11g (0.4oz)! The tablet holder is designed to take Esbits own rectangular shaped tablets, but I found these to be fairly expensive, so I went for cheaper Striker brand ones instead, which are circular and had good reviews (Apparently Esbits own tablets smell of fish and they crumble easily whereas the Striker ones do neither). Apparently you can fit 9 of the Striker tablets in an old airtight Berocca tube, which takes up a lot less space than a gas canister and will be lighter too. So why do I think this may be a solution to the hot spot problem? Well firstly, it is because the Hexamine tablets burn at a much lower temperature than Butane gas. Of course this means that it takes longer to boil water with Hexamine tablet stoves than it does with canister stoves (at least 7 minutes to boil 500ml of water, compared to about 2 minutes with my BRS), but this gentler heat should help eliminate the hot spot problem...The Tablets have a wider flame area than canister stoves like my BRS do too, which should also help. It can also be used along with my ultralight DoCooler (18.1g) Ti windshield, and this should help reduce the boiling/cooking time a little and reduce cooling at the sides of the pot which can cause hot spots to form underneath, by reflecting heat back towards the pot.
I will let you know if it works after it arrives and I have had some time to play with it.

Hadn't heard of Striker hexamine, so "Googled" them. EBay UK shows Strider hexamine tablets but does not ship to USA. I should save the reference in case we ever make it to the area. Good to know, so, thanks, Alf!

Back to the lightweight cooking gear: I have assorted aluminum, titanium, even stainless steel. My FAVORTE is a repurposed 12 fl oz aluminum Vienna sausage can. Hate the contents, but the can itself is worth it. If I want more than 10 oz of hot water, I just pour off the first batch and heat more water. If I am cooking, OK, heating water, for only myself, this pot/cup is my go-to for backpacking. In the summer, I typically have only one hot meal per day (comfort factor) and may get by with .5 Esbit per day. Instant coffee can be consumed cold or in a shake, and chocolate covered coffee beans can be part of a wake up trail mix breakfast.

Hi Daisy, if you are in a place where open fires are allowed, you could save carrying the massive weight and bulk of a large frying pan by using an ultralight Titanium grill, like the Manak Titanium Grill instead. OK, it's $65 but it is 11 inches long and almost 4 1/2 inches wide, so it would easily be big enough to grill a large fish over some hot embers. It disassembles and packs down to a narrow flat strip, which can fit inside any pack, and it only weighs 38g (1.34oz)! https://suluk46.com/product/manak-titanium-grill/

Im always amazed at the subjectivity of backpacking preferences. I have never needed a pot, plate or otherwise. A mug and long spoon is all I ever use. I do a lot of freeze dried meals now that the selection is so large and they are getting really good (although you still need to bring spices). I bring a couple freeze dried food bags and reuse them. Everyone has their luxury items though, kitchen ware is not on my list.