Cooking pots.

Would like a couple pots with at least one lid. Prefer non aluminum. What do you recommend?

Why not aluminum? It doesn't cause Parkinsons - that was disproved a while ago. My very favorite is a GSI hard anodized tea kettle, 4.5 oz.

The REI branded Evernew pot is good - .9L or 1.1L, lined or unlined - I got the non teflon version, because unlike aluminum, teflon really is poisonous, and I find it wasteful to have a pot with a coating that will flake off to the point that it's not usable. Titanium is good for boiling and not so good for cooking unless it's nonstick. It discolors if your stove is hot.

I also have a Fosters can pot. Compact and quite useful for one person.

If the stand and windscreen you got was the Clikstand, it was designed for, and works perfectly with, the REI Ti Ware .9L titanium pot (teflon or uncoated) or 1.3L titanium pot (teflon is the only version available.)The stove, windscreen, and stand, plus a small spoon (or folding spork), bic lighter, and small dish cloth will all store inside the pot.

Take a look at the Brunton IB...2 pots (1.0L & 0.8L), folding handles with lid that has drain holes for pouring or straining. Can be used as a makeshift double-boiler. Its uncoated hard anodized aluminum (I know you said non aluminum) . Weighs 9.4oz. I got mine at www.basegear.com/bruntonibcook.html.

b.gin

Thanks for ALL the replies.

Re: alum

Heard alum poisons you, so trying to avoid it. But am no expert.

If you fall into the camp that believes aluminum poisons you, then buy anodized aluminum. It is much more corrosive resistant.

I have used the Snow Peak titanium pots. Nice and light but can be pricey...

I use a JetBoil 1.5 L. pot for its higher efficiency with its "Flux Ring" heat exchanger on the bottom and its neoprene cozy on the sides.

Now that Primus has virtually the same heat exchanger on the bottom of its "ETA" line of pots I'd suggest you try it or a JetBoil pot and see for yourself how much more fuel efficient they are.

Eric

Jetboil Pot: 12 oz (340 g)
vs:
AntiGravity Gear "3 cup" pot with pot cozy: 5oz (141 g)

It ain't gonna make 8 oz of fuel difference for me on any reasonable kind of trips. (8 0z of fuel is 4 days cooking for me...) Flux capacitors belong in a DeLorean. not in your backpack.

Phat,

On my 1.5 L. JB pot I've removed the handles, cut the handle bracket off and cut out the center of the "Flux Ring" plastic protector.

This gives me exactly 9.5 oz. Still a ways from your AGG's "3cup pot" 4+ oz. W/ cozy, but ya gotta remember, I have a bigger pot by more than 2 cups.

Now I'm looking at a 1 L. Primus ETA pot. I am a True Believer in heat exchangers. They are the wave of the future for backpack cooking and "Resistance Is Futile".

Meanwhile my RAV4's Flux Capacator needs the Di-Lithium reactor replaced so I'll end here.

Eric

Hey magnum guy...

I've been an advocate of heat exchangers since the MSR model came out. Even at 8 oz I think its worth its weight on a 2 liter titanium pan for winter snow melting duty. Since it hangs on the outside of the pot, you drop it an inch so it acts as a wind break and collects all of the heat from the stove and funnels it up the sides of the pan.
Jim

My Dear Sir James,

Indeed, the MSR heat exchanger can be utilized as a partial windscreen. It's a great heat exchanger if a bit bulky. But who cares in winter when you've got a pulk? Even the 1/2" deep JB & Primus ETA heat exchangers do add some windscreen capabilities.

For winter snow melting (with a remote fuel source ONLY) I like the efficency of my aluminized fiberglass cloth OutBack Oven.

Eric

sierra cup w/ lid, currently have one without a lid, and i love it.
the size/shape/versatility lets me make just about anything i want. it's a skillet, pot, cup, all in one. of course that means it's a "good enough" skillet/pot/cup, so if you're planning on going ultra-gourmet (which I'll admit can be pretty fun) it might not be the best option

Heinekin cans weigh almost nothing, I use two, one for a cup. A small stainless wire bail makes them easy to suspend over a fire. I realize that fires aren't always practical, but these cans are really light.

Never, ever been a fan of cooking in beer cans. They were not made for heat and I'm very suspicious of their possible toxicity.

Eric

You might be right Eric, but you sure rained on my parade. Just when I was thinking a Guinness can to be a lightweight pot option too. I sure want to get rid of my heavy pot though. I have some coffee cans, but when I see how those suckers rust I am totally turned off.

Howie

Several months ago I wrote Heineken about using theior cans as cooking pots. This was their reply:

"Thank you for making Heineken aware of the use of our cans in a nontraditional manner. According to our packaging engineers, the inner lacquer coating of beverage cans are not intended to be used at high temperatures. The specific coating in our beer cans is suited for contact with beer only at pasteurizing temperature, which is well below cooking temperature. We will be contacting this company directly but wanted to
share with you our instruction that Heineken cans should be recycled and not re-used.

Regards,

Consumer Affairs - Heineken USA
Enjoy Heineken Responsibly

Please reply to heineken@qualitycustomercare.com"

That killed it for me. ALL beer or food cans are coated BTW.

All cans are lined with a plastic material which, unfortunately, contains BisPhenol A (I hope I spelled that right...). This might potentially be a lot worse for you than aluminum. I assume the can manufacturers are looking for a better plastic. Of course the alternative to the plastic liner is having cans corrode through, spoiling the contents and spilling their spoiled (think botulism) contents all over your pantry shelves (been there, done that). The aluminum toxicity myth is still hanging around, evidently.

For light weight and cheap, there's the KMart grease pot. $5 and 4 oz. (I discarded the strainer and replaced the knob on the lid with a bent piece of wire.) I used mine for several years before finally succumbing to the lure of titanium. It has a couple of minor dents but is still perfectly good. Of course I only boil water--if I were cooking in the pan, I'd want something a bit thicker.

hoz

You should have waited until all the beer can cookers died off to spread this around - its the Darwin principle, but then very few will read it, and fewer will believe it. People desperately want to believe that you can cook in beer cans. And if you don't mind a few chemicals in your food - you can.
Jim

Yeah,like boots vs trail runners, hiking poles vs no poles or innies vs outies, using beer cans for cooking pots is one of those "undeniable mysteries."

At least my contacting Heineken directly led to them notifying a certain alcohol stovemaker to discontinue selling cookpots made with their cans.

What individual hikers do with the information is up to them. At least they have been warned.

Eat drink and be merry, (Using Heineken cans) for tomorrow we die.

Or more likely, drink your Heineken beer (assuming you like the stuff) and eat elsewhere....

Hi, Jim: that certainly would improve the gene pool! (I'm assuming you're also a fan of the Darwin awards.)

If you're not specifically wanting titanium, and not wanting to find a pot to fit the Clikstand that I think you own, Optimus puts out both a Terra Solo and Terra Weekend pot. The Solo is .5L (too small for cooking or rehydrating in, but just right for boil-in-bag meals) and the Weekend is 1L (very nice size.) They're a bit heavier than titanium (for the same volume), but they seem to hold heat a bit longer - maybe the walls are a little thicker to provide the same dent resistance?) Each has a small fry pan, which I use as a small bowl to make oatmeal in the morning, using the rest of the water in the pot for tea.

I've been playing with them a bit lately, with my Optimus Flex stove, and they're really quite nice. They're about 2 ounces heavier, and somewhat more functional (the fry pan lid) as my Snow Peak Trek 700 or Trek 900, which are roughly equivalent sizes. I find that I'm reaching for the Optimus pots more and more often when I'm packing for a trip.

If you get them, get a Sea to Summit Alpha Light aluminum spoon (short for the Solo, regular for the Weekend) to make a really nice one-pot kitchen.

Maybe the stovemaker's judgment was impaired by emptying all those cans so he could turn them into pots?

*cough* if you eat food that is canned and or drink pop, beer or water you have no real grounds to complain.

Then again, I will happily take the lining over the old way....canned food used to be pretty gross. Swollen, leaking cans were the norm only a two decades ago - if you left them in your cupboard and forgot about them.

As well, linings allow cans to be much thinner, using less resources than even a decade ago.

There is always an upside to things. Whether one wants to see it is a whole other issue.

Tell someone to get a cheap AGG style pot and there will be someone that whines about nonstick lining. Tell them to cook their food in an aluminum pot (non-hard anodized) and someone will cry foul that brain issues will arise.

If you really want to be in a bubble world, then by all means carry your bulk food items that you grow yourself in cloth bags that you wove yourself. And be sure to walk to the trailhead. Driving would be cheating. So would be buying groceries at the store - after all, a big belching diesel truck brought them there in plastic bags.

Of course, those pesky containers are also what keeps bugs, rodents and moisture out of your food. Which not too long ago in modern history having bugs in your flour, rice and pasta was quite common. Still is in most parts of the world.

I'm not worried about linings in cans, frankly. I was raised on formula, mom let me run around in a halter top every summer and I burned bad repeatedly (already had a lesion cut off my back) so I expect I will die of skin cancer before the BPA has a chance to get me. Or, maybe the BPA already got me cause mom always got can veggies on special, not to mention raviolis and other such gourmet fare. Or maybe those aluminum pans mom used to heat the canned goods the whole time I lived at home (birth to 19) will catch up with me and give me early onset dementia. Or maybe I'll fall off Half Dome when we go on the moonlight hike in August. Or then there's swine flu, which is starting to show up in my state. I drive around in a town full of people who merge randomly without signaling. And to top it off I'm smack in the middle of a cluster of gang territories. So, you know, I figure boiling water in the Fosters can six or seven times this year is probably pretty low on the list of risks I take. Excuse me while I roll my eyes loudly.

See what I mean? An unexplainable mystery.

Are you using any teflon at home? Yes, you are. It's in space heaters, ovens, couches, Goretex, and all kinds of things you don't know about because they don't put it on the labels.

It's more toxic than BPA by far, and more pervasive. It causes a documented set of symptoms - teflon flu - and it has killed a ton of pet birds over the years, outgassing when it's heated to higher temps. The plant in the nor'east is at the center of a cancer cluster - they make it, they get cancer.

Totally unexplainable. We don't care. We keep using the stuff.

Actually I've recently gone back to my old cast iron frying pan, but we still use a couple saucepans that have teflon coating.

Better keep them in good shape, PFOAs (even tho nonstick coatings are "safe" according to DuPont) are being phased out by 2015.... Can't just stop using them, too many millions of dollars at stake.

Jim Shaw, trust me there are enough chemicals in your food so that you need not worry about the chemicals in a beer can liner...sabre11004...

I am thinking that if you put a beer can through enough burnings that the plastic liner may just melt off but I would be real certain that it did before I actually used it for cooking or boiling water. I would just want to make sure that all the plastic was well melted out before I used it for any thing like that...sabre11004....

EGAD! I really started something here W/ my comment on the suspicion of the toxicity of cooking in beer cans. Didn't mean to hijack the thread but had to caution UBER ultra light-ers.

As I read somewhere here on this site, "The only relationship between Alzheimers and aluminum is that they both begin with "al". I agree.

So go forth and buy a respected name brand ANODIZED aluminum cook pot (or cup, you UUL gram weenies). Forget expensive titanium receptacles. Thay ain't necessary. Really. But they sure are cool.

Eric