Larger Pots and Pans

I often backpack in a group of 4 or 5. We have been taking a 3 liter and a 4 liter MSR Blacklite pot(s). There are lots of lighter pots in small sizes, but I haven't seen anything in the 3 to 4 liter sizes. Anyone know of a light pot in this range?

My 3L pot weighs 9.3 oz and the 4L weighs 11.7 oz
3L lid weighs 2.5 and the 4L lid weighs 6.0 oz
That's almost 2 pounds of pots and lids! (29.5)

I don't know that it makes a difference, but I should probably point out that I do almost all of my cooking over coals pulled from a wood campfire. (I don't normally carry a stove - so I do save that weight!)

Also, separate question; for those of you that use uncoated titanium - how badly does your food stick to the pot? The Blacklite I have pots are coated and easily cleaned.

Thanks

I use uncoated titanium, but I can't give any recent firsthand information on food sticking because I never cook in the pot. I'm in the freezer-bag cooking group (aka boil-and-dump), and prepare hot food in the bag; breakfast and lunch are cold (perhaps with a pot of tea.)

Years ago, I did some cooking in uncoated titanium pots (it was simple stuff: a Lipton Side Dish, with maybe a small can of tuna or chicken added.) I was using a Pocket Rocket or Snow Peak Giga stove with it, so I had a concentrated point of heat, not spread across the bottom of the pan more evenly. I did have problems with sticking, unless I stirred pretty much continuously (which tended to shred the meat.) Clean-up wasn't any fun.

For years before that, I used a Whisperlite (spreads the flame) with uncoated stainless steel and the same Lipton side dish meals. I never had any real problem with sticking as long as I stirred occasionally.

Based on my own very limited and dated experience, I would suggest that it's the flame pattern that's important when cooking in uncoated pots. Hopefully someone else can provide a more definitive answer for you.

I looked up the weight for the Open Country 4 qt pot. It claims 16 oz. If your 4 liter MSR weighs 11.7 oz, I would say don't change anything.

Cost of buying a new Open Country: $17
Cost of using MSR pot: free

Uncoated titanium is hard to cook with. I imagine if you were very attentive you could do it, but ... I only tried once. Nuff said. (ugh.) I've noticed it's not generally recommended when this comes up on forums.

A lighter pot may be available, but it would save ounces and might be less durable. I don't know if they make Blacklite any more - you might look at the latest MSR has to offer, as they may have a lighter version of what already works for you.

I love backpacking almost as much as I love cooking and eating. I have a snowpeak 800ml ti pot that has been with me on every backpacking trip iv ever taken. It only took one of those trips to realize its for boiling water!

I use hard anodized Alluminum for any real cooking. It's light enough, bomb proof, distributes heat well and heck we eve use it in the professional industry. It just plain works!

I use Snopeak titanium pots (have the nesting 3-pot set) and never have had problems with food sticking and I cook a lot. Key is the simmer once food is added, constantly stir, and keep the food a bit soupy. Frying has not been as successful- I do get fish skin stuck to the pot when frying fish.

Thanks
Since posting the question I have found some 3 and 4 liter titanium pots, but they weigh almost as much as my Blacklites. Does anyone else go out in larger groups (4-6 people) - what do you cook in?

I use the jetboil 1.5 liter pot with the scouts. When we backpack, we just boil water. When we don't backpack.....cast iron.

Titanium doesn't offer huge weight savings over the lightest aluminum pots; in some cases it can even be heavier. What it does offer is much greater strength, as thin aluminum bends and dents easily. (Don't be fooled by "hard anodizing," which only adds scratch-resistance.)

I use Ti cookware, most are uncoated, and like to cook as compared to boil-and-reconstitute. It takes diligence--stirring and olive oil--to not burn the food. Ti's heat transfer rate is an order of magnitude less than aluminum, so hot spots form instantly. A stove with a wide flame is far better than one with a tall, narrow flame.

I don't do big group cooking so can't help much with big pot recommendations. I do have a large Evernew Ti pot (4L?) primarily for snow-melting, but it seems to be either discontinued or out of stock.

p.s. You can cut a decent percentage of your existing weight by finding lid alternatives, such as foil.

Cheers,

I am not sure you should cook for a group of 6 in one big pot. For one thing, it takes a lot of time to heat up that much water to boiling. Handling that much food (stirring evenly, etc) is harder. I would just take two stoves and two medium size pots and have 3-person cook groups.

That's what I do when I go out with my son and the grandkids--2 stoves, 2 pots for 5 or 6 people. The oldest grandkid can now carry part of the shared gear, which will help.

However, I "cook" FBC style, so only boil water. Most people who do real cooking prefer aluminum, which spreads the heat far more evenly than does titanium.

I prefer cast iron -- I use that at home a whole lot. But not even I am crazy enough to carry that. So I stick with aluminum. Although I'm about to switch to FBC, and so I may switch to a ti pot, since boiling will be all I do.

Thanks - I guess I'm sticking with what I've got. It works just fine - I was just looking to save weight.

I have not had any problems cooking for groups of 4 to 6 with the 4 liter pot over coals scraped from a campfire - in fact it's quite easy, and enjoyable. It doesn't even blacken the pot. I've owned those same pots for several years and other than some (a lot) of scratches in the non-stick coating, a some very minor denting, the pots are still in good usable condition.

As for lids, I do a fair amount of dutch oven style baking so I can't use aluminum foil. Also, because I cook over coals the lids do a better job than foil of keeping out the ash.

Thanks for trying. Even when I don't find exactly what I'm looking for from this community - I always learn something!