Best Car Camping Cookware?

O

oguruma

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Jan 3, 2010
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I am looking to get a new set of camping cookware. Right now I use a combination of cast iron and Pyrex Coated Aluminum (standard kitchen type). I like the cast iron because it works well over the campfire (excellent heat distribution and no plastic parts). I like the pyrex coated aluminum because it is lightweight and easy to clean up. I'd like to get my hands on a new set of cookware that is both easy to clean up and can stand being cooked with on open flame. Any ideas? Maybe coated carbon steel?
 
What is wrong with cast iron? Clean with water, wipe dry, a little oil and gone. I keep a cast iron skillet, spatula, & four large bridge nails in a linen poke sack under the seat of my truck. I cook out of it all the time. I also have a small Griswold kettle/pot and wooden spoon i carved. the kettle holds about a soup can worth of food. Ideal for a couple people. Don't really need any more pieces as that serves 99% of my truck/roadside cooking.
 
Lodge iron is all I use, for home and car camps. Never found it particularly hard to clean - most of the time I just wipe it with a paper towel, scrape if need be and re-oil. Good to go. I stay away from all coated cookware whenever I can help it, but to each his own.
 
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For car camping?
Cast iron.
Hell, I carry a small CI skillet even when I'm hoofing it in.

You can get some good used Griswold CI off of a certain site, that will be cheaper and better than new Lodge (smooth cooking surface and thinner iron, so it's lighter).

I just "clean" with a small plastic brush to break the chunks loose, and wipe with a paper towel, adding a little oil, if it's dry, and let it cool.
 
Cast Iron is the only way to go if you don't have to worry about weight. Women can really benefit from the extra Iron they get from cast iron cook ware as well.
 
You can still get Wagner or Griswold #5's at garage sales in my neck of the woods for a few dollars. That size is plenty big for one or two people. If you are car camping get a #10 skillet and you could feed a small tribe.
 
We keep a cast iron frying pan and a 1 quart enamel pot in the chop box.
Covers all the bases from frying to boiling.

Do your cast iron a favor and don't boil in it or use steel wool on it. Or soap.
After it is seasoned and black as a black cat on a dark night, all it needs (at most) is some hot water and a stiff nylon brush.
If there are really stuck on bits a tablespoon of salt works great as scouring powder.
 
I just take a couple of pots from home, just did it this weekend. If you're camping with your car, just use pots that are designed for home use.
 
I have fancy pricier pots and cheap old pots from the Salvation Army. I did perfectly well with the S.A. pots for car camping and they cost next to nothing.
 
I've seen these used in the fire before, there MSR Alpine stowaway stainless steel. From what I hear, you just put a little camp soap on the bottom before an open flame, and the black stuff comes right off. It seems to me that they were called Seagull, I dun' know, I'll have to take a look at mine.
msr_stowpot.jpg
 
Cast iron over the fire. Cheap non stick pan from wal mart on the gas stove. If it gets left behind or damaged, oh well. Love the cast iron and you really have to work to screw it up.
 
Have anyone mention Lodge cast iron cookware yet? ;)

a dutch oven, skillet and enamel coffee pot is all you needed for car camping.

I bring along a volcano stove and you can cook anywhere anytime :thumbup:
 
Cast iron for me too on the cookware. Ditto on the Lodge, Griswold and Wagner brands. I mostly use a 6qt. Dutch oven and 12" camp skillet but have other sizes and options to choose from. Pie irons, grill grate and a wire fish basket are nice to have at camp too and don't take up much space.
 
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Cast iron. Ok that's done. So what else are we going to talk about? :D No seriously cast iron is real nice when weight isn't a concern.
 
I use cast iron skillets and have a small cast iron dutch oven. But I also use old stainless steel pots and pans for various things if I am not afraid to beat them up. Years ago, I bought one of these "sets" offered with a credit card (Exxon I believe) and was not particularly impressed, but I used that stuff for years until I bought a good set of pots and pans. The old stuff got relegated to my "camping rubber maid tub".

Added: buy a cast iron skillet that you can fit a lid to. The cast iron lids come in handy.

a dutch oven, skillet and enamel coffee pot is all you needed for car camping.
Click to expand...

Question. I have never made coffee camping. Always boiled water and made tea. But, I was wondering if the enamel surface of these coffee pots hold up to direct contact with flames from a camp fire?
 
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