Choosing the right set of camping cookware in the flooded market can be a daunting experience. Depending on the type of food you’ve taken with you, the size of kitchen groups, and of course the nature and type of camping; there’s a variety of cookware to choose from. While evaluating the perfect cook sets for your next outdoor adventure, it’s important to consider the type of hiker you are among other factors. Below is a detailed buying guide.
Camping Cook Sets Buying Guide
1. Consider the cooking set up: Depending on where you’re heading, the cooking set up can vary from campsite cooking in the backcountry to cooking just beside your car. If you’re car camping, you would like to have all the accessories right without paying much attention to whether it’s light or heavy. If you’re backpacking, you would consider the survival cookware that can be used for various cooking and those that are light.
2. Type of material
- Aluminum: It’s affordable and lightweight. It also conducts heat fast and quickens the cooking time. While raw aluminum can dent and warp easily, anodized ones are stronger and don’t react with acid or alkaline foods. It’s best for all the cooking setups.
- Titanium: This material comes with thin wall construction for fast heating. Titanium material is also lightweight and best for backpacking.It’s a bit expensive compared to aluminum.
- Stainless steel: Stainless steel is quite durable and scratch resistant and can withstand heavy scrapping with steel wool during cleaning. Although this material takes time to cook food, it’s heavy-duty and best used for cooking the main meals.
Cast iron Cast iron cooks food evenly and lasts a lifetime. It’s naturally non-stick and great for baking over campfire or stove. The downside is that it’s very heavy and requires re-seasoning so as to retain the non-stick surface. It’s best for car camping.
Depending on whether you are car camping or backpacking, cost, taste, and preference- make sure to pick the best material of cookware to serve your camping needs.
3. Type of coating: There are two main surface coating for cookware; Teflon and ceramic non-stick coatings. Teflon coating requires less cooking oil and cleans quickly, however, it breaks down quickly once it’s scratched. Ceramic coating, on the other hand, is more durable but expensive and less widely available.
4. Number of pots: If you’re a family set up of more than four people, you would probably choose cookware set with many pots and large utensils for extensive cooking. When you’re in a single or duo setting, choosing a single pot with some extra cooking essentials will serve the needs.
5. Lids or no lids: In most cases, pots with lids are preferred since they can double as a quick plate or even a frying pan. Lids also reduce the amount of heat lost through the top of the pot hence food cook faster.
If you’re going on a week of hunting or fishing expedition, you would want to pack basic utility without adding on the ounces. Ultra-fine utensils and cookware are often made of lightweight materials such as aluminum or titanium. If you’re looking forward to having the best of camping and backpacking experience; we’ve got you covered. Here are the best selections of cook sets you can pick to serve the camping culinary needs.
List of Best Camping Cook Sets in 2023
#10. Bisgear 12-17Pcs Camping Cookware
- Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
This camping cookware set comes with 16 pieces of basic cooking utensils from an anodized aluminum pot, frying pan, folding spoons, knives, forks to the mini stove with an incorporated Piezo-ignition system. The pots and frying pans are made from nonstick materials hence you’ll enjoy fast cooking and easy cleaning.
Pros and Cons
Due to the lightweight nature of these culinary utensils, you’ll have an easy time carrying them from one campsite to another. They are also space efficient since they can be stored together in a mesh bag. A Bisgear camping cookware set comes with all the outdoor cooking essentials you’ll need during your next hiking or backpacking events. This cookware is pocket-friendly and can be used directly on a campfire, however; it doesn’t come with a canister of fuel- just the mini-stove.
#9. Odoland Camping Cookware
- Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
The Odoland cookware is an 8/9-piece set of cooking essentials that features a foldable mini-stove, stainless steel cup, two pots, a spoon, fork, and knife, etc. Both the pot and stove handles are foldable and have been reinforced with an anti-slip coating. The silicone cup protector has some anti-heat layering that helps protect your hands from any heat injuries.
Pros and Cons
The high-quality aluminum alloy offers a strong and durable structure that will serve you a lifetime. For easy storage and efficient carrying of the cookware, you can easily fold the utensils into the storage bag. This kit meets all your camping, hiking, hunting, and fishing needs, as far as cooking is concern. The pots and burner are great, however, the utensils can be a bit heavy and you may want to replace them with lighter models.
#8. Yodo Camping cookware sets
- Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.9 x 5.3 inches
- Item Weight: 2.93 pounds
Yodo cookware is a special set of cooking accessories designed for a family set up- four to five people. The set is lightweight and very portable; in a complete package, it has a pot, pan, bowls, and plates. The pan and pot are made of anodized aluminum material which is durable and light. The handles are foldable (to save space and for easy carrying) and high-temperature resistant (to avoid heat damage).
Pros and Cons
This kit is multipurpose and will serve your needs in any outdoor events. The plates and bowls are made of polypropylene and are perfect for hiking. All the items can be packed together into a mesh package for easy transportation. The product weight is roughly below 3.0 lbs. Yodo cookware sets are ideal for medium cooking but the frying pan is a bit small. You may consider carrying a bigger fry pan for fast and large-scale cooking.
#7. GSI Outdoors camping cook set
- Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 6.4 x 5.9 inches
- Item Weight: 1.66 pounds
In a complete package, this kit comes with a 1.8-liter pot, two telescoping foons, two sip-through lids, bowls, a stove bag, nylon strainer lid, and a waterproof stuff sack that keeps everything intact and doubles as a sink for washing
Pros and Cons
This is a superior, backcountry cookware that’s perfect for the ultimate backpacker. With an ingenious space-efficient design, all the accessories have been designed with some high-end technology to take care of the weight and of course, performance. With a Teflon coating complete with radiance technology, the pot enhances a smooth cooking experience with equal heat distribution. If you’re looking for something substantial with some trace of quality and exception, this product is all you need. The pricing is, however, a bit high for the ordinary backpacker.
#6. Trekking Fuel cook stove set
Trekking fuel cook set has been credited for its multipurpose design that sees the bowl used as a lid and the emergency stove suitable for use with different fire sources such as gas stove, spirit burner, and oil furnace. The holes on the stand offer enough ventilation while the fire extinguish-lid can be used to adjust the cooking power.
Pros and Cons
The Trekking fuels cookstove is an effective camp cooking set. It’s lightweight, durable and easy to use as compared to most cookstoves in the market. This stove adopts the high-end anodized aluminum material with a solid and light design. The silicone cover fixed on the foldable handles of bowls and pot is great for heat insulation.
While this product can be a great camping or emergency stove, it cannot qualify as a self-contained fire for long-term use in the parks since the bottom is so open.
#5. Texsport 6-piece Camping Cookware
- Product Dimensions: 11 x 11 x 5 inches
- Item Weight: 2 pounds
Texsport cookware is a high-quality set of stainless steel with copper bottoms for easy and quick heat conduction. This kit features 3 pots of varying sizes with lids that offer more than just covering the foods when cooking. The large-size pot has a lid that doubles as a fry-pan. The good news is that the handles are detachable even for the pan, and this enhances easy storage and transportation.
Pros and Cons
Each pot comes with well-designed carry handle that’s economical in space and rich in aesthetics. The whole set is lightweight and compact; complete for camping on the go- backpacking and picnics. The nylon carry bag is spacious enough to accommodate all the sets. Texsport can be great for a variety of cooking but isn’t one without its unique downsides. The price, for example, can be a concern for someone looking for more cooking sets without having to spend as much as this product cost.
#4. VENNOBIA camping cookware
- Item Weight: 2.12 pounds
- Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
This is an all-in-one camping cookware that features a number of cooking essentials and offers a great value for your money. The 9-piece cook set with 11-piece gift include; a non-stick 1 liter pot, 600ml pot, a frying pan, 2 cups, 2 folding soup-spoons, 2 folding forks, oil bottle, cleaning sponge, etc. with such a great design on every set, all these items collapses into a small bundles for efficient storage and transportation.
Pros and Cons
The silicone cup protector and the anti-slip pot handles are all heat-resistant and can protect your hands from heat injuries. With VENNOBIA, you can rest assured that you’ve all the camping essentials in one bag. With a few additions of personal stuff to what this cookware set has to offer, you’re always good to explore as far and wide as you can imagine. This cookware can only serve a small family setup.
#3. Bulin Camping Cookware
- Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
The Bulin cookware features a 13-piece set of cooking accessories perfect for any outdoor settings. This set includes a frying pan, 2 pots with lids, 1 kettle, a foldable ladle, 4 bowls, 2 plates, and one cleaning sponge. The pots have foldable handles for easy storage. The other objects like a pepper shaker, spice rack, and spice missile can be stacked inside the pots to save space.
Pros and Cons
The hard-anodized and non-stick cookware offers the best of durability, fast and even heating. The same materials are high-temperature-resistant and eco-friendly. The bowls, plates, ladle, and spoon adopts a food-grade plastic material. The stainless pots and lids make cleaning easy and convenient. The only concern that can come out from this set is that it’s only ideal for 2 to 4 persons; meaning if you’re many, you’ll have to sort another option.
#2. Compact stainless-steel cookware
- Shipping Weight: 7.3 pounds
This is one of the premium cooking accessories that offers the best of outdoor kitchen experience. With a number of high-end features such as weather resistant design, durability, perforated handles, and unique compact setting; this travel chef kit is all you need for that ultimate outdoor setup.
Pros and Cons
The pots and pans are made of nonstick and easy to clean Materials. Lightweight and versatility have also been incorporated into the design to ensure you get the best of cooking performance. The perforations on the handles allow for easy hanging of the pans and pots over an open fire. While this set can be a bit costly compared to some products on the list, it’s just worth the investment.
#1. Coghlan’s Camping Cook set
- Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 9.2 x 9.2 inches
- Item Weight: 5.18 pounds
In a complete package, Coughlan’s set comes with a 7-1/2-inch fry pan, 4-liter pot, 2.3-liter pot, and a 0.3-liter pot- all pots with lids. The swing-out handles on the pans and pots allow for compact storage. A nylon bag, measuring cup and a bamboo fiber pot scrubber has also been added to make sure that you’re not lacking anything while in the wild.
Pros and Cons
The Coughlan’s 10-piece set of cookware comes with all the best kitchen accessories you’ll need on your next camping or backpacking adventure. This product features a set of heavy-duty steel with a nonstick coating that’s perfect on gas stoves and other heating elements. While the pricing of this product is decent considering the quality and features; it cannot be used on campfires.
Conclusion
The secret to cooking such a fantastic meal on your camping tour partly depends on the recipes. That said, the need to have the right cookware cannot be overstated, especially if you’re to execute the best of your backcountry gourmet ambitions.
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