Camping Lights

Like every aspect of camping the camping cookware you choose can make the difference between a memorable camping  trip and one you’d rather forget.

There is so much great camping cookware available today that it’s very easy to get carried away with excitement of buying some very attractive equipment that  you may lose sight of what you really need.

Ask yourself this question, “how much time do I really want to spend cooking on a camping trip?” It is, after all, supposed to be a holiday, a get away from it all time. So, we shouldn’t be looking for gourmet stuff, the main aim would be for convenience type cooking balanced against eating well.

If you’re hunting and fishing then it’s very possible that you’ll be looking to eat your spoils so you should bear this in mind when choosing your camping cookware.

There’s a variety of  materials available for cookware, aluminum, cast iron, stainless steel and titanium. Here’s a brief look at each:

Camping Cookware

Aluminum on the plus is side is cheap, light and heats quickly. Unfortunately the minuses outweigh the plusses. Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer’s, it can bend and dent easily, food can taste bad, spot heating can cause food to stick and burn, is known to react with food and not easy to clean. last choice really.

Cast Iron has the best heat distribution and if seasoned properly can become non-stick. If cared for properly can last forever. On the other hand it’s heavy and if not cared for will rust and crack. It’s also slower to heat up.

Stainless steel is nice and durable, easy to clean and relatively lightweight. Against it is that lightweight pans are too and can thin burn easily whilst the thicker pans don’t give an even distribution of heat. Stainless steel pans with aluminum added either on the base or sandwiched between the base layers can assist with heat distribution. Just make sure that the aluminum does not come into contact with the food.

Titanium is the lightest, very durable, heats quickly but can have hot spots and is non reactive. Titanium is more expensive, don’t leave it unattended, make sure to stir the pot and use less heat.

There is a huge variety of cookware sets. Rather than buying individual items you can get everything you need in one neat package.

You will also want to look at camping dining items for all your plates, utensils, mugs, containers etc. Again there is a huge variety of folding and collapsible crockery, knife & fork sets, sporks, coffee makers and pots to fit every budget and backpack.

Best Buy

Time after time we’ve checked site after site only to find that the cheapest camping cookware are to be found at Amazon.

Other sites may discount a few dollars, but this is lost (and more besides) after you add delivery charges on top.

As well as that, many other sites may offer a lower price, but they never have any in stock. In most cases they hope to lure you in with one product they don’t have, in the hope you’ll purchase something else from them while you’re there.

Our advice? Stick with Amazon for your cheapest camping cookware. They really are, consistently the cheapest source of camping cookware. In almost every case, products purchased at Amazon qualify for super saver and include free delivery. Certainly if you buy a couple of other things besides, they are one of, if not the best, the best online sources for all camping accessories.

This is why we almost exclusively select Amazon as our best buy stockist, and why you can still get the cheapest camping cookware from them.