good camp kettle or pot for cooking

[FortyTwoBlades]

I've used this with very good effect.

 

[batosai117]

I was looking for the helmet :thumbup:

 

[Loosearrow]

I wanted to get in on this thread yesterday but I needed to get a few pictures first. I have an assortment of camp pots a few shown above, I have an old Coleman square pot with a lid that holds the old Peak 1.

Lately I’ve been using a period copper corn boiler made by a buddy of mine, I’ve gotten quite a few pieces from him over the years. This boiler has a cup that nestles in it.

With the cup;

I haven’t tried this yet but I have a lot of experience with the larger wok, this one is 10” and the handle unscrews. I’ve been seasoning it. It could be used for gold panning but then I would have to re-season it

What a nice corn boiler and cup. Always wanted a set like that. Nice and primitive. Good to have friends like that. I bet that set would be fairly expensive but worth it. I'll have to get a set like that someday. Does he have a site? I have used a wok and like them alot. Last year a buddy took a plow disc, welded some horseshoes for handles, three nuts welded on the bottom for removeable legs. I can post a pic if anyone interested. That and a stove or wood fire and I can cook most things. Even fish though a little shallow. The wok can be flipped over on the coals and flat bread can be stuck on it to cook.

 

[hushnel]

Keep the copper tinned. Copper is a poison - that's the reason it's tinned.

Thanks for the heads up, I'm aware of this but failed to mention it for those browsing the thread. I’ve been using solid copper cookware for more than 20 years. All of my kitchen stuff is either old cast iron, Griswold or Wagner, or hand made tinned copper. You know they use unlined copper for whipping up egg whites and some candy making. I have been warned that unlined copper and tomato products are the worst.

I would add that this kind of cookware is not for frying, hence the wok, at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit the tin starts to run, so you must always keep liquid in the pot and watch that it doesn’t get dry. Some would consider it a PIA but nothing heats up faster and heats more evenly than copper. A 6 quart stainless steel reducing pot made by Cuisinart barely simmers on my gas stove but my 14 quart hand hammered Ruffoni boils like mad on the same burner and setting.

I love my Dutch ovens too. Absolutely nothing is better for baking, with the exception of a wood fired oven for baking bread.

 

[Loosearrow]

Yeah, weight wasn't mentioned. So, that could be a huge factor in determining what you want.

Someone mentioned the Potjie. After doing much research, there seems to be a lot of cheapie ones out there. It seems that Best Duty seemed to make the highest quality ones.

I have two. A number 3 and a number 6. Here is the small one.

Nice pictures, thanks for posting the potjie pot. I guess the beauty of the pot is that you can use less heat on the bottom and the heatwaves actually wrap around the pot as it rises. As you have probably already read, you stack your food in there in layers of needed time and heat and forget it never
Being that they are made in South Africa, they are not the easiest to find here in the US, and I spent some time looking. I finally found that Cape Food and Beverage was importing them.

As much as I think those things are cool. I do think that the dutch ovens are a tad more versatile.

If buying new, Lodge or Maca, are the only ones I would consider. There are a lot of garbage ones out there.

If you are going for the stainless steel variety, Billy can's are crazy famous and already been linked to. But, I actually prefer Tatonka pots. I prefer the shorter and wider profile. It has a handle for hanging, the lid can be used as a skillet, and they can even be baked in. They seem to fit your bill pretty well.

If you are going really light weight, I do have ALL (that is every kit made) of GSI's Pinnacle stuff.

It is very nice stuff, but lacks the hanging bail you requested. I am also not the biggest fan of non-stick stuff, but it seems to be holding up pretty well.

That is still too much for me to take backpacking. I reserve that for family backpacking, or winter camping/backpacking when you eat more, have more people, or need larger pots for melting snow.

When I backpack alone, usually this light little guy is enough for me.

I have said before that I love cooking, especially outdoors. Can you tell?

B

Nice pictures on the potjie pot. The beauty of that pot is that you layer your food due to the time it needs to cook, cover it up and forget it. I goes into a kind of fluid roll to cook the food. Heat rises and wraps around the pot and is supposed to be more efficient. Didn't the Dutch take them to Africa?

 

[hushnel]

My buddies name is Larry Shaw, he doesn’t have a web site and though his stuff is kind of expensive it ain’t all that bad considering some of the prices I’ve seen and his skill at working copper. He does a couple of rendezvous including the big one in Friendship Indiana every year.

You can find other makers of this stuff by searching period bean boiler or corn boilers. I did a quick search and came up with this. This one is $40.00 they offer them in Tin and Stainless Steel to, for a few bucks less.

www.backwoodstin.com

 

[Loosearrow]

Thanks for the site. I like your boiler with the matching cup. Your friend Larry does some very nice work. It is an art to turn something like that out and do it well. The things I buy I hold on to when I find what I like. Personal items so to speak. Something to pass on down and hope they are appreciated. Wish I could go to Friendship one of these days. I have slowed down going to the events since I adopted my grandchildren. My grandson, son, is taking in all I am teaching him. He will probably get my "stuff". Always like your pics and posts. Regards

 

[hushnel]

I have Larry's phone number, you can give him a call, he is really a good person and a talker. I send you a PM if you’re interested in contacting Larry Shaw.

Larry made my wife’s bow and her first batch of arrows.

My first piece of copper from Larry was my coffee pot. I saved up for the year and it was my big purchase of that year’s Alafia River Rendezvous back in the early 90s.

Lantern with whale oil lamp, this is my second one, I got it from him Jan 09.

This tankard was made for me, Larry was doing some R&D on this design at the last rendezvous in Jan. it is a traditional tankard but he soldered a separate cup inside of it to capture air to insulate the drink. He admitted it was tough research the beer did stay cold be he couldn’t quite determine how long it could stay cold He finally did a test with hot water and was satisfied that it worked well and he could take it out of the prototype stage and start taking orders. I was his second of third. He didn’t take my money he said he would call me when it was ready.

About a month maybe two went by when I received the package from Larry containing the tankard pictured below. There was a note inside stuck to the invoice. It said that he would be more than happy to accept something I made in payment. I took this as a great compliment, he has over the years asked my opinion concerning design and materials but I always figured he was just being polite or starting conversation, apparently he holds my skills in great regard. Larry back in his day job days designed and made the Oxygen tanks for the Apollo series space craft.

Anyhow, I called him and said we had made this deal at the camp and if it was OK with him I would rather pay him for the tankard but if he was serious about acquiring one of my projects I would be happy to make him what ever he considered worthy and he could knock out another item of copper for me. We talked for a while about all the junk I can make and we settled on me making him a felted hat from scratch, he thought, since I’ve only made two so far, it’s a lot of work, that it would be a truly unique and period correct one of a kind that nobody else would ever have, that’s true.

Because I’m so interested in the old ways and the craft of making stuff and even though I do not drink alcohol of any kind I’m going to ask him to make me a copper whiskey still, I’ll pay what ever he wants but I want a 10 gallon working still that I can use for demonstrations or for making fuel for my lanterns and stoves.

 

[wildmike]

That is some excellent copper work!

I have the GSI ultralight soloist made from the same haulite as the kettle. Great little light kit. Just wish it had a bail.

Who carries the Tatonke pots?

 

[chewbacca]

Does anybody know why all of the UK sites seem to have the Zebra Billy Cans in stock, but nothing comes up in the US. Did the US distributor go belly up or something??? this thread has peaked my interest, but I can't find a domestic "BUY" button

 

[wildmike]

Try bensbackwoods.com for the zebra biillies. He also has the ghillie kettles in stock.

 

[chewbacca]

No good, they are out of every size