Metals, cups and cooking question

Anodized aluminum is perfectly safe. Just don't cook anything acidic (like tomato sauce) in uncoated aluminum because it'll develop an awful metallic taste. Yuck!
 
Bumppo said:
There are variations of the old Sierra cup around, some in 8 ounce, some in 10 ounce sizes. Rei carries a few types, I think. Titanium, steel, aluminum, and plastic are all available ,surely.
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I strongly recommend against the Sierra cup. It may go well with your Nessmuk trio and canvas pack, but much better cup designs are available. The Sierra cup's sloped sidewall design lets liquids slosh out easily and it's metal rim will burn your lips. The Sierra Club Of California began selling them circa 1905 (Ansel Adams used one, IIRC). I used them in the late 1960's - early '70's on the Appalacian trail. I still have several somewhere. Funny how that works. Had they been something I liked and wanted to keep, they would have been lost or stolen along with the rest of my gear.
 
Codger_64 said:
I strongly recommend against the Sierra cup. It may go well with your Nessmuk trio and canvas pack, but much better cup designs are available. The Sierra cup's sloped sidewall design lets liquids slosh out easily and it's metal rim will burn your lips. The Sierra Club Of California began selling them circa 1905 (Ansel Adams used one, IIRC). I used them in the late 1960's - early '70's on the Appalacian trail. I still have several somewhere. Funny how that works. Had they been something I liked and wanted to keep, they would have been lost or stolen along with the rest of my gear.
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A few weeks ago I was at a large thrift store in a big city and found 3 almost new looking Sierra cups for sale for $2 or $3 each. They looked fresh out of the packaging, so probably worth $3 but the sloped sides turned me off. For now, I'll stick with my stainless steel Kitchen Aid Measuring cup that I got for $1.50 locally. :) I find it to small to put on the fire, but it's just right for a cup of tea or hot chocolate of you have something else to heat the water in.

An enamel cup (coffee mug) is great for camping. The one I use holds between 12oz and 16oz and has gone on tons of trips with me, including a backpacking trip or two. I've made tea and hot chocolate in it, heated up soup, stews and chili and even boiled water in it a time or two. It has been used over the fire, but mostly if I'm warming something in it, I use my backpacking stove with it. If you heat in it, becarefull because that handle gets hot. If you boil water in an other vesel then transfer into it for tea/chocolate the handle is okay. Most Camping/Outdoor stores sell them for around $4. You may not be able to store a water bottle inside one, but they sure work well for drinking and heating soup.
 
alum can react react with acidic foods to turn the color off kilter. I'm a bit of foodie so I've read about this on the subject of cooking. It's not considered to be harmful or even effect flavor. It just may turn reds like tomato sauce a little purple. The change in taste may be more in your mind. Like when you have sweet and sour sauce without the food coloring. It pepsi zero. It taste the same, but some how it's hard for our minds to accept clear pepsi or yellow sweet and sour sauce. No one's (ones? someone correct me please) has mentioned enamel cups but they work well and are more traditional in looks and better for baking. Walmart may still sell those blue enamel mugs in their camping section. Enamel baking dishes are popular with chefs. I guess someone has mentioned enamel. Cool.
 
DrivebyTrucker said:
alum can react react with acidic foods to turn the color off kilter. I'm a bit of foodie so I've read about this on the subject of cooking. It's not considered to be harmful or even effect flavor. It just may turn reds like tomato sauce a little purple. The change in taste may be more in your mind. Like when you have sweet and sour sauce without the food coloring. It pepsi zero. It taste the same, but some how it's hard for our minds to accept clear pepsi or yellow sweet and sour sauce. No one's (ones? someone correct me please) has mentioned enamel cups but they work well and are more traditional in looks and better for baking. Walmart may still sell those blue enamel mugs in their camping section. Enamel baking dishes are popular with chefs. I guess someone has mentioned enamel. Cool.
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i had heated up some bean and wheenies years ago in my small REI aluminum hike set and it discolored the aluminum and it did taste somewhat off. i am tempted to replace that set (use the aluminum as back up) and get a titanium set.
 
Anodized Al will be fine over an open fire. Coleman makes a very nice little nesting set that you can buy from CampMore or wally world for about $25
 
Mannlicher said:
Anodized Al will be fine over an open fire. Coleman makes a very nice little nesting set that you can buy from CampMore or wally world for about $25
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There is another recent thread in this forum about that Coleman setup. I've seen a lot of nice Anodized Aluminum cook sets and this one seems to have the best bang for buck.
 
wildmanh said:
There is another recent thread in this forum about that Coleman setup. I've seen a lot of nice Anodized Aluminum cook sets and this one seems to have the best bang for buck.
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[video=youtube;pRl-zf5IiUw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRl-zf5IiUw[/video]

[video=youtube;df6liVhZXvA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df6liVhZXvA&NR=1[/video]
 
Mannlicher said:
Anodized Al will be fine over an open fire. Coleman makes a very nice little nesting set that you can buy from CampMore or wally world for about $25
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wildmanh said:
There is another recent thread in this forum about that Coleman setup. I've seen a lot of nice Anodized Aluminum cook sets and this one seems to have the best bang for buck.
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Codger_64 said:
[video=youtube;pRl-zf5IiUw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRl-zf5IiUw[/video]

[video=youtube;df6liVhZXvA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df6liVhZXvA&NR=1[/video]
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i have read good things about it as well. i may get that set. thanks again guys you have been a great help.
 
I've not tried the anodized aluminum sets, but it has to be better than the older plain aluminum, at least as far as being non-reactive when new with coating intact. I still have some assorted pieces from older non-anodized sets, some dating back to the seventies, and besides being softer metal (which deforms easily), the surfaces are etched and pitted. Right now I am moving toward lighter stainless for durability and even heat transfer, but prices for titanium are beginning to drop as it becomes more popular, so I may switch from stainless to titanium (piecemeal anyway) in the future. I just can't justify $50 for a single pot right now, twice what that Coleman solo dual set costs.
 
foxx said:
I'm no metalurgist, but I've looked into the aluminum alzheimers relationship, and it's unfounded. In the 70's a Canadian Doctor did Alzheimers research and found higer levels of Aluminium in Alzheimers patients. That story ran away with the idea that Aluminum caused it, when it was not founded. We consume metals all the time, Titanium and Aluminum are ingested all the time, by every mammal.

The manufacturing process of Titanium uses Magnesium in some way, don't know if that's different than cooking with some Ti/Magnesium alloy? Just make sure you know what metals your cooking with, and act accordingly.

Look at GSI cups and Zebra if you want a cup in SS that you can get for cheap. I have boiled water in my Guyot/Nalgene bottle, on the coals. It's nice to have a way to boil water, if you have to. Drinking hot drinks from metal hurts, for comfort take a cheap plastic mug, or a double wall metal cup, which is more $$$.
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We had an incident a few years back where a large quantity of Aluminium Oxide was released into the potable water system. This did cause Alzheimer's like symptoms in many people who ingested it. This was at way way higher concentrations than you're ever going to get from cookware, though. I would still go with anodised Al, though just for the taste.
Copper is a great material for cooking with (no hot spots) but is even more reactive material than Al particularly with acidic foods.
Enamel is good, but I just can't enjoy drinking from an enamel mug (dunno what it's about, probably a psychological thing, makes me think of prison)
 
I have cooked many times in my SS GI canteen cup, I have also cooked soup and chilli right in the can on the fire so soup cans will work.

When I was a kid I had a GI mess kit, one of those 2 piece deals that's a pan and plate and it worked fine, I even cooked fish in it.

Today I have one of these nesting kits from walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stansport-Mess-Kit-Black-Granite/10927646 and it works great. It nests, comes with a little mesh bag to hold it all and it's non-stick, I've cooked a lot in it.
 
hughewil said:
I have cooked many times in my SS GI canteen cup, I have also cooked soup and chilli right in the can on the fire so soup cans will work.

When I was a kid I had a GI mess kit, one of those 2 piece deals that's a pan and plate and it worked fine, I even cooked fish in it.

Today I have one of these nesting kits from walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stansport-Mess-Kit-Black-Granite/10927646 and it works great. It nests, comes with a little mesh bag to hold it all and it's non-stick, I've cooked a lot in it.
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i assume you have cooked with the stansport mess kit over open flame? my concern would be the non stick material flaking due to very high heat.
 
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