Fry Pan?

[Lori P]

I would like to get rid of the handle and use a little silicon grippy instead. The handle makes it tippy unless there's enough food in…. But, the whole thing does fit in a bear canister if the can's not terribly full.

And if you leave it out on a rock, the marmots will clean it for you… a hiking buddy got pictures of that…

[Bailey Gin]

You can hacksaw the handle down a bit:

Probably cut it down to where the indentation starts…from pan that is. Careful thou…handle gets hotter as the it shorter.

bg

[JR Redding]

"I wonder how much that handle weighs …"

It's negligible. I removed the handle and saved an ounce, but gripping it with pot grippers soon tore up the edges. Of course you can get them for 6 dollars so it is a cheap disposable item if needed.

Additionally, outdoors with a canister stove, it works best with a windscreen. Somewhere here on the forums is DIY thread for a homemade windscreen for canister stoves. You can modify that so that it extends beyond the height of the pan, and about 50% around the circumference of the pan itself, and it will work nicely in the cold or with a light wind.

However, for general use, the GSI toaster I pointed out yesterday worked real well as a diffuser. We've also cooked trout on top of the toaster wrapped in foil. There are alot of uses for that little gadget, and for the pan.

[Gary Dunckel]

William, I went to my REI this afternoon, and they had 2 of the Backpacker's Pantry "Scorch Buster & Riser Bar" setups that I had mentioned. I bought them both, not knowing if they would ever be back on the shelf. I thought I'd mail one or both to you if you wanted them. They cost $15.50 each + tax, arghhh… Then I checked out BP's web site, and they are selling the Scorch Buster (w/o the silly riser bar) for just $5.90 (+ shipping). So, bottom line, I'll take the ones I bought back to REI for a refund, and you can choose whether to buy one or two (or none) from BP directly. I do believe that they are the best and lightest heat diffusers out there, unless you want to try a 3/8" piece of homemade copper plate or a pie tin or something. Good luck with your quest.

[Bill (L.Dog) Garlinghouse]

"They cost $15.50 each + tax, arghhh… "

I was thinking that the diffuser would make a Ti pan tolerable, and would probably make an Al pan even better!

I went to BP's web site, and indeed they sell it for $5.90 + shipping, but the cheapest shipping option is $10.21 for a total of $16.11. I'll look around the net a bit more, then probably push the button on it.

Thanks for your recommendation and legwork!

Bill

[Jeremy Greene]

Have you considered just cutting the bottom off a coffee tin? I also seem to recall an optional plate being available for drip coffee makers called something like a scortch plate.

[Javan Dempsey]

I picked up an 8" Al fry pan from "The Dollar Store" today. After removing the handle and rivets that held it, weigh in is at 5.9oz.

Add to that my weight cut Al pot lifter at 29g, that's a 7oz solution, which also gives me an excuse to bring the pot lifter, to use with handle free Ti pot, which saves my fingers.

$8 ($3 for the generic pot lifter) and a bit of time. Only 2 ounces more than the 5oz REI/Evernew Ti fry pans that cost ~$50, with their folding handles.

It's not flimsy aluminum either. I mean, I bent it on purpose with a hammer, and could with my hands, but not easily. It's just thick enough to be reasonably strong, and still cook a good egg.

Save yourself some cash.

[Gary Dunckel]

Bill, I sent you a PM

[Bill (L.Dog) Garlinghouse]

"$8 ($3 for the generic pot lifter) and a bit of time. Only 2 ounces more than the 5oz REI/Evernew Ti fry pans"

Thanks. I was in Wally World yesterday and scanned the pans they had for sale. They were out of the One Egg Wonder … I found myself hefting several pans, wishing I had a scale with me …

(I am still enamored with the Banks)

I'm looking forward to playing with whatever I settle on with both a canister and an alcohol stove, and with and without the diffuser Gary helped me find.

Thanks everyone

[>> Bender <<]

Does anyone know the weight of a One Egg Wonder? I hear its around 5 oz or so but I'm not sure.

[Javan Dempsey]

That's what I've thought also, it has a really heavy handle. I never got one, it's too freakin' small for anything I make besides eggs. The pan I got from Dollar General is about the same gauge, and the handle was alot of the weight.

8" is the perfect size IMHO, you can fry a trout with the head and tail cut off, and it's perfect for quesadillas.

Anyone interested in some pics and more info about my fry-pan setup, I started a thread in the food section detailing it, along with some exact weights.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=28244

Actually I think I said it was from "the dollar store" before, but it was "Dollar General" the one i got from the dollar store was $1 cheaper, but heavier.

[William McCreight]

Just got one yesterday, and 4.94 oz on my scale.

[Michael Meiser]

Anyone have any idea how heavy the one egg wonder is without the handle?

Also has anyone tried crafting an alternative handle?

Seems like you could replace the handle with a old school riveted on slot.. i.e. the kind a minimal handle slides right into from underneath.

Alternatively Perhaps using titanium stakes, perhaps creating a mount that can use any old stick from the woods?

Come to think of it has anyone ever crafted a mount for a pot or pan that can use a stick from the woods? Seems like a stick wood handle would work pretty darn effective. If only to extend and insulate a minimalist metal handle.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I hate, hate, hate my ti skillet. Lousy heat dissipation resulting in a hot spot. Ti must be made very thin B/C it's 2X heavier than aluminum by volume.

I'm looking for an aluminum skillet W/anodized non-stick inner finish. I'll permenantly remove any handle and use my pot gripper.

Love my pancakes & sausage in winter. Frying freeze-dried omlettes (in a bit of squeeze type margarine) after rehydrating just makes 'em taste better.

P.S. The MSR BlackLite pan looks to be the best bet.
P.P.S. I got a Brunton FLEX canister stove burner for its wider burner ring than my Vargo JET-TI stove. Really like it for only 0.7 oz. more than the JET-TI.

[A Wilson]

I was reading another post, and it occurred to me that if you cut out one "muffin spot" from a grande size (think Costco) muffin tin, it would be egg sized, superiorly lightweight, aluminum, and likely nonstick. You could rivet a Ti wire handle, or some such geekery, and have a superbly clever DIY solution. Send me a picture.

[Ryan Klym]

i agree, pancakes on a Ti pan are a challenge — a real wrist workout.

has anyone experimented with cutting and adding the bottom of an alum pie pan to a Ti pan for better heat spread with a cannister stove? i saw it referenced in the thread as an idea, but not sure if we have real world experience.

i'm thinking just JB weld the aluminum to the Ti and that would help by thickening the "pan" and providing better heat spread surface. Also maybe put a shot of muffler paint on the pan before applying the adhesive might also provide a little more spread.

thoughts?

[S. uedonim]

You might find it tricky to get good heat transfer between the two metal layers, especially if they're not actually touching but are separated by a layer of what is basically an insulator. You'll pay a price in extra fuel for that.

Too bad its pretty tricky to weld or braze the two metals together.

Might take a bit of experimenting to see if the frankenpan does end up with the sort of better cooking that you're after without too great a cost in fuel… seems to me that some sort of aluminium skillet might be far more sensible ;)

[Javan Dempsey]

Guys, by the point you do that, any Ti pan will outweigh a similar sized thin aluminum pan, and still probably not transfer properly unless you can get an extremely tight weld.

Another option might be to attach a grid of thin copper wire, but then again, wt.

Another member on the thread I referenced found a thin side walled, medium bottomed Al pan at walmart that weighed like 4.8oz, without the handles, which is basically the same weight as any same sized Ti pan. The one egg wonder is even lighter san-handle.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Ryan

> cutting and adding the bottom of an alum pie pan to a Ti pan for better heat spread

Try it by all means, but I am willing to bet that the Al plate will fall off when it gets hot – probably the first time. The adhesive won't take it, and the difference in expansion coefficients will kill the bond anyhow.

Cheers

[Bradley Danyluk]

Just going to throw this out here – what about finding a suitable size thin rock and frying on that? Sticky, but just throw it in a creek after, so no cleanup anyway. No more weight in your pack.

Haven't done any research on the subject other than reading cooking books, but it seems to me that there is a relationship between the ability of a frying surface to delivery even heating and its mass. (Super heavy cast-iron pans are really best for almost everything as long as you can live with the stickiness). This presents a major problem for LW backpackers, so – find a heavy rock instead?

[Bob Gross]

Look how simple trail bread is if you are a Balti man somewhere north of Pakistan. All you carry for food supply is a bag of flour. You start a small wood campfire. While that is burning down to hot embers, you mix up some of your flour with some creek water, perhaps using the top of a flat rock and your finger. Once that dough is starting to form, you put one of the smooth round river rocks into the hot embers to pre-warm it. Once it's warm, you knock it back out of the fire and form the dough around the rock. Then back into the fire. After a while, burnt bread is ready. You knock it back out of the fire, scrape the worst of the burned portion away, break the bread off the rock, and eat it.
–B.G.–

[Mike Young]

Has anyone used one of these as a fry pan? Without the handle it might pack a little better.

http://www.target.com/p/t-fal-mini-cheese-griddle-gray/-/A-12135323?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=Google_PLA_df&LNM=|12135323&CPNG=Kitchen&kpid=12135323&LID=PA&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=12135323&gclid=CKPoxeap6rsCFc2VfgodKB8A6A

[Brian Johns]

I bought the MSR blacklite fry pan (I think it's 8" and about 6 oz. at REI on closeout last year for $6. Great buy and immediately caught and cooked sierra trout in it. Can't recommend enough. it's heavy, but if your pot doubles as a mug and you are not constantly on the move, i.e., have time to cook, it's a great piece of kit.

EDIT: I searched for you. REI is out of stock /doesn't carry it any longer. It's $9 on Amazon, [ http://www.amazon.com/MSR-321416-Blacklite-Fry-Pan/dp/B000FBYNIE ] and $11 at Campsaver.com. Good luck.

EDIT EDIT: Here's a similar thread on the subject: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=73980

[Paul Hatfield]

Here's a real frying pan that's about $10:

Farberware Premium Nonstick 8" frying pan
stainless steel handle
307 g (10.8 oz)

[Dale Wambaugh]

How about a Snowpeak Ti plate? 2oz and $16.95 and you get a plate too. It will need a pot grabber for a handle, so add $4 and a couple ounces for an Open Country grabber or improvise something.

As far as Ti and heat transfer: titanium does have different heating properties than aluminum, but I think it is really only significant with thicker pots and pans and at a level that wouldn't be useful for hiking. My point being that ANY thin metal cooking gear has hot spots, and pairing it with the blowtorches that we use for stoves makes it even more troublesome. The cure is to do what any good chef does: keep your pan moving. That means a good handle and a free hand and a proper utensil for moving the target food in the pan. If you're going to cook, have the right gear!

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