Titanium Pot (tweeking)

Douglas, have you had problems with food sticking to your SP pot? My family gave me mine for Christmas a few years ago. I was initially disappointed that it wasn't non-stick. But I quickly found out that the interior of the pot was slick enough that sticking isn't a problem. YMMV.

But, I don't know of any aftermarket solution for applying a non-stick coating. Cooking oil?

No, I have not really had a problem with them.
I have had problem with my sierra cup, though.

I was just curious about after market non-stick spray on and painting the bottom with a black heat paint.

-I now use the pre-packaged bacon and then cook my eggs.
-Pan spray on?

Doug

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The thing about non-stick (i.e. Teflon coatings) is that they're carcinogenic when heated too much.

If you've ever heard of the "Canary in the Coal Mine", consider this: bird owners have to take care never to overheat their teflon cookware or their birds will die from the toxic gases.

Teflon is being phased out of cookware over the next five years because of this dirty secret. In the meantime, if your pot *doesn't* have Teflon on it you shouldn't be overly saddened. The only reason I own titanium cookware rather than aluminum is precisely *because* of the lack of non-stick coating!

YMMV

The possible cancer causing agent, known as PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) used to make teflon is not actually *IN* teflon. It is removed during the production process. What the EPA wants phased out over the next five years is the use of PFOA, not the end product we know as Teflon (aka PTFE, the most commonly used waterproof-breathable membrane in outdoor usage.)

What is released when teflon is overheated is as many as 15 different chemicals, including some which are lethal to birds. Birds are physiologically different from humans. Humans can have negative effects (though no health and safety organization says the effects are life threatnening to humans) from inhaling these chemicals, but they are generally not released under normal cooking temperatures (teflon maintains its chemical integrity up to 500deg F). Also, the damage they do is easily repaired by an otherwise healthy human body.

As a side note – PFOA is released into the air by many thousands of metric tons each year during the production of PTFE. Almost every American has at least SOME PFOA in their system, regardless of their teflon usage. You could never use a teflon product in your entire life, and be full of PFOA.

All that being said, Im not a huge fan of teflon personally, it stratches too easily, and so I use mostly cast iron at home and a very thin walled stainless steel cup on the trail – so I can use a nice harsh abrasive like sand to really gouge away any stuck on mess. You could probably do that with titanium as well.

JR nope, you don't want to be cleaning out any kind of Ti pot or pan with sand! OUCH! It will scratch the surface and make stuff stick, ask me how I now know…In the newer Snowpeak lit that comes with their Ti stuff they specifically recommend NOT using even an abasive sponge, which is what I used in their bowl, because it WILL scratch the Ti surface…Go figure, I thought the sponges were made to clean non stick pans would be ok, but no, it scratched enough to make it a hassle to clean out the bowl after each use…

I found a piece cut into an egg shape from the plastic lids of many types of foods, like Pringles can, to suffice at scraping out and then final wash is easier.YMMV

Then I guess I'll be sticking with steel. Wow, I didnt realize titanium was so scratch prone.

JR, yeah, it makes you long for your nice SS kits that you ditched for the Ti, only to find out that it may be light, and heat fast, but it still scratches like aluminum when cleaned with abrasives.

Yeah, that's a 12 pt buck I took a picture of in my avatar. I stalked up to about 15ft from him, and a spike buck that i actually did not see until it came running out of the woods in fright, and dashed across the lawn and out of the yard. This buck stood dead still as I was shaking trying to hold the camera still to get his picture.

Should we be ditching our Ti sporks for plastic ones?
Plastic is still lighter, right?

Doug

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Speaking of plastic sporks…

Taco Bell (and others) give them out for free! Each one is sturdy enough to last a couple of multi-day trips. And yes, Doug, they are indeed lighter than titanium ones.

The BPL SUL long handled spoon is "the spoon" as far as I am concerned. It's perfect… serves up food like a ladle scouping every drop from a food bag and my knuckles never get food on them. I have felt silly being so attached to a spoon but when the SUL version came out it was love all over again! ;)

One Taco Bell spork (5 5/8" long) = 3 grams = 0.107 ounces

That's without the plastic "stuff sack" that comes with it.

The "stuff sack" wouldn't register on my Sunbeam scale.

Per BPL, my lightest titanium spork (the SUL) weighs in at at a hefty 8.2 grams, or 0.29 oz, without stuff sack.

But the BPL SUL spork is 6 1/2" long, which "weighs" in its favor, or maybe not.

JRS