hard anodized vs nonstick titanium pot pros&cons

[Dennis Park]

I'm looking to get a larger pot. Currently I'm looking at the Evernew 900ml nonstick vs Open Country 3cup hard anodized plus gripper. By stats only they are the same weight, have almost the same volume, and both are touted to be nonstick. The price difference is huge.

There must be more to the picture as the data would suggest that the aluminum pot is a better buy yet there are a faithful following of the titanium pot. What am I missing?

[michael levi]

Regular titanium doesnt stick, its naturally non- stick. Thats what I would get.

[CW]

Titanium is a harder material which generally allows for a thinner walled pot (resulting in less weight), but it's also a really poor conductor of heat.

If you plan to actually do more than boil water, I wouldn't give the Evernew a second thought, especially with the weights so close and aluminum being so much cheaper.

[Ian]

Not an exact comparison but I used anodized aluminum every day at home and use titanium in my kit. I can't speak ounce for ounce comparison regarding heat conductivity between aluminum and titanium but my snowpeak and esbit ti pots are so thin that it isn't a problem for me. They cool down faster than my steel or non-anodized aluminum backpacking pots so my cozy seems to be more important with titanium.

I'm using anodized aluminum at home and won't ever buy another Teflon pan again. Food will still stick to it (like Teflon) but it cleans up easy with a green scratchy pad. The finish is holding up well over time vs Teflon where our cookware would show signs of wear and tear after the first year. I haven't had any problems with food sticking to my titanium but I only boil noodles and such.

I erred towards titanium as I was more confident that it would hold up better on a fire than aluminum. I’ve never thrown my aluminum cookware on a fire so I’ll let someone else weigh in if this is a well-founded concern or not. If fire cooking is not a concern and the weight is the same then I’d go for the aluminum pot.

[Tommy Franzen]

Hard anodized all the way, I have the same pot. I don't understand the fascination with titanium pots, considering the difference in price. I suppose if all you do is boil water and dump water into a meal bag it wins (slightly) by weight.

[Jon Fong]

The Evernew pot has a ceramic non-stick coating (not- teflon). Some people have health concerns over teflon coated pots (too long to explain). If you are boiling water or making soups, the uncoated Evernew pots are fine. If you are trying to fry something, the thin walled titanium pan will work IF you use a LOT of oil. Other than that, frying can be a pain to cook with due to all of the hot spots. If you are looking for a pot that is easy to clean out, I would use and uncoated titanium pot. I use sand and grit to clean off stuborn spots.

I find that hard anodized aluminum pots are ok. The surface can be scratched if you are not carefull (cooking and packing things inside). I prefere titanium because I can beat the crap out of them and they still work. My 2 cents – Jon

[Madeline T]

I prefer hard anodized to titanium. I have a GSI hard anodized set that I adore and do not regret spending the money on one bit. I also have a titanium set I purchased from backcountry under their house brand, Stoic. Titanium scorches so easily I have never successfully cooked with it without burning a little something something. That said I like to cook while I camp. I do eggs for breakfast for the first few days and steak the first night. We catch fish, bread them and fry them to make fish tacos. We also have rehydrated chili, lentils, pasta sauces. Maybe I am a bad cook but I stink at cooking on titanium. It makes it so much more work.

I also have large aluminum sets that I use for group cooking. These are not hard anodized but simply teflon coated aluminum. They also cook easy. I do not burn food very often with these even though I am cooking for large groups when I use them.

Bottom line: The hard anodized stuff cleans up really easy, distributes heat better, and makes cooking for me easier. If you are however just boiling water, I guess this does not matter as much. I might move to packaging my dehydrated meals in those sealer bags and have more of a boil in a bag system.

I would be interested to hear what Laurie March uses to cook with.

[Madeline T]

sorry repost

[Dennis Park]

Thanks all for the input. Overall it seems like the choice of pot material is mostly dictated by what is on the menu. Liquidy foods get titanium and thicker foods get aluminum.

Another question: does the open country 3cup hard anodized pot disperse heat well for cooking thicker foods?

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