Cookware suggestions for 2?

Most around here would say that 1.3 liters is good for two. The Evernew 1.3 liter UL Ti is a common piece of gear for this. You could probably make due with 900 ML or so for just rehydrating food, but not much actual cooking.

As for Alcohol systems, they are a blast. For two you may be just as well off with you MSR PR, but for a night or two alcohol may come out lighter. Definitely quieter and a great thing to see and appreciate from a scientific / Mr. Wizard's World perspective.

My wife and I use the following in our cook system (weight in oz's):

Snow Peak – GP100A 3.7
Evernew – 1.9 L Non-Stick Titanium 8.7
REI – Ti Ware Double-Wall Mug (2) 7.9
Snow Peak – Ti Spork (2) 1.1
Snow Peak – Ti Bowl (2) 1.7
Total: 23.0

It's heavier than many around here, but we like to cook on the trail and it works for us and still comes out to 11.5 oz's per person.

I am almost never alone while backpacking — there are usually two of us and a few trips with all four of us. Here is my goto setup for two people:

SnowPeak Gigapower
MSR .9L titanium kettle
small fuel canister
folding Ti spork x2
ziploc-type twist-lock bowl with cozy x2 (in picture on the left)
cheap plastic Tim Horton mug from the 80's (wish we had two)

Food is rehydrated in the bowl. Works like a champ. I also have a set of taller containers if I am bringing hardier meals.

Frying fish aside, from your description, I wouldn't use a pot larger than .9 Liters. I find this size more than ample for two and we usually have hot meals and hot drinks AM and PM. We have a 1.4L pot that we bring when there are four of us.

This is something I've been struggling with as I'm going on a longish hike with my daughter. I've looked at the Caldera Cone paired with the Evernew 900 or 1300 but then I started thinking about the additional mugs I would want for my coffee (I don't mind improvising but I like to enjoy my coffee with a traditional mug) and the weight was a bit higher than I wanted. While less fuel efficient, I've always preferred to cook with a mug and use it for double duty.

Currently we both have titanium mugs and the complete kits including spoons are ~5 oz each for Esbit cooking. I'm considering a couple options but will probably replace my daughter's kit with the Lite Trail 550ml.

John and Nick both did reviews of this system:

http://hikelighter.com/2013/04/18/litetrail-550ml-titanium-cookpot-setup/

http://popupbackpacker.com/esbit-stove-shoot-out-caldera-vs-litetrail/

Still trying to figure out what I'm going to do but it will be 550-600 mug paired up with Flat Cat Gear's new beta stainless steel snow leopard Jr or (fingers crossed) a future titanium release. I absolutely love the looks of the Evernew 500 but since I'm normally boiling 16oz of water, it's just a bit too small.

I started FB Cooking about 5 years ago and I really like it. All I need is something to boil water, which most of the time is an alcohol stove.

With FB cooking, your only utensils are long-handled spoon(s), a cozy or two, and quart-size Ziplock Freezer bags. Well I guess that's not totally true as you need something to boil water in :)

No fuss, no mess. Waste is self-storing.

Now I like Tea Kettles better than pots when I'm not trying to melt snow. Most Anodized Aluminum Tea Kettles are ~6oz. I have Primus LiteTecs and GSI's – like them both but the GSI will boil enough water for two.

My current favorite pot is the Optimus Terra Weekend HE (Heat Exchanger). It will boil 28oz if you are careful, 24oz with ease, and it extracts all the heat out of your stove.

If you do decide to go the "cook in the pot" route, I suggest you use plastic or silicon eating bowls because of their natural insulating properties. And they are a lot cheaper than the unobtainium versions. I have a GSI Infinity mug that works well as an eating bowl and after dinner coffee mug – some sort of lid is definitely a nice feature on a bowl IMO.

You can turn out lots of hot water with a small canister stove like that. If you are re-hydrating meals in the bag, all you need is a pot that will hold a couple cups. For a group of 2-3, a typical dinner might require two boils for two bagged meals, another for hot drinks and maybe another for cleanup. Most canister rigs will boil a liter in 3-4 minutes, so that doesn't mean a lot of time. So +1 on a pot under 900ml. 600ml would work and 700ml is fine.

If you care going to actually *cook* for a group, check out the Open Country aluminum pots. They are cheap and the weight is shared. The Stanco grease pot comes to mind as well.

Canister stoves work well for a group for the speed and the fact that everyone can carry fuel without specialized containers.

Esbit and alcohol stoves are okay for solo, but pretty slow past that. If you go this way, get a Caldera Cone; the rest are toys in comparison.

I've been big on recycled bowls from Panda Express lately– cheap and super light and big enough to get a decent helping into. Plastic sporks or spoons are good 'nuff. GSI plastic mugs are good for hot drinks.

This is great. I still need to make some decisions, but all the excellent posts really narrow it down for me. I would have been just guessing otherwise, so thanks a bunch.

Good luck with your search.

For some reason, when I looked for this thread under "Gear" and even going back a couple pages, it doesn't show up and I could only find by looking at my past comments under my forum profile. Anyone else having the same problem?

Edit: but when I commented it now shows up. Weird.

i bought a jetboil sol ti and made a cat stove to use with alcohol at the same time, to pick for my upcoming trip.

the jetboil won easy for me.

i decided the jetboil was best for my needs which is simply heating water for coffee, tea and rehydrating meals.

i had never used a jetboil and was blown away how fast it works heating water, which i gather is pretty much all it's good for, at least according to them.

Hi Paul,

I have a couple of lightweight/cheap suggestions for you which you may find useful (the suggestions are what I would take for two). I would stay away from the heavier combo sets and make your own system. It will work out much ligher and will be tailored to your needs. It sounds to me that what you need is a good pot for boiling water, and a good frying pan. To start with I would keep things cheap and then upgrade if you feel it is necessary. Also whatever you do stay away from titanium for frying.

First try the Stanco grease pot would be ideal for two people – it is 40oz capacity, weighs 2.8oz (pot only) and costs $6.50. It comes with a lid and strainer which can be useful. You can find them here . The weight of this pot proves that you don’t need a titanium pot to go lightweight.

Next the frying pan. My top choices are:

Tefal one egg wonder . Approx 6oz weight 12cm. An excellent pan, but perhaps a little small for you. Has really great heat conductivity and truly excellent non stick coating – you don’t need oil with this pan. $5.50 from target.

Or try the MSR quick skillet or MSR flex skillet.

As for stoves, try a cat can stove. I recently made a couple and they work great and are incredibly lightweight. Each one weights in at 0.2oz. I made two of them and bring both then use one or the other depending on what I am cooking – a supercat stove which has two rows of holes and is hotter and simmer cat stove which has one row of holes and therefore a longer, cooler burn.

Hope this helps!!

+1 on using ziplock containers for food bowls. Very light, and have no problem with boiling water. I use the regular kind without the lockable tops as they are lighter. You want the ones you get in the grocery store for storing leftovers. A large one is a little over 1 Oz, and I find them very luxurious. More homey than a bag, and completely reusable and easy to clean. Also freakishly cheap. If you are using a canister stove, then speed shouldn't be an issue and you can use a smaller pot, either the minimum to hold the water for two dehydrated meals, or better for one and just go twice. The ziplocks can be sealed up for rehydration while you are making drinks, or doing something else. As pointed out, you can make an optional cozy that weighs virtually nothing that will not only allow you to keep the food warmer, but will allow you to cook an extended range of things – like regular rice – if you have the time to wait a little longer. Want to make a multi-course meal for some reason, take more of the ziplocks. They stack. You can store some of your specialized items in them like coffee making supplies, and so on.

If one of you pots is "mug-like", or you otherwise don't mind using the pot as a mug, then all you need is another mug for hot drinks. I have one of these – not that UL (4 oz), but I really like it.

http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Summit-Delta-Insul-16-Ounce/dp/B002WBRZN0/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370017190&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=sea+to+summmint+mug

If you don't care about insulated then any old heatproof cup can do for your hot drinks.

The last issue of the fish is the hardest one, but I think pick the smallest pot you think you can prepare it the way you like. If it is going to be an important part of your trip then take a small UL frypan. Or maybe get a little creative in how you prepare it.

So maybe the solution for you two might be something like a 0.9L evernew ti pot (or something cheaper), 2 ziplock "bowls" (w/cozies as an option), extra mug for hot drinks, or 2 if you don't one of your mugs to be the pot, plus optional lightweight fry pan or bring some Al foil and/or a skewer to cook fish in a fire. Lexan plastic utensils – cheap and light. You can cut them down if you want to advertise you are hard-core. Don't forget the windscreen. You should be able to get away with 10-12 oz for two.

+1 on the jetboil, (esp. Sol Ti), it is fantastic if money is no object – they are on sale for just over $100 in a few places right now.

http://www.alssports.com/Product.aspx?pf_id=10127518

Especially compact and useful for multiple people. There is even a skillet attachment you can buy as an add-on.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/jetboil-fluxring-frying-pan~p~4236c/?utm_source=GooglePLAs&utm_medium=PaidShopping&utm_term=Jetboil_Fluxring_Frying_Pan&utm_campaign=PCGOOGLEP3&codes-processed=true

Jetboil systems more expensive, and a little heavier, but has the advantage that you will most likely never wish you had something better.

I've noticed the relative popularity of Evernew pots compared to Snow Peak. Is that largely weight driven?

I think it is a wash between the two. Probably more talk about Evernew because they have a lot more shapes and types of pots. These shapes also allow for use with the caldera sidewinder. I don't think any of the SP pots are wide enough for a sidewinder.

"I don't think any of the SP pots are wide enough for a sidewinder."

One more good reason to prefer Evernew. A wider pot will be more fuel efficient.

Thanks again for the suggestions and help. I thought I would let everyone who helped me out know what choices I made for our 4-day Desolation Wilderness trip near the end of June:

1. Evernew .9 ml mug pot for boiling water–no cooking in pot. 3.5 ozs.

2. Campbells Soup to Go containers reused as cups. 1.17 ozs. each

3. Ziploc Twist-n-Loc 16 oz containers for bowls, with homemade cozies (for rehydrating/eating meals). 1.90 ozs. each.

My first MYOG!:

I tried splitting/rehydrating a 2.5 serving (really?!?) Mountain House meal in the bowls at home and it worked great.

I am probably getting Snow Peak titanium sporks for utensils, but I haven't made a final decision.

This will be my second backpacking trip (first was only one night, no cooking) and I feel reasonably prepared. I am sure I have/will make some mistakes, but the BPL community has been a tremendous resource.

Solid kit and that bowl looks great.