Author Topic: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?  (Read 5221 times)

Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« on: 29 April, 2018, 11:56:03 am »
Hi - I love my MSR Titan cookset, but it's lacking one thing - a frying pan. Now I realise frying food is not necessarily ideal when cycle touring, but there are times when it would be really nice to fry some eggs and bacon for breakfast, and it's not ideal attempting this in titanium cookware, because of the ease of creating hotspots - because of this I've been looking at aluminium frying pans (I realise titanium frying pans do exist, though, e.g. https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/kitchen-stuff-c8/pots-and-pans-c9/eca-442-titanium-non-stick-frypan-with-handle-18-p982 ) - does anyone have any recommendations for a separate frying pan suitable for bike camping for 2 people?

Ideally I would like one which isn't too deep and with sloping sides, as I'm not trying to nest it with my MSR Titan cookset, and don't want something too bulky, but that seems to rule out most camping frying pans. Define requirements would be for a folding handle of some sort (or no handle, I can use the MSR pot grabber), a relatively durable non-stick layer (though they all wear out eventually) and obviously to be reasonably lightweight. Size-wise I guess about 18-20cm would be ideal. Thanks!

Something like either of these, but available in the UK, would be good:

https://frybake.com/products/alpine-pan/

https://www.rei.com/product/889972/sea-to-summit-x-pan-8-in?cm_mmc=aff_AL-_-113515-_-135119-_-NA&avad=135119_f11d02fe1
Old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #1 on: 29 April, 2018, 12:24:21 pm »
The Trangia non stick pans are good, but the non stick coating on my example is very fragile.      The Primus Litech one gets good reviews but appears out of stock in most places.
Not fast & rarely furious

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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #2 on: 29 April, 2018, 12:52:00 pm »
The Trangia non stick pans are good, but the non stick coating on my example is very fragile.      The Primus Litech one gets good reviews but appears out of stock in most places.

This Primus one? Seems in stock at these places. It's a little deeper than I'd like though:

https://www.addnature.co.uk/primus-litech-dishes-4-person-red-black-349275.html

https://www.trekkinn.com/outdoor-mountain/primus-litech-frying-pan/136492265
Old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #3 on: 29 April, 2018, 12:55:04 pm »
The Trangia non stick pans are good, but the non stick coating on my example is very fragile.      The Primus Litech one gets good reviews but appears out of stock in most places.

This Primus one? Seems in stock at these places. It's a little deeper than I'd like though:

https://www.addnature.co.uk/primus-litech-dishes-4-person-red-black-349275.html

https://www.trekkinn.com/outdoor-mountain/primus-litech-frying-pan/136492265

Though the Primus pan I listed above seems to have a different type of handle from the one in this review - I prefer the type shown in the review, but is this an old model?: http://www.woodlife.co.uk/2008/08/20/primus-litech-frying-pan-initial-review/
Old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway

dim

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #4 on: 29 April, 2018, 03:27:39 pm »
army dixie set?

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Kim

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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #5 on: 29 April, 2018, 03:34:51 pm »
The Trangia non stick pans are good, but the non stick coating on my example is very fragile.

Mine seems to be doing okay, though I do more frying when using the gas burner, which is a bit more controllable and less inclined to burn things on.  I followed their advice and bough the multi-disc at the same time, which is generally useful and protects the coating when it's packed.

But it's main feature is that it fits a Trangia and it fails on the OP's sloping sides requirement.

I recall Charlotte turning up at some YACF event with a Poundland (or similar) small frying pan, which seemed surprisingly good at the job.

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #6 on: 29 April, 2018, 03:41:43 pm »
I bought a 8" non stick pan with folding handles at Go Outdoors some years ago for £7. Still going strong with non stick coating remarkably long lasting whereas trangia coating, as stated above, is somewhat fragile.
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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #7 on: 29 April, 2018, 07:24:06 pm »

I recall Charlotte turning up at some YACF event with a Poundland (or similar) small frying pan, which seemed surprisingly good at the job.

We've bought a cheap pan for birthday pancakes before - one from wilkinsons in Mildenhall, and I think at least one other. If you use them on the last night of the tour or buy a super cheap one, it works ok.

I have a camping wok with a folding handle, which works for stir fry type stuff.
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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #8 on: 30 April, 2018, 09:18:24 pm »
Trangia Duossal?
https://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;product=269327 (25 series 220 mm dia, €22)
There's also the 27 pan (185 mm diameter, €18)

The stainless inside scrubs well, and the aluminium outside spreads the heat, or that's the idea.

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #9 on: 15 May, 2018, 06:03:39 am »
Trangia Duossal?
https://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;product=269327 (25 series 220 mm dia, €22)
There's also the 27 pan (185 mm diameter, €18)

The stainless inside scrubs well, and the aluminium outside spreads the heat, or that's the idea.

Even stainless steel is not great for trying to remove baked-on cooked egg from, though...
Old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway

Nick H.

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #10 on: 15 May, 2018, 09:04:20 pm »
I've got a teflon-coated camping frying pan, about 20 cm with a 2 cm vertical lip. Can't remember who made it and can't find it for sale anywhere. It's been v useful, as a frying pan and as a lid for other pans. It's intended for use with one of those gripper handle/pot lifter things. Very thin, very light.

Edit: MSR has this 20 cm skillet, which is v close to your desired spec but it doesn't have a sloping edge. Maybe if you had one you could leave a pot lid at home https://www.rei.com/product/115071/msr-quick-skillet

Another edit: if you're a gram counter you might be impressed by this 128 gram titanium 20cm thing from China! http://r.ebay.com/rWuofy

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #11 on: 16 May, 2018, 09:32:41 pm »
We're looking at replacing our Trangia frypan/lid with one that's easier to clean. AFAIK there's duossal, non stick and hard anodised versions. Does anyone know the difference, how easy they are to clean and how durable they are? Which is best? It's too replace the basic lid that came with the Trangia set. We've got the bigger one at 220mm diameter.

Kim

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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #12 on: 16 May, 2018, 10:18:19 pm »
I've got the regular aluminium one and the non-stick.  The aluminium one is as you'd expect - food burns onto it (especially with the poor control of the meths burner), and prolonged soaking or serious scrapey washing-up is required.  The non-stick is vastly better, and if you time it right you can wipe warm (liquid phase) sausage fat off it with a couple of bits of kitchen roll leaving it clean enough to reasonably pack away in a pannier (though not quite clean enough for subsequent food not to taste vaguely of sausages).

The non-stick coating is apparently relatively fragile.  Mine seems okay after a few years of use, but I should qualify that with  a) I'm not a big fryer - it's more frequently used cold as a plate for sticky/crumby things and  b) I also have the Trangia multi-disc, which protects the surface from damage when packed.

I'm curious about the anodised one too.  I've seen them, but not in use for frying.

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #13 on: 22 May, 2018, 01:24:05 pm »
What's wrong with frying in the (sauce)pans?
Avoids soot on outside of packed trangia.

I don't fry much though....

Kim

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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #14 on: 22 May, 2018, 02:02:52 pm »
What's wrong with frying in the (sauce)pans?

Lack of space I suppose.  You'd certainly have trouble fitting a rasher of bacon neatly in the smaller 1 litre pans, but could probably manage a small steak or a couple of sausages or some halloumi or whatever.

I reckon soot is a non-issue.  You've got grease on one side of the pan and soot on the other.  Both are undesirable in your pannier, and both respond to washing-up.  (Yes, a well-used Trangia pan develops a coating of immobile soot.  But it's not going to come off in normal use, and therefore not a problem.)

LEE

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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #15 on: 22 May, 2018, 02:14:51 pm »
I have the Trangia non-stick one.  It's been great but needs the separate grab-handle.

I carry a few J-cloths which get stored between the pans to protect the coating and stop the rattling.

A quick wipe with a paper towel cleans the pan perfectly (never wash non-stick frying pans in soapy water obviously) unlike my previous aluminium stuff which needed industrial shot-blasting to remove egg.
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #16 on: 22 May, 2018, 02:32:07 pm »
What's wrong with frying in the (sauce)pans?

Lack of space I suppose.  You'd certainly have trouble fitting a rasher of bacon neatly in the smaller 1 litre pans, but could probably manage a small steak or a couple of sausages or some halloumi or whatever.

I reckon soot is a non-issue.  You've got grease on one side of the pan and soot on the other.  Both are undesirable in your pannier, and both respond to washing-up.  (Yes, a well-used Trangia pan develops a coating of immobile soot.  But it's not going to come off in normal use, and therefore not a problem.)

Frying in the 1l pots works well if you slice & dice your food & treat it as a stir fry.   Not useful if you want something that looks like a steak though.
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Kim

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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #17 on: 22 May, 2018, 02:37:01 pm »
never wash non-stick frying pans in soapy water obviously

This isn't obvious to me; I've been doing it for years.  Obviously scrubbing and scouring are to be avoided, but what's the problem with detergent?

Wiping with a paper towel cleans the pan well enough to put away, but if you don't want the next thing you cook in / eat off it to taste of whatever, it needs more than that.  Sausage-flavour CAKE is far from ideal.

My usual method is to fling away hot grease, leave it soaking in (preferably warm) water with some washing-up liquid for a while, then a simple wipe with a cloth and rinse.

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #18 on: 22 May, 2018, 03:03:49 pm »
Quote
What's wrong with frying in the (sauce)pans?
Lack of space I suppose.  You'd...
Ahh, I didn't think of bacon in a 27 although without the frypan a 25 is only 200mm diameter or 12mm wider than a full 27 (frypan 188mm according to datasheet) and its big pan is wider.

Given the crudeness of the simmer control do you fry in lard or just fine tune with Pulse-height-modulation (lift pan upwards a lot when too hot)....until I understood the inner bit* of the simmer ring actually fine tuned the simmer* I had to do this a lot even for pasta sauces in pans  :-[

*because school Trangias didn't have it on their older flip up simmer rings

Cudzoziemiec

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Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #19 on: 23 May, 2018, 06:50:45 pm »
I thought the "Never use soapy water" advice applied to frying pans which weren't non-stick, ie to cast-iron griddles or in a camping context more likely to aluminium? The idea being that you need to build up a coating of grease in order to avoid things burning. Whereas non-stick allows you to wash up in the "normal" way and still avoid burning.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Recommendations for bike camping frying pan?
« Reply #20 on: 23 May, 2018, 09:04:32 pm »
Quote
What's wrong with frying in the (sauce)pans?
Lack of space I suppose.  You'd...
Ahh, I didn't think of bacon in a 27 although without the frypan a 25 is only 200mm diameter or 12mm wider than a full 27 (frypan 188mm according to datasheet) and its big pan is wider.

Given the crudeness of the simmer control do you fry in lard or just fine tune with Pulse-height-modulation (lift pan upwards a lot when too hot)....until I understood the inner bit* of the simmer ring actually fine tuned the simmer* I had to do this a lot even for pasta sauces in pans  :-[

*because school Trangias didn't have it on their older flip up simmer rings

I only ever bother to use my Trangia 27 with the gas adapter, can't be bothered to faff around with meths. For cycle camping I prefer to use my MSR Ti cookset and MSR Windpro stove, but it has no frying pan... I guess I could just take a Trangia 25 frying pan with my MSR set, the Trangia 27 frying pan is really too small for a fry-up
Old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway