Aluminum Pans, Pots
And Cookware Info.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of aluminum pans, cookware, pots and skillets? What should you know?

Aluminum pans and aluminum cookware:

First they are very light, heat quickly, and are cheap, but they are still my last choice in camping cookware because food usually sticks so it not only burns easily it's hard to clean up the pan. You'll definitely have to pay attention and stir your food if you're cooking with aluminum pots, even with all this attention your food could still taste bad through no fault of your own, due to the aluminum reacting and combining with it. I've seen tomato sauce eat through aluminum foil overnight more than once. Aluminum also gets bent and dinged easily.

What about aluminum with a non-stick coating?

Non-stick coatings will help with the sticking problem but they have a tendency to scratch and/or wear easily even when you're careful with them. Put them in an unforgiving environment like camping, hiking, or backpacking and it will only accelerate how quickly this particular piece of camping equipment will wear. The non-stick coatings can also go up in smoke if they're heated too high and this pretty much destroys your aluminum pans. (Note: Don't eat off a non-stick surface that has been over-heated).

If you want a lightweight pan I'd recommend going with titanium cookware as it's physiologically inert. And the strength and toughness of titanium is just amazing. It's used in everything from jet engine turbines to internal medical equipment. If weight isn't that big of a deal to you take a look at my other camping cookware page.

The bottom line, aluminum is great for a lot of applications including tent poles, bikes, auto bodies, airplane bodies and lots of other products, but in my opinion aluminum pans are the last choice in camping cookware.