Whether you are new to camping or a regular camper, when you are thinking about cooking on a campsite, a question always arises in your mind " can you use regular pots and pans on a camping stove?".

Yes, you can use your regular or any kind of pots and pans on a camping stove. It's perfectly fine. But for healthy cooking on a campsite you should use metal pans instead of non-stick pans made of plastic which you mostly use in your home kitchen. There are many camping cookware that are light in weight, easily packable, long lasting and can handle the high temperature evenly.

Here we will discuss whether you can use your regular pots & pans on a camping stove or not.

Using Your Regular Pans on Camping Stove

Normally you can use your regular pots & pans on a camping stove. But, you probably shouldn't. Campfires burn at a high temperature & you can not control the temperatures the way you control at your kitchen. Your regular non-stick pans can not handle that much heat. The non-stick pan coating may get affected by the fire due to its high temperatures. If the coating starts removing, the food can stick into the pan. So, you may don't want to ruin your precious pans by cooking on a campfire.

There are different types of cookware available in the market for camping. cast iron, stainless steel, aluminium and copper pans are the best for campsite cooking as they are long lasting & durable. Let's see what to look for when choosing camping cookware.

The cookware I decided to try out over the last 2 months is the Alocs Camping Cookware. It has been doing great and I only use it on our camping trips. I will have to use it more outdoors before I can 100% say it is the best. But at this point, it is holding its own.

Factors to Choose Camping Cookware:

1. Your camping cookware should be light in weight to carry easily. Otherwise you will end up with a sore back pain.
2. You don't want a huge bag of pots and pans to carry while walking in the forest. So, finding an easily packable set of cookware is very important. Some sets of camping pans will nest inside each other or some have their own storage bag for easy to carry.
3. Find a cooking set with covers. It is very important to cover your food on the campsite. It will keep the bugs away from your food and keep the food warmer.
4. High temperatures can ruin your regular pan & the food also, so choose one that can handle heat.

Here are some different types of metals that are used to make pots and pans

• Cast Iron:

Cast iron is one of the best materials for cooking on a camping stove or over an open fire flame. They are easy to use and they last for a lifetime under proper care. cast iron pans can hold the heat evenly & save your food from getting burned. keep water away from cast iron & cover it up after each use. Cast iron pans are much heavier than stainless steel and aluminium. So you may have problems carrying the cast iron pans if you are walking a long distance on your campsite.

• Stainless Steel Pans:

Stainless steel pans are made from hard metal which is suitable to cook on a camping stove or over an open flame. It is also lighter than cast iron pans. But they take longer to heat & are not safe to cook over an open flame. They can burn your food due to non adjustable heat from an open flame.

• Aluminium Pans:

Aluminium pans are also the best materials for cooking over a campfire. It is harder and easy to carry. Aluminium pans are less expensive than cast iron & stainless steel. But aluminium pans can melt below 1200 degree fahrenheit. so, you need to keep aluminium pans 6-8 inches above the fire if the campfire temperatures are very high.

• Copper Pans:

Copper is the most durable material out there. You can use copper pans for your whole life under proper care & cleaning. Copper pans are very expensive. But once you buy it, it will stay with you for your whole life. It can be used over an open campfire also. So these are the best materials of different cookware you can use on your campsite for cooking on a camping stove or over an open fire.

There are amazing offerings on amazon when it comes to pots and pans. The MalloMe Camping Cookware Mess Kit has over 7000 good reviews.