Product Review: Cuisinart Stainless Nesting Camping Cookware
Space is very limited on Recreational Vehicles, so when I read a recent positive review of nesting cookware similar to this on the http://www.irv2.com/ forum, I thought this would be perfect for our camper. Our camping cookware has always been a mish-mash of home kitchen castoffs, rescued from the salvation army thrift store or purchased from the dollar store for, well, dollars! I didn’t want to spend a fortune, so I though the price was reasonable.
The cookware arrived right before we left for our annual pilgrimage to the Florida Keys, just in time for a good workout on our 10-day trip south. The first thing I was impressed by is the weight. The box wasn’t impossible to lift by any means, but I could tell by the heft that these were solid. The cookware came nested in a heavy-weight, natural cotton bag, with small pockets sewn in for the handles.
These are shiny, heavy stainless steel. There are 4 pans that nest with 2 lids that fit all of the pans. There are two detachable handles, so you can cook two things on the stovetop at one time. The handles attach/detach easily by pulling a “trigger” located on the bottom side of the handle. The handle slides onto a heavy duty grooved attachment located o the side of the pot, then the trigger mechanism slides a large metal bolt into the pot for added safety and stability.
I was also thrilled to discover that the cookware is also rated for up to 500 degrees in the oven, so it does double duty in the oven as cookware. Everyone who boats or RV’s knows how space is a premium! Most of the cookware fit into the one very small drawer I have in my kitchen, under the stove. I wasn’t able to close the drawer with the entire set nesting, so I had to store one of the pots in my oven while traveling, which is annoying, but not the end of the world.
If all the chefs on the cooking channel can be believed, stainless steel cookware is supposed to be best for cooking, not only because of the way it conducts heat, but also because other forms of non-stick cookware (i.e. teflon) reportedly causes toxic poisoning of our food. I must admit that before this I always managed to burn my food with Stainless pots. Reading the enclosed brochure very carefully, the instructions mention to never cook with the burner above low or medium low to avoid burning. Maybe this was my problem with other cookware? Only an actual road test would provide the answer.
How did the cookware hold up on the road? I cooked omelets, rice, and even a casserole in the oven and was overall satisfied with this cookware. The omelets were more challenging to flip, due to the high sides of the pan, so they didn’t turn out perfectly symmetrical. Clean up was simple; following directions, I simply boiled water in the pan following cooking, until the pan wiped clean with a paper towel. The clean up after my taco pie casserole turned out to be a little more challenging, however, since I make a low-fat version with ground turkey and egg whites. I had to boil the water and then scrub with a plastic-bristled dish brush for a little while. Next time I will remember to grease the sides with my Smart Balance prior to cooking.
The price for this cookware is about $100 and you can purchase it by following this link: Cuisinart 8-Piece Stainless Cookware Set
July 19th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Now that you have used your cookware for a while how does it perform? I too am considering buying this set.
THX
July 24th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Good Question! I admit that adjusting from non-stick cookware to stainless has involved a learning curve.
If you have been cooking with stainless, you will really like this set. The pans stack nicely and the handles slide on and off effortlessly. When cooking at a low temperature, the pans are relatively easy to clean; just boil with a small amount of water and couple of drops of dish soap.
I have baked in the pans without the handles and the smaller pans fit the RV stove with room to spare.
Like I mentioned in my earlier post, you need to warm up the pan prior to adding your food, cook at a lower temperature to avoid burnt-on food, and add a little more oil to the pan when cooking. That being said, my DH had an issue when cooking eggs this past camping trip. The pan was too hot, and thus the eggs really stuck to the bottom; clean up took me a lot of elbow grease. We are still trying to adjust to cooking at lower temps and with a little more oil to avoid big clean-up. I haven’t baked a cake yet, so maybe I will try that on my next trip.
The bottom line is that I like these pans and would recommend them. They really fit nicely in the camper, and I feel they were a good price for the quality of the set.