Best camp cookware is essential for outdoor culinary adventures. The editors at Fish Alaska have selected the must-have gear for your next camping trip. Alongside recommendations for durable cookware, we share a favorite Alaska recipe book, top picks for beef jerky, and more to elevate your outdoor dining experience.
Best Camp Cookware
Yeti Rambler 34 oz French Press
This is one heavy-duty, durable French press. Yeti says it makes coffee for you and a few; but if George is around, it makes coffee for one. GroundsControl Filter stops the brewing process to lock in flavor. Features include DuraSip ceramic lining, Double-wall vacuum insulation, and it is dishwasher safe. There is a lot to love about this French press, and nothing to not love.
Yeti Rambler 26 oz Water Bottle
Yeti is the king of water bottles, the top of the line when it comes to insulation, durability, and finish. This 26-ounce double-walled Rambler bottle comes with a built-in color-matched straw for those who like to grab and sip. The beauty of Yeti is they have a top and drinking style for every preference. This is a good-sized bottle to grab and throw in the dry bag for a day trip.
Camp Chef XXL Pro Wifi Vertical Smoker
Publisher Melissa Norris wanted to check out a larger-capacity smoker for her salmon-smoking needs and she was really happy with the Camp Chef XXL Pro Smoker. Right out of the box it was fairly straightforward to assemble thanks to a video Camp Chef supplies showing the step-by-step process. When it came time to smoke fish, she added their proprietary smoke pellets to the smoker and synced her phone to the Camp Chef app. She went with a straightforward brine on the sockeye salmon. The Camp Chef XXL Pro Smoker totally delivered without any hiccups. She really appreciates the app keeping her in the loop on temperature and found that feature to be highly valued. Melissa also really likes that this smoker by Camp Chef is on four legs, lifting it up off the ground to her height. It’s much easier on the back for loading and unloading the racks.
MSR Titan Long Spoon
If there’s one thing that sucks, it’s getting some of your freeze-dried meal on your fingers and hands because your spoon is too short. The Titan long spoon solves this problem. It’s a tough, but light, titanium spoon that is long enough to easily reach to the bottom of a freeze-dried meal bag. If you go on remote float trips, backpack hunts and eat freeze-dried meals, you need this spoon. It’s awesome! It is also easy to misplace, so it may be helpful to put some brightly colored tape on the end of the handle to help find it in low light or inside dark packs.
Gerber ComplEAT Cook Set
As the name suggests, this is a rather complete camping cook set suitable for a group of 4. The items are all high quality, and they nest together to save space in the included storage bag. Includes 4 bowls, 4 plates, a mixing bowl, 5.6-qt stock pot, silicone hot pad, basting dome, slim lid, 2.6-qt sauté pan, and detachable handle. All pots and pans are made of 304 stainless steel with 3-ply base construction for even heating. Polypropylene bowls and plates are microwave safe. Pots and pans are dishwasher safe and can be used on cooktops or open flame. This cook set should last for many years and comes with a limited lifetime warranty.
Gerber ComplEAT Cutting Board Set
This 6-piece set includes 1 polyethylene and 1 bamboo cutting board, paring knife, chef knife, inner tray, and base tray with locking handles. The whole kit cleans up easily, and nests together with locking handles to keep your knives safely stowed. There is also room enough in the closed tray to store a few other handy camp-kitchen tools—think utensils, spice shakers, or the Around Camp Kit.
Yeti Rambler 30 oz Travel Mug with Stronghold Lid
Finally, a George Krumm-size travel mug that can hold half a pot of coffee—just enough to get him through the hour. Large though it is, it’s compatible with most vehicle cup holders. It is leak resistant so bumps in the road don’t cause the contents to splash out. It has an easy-grip handle, is dishwasher safe, and made of 18/8 kitchen-grade stainless steel. It is double-wall vacuum insulated, so contents stay hot or cold a long time. This one should get George all the way to Cooper landing from Anchorage.
Mountain House Meals
There is absolutely nothing that compares to fresh air and exercise to stimulate the appetite. Lucky for us, Mountain House has been satisfying that appetite since 1969, and good things keep getting better here. Meal options now include gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian. Our favorite flavors this year are the Kung Pao Chicken (good enough for a too-lazy-to-make-dinner night at home) and Chicken Fajita Bowl.
Kalorik MAXX 2-in-1 Electric Griddle and Double Cooktop
This delightful appliance can be used as a double-burner cooktop, or you can put on the 22” griddle plate and cook a pile of pancakes in no time. Dual-zone temperature controls and heat up to 500ºF maximizes your cooking options. Shrimp scampi and linguini? No problem with the double cooktop. Burgers and dogs for 20? No problem with the massive griddle. The ceramic griddle is non-stick and PTFE/PFOA-free, while the burners are compatible with all types of cookware.
Solo Stove Bonfire Cast Iron Griddle Cooking Bundle 2.0
If you love a camp fire but don’t love smoke in your eyes, you definitely need a Solo Stove. Our tester loves Solo Stove’s Bonfire model because it’s that perfect blend of portable and permanent, made with top-quality craftsmanship and materials. It’s easy for setting up base camp for a few days of fishing or hunting. When you’re not out living the Alaska dream, it can be put to use in the backyard to enjoy. It might require climbing a slight learning curve to make “smokeless” fires, but follow the directions and don’t overload it, and you’ll love the outcome.
Solo Stove also makes high-quality accessories like the cast-iron griddle top that comes with the cooking bundle, so you can get double duty out of your fire pit and cook over a campfire. The griddle is large and holds plenty of food. You can use it as your primary cooktop or to supplement your portable grill. The Bonfire model has a 19.5-inch diameter and is 14 inches high. It’s the most versatile in our opinion. The Cooking Bundle 2.0 comes with the Bonfire fire pit, carrying case, their new easy-to-use removable ash pan, the Bonfire stand, Bonfire cast-iron griddle, and the Bonfire hub to raise the cooking surface.
MSR WindBurner Personal Stove System
This is a windproof stove that is most effective for boiling water for freeze-dried meals. It comes with a radiant burner with boil-to-simmer control, pressure regulator, 1-L hard-anodized aluminum pot with integrated heat exchanger and insulated cozy with handle, BPA-free drinking/straining lid, .5-L integrated bowl and space to nest a 4-oz MSR IsoPro fuel canister (sold separately). It takes about 4.5 minutes to boil 1 liter of water, and you can boil an estimated 18 liters of water with a single 4-ounce fuel canister. It weighs 16 ounces without a fuel canister.
We found that this stove works reliably. It is rather tall with the aluminum pot attached, so care must be taken to keep it from tipping over. For much of our remote hunting and fishing, we rely on stoves like this. The WindBurner has been around for a while and has proven to be efficient and very effective even in windy conditions.