Patrol Cook Kits - Need help

[mmallin]

Hello forum,

 

my troop has completely rebuilt all of our patrol boxes and is in the process of equiping and outfitting them. We were all set to order the official BSA patrol cook kits but found out over the phone from National Supply that the supplier who produced the patrol cook kits has gone out of business and that this item is no longer available.

 

We need to order something ASAP as we have our first campout with the new boxes in a short two weeks. Does anyone know of a good place we could order aluminum pots/ pans to essentially build our own patrol cook kits?

 

Many thanks in advance!

[ScoutNut]

Since you say you have RE-built them, I take it that means that you have had patrol boxes before this. What happened to all of the gear in them? Pots and pans an such might look dented and dirty, but usually a bit of soap and elbow grease is all that is needed to get them good to go.

 

However, since you seem to want to purchase all new equipment, although the patrol cook kits might not be available, Scoutstuff has a number of different cookwear and utensil sets you could use.

 

In my opinion, two weeks is cutting it VERY close to order anything online at this point. I would visit your local Walmart, KMart, and all local camping goods stores. They all carry camping cookwear and utensils.

 

[T2Eagle]

First, do yourself and your scouts a favor and get all non-stick pans. Our troop still uses the patrol kit design that I used in the 70s. I hated them then and I hate them more now. I'm trying to get agreement on replacing them. It takes a skillful cook and more butter, margarine, oil, or bacon grease than anyone should want to use to keep things from sticking and/or burning in them.

 

If you want to piece together your own set you can try restaurant supply houses, they often have generic pans of good quality for reasonable prices. Also look for kitchen ware outlet stores that may be offering a good deal on seconds or returned sets from a name brand manufacturer.

 

When I'm grubmaster for the adults I bring an REI Large Cookset and supplement it with one or two specialty pans if I need to. I think it's a little on the small side if you have a full size patrol and I want to find something similar but larger. REI does offer what looks like a bigger set that I may go take a look at. The advantage to those sets is they're designed to be packed and so are built much lighter than standard cookware.

 

I look forward to seeing what other folks think because I see this as something in our near future. Whatever you do please report back after you've used them.

[markrvp]

It's hard to beat a good iron skillet. Academy has a great selection of cast iron cookware... I would recommend the LODGE brand over their cheaper brand. Get either a 10-1/4" skillet or 12" skillet for under $25. Our local Wal-Mart also carries LODGE brand iron skillets

 

Sam's Club has a selection of "restaurant" cookware... aluminum pots and pans with or without non-stick finish. I have used some of these for years and they are relatively inexpensive.

 

Wal-Mart has a couple of T-Fal stock pots with a non-stick finish. I've used one on the last two campouts and it works great. The only consideration is that it has a glass lid which will probably get broken eventually.

 

I love to cook and cook for our adult patrol... usually 8-12 people. I have assembled my own pots, pans, and utensils. Most of the utensils I got at Dollar Tree... that way if they get damaged it's only $1 to replace each piece.

[cimarron8889]

Are you looking for something like this:

 

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___82013

 

I have had very good luck with Campmor.

 

Mark

[T2Eagle]

I like the two fry pans in the Campmor set.

[shortridge]

Since you're under the gun time-wise, I'd recommend the dollar store, Wally World, Goodwill or a local army-navy surplus store. That way if something doesn't work out, you haven't forked over a load of cash to Scoutstuff for useless items.

 

But since you're starting from scratch, I'd also suggest your patrols sit down and figure out exactly what they need. The giant knife that comes (or used to come) in the BSA cook kit? Or can you make do with someone's pocketknife? Do they really use that huge two-pronged skewer? Do you need a slotted spoon and a regular spoon? Three pots if you're mainly doing one-pot meals? Hard plastic salt and pepper shakers, or a plastic bag with purloined fast-food condiment packets?

[shortridge]

I just checked Scoutstuff.org, and both the cook kit and utensils set are out of stock, expected to be back in stock by May 15.

 

[please excuse the rant that follows]

 

But good gravy! it was an education. The Trail Chef Aluminum Cook Kit is $79.99, and the Chef's Tool Kit is $44.99. That's $125 *to equip each patrol*! Insane! And they're just as full of useless gear as I remembered from my youth.

 

Why would any patrol be using three pots at once, let alone two frying pans at once? I can't recall once when my old patrol used the cocoa pot. (And why does the kit only include four plates and four cups? Has the ideal patrol since been halved recently?)

 

I really like how the chef's kit includes a slicing knife, paring knife and veggie peeler. In my book, there's one tool that'll do all that, and every Scout should already have one! And that "durable nylon case" that rools up nice & neat is a breeding ground for mildew if the utensils aren't perfectly dry when put away.

 

Do your troop a favor, and don't buy 'em. It'll save you money, space, weight and headaches.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[SSScout]

"Why would any patrol be using three pots at once, let alone two frying pans at once? I can't recall once when my old patrol used the cocoa pot. (And why does the kit only include four plates and four cups? Has the ideal patrol since been halved recently?) "

 

Waaay back when, we used the Patrol Cook kit. Either divied it up for carrying, or one boy schlepped the whole kit and one or two carried the tents and grub. Big pot was for boiling water for washing and coffee/tea/cocoa. Keep it full and hot until time to pack up. Coffee pot was always for Tang(!)or powdered milk. Small pot was for cocoa mixing, and then dish washing. The plates were augmented with more plates, and the cups were discarded in favor of personal cups. The inside of the teapot was filled with a roll of "AP"paper. One frying pan for cooking, the other for serving, usually. Everyone had their own utensils, but the Chef's Kit was used as is. Aluminum plate served as cutting board, not that many "precooked" meals in the stores, but we learned to premeasure and prepack the raw stuff to simplify things.

Our Troop had a "property" that someone's uncle's brother-in-law owned, and we went there very often. Natural spring water, creek thru the camp for foot dipping. It was filthy with downed American Chestnut and we used that almost exclusively for cooking. Unmatched coals. Every other wood for other purposes.

I agree the plastic wrapper for the Chef's Kit is a problem, our original kit was housed in cloth, made drying easy.

! Don't forget to "soap" the bottoms/outside of your cookpots. Campfire black comes right off.

Check out the Thrift Shops in your area. Tell the staff there what you want, they usually have stuff in the back.

[Stosh]

Why not just put the patrol names on the patrol boxes and let the boys decide what they want to put in them? If they need to do a little fund raising, so be it. If they want to raid the home pantries until then, so be it. Let them work it out on their own. It's part of the early years advancement, so they should all know how to do this. The younger patrols might want to learn how to do this for advancement.

 

As far as the type of pans to get, it's part of the teaching/learning process. Non-stick pans when they get over heated emit toxic fumes. They also lose their coatings in the food over time. They are difficult to keep nice.

 

Thin metal cookware will stick terribly, but only if the temperatures are too high. On medium and low they are just fine.

 

Cast iron cookware is heavy, but if seasoned properly IS NON-STICK, and when cooking on low-medium temperatures is the best of all options.

 

Pots can be aluminum/stainless whatever, they usually don't take high heats and need to be concerned more about denting/warping than anything else. If one is going to cook in a pot, all the dynamics of a good fry pan come into play.

 

I have found out over the years that learning how to cook is more important than the tools one uses. Can I cook in cast iron without any food sticking? Yep, that's the reason why people put up with the heavy weight of the pans. Can I get that same pan to stick everything I put into it? Yep, can do that too. However, if I abuse cast iron like that, I can always restore it back to it's original condition. If I abuse non-stick cookware, I toss it out and buy all new.

 

Stosh

[Eagle69]

The Tool Roll is horribly overpriced. I had an ASM that waited until K-Mart had a $Day sale and stocked up on the spoons, forks, spatulas, etc, and later we sewed our own cloth roll for a fraction of what National Supply wanted.

 

The Cook Set, aside from the plastic cups, is very useful, as long as you don't try and actually cook using the skillets.

[SctDad]

I have to agree with what a lot of people are saying here about looking for some 'economy' cookware.

 

Our local dollar store have those stainless steel stock pots for around $7 - $8 each. you are looking at 8 and 10 qt (I think). YOu can also get your utensils there pretty cheap. Remember, boys are rough on some tihngs and until the boys get seasoned at cooking with the outdoor cooking you may have to replace a few things.

 

As for the 'economy' cast iron, we have a supply store local that has cast iron skillets and DO's. They are very economic (12" DO for $13.99) Yes you have to put a little work into them to get the packing grease off, and then season it, but they have been good to me ever since.

 

ANd like some others have said, I would do a little research and let the boys choose.

[Stosh]

I put together a complete camp kitchen with bowls, pans, condiment containers, spatula, slotted and solid spoons, whisk, various knives, table cloth, plastic container etc. that all fits into an old BSA Yucca Pack. I keep adding to it as time allows and have added garbage bags, wash cloths, sponges, small containers of oils and spices, soaps, bleach, matches, can opener, hot pads, welding gloves, towels, etc. everything imaginable to make a camp kitchen. All the bowls are stainless steel as well as spatula and spoons and I put the bowls right on the stove and heat the water in them. Yep, even done stir-fry in them. Stack the big bowl on little one, double boiler for scrambled eggs.

 

I don't think I've hit the $100 mark as of yet, but it holds 10 times the equipment than most patrol boxes. Whenever I'm grubmaster for an outing, it gets strapped on my chest and the backpack on the back and I'm good to go.

 

The only thing the kitchen does not do is hold a Dutch oven. But if one is canoeing instead of backpacking, the aluminum Dutch oven gets dropped into a duffle along with the kitchen and we're good to go.

 

Stosh