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Frying Pans

Why does the handle stay cold? What material is it? I can’t find the answer on the internet
I've always assumed it was because of the length and shape of the handle so that the heat dissipated quickly and kept the grip from getting hot.

Alan
 
Why does the handle stay cold? What material is it? I can’t find the answer on the internet
It has an outside handle around the pan handle, the outside handle stays cool to the touch if it’s kept off the heat.

I fry up onions and venison on our outdoor gas grill, keeps the onion smell out of the house. In that situation the handle does get hot, same as if you used the cold handle pan in an oven.
 
I fry up onions and venison on our outdoor gas grill, keeps the onion smell out of the house. In that situation the handle does get hot, same as if you used the cold handle pan in an oven.
Thanks Robin. I have three more questions.

1. Is the outside handle in direct contact with the inside handle? If so, shouldn’t it get hot?

2. Is the outside handle made of the same material as the inside handle?

3. Is the outside handle detachable?

I’d kinda like to look for one of these.
 
I really like my cold handles. I eat mostly off-the-shelf items while on a canoe trip so slab bacon, eggs, pancakes, hash browns, fish, maybe sausage and kielbasa early in the trip, fresh zucchini and squash from the garden on an August trip, onions and venison, they all go well over a fire in the cold handle.
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On a wall tent trip, over the wood stove, I have made many meals in a cold handle.

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Did you get it?
I did! Cleaned up a bit, removed the gunwales, repaired a hole n the planking. 3 coats of captains on the inside and a coat linseed on on the outside. Coming along.
 

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I also ordered the carbon steel pan from eBay $25.00 11” size. It arrived today looks decent need to season it before use.
 

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Thanks Robin. I have three more questions.

1. Is the outside handle in direct contact with the inside handle? If so, shouldn’t it get hot?

2. Is the outside handle made of the same material as the inside handle?

3. Is the outside handle detachable?

I’d kinda like to look for one of these.
1. Yes, it is in contact on the edge where it is crimped to the main handle, but the outside handle is sort of rounded so there is an air space. It might get warm, but not hot unless the flame of the campfire comes in contact with the handle. You can have a hot pan with a cool handle.
2. Yes, I think so.
3. No, but they make these frying pans where you can press a stick into a small receptacle on the side of the pan for a handle. I think Boreal Birch has one.
 
My frying pan is from the Finnish manufacturer Muurikka their campfire pan, 23cm, of carbon steel. It has a tapered socket on it that you whittle a stick to fit into it for a handle. Made with a bit heavier gauge steel than the cold handle pans.
 

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My frying pan is from the Finnish manufacturer Muurikka their campfire pan, 23cm, of carbon steel. It has a tapered socket on it that you whittle a stick to fit into it for a handle. Made with a bit heavier gauge steel than the cold handle pans.
Nice looking pan. Checked their website and it doesn't seem like they sell in the U.S. They have a limited presence on Amazon with a folding pan but not the one you show.
 
Not a fan of "cooking"... I'd eat a dog biscuit someone hands me before I cook for myself. ok, not literally, but close. My wife appreciates this trait, especially when an experiment goes badly; I'll still eat it.

What few things I bother cooking, I cook well. I just don't care to be 'fancy', I am lazy (especially in the woods), and I eat solely to not be hungry... I can eat (and have eaten) the same meal for weeks on end without complaint. Mostly, I'm a "boil and rehydrate" guy, with oatmeal and bacon for breakfast and a cold lunch (with soup, tea, or cocoa if it's colder out).

I generally trek solo, and anything that I care to fry, I can either throw straight on the right kind of fire (like a steak) or make another way that requires less cleanup. e.g.
  • Eggs: set them in the embers, still in their shells with a pinhole on top, or boiled in my kettle, vs scrambling them.
  • Bacon woven onto skewer.
  • Fish baked in a bed of apples, onions, and lemons wrapped in foil, vs fried in grease. Simply lay your foil on the coals afterwards, to burn everything off, then fold up the foil, but it in your trash bag, and you're done. No dishes. You can also skewer a fish and wrap it in bacon pinned on with twigs.
  • Fish or steak broiled on a branch (basically the tennis racket thing we learned in scouts.)
That said, I seldom carry a frying pan, and then only when canoeing. Even canoeing, I pack like I'm backpacking so I can single-portage. But IF I carry one, it's one of these two:

This first one is a sheet steel period piece made for reenactors. It weighs 7.5 oz now. It had a 3.5" long socket for a handle that I cut 3/4 off of, lengthwise, then flattened the remaining 1/4 (formerly the bottom of the socket). I then drilled 4 holes and put two copper wires through, as you can see, and I can cut a short stick for a handle. It's about 6.5" wide at the top, and about 4.25" across the bottom... just right for a couple scrambled eggs, link sausages, slab of spam, slab of beef stick, or whatever else a single eater wants. Being sheet steel, it will season. You can see that despite what I said above, it does get used.
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My second frying pan is made from two pans. The upper one is a non-stick Coleman folding handle pan that the
coating was coming off of. Below it is a Paderno 6" sheet steel cake pan.
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I ground off the rivets, got two tinner's rivets at the hardware store, drilled two appropriate holes, and voila', my new franken-pan. It weighs 9 oz.
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And here's what it looks like with the handle folded in. I can set my 5-cup or 8-cup "Mors Pot" in the bottom of this pan, and then set it in it's bag, with the frying pan handle sticking up along the side, with no issues in carriage.
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The sheet steel also seasons, like any of them will, but this pan has steeper sides, and so is more appropriate for frying things in oil, like fish, if that's your thing. You can also use a stick to lift this pan, if you so desire, but if you fry over embers, it's not too hot, just like at home.

My ideal pan would be the first one, with a lighter hinged thingy for the handle, maybe more like a wire thing vs steel, which could probably get it down to about 4.5/5oz. I'd also like to add a welded dot to the bottom of the middle roll part of the hinge so it didn't open as far as it does.

Good luck in your search.
 
Take a look at the Banks Fry-Bake Pan.
Three sizes: Alpine regular, Alpine deep and Expedition.
Hard anodized aluminum.
They are useable as fry pans, ovens and the deep Alpine pan is a good cooking pot for one or two.
Couple it with a gripper handle such as Olicamp, MSR, Trangia, Vargo, etc.
The pans are expensive but very well made in the USA.
I just posted a post talking about just ordering a Fry Bake Alpine ! Cant wait to puy it to use !
 
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