How to Choose Camping Cookware

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Crisp your crusts to perfection outdoors with the Le Creuset Alpine Outdoor Enameled Cast Iron 15 in. pizza pan. Encased in a rugged matte black enamel, it's ready to use—no seasoning required.
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View all Le Creuset GriddlesBest Use | Camping |
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Dimensions | 17.2 x 14.1 x 2.4 inches |
Cookware Material | Cast Iron |
Material(s) | Enameled cast iron |
Nonstick Surface | No |
Includes | 15 in. pizza pan |
Weight | 6 lbs. 8 oz. |
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I used this enameled cast-iron pan to cook my meals for an entire day - with a camp stove, gas stove top, and oven. The menu was pancakes, eggs & sausage, and a pizza all for 3 people. Results were very good. My meals cooked quickly and well, regardless of where they were cooked. Since it has a very large cooking surface, cooking for multiple people was easy. It was a breeze to clean, with just warm water and a little dish soap rubbed across the surface with the paper towel, everything came off. Best of all, I used far fewer pans as this was versatile enough to cook multiple different meals. It’s going to be my go to pan for camping, and for me, even in home cooking. A few things to note and some tips: This pan is fairly large at 15 inches diameter and is heavy at several pounds, so storage is a bit more cumbersome than for a traditional pan. Also, be sure to use a little oil and let the pan heat fully before placing items on the pan to cook or they will stick, and cook faster towards the center of the pan than they do on the outer edge of the pan. I find this is true for all pans, including this one. Overall, I’d recommend this pan, and am looking forward to cooking with it again, which isn’t the case for most pans I use!
Since I got rained out 2 weekends in a row I decided to try out this cast iron pan at home on my propane grill. Worked great. It is a pizza pan but I plan to use it for most meal preps on the road. It’s a great size to cook up a meal for 4+ people. I sautéed up 5 chicken breasts in teriyaki. It gave it a nice char and didn’t stick! I suggest heating the pan thoroughly before adding whatever you are going to cook. You will need heavy duty hot pads because those handles get hot. It cleaned easily which is a huge plus while camping. The pan might stick off the side of a camping stove a little, but you can just rotate the food often to take care of that. It will be great for breakfast cooking. Put the sausage, potatoes, peppers and eggs all on the same pan! Then use the hot pan to heat your tortillas after. Perfect. I’m going to be keeping this in my kitchen to use at home and then transferring to the camping box when we head out of town. I love making meals like this. Also, this is a quality cast iron pan. Very heavy duty. Highly recommended.
TLDR: This is a nice sized cast iron pan for car camping and makes a great 13” pizza for 1-3 people. Full Review: I never made pizza before I got this cast iron pan, but it was really easy and made a great camp dinner! The pan is just under 10 pounds. Normally I wouldn’t take something that heavy camping, even when I’m car camping, but it’s substantial and sturdy, and it heats up better than my lighter camp cookware. The two handles make it easy to pick up the pan without getting your hands too close to the fire. But since they stand taller than the handles on other cast iron pans I looked at, the Le Creuset pan takes up a bit more space when packing the car. As far as cooking goes, the pan heats up really nicely and cooks evenly as long as you have the charcoal evenly spread out underneath. I didn’t spread it evenly for the first pizza and the crust underneath was a little burnt in the middle. The second pizza came out perfect after I spread out the coals. I also didn’t have any issues with the dough sticking to the pan (just put a little cooking oil on first). The pan makes a 13” pizza which can feed 1-3 people, depending how much of an appetite you worked up while hiking that day! When I took the pan out of the box, I initially thought it was too heavy for camping, but it turned out to be a perfect size for car camping.
This is a very solid and well made cast iron pan, as you would expect from Le Creuset. The build quality is top notch and the cooking surface heats evenly to create a nice crisp crust for pizza—in addition to veggies and pancakes or whatever could suit your fancy. I don’t think you’ll be able to find fault with it from a culinary perspective, especially if you already enjoy cast iron cooking. My only qualm, and the reason for 4 stars vs 5, is the practicality of this for actual camp cooking. If you’re cooking at home, this is great and the dual handles are an awesome touch for easy movement. Those handles and the overall size complicate packing and mean you won’t be throwing this on just any camp stove. If you’re planning your camp party around a fired pizza, then you’ll be happy to make it work. If you’re just looking for a good, versatile dish to roast some veggies or whip up some breakfast, then other pans are likely better matches for your needs as they could fit over a fire and on a camp grill more easily. Five stars for quality and culinary ability. Three stars for overall camp practicality.
Works great as a pizza pan but I am disappointed in the quality of the enamel. The bottom of the pan has five large chips in the enamel, up to pea size. There was no obvious signs of damage to any packaging nor did I see any enamel chips in the packaging, so my assumption is that it left the factory with the chips in the enamel. Whether it actually left the factory this way or if they are from shipping / handling before I received it, I don't know. Either way it shouldn't happen. I'm not starting a warranty claim as the chipped enamel is only on the bottom of the pan, the top is fine. It loses the two stars for the chips in the enamel. Otherwise it works great and the design of pan is both highly functional with large handles and a relatively light weight and very good looking with the Alpine design on the back.
We purchased this pan when it first came out and we absolutely love it!! We make pizza and tortillas and use it to heat convenience foods in the oven . It is a must have for our family!