Stanley Adventure Series: The Nesting Two Cup Cookset Review

As you probably know, any good team will divide and conquer the tasks and responsibilities of an adventure. One of my roles as Gear Dad has been managing all aspects of our meals from menu creation, to necessary equipment, to preparing it, to cooking and serving. I enjoy this role as I like the challenge of preparing the tastiest meals in the most remote locations that the Keweenaw Peninsula has to offer. One thing I am always trying to do is downsize my cooking kit, both in packing space consumed and weight. The Adventure Series by Stanley has a nesting Two Cup Cook-set that helps me condense from three items packed individually, to a four piece nesting set, that packs as one item at a lower weight (0.90 lbs).

The kit includes a 18/8 stainless steel, 24oz /.7L BPA cooking pot with a locking handle. The lid is vented with a composite tab that stays cooler to the touch. I do still recommend using a protective mitt or pad to handle the lid while cooking or serving. The cups in this set are BPA free and able to hold 10 oz each. All pieces in the set are dishwasher safe.

The photo above is a test run of the cooking pot on our MSR Whisperlite stove. The Whisperlite is our main cooking stove for lightweight adventures and the first thing I noticed is that the diameter of the cooking pot is just a bit too small to fit on the cooking surface of the burner. The pot bottom is approximately 3.25 inches across. I was able to safely balance it within the burner’s arms though for the testing. The pot lid is vented to help retain heat while balancing pressure of the heated meal. I am very happy with the quality and design of the lid; there is no need to partly tip the lid for simmering.

As seen in the above photo, a rolling boil is easy to obtain and happened much faster than I expected. Heat transfer through the stainless to the liquid is very efficient. A word of warning-everything gets extremely hot so be sure to pack some type of hot pad or mitt as the handle of the pot, as well as the lid itself, will heat to a point where it will burn skin instantly when touched. (Yes, that lesson was learned the hard way by touching the handle during the rolling boil.). The cups performed equally well; they held the liquid with minimal heat transfer to my hand with no instant heat loss as a non-insulated metal cup will do.

Overall, this product has proven to be a perfect addition to my cooking kit for lightweight and condensed packing. I would definitely recommend this product for backpacking, canoeing, rock climbing, or other activities where weight and size are key factors.