# Makeshift cookware



## Goose (Jun 15, 2013)

I operate on a VERY tight budget and thus have to make/improvise a lot of the basic equipment I use out of things I have lying around the house. My goal lately has been to make a set of basic metal cookware so that I could boil water for purification or making food or drink. I figured that using discarded metal cans would be the best way to go about this.

However... most metal cans nowadays seem to be coated with plastics on the inside to preserve the food, which works great for its intended purpose, but will also work great to poison you if you try to cook in one. I've also heard that some cans will release metals into the food you try to cook inside of them, which can also lead to some nasty side effects.

So what, if any, cans could be used for this purpose? And is there any way to remove the interior coating and make the cans safe to cook in?


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## BigCheeseStick (Aug 7, 2013)

I picked up half a dozen very nice stainless steel bowls for CHEAP in the Wallyworld pet section.  Dog food bowls! I think they were $3 each. But are sturdy stainless steel with no coatings on them, and perfectly sized for serving or cooking in to our experience (use em on camping trips).


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## Fuzzee (Nov 20, 2012)

A stainless kettle is also cheap and so are coffee filters for purifying water. Using another container with your unfiltered water, put the coffee filter over and just inside the kettle lid and slowing filter and fill the kettle through the filter. Boil it and pour through another filter if you want into a clean bottle if you've got to cool or let it cool in the kettle and drink afterwards. It won't take care of everything, but you'll live. In time get yourself a good filter unit from Katadyn or Berkley.


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## PalmettoTree (Jun 8, 2013)

Just go to Bed, Bath and Beyond and pick up a small fry pan, small sauce pan and some wooden or plastic flatware. Remember like a knife the metal is important. Do not buy cheap. I prefer iron if I do not need to tote it.


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## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

I also look at the second hand stores, sometimes you find some interesting old cookware. remember, a lid shortens cooking time.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

yeah cans work ok but aluminun cans burn real easy.. food sticks to them, and there is a lot of heat transfer. They crush easily also.

if you don't mind the teflon a good small pot will serve this purpose well.


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

Goose said:


> I operate on a VERY tight budget and thus have to make/improvise a lot of the basic equipment I use out of things I have lying around the house. My goal lately has been to make a set of basic metal cookware so that I could boil water for purification or making food or drink. I figured that using discarded metal cans would be the best way to go about this.
> 
> However... most metal cans nowadays seem to be coated with plastics on the inside to preserve the food, which works great for its intended purpose, but will also work great to poison you if you try to cook in one. I've also heard that some cans will release metals into the food you try to cook inside of them, which can also lead to some nasty side effects.
> 
> So what, if any, cans could be used for this purpose? And is there any way to remove the interior coating and make the cans safe to cook in?


What about using your smallest pot instead of cans? You can find them at yard sales, or second hand stores/thrift shops. If you let your friends or co-workers know that you need one, perhaps someone will give you one of theirs. A lot of folks usually have things they don't really use. I have 3 same-size small stainless steel pots! They're great for cooking, and they're not heavy.
You can boil liquid and cook food in it. It has a convenient handle.
Since it has a wider mouth compared to a tin can, you can use it too for collecting rain water, or as a basin.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

Why not just line something with aluminium foil? 
If your in a pinch,,,,,no dishes to wash ether


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

While my budget isn't high level, I am a cheap a--hole. I frequent garage sales, estate sales, rummage sales, etc. The stuff you can find is amazing. I found a 1943 US MIL. canteen in it's cover with a belt and canteen cup for $2 and probably could have gotten it for a buck if I haggled. Save the can utilization for when the SHTF for real. Oh! Set the can on the fire and burn the coating out of it, then wash it. In CD (ESDA) they did this with 55 gallon drums and then coated the inside with Crisco and reheated to seal the metal. Check the cans used for acidic foods. Then might be zinc coated instead of using a plastic coating.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

No food cans made in America have zinc in them. It is far too reactive and poisonous in moderate doses. You can "burn" the coating out of the cans and scrub them with sand to remove the BTH that lines the inside. The seams are rolled and not soldered so there is no lead in the can. 

You do realize that you can boil water over a flame with a paper cup - right?
You can bake chicken and fish in the coals of a good fire without burning the meat. remove the skin after cooking and enjoy!
You can wrap any food with green grass and cook it in the coals of the fire.


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

asian grocery stores have good cheap stainless pots and the like.


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## roy (May 25, 2013)

You can buy quality cookware used on ebay cheap. I like Calphalon Commercial hard anodized aluminum cookware. Buy and good skillet and a 2-3 qt pot with lid and you can do the cooking you will ever need. You can put this stuff in the oven.


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## pharmer14 (Oct 27, 2012)

Hit the yard sales man... I've got a massive extended family with many of us in the college/grad school age range... Between all of our parents coordinating their yard sale efforts, we all have full kitchen sets... some of us have more than one...

The set I'm using now looks like it used to be a backpacking kit... works just fine for 2 late-20's grad-students. It will become a camping/BOL set when I finish school next spring and start furnishing my first home out of school.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Didn't wally world a little bit back, as in a couple of weeks ago have a bunch or 5 dollar woks? Man those things are worth their weight in gold and are ready to cook in. There aren't too many dishes I can whup up in a wok and yes they can boil several quarts of water too! I would have got a couple but I have a few woks now and use the dog crap out of them almost daily. I also think the stainless steel cook ware in the camping section are a bargin as well. I think 7 something gets you a great long handled spoon, Fork and a spatchula, there are 2 sets in my BOB!!! For about 12 fun dollars you cant go too far wrong...


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