Esbit 12-Piece Lightweight Camping Cook Set with Brass Alcohol Burner, 2 Aluminum Pots & Frying Pan - Compact Outdoor Cooking Kit for Backpacking, Hiking & Picnics

I bought this several months ago to take on a camping trip right before Memorial Day weekend. I'm now back from that trip & wanted to share my thoughts on how this kit worked in the real world.First of all, keep in mind that my campsite was at sea level in the outer banks of North Carolina (actually about 5 or 6 feet above, but it's close enough). Cooking & boiling times will vary with altitude as we all know.I took along Mountain House freeze dried foods which need boiling water to prepare. I assembled the cooking kit, filled the burner about half way with denatured alcohol & set it inside the stand, filled the smaller bowl with a bottle of water (16.9 oz.), then lit the burner & set the bowl on the stand with the lid on top of it. It took less than three minutes for a strong rolling boil to happen. The bottled water wasn't chilled, it was at outside temperature which was around 70° to 75° most of the time. The included pot/pan gripper is really a nice included tool to have. How else are you gonna move that boiling pot of water? Yes, there's an included pot holder, but the clamp really makes it easier to move & to hold the pots & pans when they're right off the flame. It's also useful to use, to hold the pot when you're stirring something inside of it (I also took along a few cans of beef stew which got piping hot in less than 5 minutes). This is very lightweight aluminum so stirring something inside the pot will cause the whole unit to move about. You don't need THAT to happen with an open alcohol flame underneath!I never got the chance to use the frying pan on that trip, but will at a later time when I camp again.*EDIT* I've now used the frying pan & am surprised that eggs don't stick to it...even right out of the shell! They slip right off!The denatured alcohol I used never left any black soot on the pots. Nice, because of the way the heat exchangers are made. If anything gets inbetween those heat exchangers, you just can't get a brush in there to wash it out.And so to wrap this up, it IS a little pricey! But if you're an avid camper like I am, a complete cook set that's a little smaller than a basketball in size when in it's carrying bag, it's worth paying for. About 8 ounces of denatured alcohol lasted through a dozen cook sessions. 90 to 95% denatured alcohol is relatively cheap & you can find it at most paint & hardware/home stores, so it's a good stable cooking fuel.OH...& one very important final thought here! BEFORE you use this set in the real world, PLEASE take a few minutes at home to read the included guide on how to re-pack it back into the carrying bag. Disassemble & reassemble several times until you're comfortable on repacking it. It only goes back together in a specific order. If it's not in that specific order, you'll never get it back into the carrying bag!I was wanting a stove/cookset for camping out of our van, plus backup for emergency cooking at home if electrical power fails. The Esbit 12-Piece Camp Cookset, designed in Germany and manufactured in China, seemed to be pretty much what I was looking for. The stove has a unique appearance unlike other campstoves I'd seen while surfing Amazon. Sort of a sleek and contemporary Bauhaus look. Whatever the esthetics (which I like) this stove has good fit and finish, and what it does it does well. The two pots are hard anodized aluminum with measure marks embossed into the sides, while the 7 1/4" dia. frypan has a teflon-like finish on the cooking surface. Both pots have heat exchangers on the bottom, which are said to reduce boil/cook times.This was my first experience with alcohol burning stoves; the flame does not burn as hot as a wood flame, but the denatured alcohol from W-mart that I used burns cleanly, meaning no lampblack residue on the bottoms of your pots and pans-a worthwhile tradeoff in my opinion. Following Esbit's instructions to fill the burner 2/3 full, burntime on high will be about 30 mins. Heat level can be adjusted from high to simmer with the cap used to snuff the flame. For the purists: my boil time tests were conducted outdoors...air temp was 90F, water from faucet was 75 F, altitude approx. 800 feet above sea level. Pots used were the two with heat exchangers included with the set. The pot lid was in place and burner flame was full. There was a light breeze so I used a supplemental windscreen.Boil times:48 oz in 1.8L pot: 7 mins.64 oz in 2.3L pot: 12 mins.A stainless steel attachment fits over the rim of the stovetop and keeps the frypan loosely centered over the burner and prevents it from sliding off the edge of the stove. It also allows use of smaller pots or mugs not included with the set. Diameter of the stovetop is 6 5/16". Minus the steel accessory ring mentioned above, supplementary pots or pans with bottoms larger than this should work fine in addition to the two pots included with the set.For the frypan test, I heated ham slices then fried two eggs. Space is a tad restricted within the mini frypan, and I should have adjusted the burner beforehand for a smaller flame as the pan was too hot, and I had to cook up some fast eggs, but even so it was kind of fun and the ham and eggs were delicious. The potgripper complements this set well,and is especially handy used with the frypan.The cookset packs up into a mesh bag that in turn will fit into a box 8 3/8" square and 5 3/8" deep.Wow! What a nice cooking kit from Esbit! Shipping from Amazon Prime was flawless. I can't wait to get this set into the great outdoors and cook some fine meals. The heat exchange elements should save time and fuel for cooking and my next item to complete this set will be the the Trangia gas stove that fits where the alcohol stove nests. When the weather is really frigid and my hunger pangs start, the gas stove attachment should really help in delivering a fast meal. Thanks for all the reviews on this cook set from Esbit. Your reviews really helped me in my decision for the Esbit set over the other set, (Trangia), without the heat exchange elements. Now I'm a happy camper!I bought this item for trips in the outdoors, but found myself using it mostly in the comfort of my dorm room. Because we did not have a kitchen at the time, I ended up cooking myriad meals on my desk, to the great enjoyment of my fraternity brothers. Nothing beats hungover eggs and bacon in your own house! The stove works great in cramped conditions, though sufficient ventilation is paramount if you are not in the great outdoors, and the stove itself is pretty safe, odorless, and produces virtually no fumes, making it suitable for indoor cooking in a pinch! Plus it fits snugly into small spaces for when the fire marshall comes to make sure that you are not breaking any rules! a great plus if you are hiking and do not wish to burden yourself with bulky pots and pans that cannot nestle.All in all, with this stove, you can skimp on a real kitchen every day!BrilliantDas Kochset funktioniert soweit ganz gut. Aber für den hohen Preis hätte ich mir doch noch ein bisschen mehr Qualität gewünscht.Der Windschutz ist leicht verformt, sodass der eingesetzte Brenner leicht in seiner Aufnahme wackelt.Der Topfdeckel hat eine ganz ganz leichte Delle und das Transportnetz macht keinen hochwertigen Eindruck. Alles in dieses sehr eng bemessene Netz hineinzubringen kann schon mal länger dauern...Bauartbedingt lässt sich der Brenner natürlich nur grob regulieren. Einmal angebracht wird der (scharfkantige) Regulierdeckel natürlich heiß und ist nachträglich nicht mehr ohne gröberen Aufwand einstellbar. Ausserdem kann man den Griff von diesem Deckel beim Anbringen hochstehen lassen um sich nicht die Finger zu verbrennen, was dann dazu führt dass der Topf nachher mit dem Griff kollidiert ?Aber trotz der negativen Aspekte finde ich dass das Kochen damit sehr einfach und schnell geht und das Kochset sehr gut funktioniert. Bloß den Preis von fast 100€ finde ich aufgrund der Ausführungsqualität etwas übertrieben.Zum Verkäufer:Habe bei "Bergzeit" bestellt. Die Ware kam viel früher als anfangs zugesagt bei mir an was mich natürlich sehr gefreut hat. Ausserdem war die Ware sehr gut verpackt ?Für den Verkäufer "Bergzeit" also volle Punke ?Moin !Hab das Teil für meinen DEKRA Lehrgang geholt, da es mir dort nicht wirklich möglich war an was warmes zu essen zu kommenund tag ein tag aus brot, brötchen oder halt kalte platte fand ich auch doofden "kleinen" kocher habe ich auch, der reicht jedoch nur für 1 personder "große" ermöglicht es mir, meine kollegen (bis zu 2) mit zu "versorgen"ich kann's jedem empfehlen der gerne lieber warm isstdank der 2 töpfe & der pfanne kann man sich tolle sachen kochen ;)reinigung geht sehr einfach von stattenlgJensExcellent stove and pan set - The frying pan could have been just a couple of centimetres bigger (two eggs, instead of one!) without messing up the form I feel but that's not that big a deal. The plastic plates seem pretty much useless but I may change my mind one day. They may as well have added some cutlery in the little bit of free space inside too.I actually used this during the last few day power cut instead of my usual Coleman petrol double burner, it just seemed less fussy, and it was. I prefer it to my old Trangia set generally, although it's about twice as heavy.Da wir noch nicht in Urlaub waren, noch nicht gebraucht. Das Tolle ist, dass sich dieser Kocher einfach verstauen lässt und wenig Platz braucht.