Outdoor Cooking in Real Life: The Frypan that Works
GSI 10” Pinnacle Frypan
MSRP: $29.95
Weight: 17.8 oz
Size: 11.1″ x 10.6″ x 2.8″
Fresh crisp air washes over your face as the morning chirps stir you from your slumber. Curling your fingers around your perfect cup of coffee, your brain starts to acknowledge the necessities of breakfast. Say it with me now, ‘Bacon’! Then you start to think about your miniature stainless steel cookware that you have in your camp arsenal and debate what Tetris nonsense you will have to apply to the bacon to get it to cook properly. Then, as all things must come to an end, your mind settles on the clean up. Good lord, there is not much else that makes me want to break things, than the cleaning of burnt fat cemented onto the bottom of a stainless steel pan. You’re supposed to be jolly and gleeful in the outdoors, am I right? Taking 15 minutes to scrub your brains out with a stick, because of course your forgot your S.O.S. pad, is not how I want to start my day in the wilderness. So unless you have some magical bacon cooking superpowers, let me just go ahead and introduce you to the GSI Pinnacle Fry Pan and turn your day into glory.
First off, the GSI Pinnacle line boasts ‘Teflon with Radiance Technology’. This magical three-layered genius helps with even heat distribution, and overall protection of cookware. Never in my life have I thought ‘non-stick’ and ‘protection’ in the same sentence. Growing up, I was given very strict teaching on which cooking instruments were the only ones safe to use on this very fragile material, for fear of death (by my mother). GSI is working to create that balance between beautiful cookware, overall structure quality, cooking capability, price point and ENDURANCE. Now I’m not saying take a knife to it, but if you’re using rounded metal tongs to flip your bacon, you’re not going to unleash the wrath of Hades. This birth of protection gives you a great deal more comfort in both your cooking and transport.
As far as the design goes, I love it. The handle is so simple, yet it completely does the job it’s meant for. You’ve got three options, out and locked in place for cooking, folded in (but not locked) for storage, or completely taken out, for what-have you.
When engaged in its upright and locked position, the handle is super sturdy. I’m not worried that it is going to unlock itself, bend, or that the connection point is going to wiggle itself loose and fail. As with anything, if you put it directly in the heat, it will get hot, and, as the covering is made to protect you from heat, not itself, it will melt. However, during your routine cook sesh, the handle doesn’t get hot. Plus, with plenty of length, not only do you get distance from your flame, but you have the room for two hand use for a steady pour. The covered handle, when folded in, acts as sort of a buffer against other wryly pots and pans. If you’re using protection when stacking (paper/cardboard plates, towels, rubber/mesh shelf liner, or Air Foam sheets), the handle does a pretty good job of holding these things in place. But, if tight space is the name of the game, with a hearty squeeze, the handle comes completely free of the pan to be tucked away at your discretion, and for your deep cleaning pleasure. Another note on the pan is depth. I can brown a pound of ground beef, stir in some veggies, and a pint of sauce with the comfort of knowing she’ll hold it all. So if cooking for two or more, this pan is sure to get the job done.
Let’s talk heat. I know you’re not supposed to use “campware” on your household kitchen stove, but I really wanted to see how it compared to my other “housewares”. Queue the side-by-side bacon cook-off. Bacon is a great way to quickly see where the ‘hot spots’ are in your pan, and how well the heat is truly distributed (no one likes an uncooked bacon end). When using the 10” frypan on an electric stove, the sides of the pan don’t really manage to get all that hot. Which is nice if you’re on the clumsier side of things, and frequently touch hot objects unintentionally, so if you’re using an electric cook top, try not to rely on the edges to get things done. The center of the pan does get hotter than the outskirts (about 1 inch from the edge is the line), but not by much. For example, when I make mini burgers (a wee bit more temperature sensitive then the full size), I’ll make a slightly larger patty to put in the middle of the pan and badda-bing, problem solved. As far as scrambled eggs/omelets go, I don’t seem to ever burn the center while waiting for the edges to cook. So, there is a difference, but it’s not enough to change much of what I do. When cooking on the open flame of propane, the heat definitely transfers up the sides of the pan in a much more effective matter, pretty much answering all of your bacon makin’ prayers. Not only do the spiral-turned base grips help with heat distribution, they do an AWESOME job of gripping my CampChef stove, so even on a skewed surface, I’m not worried about it wondering off unattended.
Cleanup. Holy moly. A strong breeze practically cleans up this badboy. GSI is even nice enough to make a compact scraper especially for this usually dubious task.
In all forms of my cooking exploration with this pan, I have yet to get anything completely cemented on there, this includes the outside/handle area. I’ve burnt, crisped, and fried a whole slew of things in this pan (some sort of intentionally), and even when leaving it to cake on, she still shucks the scum like a champ. With a paper towel, rag, sponge or water and soap, whatever you have available, this pan will be ready to get back in the pack in no time. In addition, this pan cools down ridiculously fast, like back to original temp even before you’re done scarfing down your mountain meal masterpiece. And in the clean up and go game, I call that a strong WIN!
And as per-usual, its never a bad idea to follow the good self care guidelines of Teflon, like don’t expose the pan to extreme opposite temperatures; ie if you’ve got a hot pan, don’t put it in cold water, and visa versa, as this helps to keep it from warping. Don’t use scratchy sponges, or SOS pads, to scrub down the pan. Trust me, you won’t need them anyway! Also don’t use scary bleachy cleaners, or run through the dishwasher. After that, ENJOY YOUR PAN! Use it!! This amazing thing was created to be in the wild, and still deliver your at home cooking expectations! She’ll take a bump and a bruise, and stand right back up to fight. It’s light, it’s strong, it’s sexy, and it should be yours.
(Disclaimer: GSI provided this product to Exploring Elements/Sarah Blessington for possible online review. No other compensation for this review consideration was provided.)
