Requirements:
-comes with a lid
-is at least 3 quarts
-can withstand the heat of an open fire
-will sit nicely on a camp stove
-is less than 3 pounds
-is less than $30

Looking to buy one that will simmer/boil soup for hours, melt snow for drinking water, make stews, etc.

Check out Goodwill or your grandma's cupboard. Open fire & less than 3 pounds will be tough to find.

I use a large Wok w/ a lid...bought it at Walmart for $18 and fits all your criteria.....very adaptable to all conditions and all meals....especially handy on open fires....indestructible

If you ever make it to St Louis Park check out the Nordic Ware store at the Nordic Ware facility. They have a lot of closeout and blemished cookware in the store. I have been there a couple times now and found a lot of great stuff at prices far, far below retail value.
As suggested already, check out the thrift stores. Also flea markets, garage sales and places like that. Lots of cheap cookware in stores like Fleet Farm, Walmart and Target as well.

But it kind of sounds like you are looking for some one to give you an actual brand name from the thread title. That I don't know. Maybe an old copper bottome Revereware pot?

Just outside parameters of your requirements.
GSI 10" Dutch Oven

Anyone see a reason this would not be the perfect pot?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YRZS4/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Seems like there would be plenty of choices that would easily fit your criteria. The huge 10 qt. pot and cover/frypan combination that holds the pieces of our set together weigh only 2 lb. Cooking over fires and on stoves since 1978.

I bought this when I was using the bake packer every trip. I don't use the bake packer much any longer but the pot goes regardless. I have the plain - non-stick not available at the time I bought - and I use a stove exclusively.

Nowhere near 3 quarts, think it's only 1 actually, but I love my GSI Halulite Kettle. So much so in fact, that I have an extra in the attic just in case they quit making them before the one I'm using breaks.

Thanks for all the ideas.
Keep em coming!!
Lets forgo the weight and cost restrictions and show me your go to soup, stew and snow pot.

Got this a couple years ago and beside a little bit of warping on the skillet/lid over the years, all of the component in this set have been rock solid. REI Campware Cookset

I have something very similar to minesotians! Love it! Not so expensive you're afraid to use it but very functional!

I'm a big fan of the MSR stainless pot sets. The largest is 3l and the lid fits on either way. Makes a light weight dutch oven, cooking over the fire grate with coals put in the inverted lid.

butthead

I like stainless steel but hate the cheap flimsy camping pots offered most everywhere.
Purchased a Snow Peak Kettle No. 1, cute little thing and very well made. Turns out it is too small to be of use for me, but I still like it. The sheet metal it's made of is 0.023
Snow Peak also makes a Multi-Purpose Cook Set No.1, big serious pots and skillet. Probably base camp, major appetites, large quantities. Spendy....$ 180 wall thickness 0.037 Snow Peak is made in Japan and from what I've seen the workmanship is beyond reproach. So far I've resisted, for a solo guy to carry a kit that size is a little silly, the largest of the three pots is 7 quarts. still and all to have a kit you could be proud of would be nice. Wish they made it just a little smaller.
The Zebra Billy Pots are very well made too, a quality pot but not designed for camping although they may serve your needs. Don't know what is the original purpose for the Zebra pot is, maybe some sort of Asian lunch bucket?? Darn nice pot though.
Best Wishes, Rob

Maybe just a simple enameled steel kettle or coffee pot.

This is a fancy one:

kettle

This is a cheaper one:

Stansport 1


Stansport 2

GSI

I have had an Enamel Kettle - 4.5 Qt for about 15 years. Yep, some of the enamel is coming off, but it is one hearty pot. Cleans up well and is not too heavy.

Leaning towards the enamel style. Does anyone want to shae pictures of all these various pots cooking over a bdub fire or stove? What a morning it would be there now...

I found one at Ikea in Bloomington MN. It is large enough for a crowd, yet light enough for my pack. It is stainless, and can handle the stove or the fire.

i use a vintage hammered aluminum dutch oven that i bought at a thrift store


search ebay for "club aluminum dutch oven" or "hammered aluminum dutch oven"


mine looks exactly like this one and meets all your criteria.

quote tyh: "i use a vintage hammered aluminum dutch oven that i bought at a thrift store



search ebay for "club aluminum dutch oven" or "hammered aluminum dutch oven"



mine looks exactly like this one and meets all your criteria.


"

Yep. Most 'Billy Pots' you see are much thinner.....for over a campfire.

overthehill: "Yep. Most 'Billy Pots' you see are much thinner.....for over a campfire."
Are you saying a cast aluminum dutch oven will not handle an open fire?

butthead

quote butthead: "overthehill: "Yep. Most 'Billy Pots' you see are much thinner.....for over a campfire."
Are you saying a cast aluminum dutch oven will not handle an open fire?


butthead"

Not at all. CAST is the Cast Meow! Cast aluminum and Iron are my favorite for a fire because they ARE THICKER. Iron is just heavy packing, but my favorite.. No, I meant most billy pots(All that I've seen) are thinner than cast, and therefore not as good on a fire.

Wording caught me off a bit.
My GSI aluminum DO in action. A tad heavier and costly then OP spec's, but it can be a pot and skillet at the same time on the same fire.

butthead

My stars! What a beautiful photo Butthead, thanks for sharing; what were you baking? I'd really like to let my imagination run riot!
What size is your dutch oven? If it is the 10" one do you miss the legs?
Thanks again,
Rob

Rob; It's a 10 inch cooking chicken stew and biscuits. I do not miss the legs and it packs easier without them.

butthead

i really wanted the GSI Cast Aluminum Dutch Oven, but found the old Club Aluminum for $5.00 at a thrift store on the south end of Squaw Lake MN

tyh, sometimes when I find a bargain or it finds me and the fit seems so congenial, I get a little feeling that maybe something is at work here; fate or kismet or something. My wife laughs and says I'm getting "WooWoo" which is not a compliment. Such thinking has no place in the present world to her mind; maybe so and maybe that's why my dog and I go camping.
Enjoy your pot, maybe it's the one you were s'posed to have!
Best Wishes, Rob

Oldie Moldie....I agree. I found a 10" cast aluminum dutch oven very similar to the GSI Butthead has. Same lid, a bit shallower. No clue on the brand; but it was $7 at the thrift store and I called it fate. It's a little rough cast, and no 'hammered' look. (Every hammered oldie I have seen has been a goodie).
I only use it for a group of 3 and up, just because my Exponent Expedition 2 burner doesn't fit it right and it takes a while to heat up. It does well on a coleman 'pump/lantern' single burner (or a suitcase stove for that matter}.....usually to deepfry. GREAT on a fire.
A lot depends on your stove and volume needs. Thin 8" SS/Copper bottom cheapie for my small folding Expedition stove.{it deep-fries fish for 2 and takes awhile to get HOT} Thick cast for the pump stoves and fire.

quote tyh: "i use a vintage hammered aluminum dutch oven that i bought at a thrift store



search ebay for "club aluminum dutch oven" or "hammered aluminum dutch oven"



mine looks exactly like this one and meets all your criteria.


"

What is the actual weight of this DO?

thanks

Butthead, I had a chance to handle your GSI 10" dutch oven today, very, very nicely made. About the lid being used as a frying pan; the one I looked at had a slightly rough surface texture. If your lid is similar do you find that things get stuck? It wasn't as rough as sandpaper but many smooth small bumps.
That center lifting loop, does it act something like a heat sink? I'm trying to think how it would work but with that loop sticking down into the fire does it draw up more heat and make the center section of lid/frypan hotter?
Rob

Thanks everyone for the ideas and stories. I and the lovely wife will be on the look out for one of those Club Pots. Lots to be just the ticket for all seasons. Have to agree with OldieMoldy on how we are presented with certain things (and people) at just the right time. Hopefully my time and this pot will come soon.

quote OldieMoldy: "Butthead, I had a chance to handle your GSI 10" dutch oven today, very, very nicely made. About the lid being used as a frying pan; the one I looked at had a slightly rough surface texture. If your lid is similar do you find that things get stuck? It wasn't as rough as sandpaper but many smooth small bumps.
That center lifting loop, does it act something like a heat sink? I'm trying to think how it would work but with that loop sticking down into the fire does it draw up more heat and make the center section of lid/frypan hotter?
Rob "

Very little problem with food sticking, just use some "lube", and watch the heat. Very even heat distribution. I've used it for a few years and am surprised how well it cleans up!

butthead

quote campcrafter:

What is the actual weight of this DO?


thanks"

regarding the old club aluminum dutch oven, it weighs:

3 lbs 12.8 oz, i'm guessing it is a 4 1/2 quart.

packs to 4" deep x 10" diameter with the lid reversed.

Here is a link to a story about the Imusa caldero. What is everyone's opinion on this unit?

Imusa Caldero story

Walmart price

I am so happy to find this info about the calderos. While I usually trip solo or with one other person, I made do without an oven. I was just never ready to invest the $$$ or energy necessary to haul one around. This year, I am taking a group of family members north of the border and was thinking it's probably time to invest in a dutch oven for the group. These look perfect! I'm going shopping this weekend!

Yah, great find/post on the caldero!! Between that and the vintage pot we might find at a thrift store for cast alluminum I beleive we have a great $ to use competition.

Sweet sunset shot from within your tent Intrekid!!
What's the story behind the name?

quote Sobi: "Yah, great find/post on the caldero!! Between that and the vintage pot we might find at a thrift store for cast alluminum I beleive we have a great $ to use competition.


Sweet sunset shot from within your tent Intrekid!!
What's the story behind the name?"

Thanks for the compliment on the photo. There are hundreds more I need to upload, just haven't gotten around to it. I think I added that one for entry into one of the photo contests.

My first canoe was christened the "Intrepid". Being a "kid" in his mid-thirties, Intrepid became Intrekid when logging into canoe/camp themed forums and websites, signing geocaches, etc...

I like that.
Find some time to load those photos :)

Picked up a caldero today at a Latin food store for $20. Went straight to lowes and found a stainless drawer pull to replace the plastic lid handle. I'm really excited to give this guy a test run- it looks like it should work very well and at a quarter of the price and weight of a cast iron Dutch oven! Thanks again for the tips guys!

Just saw this the other day while clicking above posts. Not handled one yet....."Guanaurd 3 piece Caldero". Not sure about lids. Cheap.

While the largest of these pots is 2 qt, not the 3qt minimum stated in the criteria above, I would like to introduce folks looking for a new pot set with the hard anodized cook wear sold by Four Dog Stove. Here is the link; http://fourdog.com/anodized-aluminum-camp-cookware/

I see Don is a vender at Canoecopia this year