A camp kitchen that fits in one tote
The mistake most people make with camp cooking is buying the kitchen before they know how they camp. Car camping with a table wants a two-burner stove and a real pan. Anything you carry wants a canister stove and a pot that nests. I am going to give you both lists, and a budget that fits in one plastic tote.
The two-burner that everyone ends up with
Coleman Cascade Classic 2-Burner Camping StoveColeman$116.99
Coleman's Cascade Classic is the stove you picture when you picture a camp stove, updated with better wind screens and a lid that actually latches. It runs off the green propane bottles you can buy at any gas station. It is not on sale often, and when it is, it is by ten or fifteen dollars, not by half.
Coleman Cascade Classic Camping Stove
4 stores · read Sep 12The comparison rows are why we track it. The same stove is routinely priced differently at sporting goods stores, hardware stores and big boxes, and the cheapest store changes month to month.
If you want one stove for everything
Coleman 4-in-1 Portable Propane Gas Camping StoveColeman$164.99
The 4-in-1 is a two-burner that converts to a griddle and a grill. That is more stove than most people need, but if you are outfitting once and want to cook breakfast for six, it earns the extra weight and money.
The boil-water-fast option
JETBOIL FLASH COOKING SYSTEM
3 stores · read Sep 12If your cooking is mostly coffee and dehydrated meals, skip the two-burner and buy a Jetboil. It boils in about two minutes, packs into itself, and lights with a button. I would not try to simmer anything in it.
The pan
Lodge® 10.25" Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet
4 stores · read Sep 12A 10-inch cast iron skillet is the best twenty-odd dollars in cooking, at home or at camp. It goes on the Coleman, on a grill grate, or straight into coals. Lodge's is the standard and the price barely moves, so buy it wherever is closest.
The nesting set, for the carrying crowd
GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Ceramic Nesting Cookset
4 stores · read Sep 12GSI's Pinnacle Camper is the nesting cookset I'd recommend for two to four people: two pots, a frypan, plates and mugs, all in one stuff sack. It is not cheap. It is the last one you'll buy.
The tote list
Stove, one fuel canister or two propane bottles, the skillet, a long spatula, a lighter, a roll of foil, a cutting board, one good knife in a sheath, dish soap in a small bottle, a sponge, and a trash bag. That is the whole kitchen. Everything else is optional, and you will find out which parts are optional by the second trip.