If you’ve ever wanted to combine your inner Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson with the Bush Tucker Man (yeah, remember him), then the Gerber 16-Piece ComplEAT Cook Set might be your ticket to culinary glory in the great outdoors. Yep, that’s right, Gerber, the crew who make sleek multitools and stylish pocketknives have branched out to appeal to the car camper. Fireside flexing does not come cheap but, with the ComplEAT Cook Set, you get a lot of bang for your buck and can now bring an entire kitchen disguised as a cleverly nested stack of cookware. And it’s colour-coded to boot. When our chief gear tester Watto isn’t traipsing through the wilderness, he’s a self-proclaimed Pinot-loving luxe car-camper, and so who better to throw a shiny stainless steel cook set at than a Land Rover driving, latte-sipping Watto?
Design
The Gerber 16-Piece ComplEAT Cook Set is Gerber’s first foray into camp cookware, and straight off the bat, it’s designed for durability and functionality and offers a full kitchen setup for outdoor adventures. At 4.8 kilograms (kg), it’s a far cry from the gram-shaving titanium of the thru-hiker world but is ideal for car campers, trailer-towers, or any chef-come-trekker who thinks hauling an entire kitchen on their back sounds like a blast. The whole set nests together like a game of crockery Jenga, but without the panic, and every piece slides right into place like it was meant to be. The bag even has instructions for those, like me, who could never quite figure out which Jenga piece to place where.
The core components of the cook set are a hefty 5.0-litre stainless steel stock pot (25.4cm x 12.7cm) and a large 2.5-litre stainless steel sauté/frying pan (25.4cm x 6.35cm). Both have 3-ply stainless steel bases to distribute heat evenly. The stock pot has two hinged silicon-sleeved stainless folding handles (that thankfully fold up and stay up when used), and the frying pan has a lock-in-place 20cm detachable handle with a silicone grip. A silicon hot pad (16cm x 16cm) is also included in the mix. A stainless steel basting dome lid (25.4cm x 3.81cm) and a stainless steel slim lid (25.4cm x 1.27cm) with inbuilt straining holes both fit the pan or the pot. When nested for travel, a sizeable 10-cup Polypropylene mixing bowl (22.4cm x 18cm) houses four smaller bowls (17cm x 6.6cm) alongside four plates (22.1cm x 2.5cm) in individual earthy colours that stack neatly inside the stock pot. All bowls feature volumetric markings for measuring ingredients, and the plates nicely double as a lid for the mixing bowl.
The Polypropolene crockery is microwave-safe (for RV campers), and the stainless steel Sauté pan and stock pot are compatible with induction, electric, open flame or ceramic cooktops. A bonus is all items are dishwasher safe for lazy campers like me, who return from a trip to chuck everything in the dishwasher. To top it all off, the entire kit comes with a 25-year limited guarantee, so you can rest assured Gerber is putting its money where its mouth is regarding backing the quality of its new ComplEAT cookware range.
In the field
OK, so let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. What makes this bunch of stainless steel and polypropylene different from other kits on the market? First things first, it’s rather sexy. The earthy tones combined with quality stainless steel, all slotting together, appeal to my OCD, and the fact that the hot pad stops the stock pot from rattling against the sauté pan displays a thoroughly considered design.
When it comes to using the ComplEAT Cook Set, things get better. Being stainless steel, users can go to town with metal utensils without fear of scratching the cookware. Sure, they’re not non-stick, but my lovely partner and I toss in a splash of oil and cook like we’re in Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen. Of course, many burnt sausage profanities might echo if Gordon were present for my cooking, but at least stainless steel is excellent for chucking in some soapy stuff and leaving to soak. The three-ply stainless steel bases spread heat like butter on toast, so cooking is no longer a game of ‘guess the temperature’. They heat a smidge slower than thinner pans, but importantly, they retain heat longer and allow both pot and pan to sit sturdily on any surface.
The chunky bases mean the ComplEAT Cook Set is heavier than some (compared to single-ply, alloy or titanium), but let’s be honest; they’re not meant to be carried in a super-light backpack or be used with super-compact isobutane burners. The lids are the opposite. They’re lightweight and slim but also sturdy. One is domed, perfect for slow-basting your chicken, while the second is flat, ideal for keeping your sausages warm or favourite puffer oil splatter-free. Both lids double as a strainer, and the silicon hot pad is an excellent finger-saver for straining hot pasta (even with small hands). The detachable locking panhandle is a sneaky transformer of the cooking-pot world that snaps on when needed and locks sturdily in place, even when tilting the pan upside down. It also doubles as a beer opener and nicely slots inside the cook set-Jenga case for travel. Just ensure the handle clicks into place when reattaching it unless you’re an expert sausage juggler. (I’m not judging, just a warning).
The tableware fits inside the ComplEAT Cook Set stock pot (and bag) for travel. The smaller bowls are perfect for anything from pasta to cereal (or a third helping of soup), and the high-walled plates are like a dodgem car for your meal, nudging strayaways back into place before they can find the dirt. The final innovative item is the mixing bowl, which is happily big enough to toss your salad without sending lettuce flying across the campsite but sized for the plates to double as lids, so freshly chopped veggies aren’t a buffet for the flies.
The final word on the Gerber 16-Piece ComplEAT Cook Set
If you enjoy pretending you’re the next big thing in outdoor cuisine while serving Harissa Salmon with a glass of Pinot Grigio for your camp buddies, then the Gerber 16-Piece ComplEAT Cook Set is for you. It is also just as good for throwing Mac-n-cheese at the kids or a burnt sausage and a beer at your mate. It’s durable, thoughtful in design, and can turn campsite cooking into an art. It’s an investment, sure, but the nesting design is brilliant.
When coupled with other ComplEAT cookware, such as the cutting board or utensil set, it is hard to imagine a more compact multi-purpose camp kitchen setup offering full-sized cookware and tableware.
See Gerber for more info.
RRP: $329
The Gerber 16-Piece ComplEAT Cook Set is available at select Anaconda stores.
