The camp cookware I used to have had been beaten, burned, scratched, dented, and generally abused to the very brink of its useful life. It was a cheap nested aluminum set that was about as far from nonstick as pots and pans get. It had a couple of plates that were too small and bowls that eventually got bent out of shape.
I hated cooking with it. In fact, I avoided cooking at campsites because of it.
That finally changed, and I’m glad it did. I got the Gerber ComplEat Cookset ($200) in April. After one excursion with this flashy cookware, I wasted no time in trashing my old set.
Gerber announced the ComplEat series in early 2024. It was the first time the well-known knife maker ventured into the outdoor cooking space, and it came out of the gate swinging. The quality of the pots and pans outshines some of those I’ve kept in my home over the years. The nesting design is easy to store and transport.
In short: The Gerber ComplEat 16-piece Cookset is Gerber’s camp kitchenware debut. The set includes a sauté pan and stockpot for cooking, swappable lids for both, tableware, and a hot pad. It’s an entire kitchen set nested in an easy-to-transport bundle. As far as camp kitchenware goes, this set is luxe. The stainless steel pot and pan cook evenly and are easy to clean, the tableware is durable, and the overall design is well thought out. It’s heavy. And it’s expensive. But it’s worth the weight penalty and cost. My car camping kitchen has never looked or cooked better.
If you’re upgrading your camp cooking setup, check out GearJunkie’s Guide to a Dialed Camp Kitchen for more tips and product ideas.
Pros
- Luxury quality camp cookware
- Very durable materials
- Easy to clean
- Nests neatly together
Cons
- Heavy
- Expensive
Gerber ComplEat Camp Cookset Review
The 16-piece cookset that I reviewed is just one product (or a bundle of them) in the ComplEat product series from Gerber. The series also has a cutting board set, knife set, tableware set, lightweight utensil set, multi-fork, and griddle. Gerber didn’t just dip its toes in the world of camp kitchenware — it dove in headfirst.
I haven’t used any of the other gear in the ComplEat series besides what’s included in the ComplEat Cookset. On its own, it’s a pretty comprehensive kitchen kit with a saute pan and stock pot, slim lid and basting dome lid; four plates, four bowls, a mixing bowl, a hot pad, and a storage bag. All packed up and nested together, it’s a little smaller than a basketball.
Stock Pot & Sauté Pan
Neither the stainless steel stock pot nor the sauté pan is nonstick. That’s nice for camping because you don’t have to worry about what’s used to stir, scoop, or flip food while you’re cooking it. You aren’t going to scratch and ruin it with metal utensils.
I also haven’t had any real issues with food sticking badly. Maybe my perception is distorted because my previous cookset was so terrible in this regard. But with a little olive oil or butter, it was easy to cook noodles, sausage, scrambled eggs, and burgers without my food sticking.
I’d soak the pot and pan overnight, and in the morning, it was a simple matter of wiping (not even scrubbing) the residue out, and they were shiny clean again.
Both the stock pot and the sauté pan offer ample cooking surface. They have a three-ply stainless steel base that distributes heat very evenly for camp cookware. I didn’t have any issues with hotspots, even using my propane camping stove — which has a relatively concentrated burner.
The lids are interchangeable. The slim, low-profile lid is basic. The other is a domed basting lid and it doubles as a pasta strainer. These, too, nest together.
Tableware
The set comes with four polypropylene plates and bowls in “baltic haze,” “dark baltic haze,” “burnt orange,” and “coyote brown.”
I really dig the earth-tone colors. They make it easy to distinguish whose food was whose when plates got set down, or people switched camping chairs.
The plastic is easy to clean off and very durable. They are not unbreakable, though. If you run over them with, say, a truck, I’ll tell you from experience that they will shatter. But for the everyday rough-and-tumble use of campsite life, these bowls and plates are perfect.
Of course, all eight bowls and plates nest together perfectly inside the stock pot (with the sauté panhandle and the hot pad).
Hot Pad & Pan Handle
Conveniently, the ComplEat Cookset comes with a hot pad to hold lids in place while straining food. It also has a removable handle with a rubber grip that snaps onto the side of the sauté pan.
One note on that pan handle: Make sure that it is firmly attached — and attached correctly — before you go lifting hot food. I almost catastrophically dropped a sizzling bevy of sausages and bubbling oil because I had improperly connected handle to pan.
I only had to almost make that mistake once before I learned to double-check that point of connection.
Storage & Transportation
Conveniently, Gerber included a storage bag with the ComplEat Cookset. It has an extension with a cinch top to neatly keep your nested cookware held together and handles to carry it.
I’ve used it to store the dishes dirty as well, and it was no issue sending that thing through the wash.
Gerber ComplEat Cookset: Who Is It For?
I camp a lot, and I used to cook a lot less. I was more inclined to heat up a can of beans in the fire, skewer a brat, and use paper towels instead of plates. Or, I was content to boil water and rehydrate a bag meal for dinner.
This summer has been different, though. I’ve been eager to put this Gerber kitchen set to use when I get to the campsite. I shouldn’t have waited so long to upgrade. But I’m grateful I waited for this set.
Yes, $200 is pricey compared to other camp kitchen kits. For comparison, the Stanley 12-piece Stanley Wildfare Core kitchen set is $55. The 12-piece MSR Flex 4 Cookware System is $180. So it is on the more expensive end of the spectrum for camp kitchen sets. But I’d also argue it’s one of the premium options currently out there.
When it’s all packed together, the kit weighs 10 pounds. So it’s ideal for car camping, overlanding, and as an RV or boat cookware set. You could feasibly take the plastic plates and bowls backpacking, but there are lighter more packable options out there.
Cooking a good meal can be a lot of fun, but using nice camp cookware makes it dramatically more enjoyable. This ComplEat Cookset has become the centerpiece of my camp kitchen, and it made a big difference this summer in how I cook my camp food.
