Originally Posted by
cyccommute
The amount of heat needed, in kilojoules, for the aluminum pan is 28 kJ. For the steel pan, it's 24 kJ and for the cast iron it's a whopping 162 kJ. The actual units don't matter but the magnitude does. In essence, a thin steel or aluminum pan takes about the same amount of heat to get to temperature while the cast iron takes a bit over 6 times more heat just to heat the pan. If you are cooking at home where you have a pipe to a nearly infinite supply of fuel, this doesn't matter too much. But out on the road, you have to carry not only the 5 lb pan but you'll need to carry 6 times as much fuel to do the same job.
Leave the cast iron at home.
Wasn't a problem for me. 154 days on the road with a cast-iron and MSR Whisperlite with white gas. I *did* go through more fuel than I would otherwise, but still not all that fast. I had a 20 oz and 30 oz fuel bottle, and refilled them 4 times over the course of the trip. Some of the days were cooking over a fire, with no fuel use, and about 1/4 were "no cook" days where I ate in a restaurant or home stay. I'd rather carry the fuel than burn my food. Also, that "extra" heat to heat the cast-iron allows for a lot more variation in how the food is cooked.
If you only care about "food", leave the cast-iron at home. If you want a *meal*, then cast-iron is a good investment for the road. Seriously, a well-cooked meal goes further than any other item for making a tour enjoyable. (for some of us)