Originally Posted by
cyccommute
While it is true that a large cast iron skillet will hold heat, you have to get the heat into it first. And even then it's not going to hold it there for long. It will hold it longer than a thin metal pan but by the time you've heated the cast iron, you'd be a long ways towards actually cooking the food in the thinner pans with less thermal mass and that's the point isn't it? To cook the food and not waste fuel on heating metal?
I don't know, is it? From my perspective, that's not the point - the point is being able to cook my food without burning it, and to be able to walk away from the stove for 30 seconds without worrying it will char. Also, the mass of the pan turns the blowtorch of the MSR Whisperlite into something more approaching the "simmer" of an isobutane stove. I wanted to use something other than canister fuel since the canisters generally can't be recycled. And I don't personally care so much about the extra fuel use because I carry 2 MSR fuel bottles and am rarely more than a day or two away from a fuel source. Most of the meals I choose to prepare require more than 5 minutes to cook (rice, pasta, etc), and my stove has enough BTUs that the extra 2 minutes to heat the cast-iron isn't so much of an issue - plus my eggs & bacon cook better in the morning.
It's not for everyone - I'd say the vast majority of touring folk aren't going to carry the load I bring on my tours, and that's ok. Just saying that minimizing weight and fuel use isn't the end-all and be-all for everybody.