Kotlich cooking pots

[Trish]

I am really sorry that Jackdaw is dissatisfied. I am refunding him today and collecting his parcel at my own expense. The Kotlich are all described as rustic and for outdoor cooking. A visit to the factory will help to realize why. I did offer to look out a "perfect" tripod and Kotlich but Jackdaw is not interested. ( who wants to put a Kotlich in a dishwasher by the way,) I do appreciate the agreement that imperfect goods should be returned at the producers cost. Jackdaw, sorry to disappoint.

I have just received a set up from Outdoor Kitchen and to be frank I have to say the quality is pretty crap. I didn't buy from their list of "Seconds" but that is what I assume I have ended up with. On all of the enamel wear there are imperfections from minor bubbles to what appears to be failure of the firing technique. On some of the items there appears to be metal showing where the enamelling process hasn't covered it entirely which makes me wonder how long before the cast iron starts to rust. With this in mind it certainly isn't dishwasher safe as it will rust even quicker.

I was looking forward to receiving this set up and using it over the summer but will be sending it back, apparently at my own cost as well which I thought was a nice touch.

 

[Trish]

One factory where i get the enamel from in Hungary has the TUV stamp saying it meets "directives,regulations, and standards 1935/2004/EC The other one, I am still awaiting a translation of a fearsome looking document with so many numbers on it I became confused.

 

[Toddy]

Can't ask for fairer than that

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Trish]

Safely returned from visiting village factories where they make kotlich, One has a certification, "directives, regulations, standards 1935/2004/EC" the other had such a fearsome looking doc. with so many numbers on it i am waiting for a translation!

Indeed cookware can be problematic although most modern enamel cookware is safe. I'm not sure if the manufacture of Hungarian cookware is regulated to prevent the use of dangerous pigments but I've emailed the owner of the Outdoor Kitchen site and asked her to look at this thread and respond. Hopefully we'll hear from her soon.

If this sort of thing concerns you then you need to also check glass cookware (toxins in the manufacturing process), cast-iron cookware (carcinogenic oils trapped in the pits in the metal), stainless steel cookware (reactive with some acidic foods), ceramic cookware..... the list goes on.

I was aware of the fumes given off by overheating Teflon but to be honest the reason I don't like the stuff is that it is a pain worrying about the utensils I cook with. Enamel, cast iron, stainless steel - all are fairly tough and are effectively non-stick if you use them properly.

 

[Trish]

Pheasant cooking in your Kotlich, with a special twist. If you try it you will stop worrying. http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89641&p=1080935#post1080935

 

[Huon]

Can't ask for fairer than that

cheers,
Toddy

I agree. I must admit to PMing another member whom I knew had purchased from Outdoor Kitchen to ask him to confirm his impressions when Jackdaw posted his issue in this thread. His response was very positive.

I've also had copious email correspondence with Trish asking her loads of questions about the kotlichs (to be honest she probably thinks I'm a nuisance). She has answered every email patiently and thoroughly.

I haven't ordered yet but I certainly will.

Cheers!

Huon

 

[Big Stu 12]

I like the look and the sound of these, also the responce from trish to jackdaws problems seems to be resonalble, I will hopefully be looking at one of these soon.

 

[Gailainne]

Heh the only thing to dispute with JP is the lids, they're extra, see reply from Trish;

"Dear Stephen,

Lids are extra, see the left hand menu, under products is the choice, "lids and Accessories"

best regards
Trish"

Just waiting on the grill to be back in stock before ordering the 13L pot, tripod, grill and firepit, I can see them coming in very handy for the hopefully many canoe trips this year

Stephen

 

[Huon]

Heh the only thing to dispute with JP is the lids, they're extra, see reply from Trish;

"Dear Stephen,

Lids are extra, see the left hand menu, under products is the choice, "lids and Accessories"

best regards
Trish"

Just waiting on the grill to be back in stock before ordering the 13L pot, tripod, grill and firepit, I can see them coming in very handy for the hopefully many canoe trips this year

Stephen

Thanks for reminding me about the lid. I just added one to my order. Regarding grills, I took one of the 2 seconds remaining at the time I placed my order. You may be in time for the other if you want it.

Cheers!

Huon

 

[Jackdaw]

i just knew this would happen thanks for making my predictions come true i wone a tenner! lol, nice one! PMSL!!! True to form as always ! i love it, dont take the say so of one please eh.

Not really sure what point you are trying to make here PW as I am just posting my experiences with the items I received from Outdoor Cooking. This is a discussion thread on kit which includes peoples experiences and opinions.

And Trish, "rustic" is not a new word for poor quality. But thanks for sending the courier.

Jack

 

[Trish]

No problems. Sorry for all the trouble.

 

[Huon]

Well, my kotlich set of tripod, 13ltr kotlich, firepit, grill and ladle was ordered on Monday and arrived promptly and well packaged today. I'm not going to comment too much on the set as I haven't used it yet and hopefully the photos will do the talking. That said, I have to say that the whole set-up looks superb - even the grill which was a second. It certainly isn't Le Creuset in terms of fit and finish but that wasn't what I was buying, expecting or needing so no problems there. In fact the quality was far better than I expected - especially after the niggle raised in this thread.

This isn't a review as I haven't used this yet. This is just my impressions of the set together with some pictures showing any interesting points. Most of the pictures are taken expressly to show the warts rather than the good points but please understand that in my opinion the set is lovely and I have no quality complaints at all.

First a couple of views of the entire set:

As you can see overall it looks pretty good.

So now some warts:

Firepit showing some small imperfections:

Nothing that I'd be concerned about there.

The grill which is a 'second':

Close-up on the worst chipping on the grill:

Some chips around the edge, but I was told about those, and some small marks in the enamel. Again nothing that is a problem for me and much better than I expected. The chips near where the chain attaches to the grill I would expect to see after use anyway.

I foolishly neglected to take any pictures of the kotlich (the pot) itself as there were no real problems with it. I found the inside glaze rather beautiful and when I ran my hand over it to feel for imperfections I couldn't really find anything. The other good point for me is that the pot, grill and fire pit are all very light. Especially compared with cast iron equivalents. I wanted something that I could cart with me on planes and trains if I needed to and this will work really well.

Of course I can only vouch for the quality of the set sent to me but I'm very, very happy with all of this so far and I'm really looking forward to a chance to try it out properly.

 

[Gailainne]

Thats my Kotlich set ordered, should be useful for the Moot

 

[Wayland]

Over the years I've used enamel cookware loads of times, often old, battered and chipped but it's always done a good job.

As this stuff is often made under fairly primitive conditions then imperfections are quite commonplace but that's all part of the character IMO.

One thing it really excels at is cooking with acidic ingredients like fruit, cider or wine.

Cast iron tends to pick up a metallic tang when mulling wine for example but enamel is no problem.

 

[Huon]

Over the years I've used enamel cookware loads of times, often old, battered and chipped but it's always done a good job.

As this stuff is often made under fairly primitive conditions then imperfections are quite commonplace but that's all part of the character IMO.

One thing it really excels at is cooking with acidic ingredients like fruit, cider or wine.

Cast iron tends to pick up a metallic tang when mulling wine for example but enamel is no problem.

I've used my kotlich a few times since I bought it but mainly on the hob rather than the fire. It has now been sent off to Spain where I'll use it extensively over a month or so and will have a chance to really thrash it.

So far it has been superb. The 13L kotlich has been really good for bulk soups, stews and curries. Practically non-stick, great capacity and very easy to clean. The thing I have used properly over fire is the grill. Only once but the initial impression was very, very good. The firepit, grill, tripod combination was very easy to use and I really liked being able to sit in one place and rotate the grill to bring things to me or move food to a different spot over the embers. The grill also seems to share the same non-stick characteristics of the pot so it cleaned very easily and food was easy to turn and shift. If asked for an opinion based on this single use I'd say it is probably amongst the best outdoor grills I've used.

Cheers!

Huon

 

[Gailainne]

Mine will be getting used for most meals at the Moot, so that should give it a good work out