Recommendations for cooking equipment

I’m looking at getting some simple cooking gear for short trips. I’m unlikely to do multiple weeks away so looking for something that’s suitable. Ie not top dollar but not something that would need replacing after a few trips.

TIA

A Trangia is good. They come in different sizes depending on what you're after.

And the stove and pans and kettle pack down into one unit (inside the biggest pan).

MSR Pocket Rocket (I have the original one, the 2 is also good)
MSR Titan Titanium Kettle
Wood/plastic spoon (not a spork, not a titanium utensil)

Used this setup for maybe 200 nights away, always enjoyed it. Packs small and incredibly reliable.
You can get all this stuff cheap on ebay second hand.

Trangias are good but very bulky and heavy.

We use a piped Vango stove, ie pot doesn't sit on the canister, a windshield, and a gsi dualist. With a homemade pot cosy.

+1 for Trangia. Great little things. And a Sigg for your meths.

Otherwise, a you can’t go much wrong with couple of mess tins, billycan, and a small fuel cylinder & folding burner (I have a very old Primus that fits in a tobacco tin!). Cheap as you like. It’ll all pack into itself - cylinder inside the billycan and burner/lighter & KFS inside the mess tins.

Don’t forget your enamel tin mug for instagram points!

I have a Kovea Spider with a 900ml ti mug/pot and a windshield. Perfect for one person.

Thanks for the input. The only experience I have is with the old calor gas stoves where you took your like in your hands as you twisted in the burner to the gas and there was that few moments of dread as the seal was made and the gas stopped escaping.
Is it possible to disconnect the gas on the msr rocket or once it’s connected is the it until it runs out?

New gas canisters have a valve which cuts off immediately when you disconnect, so you can carry stove and gas separately with no issues.

Great thanks for the clarification. I think its the MSR system for me.

Thanks for everyone’s input it’s been most useful.

For leisurely overnights, where time is plentiful but maybe pack size is at a premium and the only reason for having a stove is to soak up the vibe with your morning coffee rather than deliver essential nutrients for a grueling day in the saddle, what do people think of meths type stoves? From my moronic googling it seems like you can get very small/light/cheap ones which maybe make more sense for solo light use than canister gas burners?

You can make a functional meths/multi-fuel burner out of two old drinks cans. I still stand by trangias.

If it's purely to boil water for your morning coffee a meths stove will do fine - I've got one of these I use for my brew kit: https://speedsterstoves.co.uk/combined-windscreen-pot-rest-for-alpkit-mytimug-650.html
together with a speedster stoves burner: https://speedsterstoves.co.uk/30ml-spill-proof-meths/alcohol-burner.html

It's not particularly fast, but is silent and does the job well enough.
For day rides with the OH or in a group I often just stick the Trangia + kettle in the saddlebag - it's not that heavy, and if I'm using the Camper Longflap I've usually got room to spare...

I've been making these for ages: https://tomsbiketrip.com/how-to-turn-a-beer-can-into-the-only-camping-stove-youll-ever-need-video/

They work incredibly well and are so tiny and light. My "best" one sits inside my cup in a plastic bag with a few camping matches.

What sort of pans do people use to cook on stoves? I have trangia pans and some cheap go outdoors stacking set. They both taste dreadful and metallic!
I’d like something to upgrade my trangia pans for boiling water/ simple meals, and (possibly the same pan but open to it being different) something I can use on the fire pit at home for warming stuff like chilli, soup etc with the kids.
Do the pans with some sort of coating taste better? Is titanium any better?
Thanks for any ideas/ recommendations! I’m using my time at home minding the kids to get set up for future trips

For the fire pit at home I'd look at Lodge stuff. Definitely not for travelling with though.

One point with titanium is that it’s not got the greatest thermal capacity, so may get hotspots/cold spots depending on your set up. Aluminium is better for spreading the heat, but then can taste metallic as you’ve mentioned. If wanting to use in the fire I’d go with uncoated, but might just be me.

Alpkit MyTi mugs get good reviews and often used, also Chinese knockoffs available on Amazon for a fair bit less.

I went for this as a single
Decathlon budget pans
And added this for two person in the 1.1 litre version
MSR
Each will store a small gas canister to optimise packing space.
No metallic or odd taste from either when cooking food or boiling water for tea/coffee.

Good point re the heat spreading. Maybe the non stick coated ones get round the taste issue? I’ve never had non stick pans for home use that taste bad.
Great tip on the cast iron pans @aggi thanks - they look ideal and could work for taking car camping too

Where do people get their denatured alcohol from? I've been gifted a Trangia (the OG beer can stove) and am looking to pad out the rest of the cook kit for trips later this year. Would be good to have a big old bottle at home then take what I need for the trip in a smaller bottle.

Meths is the standard for Trangias. You can get it anywhere: supermarkets (sometimes) hardware stores, garages, camping stores...

If you happen to know anyone in the US coming over here (unlikely at the moment I know) the Lodge stuff is really bargain priced over there.

MSR Titan Kettle if you’re cooking simple stuff solo
Evernew 1.2l ti pot to cook more seriously with two people
Titanium is very much worth it if you do it regularly

oh nice, think i was overthinking it. will pick some up, cheers.

Plenty of clues in this:
https://bikepacking.com/plan/five-camp-cooking-kits/
The insulation film/shield is a nice trick.