MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set
Review by Ron J.
MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set was provided by MSR for the purpose of this review.
Information below from the website (in italics). http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/cookware/cookware-accessories/alpine-deluxe-kitchen-set/product
The Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set is our most comprehensive set of tools for outdoor cooking. A releasable webbing handle makes the protective zippered case easy to hang anywhere and inside, two generous mesh pockets replace old-school elastic loops that tend to limit versatility, stretch-out and lose their grip over time. You’ll find innovations such as our new combination pot strainer/cheese grater, moisture-resistant salt and pepper shaker, folding cutting board, stainless steel Utility Knife and more.
Includes:
- 100% BPA-Free Materials
- Alpine™ Folding Spoon, Spatula and Strainer/Grater: Spoon is calibrated for common measurements and Strainer doubles and cheese grater.
- Alpine™ Salt & Pepper Shaker: New design is moisture resistant and holds plenty.
- Alpine™ Dish Brush /Scraper: Nonstick friendly pot cleaner with edge radius to match cookware.
- Alpine Kitchen Knife: 4.5″ Santoku-styled knife in a ventilated, plastic sheath is made from 440-series high-carbon stainless steel.
- PackTowl® Dish Towel: The original travel towel absorbs four times its weight in water–over and over–dries fast and is built to survive years of abuse.
- Deluxe case: Zippered, semi-rigid case with two large zippered mesh pockets for maximum versatility.
- Alpine™ Deluxe Cutting Board: Strong, hinged design for durability and portability.
- Plus: (2) squeeze bottles, Bottle opener/corkscrew.
Total weight – 1lb 6.6oz / 640.4g
Packed Size – 9.0 x 6.0 x 2.75in / 22.9 x 15.2 x 7.0 cm
Country of Origin – Made in Taiwan
The best part of camping to me is sitting down and preparing and eating a good meal. I am always looking for lighter, more compact, quality cookware set to take with me on camping trips and I found that in the MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set. The compact case has just about everything I need to prepare, cook and clean a meal while I am camping. I have not used it on a camping trip yet but I did test several of the items in my kitchen at home.
I am very impressed at the performance of the items I have used so far. The grater/strainer, spoon and spatula all have folding handles so they fit nicely in the case. They easily lock into their full size by opening them until you hear it snap into the locked position. Once locked in they are securely opened until you are ready to fold them back which is easily done by simply squeezing the handle at the arrows and folding them to their storage position. One edge of the spatula has a serrated edge for cutting a sandwich or spreading butter and is large enough to flip an egg, pancake or a grilled cheese sandwich. The spoon is deep enough to use as a ladle and has lines for common measurements. It is marked but difficult to read so its best to remember what each line represents. The marked measurements are 1tbsp (15 ml), 2 tbsp (30ml), ¼ cup (60 ml) and the top rim is 1/3 cup (80 ml). I was very impressed on how well the grater worked. I figured it would be difficult to grate cheese being plastic but it did a great job on tomato basil cheddar cheese. I was able to grate it as easily as I could on our home steel grater. The strainer has a lip on either side (for right or left hander’s) to hold the strainer against the pot as you pour out the liquid from the pot. The rigid cutting boards packed size is 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches ( 18.8 x 13.2 x 0.8 cm) and opens to 7.4 x 10.4 x 0.3 inches ( 18.8 x 26.4 x 0.8 cm) and weighs 6.2 oz (176.7g). The knife has a 4.5″ Santoku-styled very sharp blade and a protective cover. It smoothly cut through a block of cheese and several pepperoni’s stacked together.
For cleaning up after your meal, the MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set has a nifty dish brush with a scrape blade. It is great for scraping off the left behind cheese or egg in your pan then brush it right out. There are two plastic bottles (looks to be 2 -3 oz each) that can hold your dishwashing soap and a PackTowl® dish towel that absorbs four times its weight in water over and over and dries fast. It also has a strap with a snap that you can put through a belt loop and attach it to your side for easy access.
I have not had a chance to try the cork screw and bottle opener or the moisture resistant salt and pepper shakers but will for my next review. It is nice how everything included fits easily in the two large zippered mesh pockets. Once everything is securely inside, the semi-rigid case folds together like a suitcase and can easily fit in a backpack. The case with all its contents (weight of fluids in squeeze bottles and salt and pepper are not included) weighs only 1lb 6.6oz (640.4grams) and when closed is only 9.0 x 6.0 x 7.2 inches (22.9 x 15.2 x 7.0 cm). Everything in the sett is 100% BPA free.
I am very impressed with the quality and usages of the set so far and I look forward to using the MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set on my future camping trips. More to come in a month.
Update 06/24/2011
Have you ever used something and thought to yourself, what have I ever done without the MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set? That is how I feel about this kitchen set. I had the opportunity to use the kitchen set on a camping trip with three other families (16 people). I used the set to prepare two breakfast and a dinner.
Breakfast is my favorite meal while I am camping and I was excited about what was on the menu on Saturday morning. The adults had omelets in a bag and the kids pancakes. I got up and started cooking the bacon and sausage. I used the folding spatula to turn the bacon and sausage. While they cooked, I started chopping onions, peppers and tomatoes for the omelets using the kitchen knife and cutting board. The knife easily cut through everything even the tomatoes that sometimes crush if my knife is not sharp enough. Once the bacon and sausage were done cooking, I started cooking the pancakes that I mixed using the folding spoon that doubles as a measuring cup. I also used the folding spoon to pour the pancake mix on the griddle and flipped them with spatula. Once everyone was full, it was clean up time. The dish brush and scraper removed all the excess food left behind on the griddle for easy washing. After we washed everything, I dried it all using PackTowl® dish towel. The towel dries everything then I hung it up to dry for its next use.
For dinner on Saturday I was cooking a low country boil. For those of you not from the southeast, a low country boil is chopped potatoes, onion, corn on the cob, kielbasa, shrimp and crab all boiled together in crab boil seasoned water. It is a great dish when you have a lot of people to feed. The hardest part of this meal is preparing for it. I had to cut up all the potatoes, onion and kielbasa into bite size pieces. The kitchen knife and cutting board made it a snap. The knife again easily cut through the 5 pounds of red potatoes and 3 pounds of onions and 3 pounds of kielbasa. For dessert my son made a peach cobbler in a Dutch oven. He had to drain a large can of peaches and of course the MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set had what I needed. We used the folding strainer/grater with the raised lip to keep the strainer from slipping off the can and it worked like a champ. The meal was a success and everyone was full and happy.
Another scrumptious breakfast was planned for Sunday morning. Adults again had omelets in a bag and shrimp and grits with the leftover shrimp from the low country boil. The kids got pancakes again. The folding spoon that doubles as a measuring spoon was perfect for measuring out the grits. It also stirred and served the grits. The moisture resistant salt and pepper shakers did their jobs seasoning the shrimp and grits. I was concerned the salt shaker would not work since everything got so wet in Friday evenings storm but it worked great. I used the folding spoon for measuring, mixing and pouring the pancakes again and the spatula for flipping and serving. Cleanup was a snap with dish brush, scraper and PackTowl® dish towel.
As you can probably tell I am very impressed with the performance of the MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set. The other families that were with us kept telling me they are going out and getting the set and I cannot blame them. I still have not tested the cork screw but promise I will before my final review in about a month.
Final Update
The MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set continues to be my favorite cooking kit that I have ever used. As I mentioned before, the set have everything I need to prepare, cook and clean up after a meal. I have been able to use it on a couple more outdoor camping trips and the kids have even got it out on their living room camping trips to make their dinner (I use that term dinner loosely since their meal was peanut butter and jelly).
I have found that I use the knife, cutting board and the spatula the most in the set. I figured they would show some wear from the harsh environment I used them in. After close examination, I do not see any wear or damage on the spatula. On some of my home spatulas, there is damage on the edges from heat and use but the Alpine folding spatula is still in excellent condition. The Alpine Kitchen Knife is still very sharp with no signs of wear or chips. I have been most impressed on how well it cuts through anything I have asked it to with ease and efficiency. The Alpine Hinged Cutting Board has cuts in it from all the use but none of them are deep telling me the board is very tough but not too tough were it dulls my knife blade. I really like how Alpine made it a folding board so I get twice the surface area to use while it still folds nicely into the case. The Alpine Folding Spoon and Strainer / Grater still look as good as they did the day I got the set. I have used both on many occasions and my only complaint is I wish MSR could figure a way of having the lines and levels in the spoon stand out more. They are difficult to see when using the folding spoon as a measuring spoon. I have only used the grater a couple of times but it grates cheese with ease and it is easy to clean. I do like the lip MSR put on the strainer to keep a can from sliding off the strainer when in use. The Alpine Salt and Pepper Shaker holds plenty of salt and pepper for a weekend trip and I have not had any issues of moisture causing either to clump up and get stuck inside. I like how the shaker is one piece that divides the salt and pepper. The salt and pepper comes out at a good rate so I don’t have to shake it real hard to get the desired amount out. I have no issues with the squeeze bottles. They hold plenty of detergent for washing dishes for a weekend. I really like the Alpine Dish Brush / Scraper. It makes for easy cleanup by scraping out whatever sticks to my pan without damaging the pan. Burnt eggs, cheese and pancake mix can be scraped with the edge and then brushed right out. Neither show any wear and the brush bristles are still firm and don’t look at all like an old toothbrush. The Packtowl Dish Towel works great and is easily cleaned itself. It does not smell like many dish towels seem to do and other than being wrinkled, it is in great shape.
As promised I tried the bottle opener / corkscrew. The bottle opener works fine. It is a typical slide the metal piece under and the cap and pop it off type opener. The corkscrew is a simple corkscrew and not the type that has the wings that raise up as you screw it in. It is easy to screw the corkscrew into the cork but it is not the easiest way to open up a bottle of wine. It takes a lot of effort to get the cork out as you can see in my facial expression. I would say it’s not the easiest way to open a bottle of wine but the bottle opener / corkscrew is durable, lightweight and will work on a camping trip.
A little difficult pulling the cork.
The MSR Alpine Deluxe Kitchen Set far exceeded all my expectations. I have been more than impressed with its performance and will continue to use it on my camping trips as well as at home. Thank you MSR for allowing me to test this set and 4AllOutdoors for the opportunity
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