I'm embarrassed that I never thought of this before, seeing as I've spent most of my adult life as a chef. I have been looking at DIY Billy Cans and stainless canteen cups and it finally hit me- the perfect vessel would be a commercial duty bains marie! They're all stainless, NSF certified for food and generally very heavy duty. Fortunately there are two large restaurant supply stores within five minutes of my house. Next time I have a weekday off I will have to check them out.

Oooh, oooh- the 1.5 qt version is available at Amazon.com and it's Prime eligible! That means free 2 day shipping! The lids are $1.52 each, and also Prime.

there is a world of stuff that would work for us.tracking them down can be a problem when we stick to the "survival" branded items.--good find..

It looks like a pretty good, substantial container, but does it have any significant advantage over any of the numerous backpacking cook sets, also available in stainless steel or coated aluminum?

By the way, as a non chef, just what is a bains marie in the world of cookery? I know (or I think I know) enough French to think that it has something to do with a water bath...steamtable?

I repeatedly misspelled that! I mean "bain marie." It's basically "water bath" aka a steam table. I think SS is better than aluminum. It wears better, stuff sticks less and aluminum has been linked to Alzheimers. What I like about the bain marie pots are that they're stovepipe shaped, tall and skinny. For general cooking that's maybe not ideal but I want something that will encase a Nalgene sized bottle, and hopefully fit in a water bottle pouch.

I'm thinking of a high end Billy Can, not a full on cook set.

Looks similar to my Zebra billy can, except without the handle.

Good find.

A good stew pot makes the most of whatever meat you scrape up.

"aluminum has been linked to Alzheimers"

Untrue. Original story was an initial analysis of plaques associated with Alzheimer's was that they had higher than normal levels of aluminum. Science writers, not actually scientists, and not actually knowledgeable, jumped to conclusion that A caused B. Later, studies showed there is no relationship. There is no need to avoid aluminum because of Alzheimer's.

There are other good reasons. Uneven heating, durability issues and tendency to dent are just the start.

But still, a very good find.

Just about every city of any size has a restaurant supply house or three. Check the Yellow Pages. Most of them have a retail setup where you can go and look at the wide variety or tools, implements, pots, pans available.

Many of them have a used section. The thing about commercial-duty cookware and tools is that they last a very long time and so there is often a healthy discount market. Most restaurants fail. Easier to sell the pots and pans than store them. You can pick them up at a substantial discount.

Some houses specialize in equipment but some sell food. Rice in fifty pound bags and other bulk foods go at a discount.

Most people don't know about commercial supply houses. Restaurant supply and commercial cleaning houses are good resources. Some like walk-ins. Others don't. Be friendly but businesslike. Find out how they like to get paid. Many houses prefer to work through an established account but most will take a major credit card. Help them help you by making it easy for them.

Good find.

Restaurant supply stores do vary in their policies. Some will only deal with corporate accounts but many will sell to anyone. Luckily the ones near my house will sell to the public. I do have one on the way from Amazon.com but it's not gonna be as heavy duty as a high-end pot like a Vollrath. The best ones are 22 gauge, whereas the thinner ones actually are 8/18. Good to know about the aluminum-dementia thing being myth. Still, aluminum is a terrible thing to cook in. First, it's reactive and pits badly. Unless it's hard anodized you really can't use it for anything acidic, and even tomatos are rough on it. It heats unevenly, too.

Again, for a full on cookset, I recommend a cook set. But if you want something primarily to boil water it would rock to have a tall pot with a lid, large enough to hold a full 1 liter Nalgene.

I'll see how the one works from Amazon.com, and if it's not quite the right size or too flimsy I'll check out my local suppliers.

Nice find Phaedrus - so to be clear, the 1.5-qt version will hold a 1-liter Nalgene bottle?

Nice to know

Dave