What's the benefit of pots?

[Doc Feral]

Sorry for the totally generic question, but I'm having a hard time figuring this out.
Pots hold 4 cans of water and weight more. This is bad. They may have the advantage of taking a nap while boiling water,  and I've read they cook meat a bit faster. Is this it?

[StrayCat]

It's all about strategy, "what for when". I bring all pots to my bases, especially those with multiple cooking slots (now in milton, preparing for travel in the new river valley). This way the times for preparing water and cooking deer meat is almost the same. You can also make huge amount of water and stockpile it with the same fire.
And when travelling, I use cans.

[Doc Feral]

So it's more strategical than practical, I was thinking the same. Nothing like cooking two pieces of meat together or making stew or broth. Now I must resist the urge to wishlist "how about using all those leftovers from quartering to make broth?"

[bighara]

The big advantage is that the pot takes up one cooking slot and can cook 4x the water of a can. It's also big enough for a hunk of meat like venison (though not necessary) and can also hold things like soup. It is heavy, though. 

[Doc Feral]

43 minutes ago, bighara said:

The big advantage is that the pot takes up one cooking slot and can cook 4x the water of a can... It is heavy, though. 

Yes but it takes almost the same time as boiling 4 cans, so it only means less clicking and the chance to sleep or craft for an hour, and you pay for it with far more weight than four cans.

[s7mar7in]

Good morning @Doc Feral, my understanding is that your thinking is correct.

• Pot gives the 10% cooking-time reduction for meat, (without the Level 5 Cooking Skill).
• Pot melts 4X the can's volume of water, (which allows multi-task time > 1 Hour, for longer tasks/sleep)
• Pot requires only 1 cooking slot, (compared to 4 required while using cans)
• Cans may be heated by placing on ground near campfire, (not utilizing the 2 cooking-slots).
• Weight of pot may make it less practical for back-country hiking/cooking at trail-side campfire.
• Pots are repairable with scrap-metal while cans are disposable. 

* I am hoping the more experienced cooks will share "Can-Cooking-Tricks" and correct the above list...

[EricTheGreat12]

If you do not have access to cans, then having a pot of course makes it a lot easier on yourself, as you can cook more water in 1 pot then you can in 1 can. Besides for that, I really don't think that it serves a productive purpose 

[Klobberthon]

I see it as more of a quality of life item than anything.  It does, though, make it easier to be efficient while boiling water (with cans you have to change out the water immediately to stay fuel/time efficient).  I think boiling water in the new cooking system would become very tedious if you only had access to cans.

12 hours ago, Doc Feral said:

Pots hold 4 cans of water and weight more. This is bad.

If there was no drawback then pots would just be flat-out superior to cans.  As it is, the extra weight forces you to decide how best to utilize the item (I typically use them only in my base and carry cans for traveling).  Trade offs and a lack of 'clear cut' decisions are part of what makes this game great!

[bighara]

I have gotten into the habit of leaving the pot(s) behind while traveling and just carrying 2 cans. I keep the pots at my base(s). I tend to play more as a homebody though, finding a semi-permanent home like Trapper's Cabin or Quonset and then making forays as necessary for supplies or forging. 

[Jolan]

20 hours ago, s7mar7in said:

Cans may be heated by placing on ground near campfire, (not utilizing the 2 cooking-slots).

Wait?! What!  Man, I'm an idiot for not realizing this :D.  Thanks for the clearly laid out list @s7mar7in!

[greggbert]

Pot cooks meat significantly faster and gives you access to the cooking menu so you don't have to fiddle with the radial menu, you can easily see the cooking time and won't accidentally eat raw meat like I have 20 times when not using a cook-pot.

Also from what I can tell experienced players have one main base on each map which they don't move and one "satellite" base on each map that they move every 5-10 days or so.  That means you're not really carrying around cooking pots except when you're shifting one of your satellite bases, and carrying an extra 3KG every 10 days for an hour or two is no big deal really.

[scuttlebum]

On 6/28/2018 at 11:11 PM, s7mar7in said:

 

• Cans may be heated by placing on ground near campfire, (not utilizing the 2 cooking-slots).

Wow! This I did not know. I will have to try this mechanic next time I play. Thanks for the tip, @s7mar7in!

[Doc Feral]

Since I've just spent a couple of days making little pieces of a bear and cooking them for experience (and yes, I finally got to level 5 cooking) I can say the most important benefit of a pot is the menu. Not menu like you can cook different recipes, menu of actions to choose from. Clicking on a cooking pot will bring up a list of stuff you can cook which takes away the "aaargh I've clicked lmb instead of rmb" risk.

[Stone]

A can of water boils dry in about 62 minutes so you can sleep while it boils, just make it the last/first thing you do when you sleep/wake.