Maple picks: Dutch ovens and thermoses for a real winter
Meet the crew · A lake in Ontario · North American beaver, Gerzsi’s cousin
Maple’s story
Maple is Gerzsi’s cousin from a lake up north in Ontario. She builds a better dam than he does, and she will tell you so before you’ve taken your boots off.
- Has worn the same red buffalo-check toque since she was a kit. It has been re-knitted four times.
- Says “sorry” when she beats you at hockey. She does not mean it.
- Thinks the river where Gerzsi lives is “cute”. She means small.
🎯 Maple’s hobby, and her surprise pick
Hobby: Pond hockey, every morning the ice is thick enough. She can stop a puck with her tail. Nobody on the lake has ever scored on her twice.
Surprise pick: HotHands hand warmers, 40 pairs. Shake one, drop it in a mitt, warm paws for hours. Beavers have waterproof fur, not waterproof fingers. Maple hands a pair to every player before the game, which is very kind and also means nobody can say their hands were too cold when she wins.
Affiliate link. Not a kitchen tool, and that is the point: one thing Maple would buy for herself. Check today’s price on Amazon; Canadian readers land on Amazon.ca.
This page contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read our disclosure.
Maple’s pick: one heavy pot, one hot bottle
“Up here winter is six months long. Buy the pot that lasts longer than that,” says Maple.
| Dutch oven | What the testers said | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Lodge Essential Enamel 6-quart · Check price on Amazon | Reviewed’s Best Value: at or near the top in almost every cooking test. | Narrow base |
| Le Creuset Signature 5.5-quart · Check price on Amazon | Reviewed’s Best Upgrade: aced every test, lifetime warranty. | Costs the most |
Maple’s pick: the Lodge. It cooks like the expensive ones, and the money left over buys a Stanley Classic for the rink, Outdoor Life’s best thermos overall.
Gerzsi went north for Christmas this year. He packed his apron, his best necktie and a jar of paprika for the goulash. Maple met him at the dock with a hockey stick and asked if he still skated like a bag of acorns. He said no. Then he skated.
Gear in this story: jump to the picks →
On Boxing Day morning the whole lodge slept in, except the two of them. Gerzsi made stew in Maple’s old red pot. Maple filled her thermos with cocoa for the game. When Gerzsi got stuck on the stew, too thin, he called Chef Tamás back home, who told him to take the lid off and let it cook down for twenty minutes. It worked. Maple said it was the best stew on the lake. Then she said sorry and scored on him three times.
Maple’s guide: Boxing Day 2026 in Canada: the tested kitchen picks, with air fryers, stand mixers, Dutch ovens and thermoses.
Maple is made up, like everyone on the river except Chef Tamás. The gear and the test results are real.
