In 1977 after a backpacking trip with family and friends, Pam Banks and her Dad designed the first Fry-Bake. Dad had the knowledge and experience of metal manufacturing with a facility for production. Pam had some field experience to know where to start with a design.
In 1979, after several prototypes had been tested in the field on NOLS courses and by Instructors then working for the school, the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and Pam teamed up to purchase the first production run of Expedition model Fry-Bake pans and lids. Production of the Alpine model pan started in 1988. Pam designed the Deep Alpine Fry-Bake pan in collaboration with a long-time NOLS instructor in an effort to get the perfect “one-pot” cooking option for backcountry food preparation; production of them started in 2015.
Both the Expedition model pan and the Alpine model pan have changed only very slightly since the first production run in 1979 though after a decade of Bomco, Inc. producing them, NorthEast Metal Spinning took over the job and continues to manufacture them today.
N.E. Metal Spinning is a small business located in Atkinson, New Hampshire. They purchase aluminum which has been manufactured in the United States and do an expert job of cutting the aluminum to size and then spinning it to the shape of the pan. The pans are then taken to Dav-Tech Plating , Inc. in Marlborough, Massachusetts where they are hard anodized and returned to N.E. Metal Spinning for my pick-up.
In 2010 Fry-Bake redesigned and started producing PotGripz from food grade aluminum to fill the need for a lightweight, low cost pot lifter for use with the Fry-Bake. Marlborough Foundry, Inc is a small manufacturer in Marlborough, Massachusetts where PotGripz parts are poured from molten aluminum into sand casted molds. Pam then assembles the parts with a bolt and locknut.