[pct-l] cooking systems

[Ken Powers]

This is very similar to our method. The differences are: 1) we pour off the 
drink into mugs before the water boils; 2) we use a fleece jacket or hat as 
the cozy. One of us eats from the pot and used a small amount of water to 
clean the pot. Then one of us drinks the cleaning water. No water is ever 
wasted!

Our stove is a Snow Peak. We have used the same stove since 2000 with no 
flare-ups, no cracked gaskets, no leaky valves, no problems of any kind. 
That's a lot of cooking on the one stove.

We ship fuel with our food (see 
http://www.gottawalk.com/shipping_fuel.htm ). We have tried calculating the 
relative weight gain/loss of carrying a canister stove or alcohol stove for 
3-4 day resupplies. For 2 of us it is so close we can only argue the 
differences. For 2 of us, heating with a canister is easily more efficient 
and boils water is half the time of an alcohol stove.  We love to compare 
stove boil times to our Snow Peak. So far only our home kitchen's induction 
cook top beats it by any significant margin.

We also ship a small zip lock of powdered whole milk with each Mac & Cheese. 
Added calories and flavor! (Shipping small bags of white powder can be 
interesting!) The quart zip lock becomes a garbage bag, dirty socks bag, or 
map bag.

Ken
www GottaWalk com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Erik The Black" <erik at eriktheblack.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 8:47 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] cooking systems


Here is what I use for a cooking system.

It has all of the benefits of a Jetboil without the high weight, and none of
the disadvantages of an alcohol stove:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Stove: MSR Pocket-Rocket (3 oz)
* Pot: Snowpeak 600ml Titanium Mug (2.8 oz)
* Fuel: Small isobutene canister (MSR, Snowpeak or Jetboil) (3-7 ounces)
* Ziploc Baggies
* Ziploc Cozy made from reflective auto sunshade material, duct tape and
velcro (1 ounce)

Total weight minus fuel: 6.8 oz (compare to 15 ounces for Jetboil)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is how it works:

1) Before packing your food transfer it out of its original packaging into
individual ziploc baggies.

2) When you are ready to eat put one baggy of food (liptons, couscous,
mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, stuffing... whatever) inside the pot cozy.

3) Screw the Pocket Rocket onto the top of the fuel canister and light it
(no need for windscreens, priming, measuring fuel or rickety pot stands)

4) Boil appropriate amount of water for food + extra cup for hot drink in
mug on top of stove (3-5 minutes)

5) Pour boiling water for food into ziplock baggy and seal ziplock and pot
cozy (let sit 15 minutes)

6) In the meantime add drink mix to remaining hot water in mug (hot cocoa,
coffee, tea, cider, etc.) and enjoy a hot drink while your dinner cooks.

7) Eat dinner from ziplock baggy and discard. No pot cleaning required
(except to clean out the remainder of your hot drink)

* A note about how much water to use. Generally 1.5 to 2 cups of water is
enough to cook most typical backpacking dinners (including a full box of
macaroni and cheese). You'll figure out the right amount by trail and error.
But, what is listed on the package is almost always too high).

Happy trails!

Erik the Black
www.eriktheblack.com



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