Author Topic: Stove and compact pot  (Read 6701 times)

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #30 on: 08:30:00, 18/04/19 »
Looks good rob but a tad heavy for us wild campers, we use the msr pocket rocket  O0

I'm already carrying 76,000 grams extra by being overweight another 327 isn't going to make much difference I'd have thought...

Thanks for the info Alan.

Ralph

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #31 on: 12:43:47, 18/04/19 »
When it comes to gas stoves I have been using the Primus Express Spider for the last 5 years and wouldn't swap it for anything else. It's very stable, will support various pan sizes and has quick boil times.

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #32 on: 18:55:48, 18/04/19 »
I apply the same logic as you Rob.  O0

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #33 on: 22:58:57, 18/04/19 »
I almost gave this it's own thread but...

What do people cook while walking or camping? Not interested in expensive freeze dried food (though others might be so if that's your thing...), just wondering what I can do with this stove other than boil water and heat a curry.

Also how do you wash your pot? I could leave it until I get home at the moment but wild camping you're going to use it more than once? I'd be loathe to use drinking water seeing as I use so much of it already when the temperature is over about 3 degrees.

zuludog

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #34 on: 12:38:23, 19/04/19 »
I almost never cook anything or make a brew during the day when I'm actually walking, I just can't be bothered, though lots of people do

Sometimes I use the expensive hiking meals; there are two types

Dried, where you add boiling water to the packet and let it soak; these are more properly known as Accelerated Freeze Dried, or AFD

Those where you boil a foil & plastic pouch, these are variously known as Wet Meals, Ready To Eat, Meals Ready To Eat, or their initials - RTE or MRE. As they contain the full water content they will be heavier than AFD

Their disadvantage is that both of them are expensive

For something cheaper and fairly quick & easy to cook & eat there are -

Canned food;
Pasta 'n' Sauce from various manufacturers; can extend these by adding, for example, a small can of tuna; about 1/2 a horseshoe shaped smoked pork sausage, chopped up
Make up your own meals from pasta, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), Savoury Rice, Beanfeast & similar products
Dried soup - could make a meal from dried soup plus oatcakes & cheese
Just browse round a big supermarket or a couple of bargain/discount stores and use your imagination
Vac packed frankfurter sausages; either in a sandwich, or make up instant noodles and chop them into it. This is possibly the quickest, easiest, and cheapest backpacking meal you can think of
Vesta dried meals are still on the market; cheaper, but take longer to cook
Vacuum packed bacon lasts reasonably well, and is easier to cook than sausages or burgers; canned Spam or Bacon Grill
Another alternative is soup, oatcakes & cheese, then stewed dried fruit; you could even add one of the many instant custard things
Instant mash and bacon or corned beef or canned bacon grill

To cook dried pasta type meals, you don't need to simmer all the time. Bring it to boil; let it soak for about 1/2 an hour or longer; then boil it up again The pan should have a lid to do this, both to conserve heat and keep the flies out. You could use a pot cosy as well, or drape it with your spare jersey. You will find that as you gain experience this just becomes a part of the routine

Wet meals and canned food can, if necessary, be eaten cold, as it is cooked & sterilised as part of the manufacturing process. Cold Irish Stew might not be very appetising, but it won't do you any harm

You can take semi-fresh or canned for the first night or two, then all dried after that

You will see that most hiking food is junk. When you're hiking you're more interested in bulk & stodge than fine dining & quality; but remember, you don't have to live off it forever

I never fry when I'm backpacking, but if you want to, get a small non-stick frying pan, either on its own or part of a set

Foe washing I use a small foam/scourer pad. I don't take washing up liquid, I just rub it on my bar of ordinary toilet soap - get some that's not too highly perfumed - cheap supermarket brand is as good as any
Like I said, I don't fry so that is all the soap I need

If you're wild camping you will be near a water source anyway. put a small amount of water into the pan, clean it, then empty it in some rough vegetation well out of the way. Do not pour it back into the stream!
If the stream water has been clean enough to drink, perhaps with tablets or filtration, it will be clean enough for washing. If you're bothered, do all the cleaning with that water, then rinse it with a very small amount of drinking water

If you're on a campsite there will be water available and usually a sink

Have a browse round YouTube for backpacking food, there are loads of videos, but remember that a lot of them are American; still it all helps to give you an idea
« Last Edit: 13:05:26, 19/04/19 by zuludog »

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #35 on: 15:54:51, 19/04/19 »
Some good info in there zuludog thanks.

alan de enfield

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #36 on: 16:21:51, 19/04/19 »

Don't know if its of any interest as another alternative - I have an 'adapter' which allows any 'cartridge' mounted stove (screw on the top) to be used as a 'low - remote' stove (keeps it out if the wind and is more stable & allows a low (lightweight) wind shield to be used. Adds another 110 grams to the 'cooking set up' but allows the use of a 67gram windshield (6" high) in lieu of the 150 gram (10" high) wind shield








 
« Last Edit: 16:39:10, 19/04/19 by alan de enfield »

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #37 on: 16:34:33, 19/04/19 »
Don't know if its of any interest as another alternative - I have an 'adapter' which allows any 'cartridge' mounted stove (screw on the top) to be used as a 'low - remote' stove

It would have been of interest but it's too late now I already bought the MSR WindPro II

richardh1905

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #38 on: 19:37:17, 19/04/19 »
For 'no cook' foods consider oatcakes - packed with calories and great for conveying large quantities of 'squirty cheese' or other such delicacies to the mouth. A 200g pack of Orkney oatcakes contains a massive 900 calories (other oatcakes are available).

Stoats porridge bars are great for a 'no cook' breakfast, about 225 calories a bar. I love them - great for eating whilst walking too.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

Owen

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #39 on: 20:36:58, 19/04/19 »
Pasta n Sauce - defy the laws of Physics, how can they get ten spoonfuls of salt into one spoonful of mush? totally disgusting.


Vesta meals haven't seen these in years, I thought the people who made them had been shot for crimes against humanity.


If you're only going away for one or two nights then there are loads of one pot type meal ideas here:-


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moveable-Feasts-What-great-outdoors/dp/1852845341/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1MT811UQIZ8W9&keywords=a+moveable+feast&qid=1555701665&s=gateway&sprefix=moveable%2Caps%2C692&sr=8-4


If you're going on a trip where you pass through towns or villages along the way these type meals are probably the best solution.
For longer trips away from civilization then Freeze Dry meals are I afraid the only way you can keep the weight down to manageable levels.


P.S. The book is one of the few outdoor recipe books actually written in English, as opposed to American. 

alan de enfield

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #40 on: 20:43:34, 19/04/19 »

Vesta meals haven't seen these in years, I thought the people who made them had been shot for crimes against humanity.



Still available - saw some in a local 'discount shop' (like a £1 shop but a bit more upmarket).
Bought a couple of the  Beef Curry's - just for 'old times sake'.


Yet to try them.

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #41 on: 20:44:52, 19/04/19 »
Thanks Owen. I like the Vesta Chow Mein as it goes! Hadn't thought of Vesta they take a good while to cook though, expensive gas consumption.

ASDA used to do some cheap dehydrated soya meals I liked but looking on their website I don't think they do them anymore.

I'll get a copy of the book.

ninthace

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #42 on: 21:14:18, 19/04/19 »
I learned to cook with Vesta meals.  Mum and Dad used to go away camping for the weekend and left me packets of Vesta to live on.  I became a master of rendering them palatable by raiding the larder for additives.
Solvitur Ambulando

astaman

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #43 on: 21:36:33, 19/04/19 »
For 'no cook' foods consider oatcakes - packed with calories and great for conveying large quantities of 'squirty cheese' or other such delicacies to the mouth. A 200g pack of Orkney oatcakes contains a massive 900 calories (other oatcakes are available).


Couldn't agree more. Oatcakes and Primula cheese make a great lunch. Can be eaten on the hoof or in a quick shelter from the rain.


250 grams oatmeal (not Porridge oats)
40 grams butter or lard
teaspoon of salt
generous twist of black pepper
100 ml hot water


Preheat oven to 190 degrees fan. Add salt and pepper to oatmeal in a bowl. Melt the fat in microwave and mix with oatmeal. Add the hot water and mix together. Sprinkle in more oatmeal to get to a stiff texture. Allow to cool slightly then roll out to around 1/4 thick (thicker if you like) and form into a rectangle. Push the mixture together and press down until it firmly binds together and doesn't crumble apart. Cut into 12 oatcakes. Pick them up with a metal fish slice (metal edge helps prevent them from breaking up) and place on a baking tray. Bake near the top of oven for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack - eat on the hill.


Just like my Whalsay Granny taught me.

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: Stove and compact pot
« Reply #44 on: 22:15:12, 19/04/19 »
For proper oatcakes you need to use the Oatmeal of Alford - stoneground Scottish oats about a mile away.

 

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