Very low heat cooking - trangia

[walkingthrupuddles]

Hi,

I currently have a conventional gas burner stove (optima crux I think). The problem is that because I like to cook my rice by the absorption method which requires very low heat, I have to constantly bend over whilst sitting and look under my pot to monitor the flame to make sure it isn't going out. I am also required to constantly keep turning the flame up a bit as it is always just about to go out. I have been told by store staff that this is due to the following: as the fuel burns, the gas pressure in the bottle gets reduced therefore on a low heat you will notice that you have to keep turning the gas up a bit to compensate for the loss in pressure. I think this phenomena is particularly noticable when cooking on a very low heat.

I was wondering if a trangia can maintain a constant flame at a very low heat ie. could I set the flame to the desired intensity (very low) and then forget about it while the rice cooks for 15min? Wind is also a problem when cooking on a conventional gas stove at very low heat. Would a trangia be immune to wind when cooking on a very low heat?

Please help me.

[Mark F]

Rather than trying to maintain a very low heat it may be better to use a pot cosy to keep the pot hot while the rice absorbs the liquid. This is the standard method for most meals that require time to re-hydrate. They are easy to make yourself and you will save a heap of fuel in not having to keep the stove alight. Bring water and rice to the boil. Put the pot in the cosy and turn off the stove - 15 minutes later cooked rice.

[ofuros]

Echoing what Mark F said..bring water + rice to the boil & stick it in a cosy, in the meantime go off & take some pics, have a swim,
write in your journal, listen to the insect/bird chorus or watch the sunset turn red while sipping on your martini.. shaken not stirred of course.

[Gadgetgeek]

In my limited trangia experience, getting an accurate simmer temp is kinda tough. plus monitoring that it hasn't gone out is a pain. Trangias are pretty good in wind, but not immune, and the more you turn it down, the worse it will be.
cozy it, and you won't have to worry about it. an unattended trangia is a pretty big hazard.

[icefest]

If you're still hot (excuse the pun)on using a proper stove, have you considered using a gas cooker. It is the closest to your crux and quite cheap too. It's also much safer

[Orion]

And gas cookers simmer so well that a cozy probably won't save you any weight.

[Mark F]

Orion and icefest - Best read the first line of the original post. The op currently has an Optimus Crux gas stove. The only useful upgrade would be to a SOTO gas stove with a pressure regulator. This keeps the gas pressure constant and so alleviates the tendency for the pressure to drop and the stove go out while simmering.

[Strider]

The Optimus Crux IS a gas stove.

[icefest]

Thanks Mark (and Strider), I missed that. I saw bottle and thought the crux was the mixed fuel burner that burns shellite too.

[Franco]

Another way that is to use a tea light .
Yes one of those 9 hour (whatever) candle.
Bring your rice to boil, keep going for a minute or two , in the meantime light the candle and then transfer the pot on top of the candle.
Yes you need a stand for that , needs about 1" clearance between the candle and the pot.
It will not keep boiling just keeping some heat there.
You could also put an inverted cozy on top of the pot if stirring is not required.
You can also make "tea light" burners that burn metho.

my Ion stove plus stand is 20g. takes about 15 minutes to burn 1 oz of metho.
Will take longer and burn cooler with fewer holes
Anyway , something cheap and easy to try at home.

[Moondog55]

I was going to suggest Esbit tablets but Francos tealight solution is cheaper and easier

[peregrinator]

I was going to suggest Esbit tablets but Francos tealight solution is cheaper and easier

. . . and inventive and elegant and saves me having to look up what an Esbit tablet is.

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

as mentioned before, bring to boil, wrap in your beanie/down jacket/towel or anything else that will help it to retain heat.
Go off and enjoy yourself or prepare rest of your meal.
This also works for quinoa, couscous, pasta (more water required), potatoes or anything else requiring slow simmering.
I use this method all the time at home, so practice there before your next hike.
Saves fuel and you will never ever burn rice to the bottom of your pot, so saves time and effort in clean up.

[Franco]

Esbit was the first thing that came to mind, then I remembered that i don't like the smell..

[north-north-west]

Make a cosy and see if it works properly - you'll only waste a few dollars and minutes if it doesn't turn out to be workable, although I'd be stunned if so.
I got turned on to the cosy method here and have been using it for a few years now. It works wonderfully and adds only minimal bulk and weight to the pack, which ends up lighter overall due to the saving in fuel use.

[walkingthrupuddles]

Thanks to everyone who posted here it has been very informative. Coincidentally I actually have the Optimus Terra cookset which comes with a foam cosy but I never knew you could use it to the effect that the rice would continue to absorb water in it once removed from the heat. I will definitely try this. Thanks all.

[walkingthrupuddles]

Mark F, Would that be the SOTO "Micro Regulator Stove" that you are talking about? I sometimes cook pancakes for breakfast and I'm thinking that this stove would be good for that as they need to be cooked at a pretty low heat. I did go out and purchase a Trangia however I'm finding it too slow. PS Sorry for delay in reply but must have had my notification preference turned off.

[neilmny]

............... getting an accurate simmer temp is kinda tough. plus monitoring that it hasn't gone out is a pain. Trangias are pretty good in wind, but not immune, and the more you turn it down, the worse it will be...............

X2

[Mark F]

SOTO make a couple of models with a pressure regulator and I think there are a couple of others on the market. The benefit of the regulator is that it will keep the heat output constant rather than slowly decrease as a canister cools or increase as the canister warms up. Don't fall for the claims that the regulator allows the stove to perform better at cold temperatures - a common myth.

[Orion]

I wonder about the wisdom of the gear shop guys. It's true that pressure drops over time but when I've tried to perform a really low simmer with my SnowPeak Gigapower gas stove the problem I've had is that the valve simply would not adjust that finely.

At home I tested my Snowpeak stove, turned as low as I could turn it and still maintain a flame. It used 0.41g of fuel in one minute.

More recently I purchased another gas stove, one that has a much better valve. Tested it at it's lowest stable setting it used only 0.07 g/min.

So it might be worth trying out other stoves.

[whynotwalk]

+1 for the pot cosy method.

Here's a link to an earlier post about how to make a simple one. http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=7656&p=103185&hilit=pot+cosy#p103185

cheers

Peter