Canister stove + pot recommendations?

[Tintin]

Damn those titanium pots are expensive! But should be worth it over time.

Could you fit two 230g gas canisters (or perhaps one 230g and one 100g) plus a FMS-117t into a 1300ml pot and close the lid?

I think 1300ml is just right to boil water for 2 dehydrated meals (500ml) and 2 teas/coffees (600ml?). Is that reasonable?

EDIT: sorry I just saw the dimensions of the gas canisters compared with a 1300ml pot. Two will not fit!

[Strider]

500+500+600 = 1600ml

Boil water for meals first. While they are rehydrating, make your cuppas. A 1L pot should be big enough.

[stry]

A lot depends on how much one eats. I normally have a single serve Back Country with a few bits and pieces added. This is fine in an MSR Titan (850?) Also works, with less lee way, in a 650 Toaks. Anything less than 650 would not work for me.

A double serve Back Country is doable, but can get messy, in the Titan. Someone with higher fuel needs than me would probably be better off with something around one litre. Yes - I do know people who individually eat a double serve Back Country, plus extras, for their evening meal.

This yet another area where becoming obsessively focused on saving weight can significantly diminish function. No use saving 50 grams if you can't cook your necessary portion sizes in the result.

Cheap stainless, not laminated with something more conductive, is the least efficient of everything that I have used. Used two to three time more fuel to get a boil with close to identical bottom surface areas exposed to the flame. Ti should also be bad, but mine was equivalent to aluminium, perhaps because the Ti is so thin. Ti is very easy to have food catch in, and very hard to clean said caught food off. I still like Ti.

[kitty]

Also depends on the food you are eating. If you are using the backcountry meals where the food rehydrates in the pouch then 1 pot should be ok, in the 1L to 1.3L range, in order to make dinner plus tea/coffee. I dont use backcountry meals, I make my own dehydrated meals, so I use 2 pots for 2 people plus 1 pot cosy for the bigger pot like this...add dehydrated food to bigger (1L) pot and boil for a bit, take pot off stove and put it in pot cosy and let sit for 0.5-1hr to rehydrate. Once rehydrated take pot out of cosy and put it back on stove for final boil and then serve. Whilst waiting for food to rehydrate we might want a cup of tea or two, or might want to boil some water to make couscous separately, hence second smaller pot. Could acheive the same with 1 pot + 1 kettle or 1 pot + mugs that can be put on a stove. I use a double wall mug so I cannot put it on a stove. Warning: I dont go ultralight

[stry]

Oops - sorry Kitty, I didn't explain properly.

I rehydrate/cook in the pot, then I am not carrying greasy used pouches around until trips end. Easy to clean the pot by making a hot drink in it. So I need apot big enough to hold the dehi food AND the appropriate amount of water. To me, the meals taste a little better and seem more like food if they are cooked up a bit as well as being rehydrated.

Certainly providing for two people allows a lot more flexibility without a corresponding weight penalty.

[Tintin]

Does anyone have an experience with these pots? On sale for $30 at Anaconda and it's made out of hard anodised aluminium and packs up to 300g. I would leave the pan at home so it would be slightly lighter (not sure how much though). What are people's experience with aluminium compared to the preferred titanium?

Attachments

[corvus]

Hard Al is better to "cook in" Ti is good to boil water and b4 you buy check out this selection.
http://www.aliexpress.com/lightweight-c ... views.html

[RonK]

I rehydrate/cook in the pot, then I am not carrying greasy used pouches around until trips end. Easy to clean the pot by making a hot drink in it. So I need apot big enough to hold the dehi food AND the appropriate amount of water. To me, the meals taste a little better and seem more like food if they are cooked up a bit as well as being rehydrated.

If you use Back Country then this is the best way to prepare it - and it definitely seems more palatable when it is thoroughly hydrated in a pot.

My current kit consists of a Vargo Bot:
+ + + +

It all nests together nicely along with a 110g canister.

The Bot can be used to carry extra water if necessary.

[Mark F]

Hard anodised is definitely the best way to go if going aluminium - otherwise Ti. As mentioned earlier Ti is great for light weight when boiling water and bring-to-the-boil-and-put-in-a-cozy-to-fully-rehydrate but not for more regular cooking where thing will tend to burn onto the bottom. Whatever way you go, do consider the use of a cozy. The set you posted seems to be reasonably priced and will do what you require. A well customised Ti set might look like this and weigh 250 grams - 900ml pot, lid, remote stove with preheat tube, lighter, 600ml bowl (base of Jalna yoghurt pot - fits perfectly over 230g canister), spoon and knife. All that is missing is the windscreen (add 25 grams for 275g). Replace the stove with a BRS-3000 and it drops to 215 grams).

cooking set

[Tintin]

Is a cozy necessary if you're just boiling water for a backcountry-esque dehydrated meal? You would think the meal would still be warm for a while after re-hydrating for 10 minutes.

[Mark F]

Many freeze dried meals and even more so, home dehydrated meals, are better with extended soaking - think 20 minutes rather than 10. It also applies to all the carbohydrates such as rice, pasta etc that you may start to use once the cost and taste of many freeze dried foods have made you reconsider your options. The cozy means that the soaking takes place at much higher temperatures (especially towards the end of the time period) improving the rehydration. The alternative is to use more fuel on occasions to simmer foods.

Another benefit of a cozy is that you can cook two pot dishes. Cook the first and insert into the cozy. If you only have one pot then transfer the contents to a bowl which is placed in the cozy. Then cook the second part. The first will still be hot when the second part of the meal is ready. Cozies are cheap to make, light and allow a greater variety of meals to be prepared.

[north-north-west]

Many freeze dried meals and even more so, home dehydrated meals, are better with extended soaking - think 20 minutes rather than 10. It also applies to all the carbohydrates such as rice, pasta etc that you may start to use once the cost and taste of many freeze dried foods have made you reconsider your options. The cozy means that the soaking takes place at much higher temperatures (especially towards the end of the time period) improving the rehydration. The alternative is to use more fuel on occasions to simmer foods.

This.
Backcountry is the worst of the worst, but it does taste better with extended rehydration, yet I've always found that it cools down very quickly in the pouches (especially if you're at any sort of altitude). I add the food to the hot water in the pot just before it boils, then turn off the gas as soon as it does boil and chuck the pot in the cozy. Go and take photos or finish organising my campsite or whatever for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour - simple, and far more time- and fuel-efficient.
Once got a bit involved with the camera and didn't get back to the food for around 90 minutes. It was still hot. The weight gain is minimal for a massive increase in convenience.

[skibug]

RonK wrote:

"I've had issues getting an MSR Pocket Rocket to burn from MSR canisters even inside the huts on the OLT."

I can only assume there was an equipment problem explaining this. As I've said, temps in Australia below -5 are uncommon, even at 2000 metres, so below 1500 metres in Tassie, inside a hut, I would be very surprised that you couldn't produce a useable flame.

In the eighties I did a lot of snow camping in tents with the old camping gaz stoves, which were pure butane, and don't recall particular problems.

See:
http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com ... stove.html

for more discussion about low temperature stove use and strategies.

Skibug.

[RonK]

RonK wrote:

"I've had issues getting an MSR Pocket Rocket to burn from MSR canisters even inside the huts on the OLT."

I can only assume there was an equipment problem explaining this.

That would be an incorrect assumption.

[Happy Pirate]

A few years ago I bought a < $10 canister burner from ebay. It's been going strong for years and probably came from an MSR factory in china. Weight is about 100 grams.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Portable-Stainless-Steel-Camping-Stove-Outdoor-Picnic-Cookout-Mini-Gas-Burner-/280849981736?hash=item4163f6a128:g:0~YAAOSwq5lTml3c

For cook pots also look at ebay - I bought this one as a 1 person / small 2 person (about 900 ml)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Outdoor-Camping-Backpacking-Cooking-Picnic-Cookware-Cup-Bowl-Pot-Dishcloth-Set-/381145240813?hash=item58be06d4ed

Ditched the accs but the weight reduction is also in not carrying billy lifters. Pot & lid is 180 grams.

So it doesn't have to be over-priced brand names (I know the arguments for them) but these babies work just as well.
Biggest issue is the shipping times....
Steve