Pot Cosy Cooking.

[John Sheridan]

I just stumbled onto this method of cooking and it sounds too good to be true, now you can cook pasta,rice and all your freeze dried and deyhydrated meals and all you have to to is get the water to a boil stop and put the pot in a cosy and 5,10,15,20 minutes depending on the meal and your food will be cooked

This would I think save a massive amount of fuel, well would leave me plenty to fry my fish fillets


I am going to do some tests with my stove and see if I can do this, I think Ill start with some thin spaghetti first and then my Favourite, bow ties, they are chucky more of a meal.

Will have to make the cosy first my my Trangia Mini pot also have to make some deyhydrated sause which from what I have seen is pretty easy with a stove.

Anyone here done some pot cosy cooking.


Cheers.

[photohiker]

I use one for Dehydrated meals. Works a charm. Haven't tried cooking anything else with it though.

Even after 10+ minutes, the food is still piping hot.

[Son of a Beach]

Anyone tried it in sub-zero temperatures in a strong wind?
(although I guess a tent vestibule would remove some of the wind-factor, and a well sealed cosy should resist the rest).

[Turfa]

This is the method I used for 4 months on the Appalachian Trail. Works great with pasta, noodles etc. great weight saver as you can be very efficient with fuel. I used a small plastic cup to measure fuel & water to get it accurate for each meal.

Made my pot cosy out of an old closed cell foam pad glued with SeamGrip & snug fitting foam lid. I would line the cosy with a freezer bag before putting in the food. The cosy was sized so my cooking pot fit snugly inside when carrying in my pack. Stove, lighter & freezer bags fit inside the pot.

Best part of this system was no washing up ! only had water in my cooking pot & the freezer bag was just put in my trash bag (large Ziplock). I used a Brasslite stove, a Snowpeak 850ml Ti pot & a kitchen foil windscreen. This worked well in winter (snow & wind). I did use a small square of fibreboard under the stove to insulate it from the ground & help the metho get hot for efficient stove operation..

[andrewbish]

Thanks for bringing this up, John - really useful tool.

After reading your post I found this site with instructions on how to make one using a car sunshade & duct tape. Made a stop at Target to buy the sunshade ($9) on Friday night then spent an hour on Saturday morning assembling it before taking it with me to Mt St Gwinear (Vic), where I was spending a night in the snow.

I used it in the evening for my dehydrated meal and then in the morning for my coffee. Worked a treat - both were still nice and hot after several minutes! You can see it in action here:

Pot cosy in action

[garyp]

G'day,

I've used a cosy a few times over the last couple of years. Even a five day trip to Willson's Prom. Made mine using an old foam sleeping mat and cut up a $5.00 space blanket, mylar thingy to line the inside and out of the cosy. Use one of those cheap stanless steel "luchbox" pot things from Rays. Make sure you construct your cosy to fit the pot well. When using this system I use a coke can, pressurised and unpressurised, or cat stove (like the cat stove, really robust and extra extra simple to use and make). Pot, stove, pot stand and matches all fit into the cosy. Much smaller than a Trangia (and I reckon more efficient).

One thing I would definitely recommend is to use Glad microwave ziplock bags as these can cope happily with the heat of boiling water. I'm wary of the ordinary Glad ziplocks.

Cheers

Gary.

[ULWalkingPhil]

I want to make some Pot Cosy's, Does anyone know where you can purchase Reflectix from?

[Marwood]

You can find small-ish rolls for sale locally on eBay (reflective bubble wrap insulation). Or as previously mentioned, by a cheap car sunshade, they're made of the same material.

[garyp]

Simply grab hold of an old blue (or green) foam sleeping and a cheap ($5 to $6) emergency "space blanket". Cut everything to size and use gaffer tape to hold everything together.

With one mat and a space blanket you should be able to make cossies for all sorts of pots and cups.

Cheers

Gary

[ULWalkingPhil]

I made myself a pot cosy today.

[Orion]

I've considered making one of these for years. Laziness has been the prime reason I have not yet done it, but there is another nagging concern as well:

Specifically, how much fuel does a cozy save? Does it weigh less than that saved fuel? How much?

Obviously this will depend on the type and amount of cooking and the duration of the trip.


Has anyone done this analysis for their own cooking?

[Maelgwn]

I've considered making one of these for years. Laziness has been the prime reason I have not yet done it, but there is another nagging concern as well:

Specifically, how much fuel does a cozy save? Does it weigh less than that saved fuel? How much?

Obviously this will depend on the type and amount of cooking and the duration of the trip.


Has anyone done this analysis for their own cooking?

Can't really answer that question but I suspect there are too many variables to know for sure. It would only save significant fuel if you can let items sit instead of simmering things. If you don't simmer much (e.g. pasta, maybe porridge) then it won't really save you anything, unless you have a drama with cold food.

Weight would be less than 50g.

[ULWalkingPhil]

The pot cosy I made today weighs 29 grams.

[Bronski]

The pot cosy I made today weighs 29 grams.

Nice job Phillisart! What's the shiny tape? Where do Ii get that?

[ULWalkingPhil]

The pot cosy I made today weighs 29 grams.

Nice job Phillisart! What's the shiny tape? Where do Ii get that?

The silver tape is insulation tape from Bunnings.

[Bronski]

Fabulous, Thanks!

[Tony]

Specifically, how much fuel does a cozy save? Does it weigh less than that saved fuel? How much?

Obviously this will depend on the type and amount of cooking and the duration of the trip.


Has anyone done this analysis for their own cooking?

I have read some reports which say that pot cosy's are weight efficient, especially with alcohol stoves.

Tony

[Orion]

I have read some reports which say that pot cosy's are weight efficient, especially with alcohol stoves.

Tony

It makes sense that it would have greatest potential value for a stove where the fuel is heavy.
It would also probably be more useful in the cold of winter than in high summer and of course
better for foods that require 10 or more minutes of simmering.

The pot cosy I made today weighs 29 grams.

That's very roughly the weight of 1 person-day of fuel (gas), in my experience.
Do you have a guess as to how much fuel weight you would save using it on a typical trip?

[ULWalkingPhil]

The pot cosy I made today weighs 29 grams.

That's very roughly the weight of 1 person-day of fuel (gas), in my experience.
Do you have a guess as to how much fuel weight you would save using it on a typical trip?

No, not at this stage, but I think it will be a lot more than 29 grams of fuel, I will save.

My plans are to start dehydrating my own meals.
When I arrive to camp each day, it will be a simple task for me to put my dehydrated meal into pot, cover the meal in pot with water than bring it to the boil with my Kovea Supalite stove, than take of stove and place in pot cozy to complete the cooking.

[Orion]

I understand the motivation. Sometimes home dehydrated meals take a long time to soften up adequately. I often turn off the stove and let things just sit for a while and then turn the stove back on to warm the food back up for serving. What I've never figured out is if I use more fuel this way then if I just simmered the whole time. Simmering uses fuel quite slowly.

How slowly? I measured the weight of a canister before and after running my stove (Snowpeak Gigapower) on "simmer" for 60 seconds. It wasn't the absolute lowest heat setting but pretty close. I used 0.41 grams of fuel in that minute. So it would take 70 minutes to burn through 29 grams of fuel at that rate.

Another consideration is average weight for the trip. Since fuel weight reduces over time the average weight is going to be roughly half the fuel weight, whereas the average cozy weight equals the weight of the cozy. So in terms of average weight for the trip I'd need to simmer for about 140 minutes to break even with respect to carrying a cozy. I might manage this if I was out for a week or more and all of my food was difficult to cook. In other words, for me it would be rare that it would be worth it. I'm also making the assumption that the 29 gram cozy insulates so well that no extra heat ever needs to be applied.

One possible exception is if I was right on the border of needing an additional canister. If carrying a cozy would allow me to leave that extra canister at home it would be well worth the weight. Unfortunately I am usually unable to calculate my fuel needs that precisely.

The numbers are just not that promising which is too bad because I really like the idea of a cozy. Convince me that I'm wrong!

[Tony]

I understand the motivation. Sometimes home dehydrated meals take a long time to soften up adequately. I often turn off the stove and let things just sit for a while and then turn the stove back on to warm the food back up for serving. What I've never figured out is if I use more fuel this way then if I just simmered the whole time. Simmering uses fuel quite slowly.

How slowly? I measured the weight of a canister before and after running my stove (Snowpeak Gigapower) on "simmer" for 60 seconds. It wasn't the absolute lowest heat setting but pretty close. I used 0.41 grams of fuel in that minute. So it would take 70 minutes to burn through 29 grams of fuel at that rate.

Another consideration is average weight for the trip. Since fuel weight reduces over time the average weight is going to be roughly half the fuel weight, whereas the average cozy weight equals the weight of the cozy. So in terms of average weight for the trip I'd need to simmer for about 140 minutes to break even with respect to carrying a cozy. I might manage this if I was out for a week or more and all of my food was difficult to cook. In other words, for me it would be rare that it would be worth it.

One possible exception is if I was right on the border of needing an additional canister. If carrying a cozy would allow me to leave that extra canister at home it would be well worth the weight. Unfortunately I am usually unable to calculate my fuel needs that precisely.

The numbers are just not that promising which is too bad because I really like the idea of a cozy. Convince me that I'm wrong!

Hi Orion,

Thanks for those figures, I have run similar tests with similar results, but I always use more fuel in the field than on my test bench.

Tony

[Orion]

I always use more fuel in the field than on my test bench.

No doubt I do too, but when I simmer outdoors it's at the lowest setting where I can maintain a flame. So I think the "lab" number is applicable here.

[Bronski]

I like the pot cosy idea. I'm going to make mine today. Honestly, I aim for lightweight, but at 29g (no-one feels this weight in a full pack, do they?) it's a non issue for me. If I use less fuel (which is beneficial on a number of points) and I can eat from my pot without aiming to scoff it down before it's cold, then it's well worth it.

[mattmacman]

And you can put your pot on you lap! ^

[garyp]

And you can put your pot on you lap! ^

Yes, absolutely. The cosy (at least mine) is a great insulator. I've had food stay "eating warm" for up to 30 minutes. With a DIY stove set up I think cosies are essential. I can see no reason not to use them with any other cooking set up. They just make good sense.

Cheers

Gary

[mattmacman]

And you can put your pot on you lap! ^

Yes, absolutely. The cossy (at least mine) is a great insulator. I've had food stay "eating warm" for up to 30 minutes. With a DIY stove set up I think cossies are essential. I can see no reason not to use them with any other cooking set up. They just make good sense.

Cheers

Gary

Agreed! I found on my first hike (i learnt HEAPS) that when the food was warm the pot was too hot to put on lap (using a handle is just annoying) and when it cooled down the food was COOOOLLLLD!

[ULWalkingPhil]

Now that I have made my Pot Cosy, and I own a Dehydrator, I picked up a dehydrator a few months back from Aldi for apx $40.00 with 3 trays and adjustable temps. It's about time I start using all this gear and save some money and to have home cooked meals on my overnight hikes.

Those Backcountry meals are way to expensive and half of them taste like crap.

Cooked up a Beef stew yesterday with egg noodles included, more like a beef stroganoff without the cream.
For the stew I used, Premium Beef Mince from the local butchers, Onions, Peas, mushroom, egg noodles and seasoning to taste.
The mince I browned first than put meat in a sieve and using hot water from the tap rinsed the meat, this is to wash out all the fat. Fat don't dehydrate well. Added all the ingredients together with Beef Stock than at the last moment added the egg noodles and some Mushroom Sauce.

I cooked enough to make up 6 servings of dehydrated meal,
Dehydrated at 70 degrees celcius for 12 hours, than weighed out in equal proportions and placed the dehydrated meal into ziplock bag.

At camp, this is where the pot cosy comes in handy.
Place meal in pot, cover meal in pot with water till it just covers the meal, than bring to the boil, take the pot of the stove and place into pot cosy wait apx 20 minutes and your meal is ready.

EDIT by Moderator. Subsequent discussion on Dehydrated food has been moved to the Dehydrated topic, HERE.

[tasadam]

OK, I'm impressed, and I look forward to trying this out. Getting many stoves to simmer, particularly Shellite stoves, is not an easy task.
The lightest weight Shellite stove I have is the Simmerlite, which of course, doesn't simmer very well. It probably would if your pot was big enough, but a one litre pot and it's still a rolling boil.
Practically everything I need revolves around just boiling water anyway.
Has anyone tried making one of these cosy's that fit the Back Country two serve meals? A fold down flap and small piece of velcro would work well perhaps.

And perhaps, after viewing the photos of the excellent sewing skills from those far superior to me in that task, I might ask whether there is anyone willing to do a bit of sewing for me, for suitable negotiated remuneration?
I'm after one to fit my billy (so I'd need to get it to you for sizing), and one for the back country meal bags. Yes, I know, a boring diet in the bush for me... I don't mind most of them. But that's another discussion.
Mmmm I'll make a Wanted post.

[Marwood]

On a recent trip we were cooking for three, so our usual cosy and billy setup was too small. Solution was to use a bubble-wrap postal envelope as a cosy around our ziploc bag of home-made dehydrated chilli. Worked a treat. So just get a suitable bubble-wrap envelope for the size of the Backcountry pouches. Instant cosy - no sewing or taping needed.

[Bluegum Mic]

Marwood your a legend. I've wanted a reusable version of backcountry style bag and your idea is perfect. Make a reflectix outer bag n slide the ziplock in. I've got all the materials here ready to rock and roll