Equipment |
Cookware/cooking |
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Equipment cookware/cooking
Four questions before you decide to purchase a cookware: Where do you plan a trip? For how long? Just boiling water alone or cook a meal? How many people will share a stove?
Gas stove is a choice when we have constant access to purchase the gas canisters. It's convenient and easy. From time to time we’re buying a new canister and cook. Cons – it can’t be transported by plane, doesn’t work well at low temperatures, performance decreases with the wind, when canister is used we need to carry an empty one as it can’t be re-filled (not ecological). Depending on the owner's appetite, 230 gram propane-butane (20/80%) canister should be enough for 3-5 days. It’s relatively cheap and lightweight. However, their weight starts to cumulating if the hike is more than a few days, or if is used by a larger group of people – carrying ten gas canisters doesn’t really make sense. Then the fuel stove will be the lighter option.
Liquid fuel stove is a choice if we go for a long hike, in remote or cold places with no access to purchase gas canisters. The fuel we can buy almost anywhere. For some people operating such a stove might be a problem, but it isn’t as complicated as it looks. Besides a few tricks when starting up, you must also clean the stove. This stove works well in all conditions, altitude and at low temperatures.
Fuel (called differently in different countries):
White gas/coleman fuel/shellite is the cleanest burning fuel, means the easiest to clean the stove after use. Unfortunately, difficult to find in petrol stations.
Kerosene/paraffin burns even hotter than shellite, though dirtier.
Unleaded petrol or diesel can also be used in the stove, but then cleaning is required daily.
The world leader is company called MSR. There are plenty of stoves models to choose from. The models Dragonfly and XGK EX (€170) can operate on all types of fuel and for me this is the most important fact. However, they aren’t the lightest - about 500 grams. On one 600ml bottle we can boil from 30 up to 38 litres of water (depending on the fuel type and conditions). They are noisy, but fast.
Alcohol stove. We will get fuel for this stove even in the supermarket. It runs on methylated or ethylated alcohol (called differently like denaturant, solvent, spirit). Such a stove is very simple - there is nothing to break. It’s very quiet, but also very slow and without the possibility of flame regulation. This is my choice for 3-season trekking. I bought a model Mini Atomic, homemade from USA, and it works! Practically it weighs less than air ;) Price €14. I also need a pot stand. 600ml of alcohol will boil about 15 litres of water. Cons - this stove doesn’t work well at high altitudes or in the cold weather, it's hard to cook a meal for more than two people.
For each stove you need a lighter or matches. Stoves often have spark starter, but it can be easily blocked, so we need a backup anyway.
Very useful is a windshield. Roll-up kitchen aluminum foil might be enough.
To bring the water to a boil quicker, use the lid, which also can serve as a plate.
From what material our pot should be made? Stainless steel is indestructible, but too heavy. Aluminum is cheap and quickly heats up, but also quickly gives warm out (which makes difficult to drink out of it, because it burns our lips). If you cook a meal, the heat spreads evenly, doesn’t burn easily as it could in a titanium pot. Titanium pots are lighter and you can also buy with a non-stick coating. It doesn’t distribute heat evenly over the surface, but burns more in the spot directly under the flame. Heats up slightly slower than aluminum, but doesn’t burn your lips. It is quite expensive (from €30 per 900ml of non-stick pot).
The size of the pot/cup depends on your needs. Are we cooking dinner or just boiling the water for dehydrated food? Are we alone or in a group? When I just pour the water to dehydrated food, 600ml cup is big enough for me (not necessarily non-stick coating, as I need just boil the water). I need a spoon, titanium one weight 8 grams. I don’t need a fork or knife.