|
Post by dustin on Apr 17, 2024 14:52:39 GMT -8
I just want to try cooking fresh food because the bags of dehydrated meals do bad things to my stomach sometimes. Besides, I don't mind taking the time. Last time out, I did a little frying and steam-baking in a Vargo bot 700 which worked, but was not ideal. I burned peppers in the lid and the giant blueberry muffin took 25 minutes and was gooey in the middle.
Since I need to use a canister stove here in CO, I want to use my remote canister which simmers pretty well and I can put a screen around the whole pot for baking. This necessitates a wide pot, which is also nicer for sautéing and frying. The widest pots I have are a Vargo Sierra 750 and the Trangia mini (both 6"). Leaning toward the Trangia kit because the lid/skillet is non-stick, but I worry about the Trangia pot because it's raw aluminum and I'm not sure it's engineered for the heat a canister stove can dish out.
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
|
Post by sarbar on Apr 17, 2024 15:42:38 GMT -8
Dehydrated meals keep me warm overnight, but at the cost of gastric distress. 1 packet of olive oil per dehydrated meal. And drink with every meal. Dehydrated veggies are the root of it. Especially at altitude.
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
|
Post by sarbar on Apr 17, 2024 15:44:22 GMT -8
She freeze-dries chickens. Live chickens. It's quite genius, actually. 40-50 year shelf life. Fresh eggs & nuggets any time she needs, even in nuclear winter. Keep it up and I'll be mailing you a mylar pouch of freeze-dried beets. Grown in my chickens' poop. Just you wait buddy!
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
|
Post by sarbar on Apr 17, 2024 15:47:14 GMT -8
PS: I cook on HAA (hard anodized aluminum) in the wild. Never raw aluminum. Titanium is a glorified water boiler, it doesn't regulate heat well for actual cooking. Remote canister stoves work great IMO for baking. I have 2 stoves I use the most, a Snow Peak Giga and an MSR Windpro.
|
|
|
Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Apr 17, 2024 15:48:01 GMT -8
She freeze-dries chickens. Live chickens. It's quite genius, actually. 40-50 year shelf life. Fresh eggs & nuggets any time she needs, even in nuclear winter. Keep it up and I'll be mailing you a mylar pouch of freeze-dried beets. Grown in my chickens' poop. Just you wait buddy! I would deserve that.
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
|
Post by sarbar on Apr 17, 2024 15:53:50 GMT -8
Just so everybody knows, beets freeze-dried smell like a bucket of dirt. And I like beets. Not everything should be freeze-dried. Freeze-dried pickles will cause your mouth to nearly suck into a black hole. Where as freeze-dried cheesecake is like crack.....and you'll want it every day.
|
|
swiftdream
Trail Wise!
the Great Southwest Unbound
Posts: 563
|
Post by swiftdream on Apr 17, 2024 15:58:20 GMT -8
Dustin if you are having trouble baking and the center is coming out raw some of the trouble might stem from altitude since you are in Colorado with all the high terrain. Here at my home water boils at 207°. On some of our hikes the boiling point drops much lower. You need to bake a little longer the higher you get. Baking really can’t be speeded up either. A smaller item can bake a bit faster than a bigger one but you still need to follow the recipe and mind the altitude. Our best baking kit is a remote canister stove, a Banks Fry/Bake pan with lid and our precious Outback Oven that consists of a scorch buster, dome to hold even heat and really save on fuel and the little thermometer that sits near the top. We use parchment paper for our non stick and that even works for sautéing salman fillets. Or if I’m walking far and want less weight the old Snow Peak 1400 with nesting Snow peak Trek titanium bowl is the best double boiler I’ve found. That bakes a super good Black Forest cake.
|
|
|
Post by dustin on Apr 18, 2024 6:24:15 GMT -8
This forum is sassy! I love it! swiftdream Part of using a wider pot is also widening out the baking. I found some silicone cupcake cups in the back of the pantry and have experimented at home with a couple at a time in the pot. Much faster and better results. And easier to share with my hiking partner than passing back and forth. The silicone should be easier to clean, too. I was steam baking with a 400ml ti pot from a different set inside the Bot 700. It was amusing to watch the lid dance over the boiling water, but the noise got old after 25 minutes and a few refills. Yeah, the 10K altitude probably didn't help. sarbar I do tend to drink a lot at dinnertime, but maybe not enough. I'll admit I start 'conserving' water before bedtime because I'd rather wake up to drink water overnight than leave my warm sleep system. Maybe instead of cocoa or tea, I'll try a hydration tablet in hot water. I've been poking around the internet looking for a wide aluminum pot with a skillet lid, but not coming up with much that isn't sized for a group, heavy or expensive. Ideas?
|
|
ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 9,996
|
Post by ErnieW on Apr 18, 2024 6:46:48 GMT -8
Like someone else mentioned I also still have an Outback oven set up. It includes a lightweight non-stick fry pan and lid. But you can't get them anymore. I was curious if I had to replace it what would I do. I did find: shop.maryjanesfarm.org/Outpost-FryPanIs 1.4 lbs light enough?
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
|
Post by sarbar on Apr 18, 2024 6:47:39 GMT -8
I've been poking around the internet looking for a wide aluminum pot with a skillet lid, but not coming up with much that isn't sized for a group, heavy or expensive. Ideas? A 2 Liter size would work. GSI Pinnacle is still sold. It's a wider, shallower pot with a metal frypan lid.
|
|
|
Post by dustin on Apr 18, 2024 7:07:52 GMT -8
You think 2L? That's about double what I was thinking, but I'm kind of new to trail cooking.
I may need to accept more weight for better meals, I guess. I will look at this MaryJane pan.
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
|
Post by sarbar on Apr 18, 2024 7:22:01 GMT -8
2 Liter is a 2 person size pot. However, if you want a skillet, that's the size you will have to accept in general. Yes, there are smaller ones (I now a Ti frypan for example, but you can cook ONE egg in it). It comes down to what you are cooking. And that is why I own 2 totes of pots and pans. My car trunk has 4 bags in it of various stoves and gear in case we drive by a glorious spot. If it has a picnic table or sturdy surface, I happily pull over and cook a meal (one bag is always full of meal ideas). Then it gets blogged about later.....
|
|
|
Post by dustin on Apr 18, 2024 10:18:24 GMT -8
sarbar Since you usually cook for two, I think I need to find out where the next picnic is. But seriously, folks... I am now leaning back toward the Sierra pot because I know it can take the heat and it's bio-compatible. It's kind of a skillet and kind of a pot. Maybe the worst of both, but it's handy and it looks like a tiny wok. I'll try cooking with the Sierra on my kitchen stove to see if I can work out how to cook without burning everything. It that works, I'll try to translate it to the remote canister stove in the backyard, and then release myself into the wild. I will need a good method to clean the pot if I mess up on trail: gravel, sand, sticks, harsh language, lasers... acceptance.
|
|
swiftdream
Trail Wise!
the Great Southwest Unbound
Posts: 563
|
Post by swiftdream on Apr 18, 2024 10:24:20 GMT -8
This forum is sassy! I love it! swiftdream Part of using a wider pot is also widening out the baking. I found some silicone cupcake cups in the back of the pantry and have experimented at home with a couple at a time in the pot. Much faster and better results. And easier to share with my hiking partner than passing back and forth. The silicone should be easier to clean, too. I was steam baking with a 400ml ti pot from a different set inside the Bot 700. It was amusing to watch the lid dance over the boiling water, but the noise got old after 25 minutes and a few refills. Yeah, the 10K altitude probably didn't help. You are definitely getting the idea. A bit of practice and experimenting and you’ll be a backcountry chef. The mistake I’ve observed for most folks trying to cook “real” food in the wilderness is not learning cooking 101, how hot should the pan be before adding the oil, how to attain non stick with most any pan and all the other skills our mothers knew from experience over time. I have twenty some cookbooks on my phone and a few are basic how to cook anything and how to do it skillfully. Girlfriend and I have been doing this for a long time but these days we mostly take snack foods and make gourmet drinks with a light top canister stove with a very protective windscreen that doesn’t enclose the fuel canister and is good for a 650 ml mug. I do girlfriends first and mine second. It’s near the efficiency of a jetboil or windburner but everything fits in one 650 ml mug except the lower windscreen which nests under the mug. It makes a tiny bit powerful package for beverages and soups. We like it in cold weather. You are definitely on the right track so show off some of those backcountry gourmet creations when you get a chance.
|
|
|
Post by dustin on Apr 18, 2024 10:51:51 GMT -8
swiftdream What windscreen do you use? I keep trying to cook well at home, with limited success. Outdoors, I count on being so tired and hungry that I'm willing to eat anything. Not sure if I'll ever be Instagram-Ready, but maybe a muffin or some other tasty thing will be.
|
|