Which pot?

[tlbj6142]

I own a cheapo 2L pot I use for small group hikes, but it weights too much (10oz) and is too large (IMO) for solo use.

What is your solo cookware setup?

Do you feel you need a pot that holds 1qt (or more)? Or can you get away with a smaller pot (24-28oz)?

Sometimes I think about going cheap and picking up the Wally Grease Pot. It seems a little "thin" (but for $7 what can I expect) and I'm not sure how I would hold it. Buy a MSR Ti pot holder? Bandana == Burnt thumb?!?! Any other Grease Pot Pros/Cons?

[rickb]

The grease pot has a fold over lip that measures about 1/8" at the rim. The thing about this lip is that it folds into the pot. I didn't notice that fact until after I bought one.

When you are looking at the pot, think of what could make a home in the moist environment that is sure to exist under that lip, and then ask your self if there is any possiblity of ever evicting those creatures hovering abouve your food.

BTW, it is possible to bend that lip in the other direction with a pair of pliers and a hammer, but unless you are more talented than me, the lid won't ever fit afterwards.

Rick B

[max patch]

The point that Rick makes about the Grease Pot is valid; I would not recommend the use of this pot for this very reason.

You mentioned using either a bandana or a pot holder. Many people get by using just a bandana, however, a pot holder thingee weighs next to nothing and gives you a safe and secure way to handle your pot full of boiling water. Worth the (negligble) weight in my opinion.

[chris]

I am rather embarassed to say this, but I recently bought an Evernew 1.3 oz titanium pot. Pot lifters are built into the pot and with the bag it weighs 6 oz (5 oz without). Cost was $40 for the regular version. Nonstick is a few dollars more. Boredom and the internet seem to be powerful figures in accumulating gear. Afterall, I have a perfectly good 1.5 L MSR blacklite pot, but decided to drop $40 to save 6 oz (including lifter). A non-stick coating might be beneficial for cooking pasta in low liquid, as I partially scorched several batches of orzo during my Death Valley trip recently.

[MadAussieInLondon]

i have an msr ti kettle. its weet.
i dont hold it with anything. off my stove with my thumbd (never been burnt) straight into my pot cozy (i'm proud of my pot cozy hehe), which sits in my lap whereby i eat out of it.

no pot holder required.

i'd remove the handles from the side of the kettle if i could (they fold around) but i cant work out how to do it without killing the pot..

[tlbj6142]

Do you find that the volume of the ti kettle is enough for solo use?

[Papa Bear]

I've used the MSR kettle solo for a whole season. Perfectly adequate. 2 cups for the food and another cup left for a hot drink. (The thing hold 3 1/2 cups when full to the tippy-top)

I use the boil and pour in a bag method. Food is prepacked in zip locks and then the boiling water goes in, pour the rest for my hot drink, then the ziplock with the partially cooked food goes into the kettle (just fits) and that acts as a cozy. Then I open the zip lock when the stuff is done, leave it nestled in the kettle and I have a bowl. So my kettle is 1) cook pot, 2) cozy, 3) bowl.

Works like a charm. (I should patent this procedure )


Pb

[Papa Bear]

I've used the MSR kettle solo for a whole season. Perfectly adequate. 2 cups for the food and another cup left for a hot drink. (The thing hold 3 1/2 cups when full to the tippy-top)

I use the boil and pour in a bag method. Food is prepacked in zip locks and then the boiling water goes in, pour the rest for my hot drink, then the ziplock with the partially cooked food goes into the kettle (just fits) and that acts as a cozy. Then I open the zip lock when the stuff is done, leave it nestled in the kettle and I have a bowl. So my kettle is 1) cook pot, 2) cozy, 3) bowl. And the kettle stays clean to boot.

Works like a charm. (I should patent this procedure )


Pb

[tlbj6142]

Doesn't that melt the bag? Do you re-use the bags?

[smokymtnsteve]

.....

[Papa Bear]

Boiling water does not melt zip lock bags. Many people use them. In fact if you get the kind with the zippers (vs. the kind you just press together) they will hold the water very well without leaking (even holding them upside down). I typically pour the boiling water in, zip it closed, then slosh it around to mix things thoroughly, then put it into the pot as a cozy. The perfect size is the "1 qt storage" ziplock. This just holds the wet meal and fits into the pot snugly.

The bags are not reusable, and that is an issue, but it is actualloy less garbage to pack out that the original packaging.

I suggest you try this one time at home. You'll be surprised how easy and neat it is. Nothing's perfect, but this works quite well for me.

Pb

[tlbj6142]

Papa Bear;

One more question about the Ti Kettle. Do you find that too much heat escapes through the lid hole and out of the pouring lip?

I know it is suppose to be a kettle, but I wish the lid fit a bit better.

[Papa Bear]

Sorry, I don't know how much escapes or if it's much of an issue. I put the lid on a little loose (just lay it on) cause if I squeeze it tight it's hard to get off, especially when the pot is hot and full of boiling water.

If you just look at the geometry, the "leaks" are only a very small percentage of the pot's surface area, so I suspect there isn't much of an effect.

I use a butane stove (Pocket Rocket) which boils the kettle pretty quick (in 2 or 3 minutes) since there is a lot of heat coming from the stove, so I never noticed small effects as you mention (or more precisely I never looked for such effects).

Some have mentioned using a heat shield especially constructed for the Pocket Rocket and MSR Kettle, which would preserve even more (otherwise wasted) heat, but I just go with it as is and get pretty fast results on a small quantiy of fuel (about 1/4 oz. per boil) so I don't worry too much about wasted heat.

Now if someone told me I could boil the kettle in 1 minute with less fuel if I did such-and-such, I would sit up and listen, but I think that would be quite unlikely.

Pb

[MadAussieInLondon]

check out the pic on my page
http://www.mega-tokyo.com/gallery/potcozy/aaf

you can see the hole in the lid (very tiny) and the lip on the kettle (on the left), is also very tiny. not much heat would escape.

[Uncle Wayne]

My wife and I tried Papa Bear's method of cooking this past weekend and have been converted. We used a 2 serving meal of 3 bean chili and a 2 serving meal of mashed potatoes with bacon bits and the method worked perfect.

We boiled the water in a titanium pot using a coke can stove with about 1 ounce of fuel and then poured the boiling water in the 2 zip lock bags that contained the dehydrated meals. Squeezed the air out, zipped them shut, watched and waited for 7 or 8 minutes to see the plastic bag start to leak but it never happened.

The food was fully cooked and we ate right out of the zip lock bags with only a spoon to clean up afterward. I called the bag a "zip lock" but the brand we used was "Hefty" with a sliding red zipper to seal the bag.

Thanks Papa Bear for your advice and instructions.

[UberPest]

Originally posted by Papa Bear
The bags are not reusable, and that is an issue, but it is actualloy less garbage to pack out that the original packaging.

Not having tried pouring boiling water in a baggie, I'm going to trust you on this. I wonder, though, if you used freezer bags (thicker plastic) you might not be able to reuse the baggies, at least once or twice.

This is a really good idea. I'm going to give it a try as soon as I get a chance. I was going to use an empty lemonade container, but this might work better in the long run. (I got used to high-prep foods, but am switching over, one meal at a time).

[kank]

I wonder why more of us don't just add a wire bail to our pots rather than fool with those finicky pot grippers? I figure it's only a matter of time before I forget to bring my gripper or lose it somewhere in some forest duff. Drill 2 small holes in the sides and use a thin (but not too wimpy) wire. You can even hang the pot from a tripod of sticks to cook over a cookfire this way. If you bend the wire just right, you'd have a removable bail that still held solid when you wanted it to. Just a thought.

[jlb2012]

just use a bandana to pick up the pot - no need for pot grabber or wire bail - see old thread :pick up pot with bandana