Experimented, last night, with what size pot I would need to make a decent calorie dinner.
All Pasta boxes say that 2oz is a serving. I know I have to up my calorie intake for a thru hike, and pasta is light.
So, I thought it would be good to start there. I experimented with wheat penne.
I found that I could comfortably boil 4oz pasta w/o boil-over in 20oz of water. This was possible in at least a 32oz pot.
It took ~4 mins to bring water to boil (inside w/ no wind).
Then it took ~9mins to get pasta to al dente texture.
(Note: Planning on using 1tbsp Olive oil packets for calories too ).
Out of all the canister stoves that I have available to me (b/n Family, Friends, & Myself)- the 2 listed below have the correct pot size.
1) Sumo Jet Boil (without the orange bowls) ~13.4oz
2) MSR Pocket Rocket (with 32oz titanium pot plus "fry-pan lid") ~13.7oz
The Jet Boil Sumo looked so big to me, but when I weighed all that I would be bringing w/ the MSR- it actually came out ahead.
I am curious what this community thinks.
Is it too much for this hike?
Another tid-bit of info I noticed (not sure what to do with yet...): It takes less water and fuel to re-hydrate freeze-dried meals than it does to get pasta to be edible. However, freeze-dried meals are often chock-full of preservatives. It's hard to choose between fuel use, pack weight, proper nutrition. There doesn't seem to be a win-win.
Your thoughts?