bakepacker

[snowhoe]

This is by far one of the best pieces of equipment you can buy for under $20.00. You will never have to wash a bowl or dish again. You can also bake with this. Nothing like hot muffins in the morning or cornbread with supper. And it only weighs about 4 ounces. Fits in just about any pot. Has anyone elese used the Bakepacker before and if so do you have any good recipes?

[MisterSweetie]

http://www.bakepacker.com/

[theurbansuburban]

Thats very interesting. I've been doing the same thing for a few years by just putting rocks in the bottom of the big pot, to hold the smaller baking pan. Does this do any that rocks can't?

[fiddlehead]

I remember when bakepackers were the craze. (around 1988) But then we found out that you can do exactly what theurbansuburban (above post) says and save the money. You do need 2 pots though.
You can bake anything that can be baked although it never browns.
we made pancakes, cakemixes, those chicken helper bake things you buy, all kinds of stuff.

[snowhoe]

Never thought about putting rocks in the bigger pot. Do you have to scrub out the smaller pot when you have finished baking? Or do you use the freezer bags to cook in like the bakepaker? I cook all my meals with the bakpaker and dont really do any dishes, which I like.

[Peaks]

This gadget usually involves more time and fuel than the typical thru-hiker is willing to carry. Note that all prior replies have been from section hikers.

[snowhoe]

I guess section hikers dont run into the same problems as through hikers do.

[Ramble~On]

I've been using a Bakepacker for years.
Take a look at www.Adventurefoods.com
They offer all sorts of meals designed for the bakepacker.

Do I have any recipes....Yes...TONS

Glad Food Storage bags work great and anything you want to cook.

Muffins and breads....any of the instant Bisquick mixes or Martha White
just add water mixes....
Chocolate Chip cookies hot out of the oven seem to get everyones attention around a campsite and people always want to know how I made cookies in the woods...or cake...or pizza.

Lipton Dinners, Mac and Cheese....anything works great in the bakepacker.
No dirty pot to clean and you can eat directly from the bag.....which when empty becomes a garbage bag in itself.

Experiment at home with anything that you want...
Adventure Foods has some pretty good dinners...pre packaged...all you have to do is measure water...add water and blend.

Great Thread and Great questions...I'm glad to see that other people have discovered the Bakepacker.
I worked for a few years leading backpacking trips for youth and we used the Bakepacker for 90% of our meals. We got our food entirely from Adventure Foods. Good Stuff...easy to use.
Aside from Bakepackers and bakepacker food Adventure Foods also has cook books for the bakepacker...... The Bakepacker's Companion is a great start to making your own bakepacker meals.

[Ramble~On]

I didn't use one in 1996. If I were gonna thru hike again I'd probably take mine along...Just becuase you have it doesn't mean that you have to use it everymeal. For the weight....I'd carry mine for those times when I felt like cooking a bit on the fancy side.
I really like the muffins in the morning...chocolate cake after dinner and cookies on the trail always seem to be a hit.
As far as using more fuel I disagree. it depends on what you are cooking..
I begin with more water than I need for coffee and whatever and don't notice needing more time or fuel for most things.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

I wasn't thrilled by the results when I tried one, but perhaps I was spoiled by the excellent experiences I had with the outback oven system.

[fiddlehead]

well, yes you would need to clean out the smaller pot. unless you don't clean up after meals.
seems to me that using plastic bags instead would give you a lot of garbage to carry. up to you of course.
I guess i've been a section hiker lots of times but i've used the 3 rock method many times on thru's also.
are we discrimminating now?

I also think the outback oven makes a better pizza. It does more to brown the food as per a real oven.
But they are more bulk. but if you have a 2 person team, perhaps you can afford the weight.
I hiked with Blister Sister and Rainman when they carried one and we had lots of good pizza among other things.

[neo]

i love both my bakepacker in use the ultralite version for me.
i use the larger standard version when i go with my boys
on kayaking tripsneo

[Tinker]

Here's a backcountry baking system that works:
http://www.trailquest.net/baking.html
I tried it a few years ago and made some brownies from a mix. Watch carefully to avoid burning.

[Feral Bill]

bakepacker works great with small trout, too. Put cleaned fish and some breading/seasoning in a bag, shake and bake. I must start using mine again.

[Ramble~On]

Wow! This thread has been dead since Dec. 7th, 2005 and kabam! here it is again.

Things change! I wouldn't thru hike with one of these but might consider throwing one in a bounce box once in a while.

The only issue with them is the amount of stove fuel needed for the long cook times. It is possible to cook just about anything in a bakepacker though. Martha White muffin and cookie mixes do well as do almost any of the Bisquick mixes. Rocks on the bottom of a pot do not do the same thing as the heat exchanger of the bakepacker. Freezer bag "boil in the bag" meals and bakepacker meals are similar in principle but the bakepacker concentrates the heat.

The bakepacker is a cool gadgit though if you wanted to show off and bake a chocolate cake in the middle of nowhere...the cakes are awesome and pizza is sure to turn some heads if you bust one out while everyone else is sitting around slurping ramen.

[Wise Old Owl]

I went with the "other" manufacture and the mylar tent cover and it works, so does nested pots and three same shaped rocks and an inch of water. And no theres no scrubbing and no browning, but excellent results if you don't peek.

[Wil]

i love both my bakepacker in use the ultralite version for me.

I cut down the ultralight to fit a greasepot, and use it occasionally with about 1/3 the recipes for the full size. Still, uses a lot of fuel so it's a luxury item even though its own weight is insignificant.

The big tragedy is that AdventureFoods is out of business, maybe trying to reorganize. They had great stuff for the BakePacker. Also, they had bulk ingredients I've not been able to find elsewhere. Great powdered whole milk and eggs, honey granules. Freeze dried shrimp!!!! Backpacking is impoverished for me without freeze dried shrimp. Where can we get it now!?

[Procras108r]

I wonder if you could create one of these units that could also serve another purpose. For example, what if you modified TWO of the same make and model cooking pots. These must stack inside each other and have lids.

1 - Cut the first pot to be about two inches tall.
2 - Take a ribbon of copper sheeting and fold accordian style. This ribbon can be stored easily when folded, but can be expanded to fill the bottom of your cut pot to work as the heat exchanger.
3 - Fill cut pot with water.
4 - Stack or insert your baking which is your second pot into your cut pot. Now you have an oven.
5 - When the baking system is not needed, your cut pot can be used as a secondary eating or preparation dish so it is not a just seldom used luxury item.

Could you also make one by using metal boxes like an Altoids tin. This could make a single serving brownie, cookie, bisquit, etc. if you use self rising flour or prepackage mixes.

Just a newbie hiker thinking online. Curious to hear if these would work or would be functional? Yes, some weight, but could be manageable.

[neo]

I cut down the ultralight to fit a greasepot, and use it occasionally with about 1/3 the recipes for the full size. Still, uses a lot of fuel so it's a luxury item even though its own weight is insignificant.

The big tragedy is that AdventureFoods is out of business, maybe trying to reorganize. They had great stuff for the BakePacker. Also, they had bulk ingredients I've not been able to find elsewhere. Great powdered whole milk and eggs, honey granules. Freeze dried shrimp!!!! Backpacking is impoverished for me without freeze dried shrimp. Where can we get it now!?

you can still buy them hereneo

http://www.bakepacker.com/

[MintakaCat]

Okay, you guys sold me on this...I just ordered one.