Backpacking with Pressure Cookers

[Neeman]

Hi,
This is my first post here
I have done a lot of long distance hiking
I am looking to do a thru hike of the Israel Trail

I am vegetarian
Here in Israel there are not a lot of pre packaged food
In the past for my main meal I cooked rice and lentil
This gave me the protein and carbohydrates that I needed

I am looking for opinions about carrying and using a 2 liter pressure cooker

It takes about three minutes to bring a pressure cooker to the boil with 100 g of rice and a 100 g of lentils
It takes another minute to come to pressure
You then take the pressure cooker of the heat and let it depressurize by itself
The lentils and rice cook in the time of depressurizing
It is incredibly fast and minimal use of fuel

The Pressure Cooker weighs 1 kg
A regular aluminum two quart pot would weigh about 300g

So my question is:
Is carrying the cooker worth the extra 700g for the saving in fuel consumption?
What do you think?

[Slo-go'en]

I think the main advantage is the speed. Fuel savings is a bonus. Probably needs less water too. Cooking rice and lentils does take forever otherwise.

When compared to a ti pot, the weight is a killer though. How many fuel canisters would you need to carry if not using the pressure cooker? If the weight of the extra canisters is close to the weight of the cooker, then the choice is obvious. If you only need one canister either way, then the choice isn't as easy. It all depends on how frequently you can replace canisters.

[Neeman]

230g canister: 230g fuel; gross weight 356g; empty weight 126g (64.6% fuel by weight)

I have seen online for just boiling water for freeze dried
An 8-oz (net) canister can boil approximately 16L of water, so 2 lt per day = 8 days

The pressure cooker gives me a full cooked real food meal at the same fuel usage for just boiling water
And the weight on one canister is 230g, saving 230g for a second canister which is very close to the extra weight of the Pressure cooker
That is a win situation, as long as I am using gas canisters

None of this works for gasoline as it weighs 0.755 kg/L and a liter of gasoline gives me 10 days of cooking in cold weather using a Optimus 99 and cooking regular pots
So the weight saving on gasoline would be minimal and not off set by the fuel usage

[Maineiac64]

Could you dehydrate your own meals?

[gracebowen]

For protein could you use nut butter and or nuts? We have minute rice that doesnt take as long to cook. There are also tons of quick cook pasta options.

Maybe you could check out

Walmart.com to get an ideal of some groceries you will find available here.
Also maybe someone could let you know other chains commonly available along the trail.

[rocketsocks]

Ya might have a little difficulty getting a pressure cooker through customs, call it a hunch.

[zelph]

There is a Titanium cooker out there for rice :

keith pressure cooker.JPG

[kestral]

Is this the same thing? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Keith-Ti6300...-/302125657233
it doesn't have the vent doohickey thing(pressure valve) that some videos show. Never heard of a hiking pressure cooker. I think if I did high altitude and / or liked brown rice and lentils this would be ideal. Definitely on my maybe list for new gear. sounds like doable trail food being real food and not just processed Lipton side with a protein added. Great for increased food options for thru hikers who don't mail drop specialized food Thanks for info!

[Venchka]

Back in the Land Before Time, small pressure cookers were a staple in the REI, Ski Hut, etc. catalogs.
Surely Minute Rice is available in Israel. I bought it in Abu Dhabi in the early 90s. Cooking and dehydrating lentils at home should not be too difficult. Give it a try.
Grace is right. There are a multitude of protein options in every grocery store.
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alligator]

In terms of alcohol fuel, 700g is about 875 ml using 0.8 as the density (roughly the same for white gas too). Two of the medium size isobutane/propane canisters are slightly heavier than 700g somewhere around 50+g, but the biggest ones weigh less than that. Venchka is correct, I too remember seeing backpacking models available. That one the Zelph linked looked interesting. I didn't watch the video yet but I wonder what the pressure reaches as it looks to vent through the open hole, not with the knob common on kitchen pressure cookers. I wonder if the windscreen is a good idea on this... s-l200.jpg

[Alligator]

Ok, watched the video. It didn't seem to say what the pressure reached, just the temp. Some parts of the video the cooker had a pressure relief valve but like Kestral mentioned, I do not see that included for sale?

[DownEaster]

I wonder if the windscreen is a good idea on this... s-l200.jpg

Standard practice suggests if there's at least a 1/4 (90°) opening in the wind screen, there won't be a problematic overheating of the fuel canister.

[Feral Bill]

GSI has a pressure cooker at a bit over 1 kg. It looks as if it might pay where there are long times between resupply, especially for two, at elevation. Might be worth it for qualiy of food, too.

[Slo-go'en]

Is this the same thing? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Keith-Ti6300...-/302125657233

At 256G, it's only a little over half a pound. Not bad. I like this line from the description:

Multifunction rice cooker, not only can cook, can boil water, bit also for steaming, boiling, burning other types of food

[Rabit]

Ya might have a little difficulty getting a pressure cooker through customs, call it a hunch.

Ohhhh, SNAP!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[zelph]

The little pressure relief gizzmo is to be used at higher elevations to increase pressure.

Here are photos of both instruction pages furnished by Keith on Amazon and Ebay ($95.00 free shipping on ebay}

Keith Instr..JPG

[gracebowen]

My mistake hes hiking in his home country. I join in suggesting dehydrating ahead of time or finding a lighter pressure cooker.

[Malto]

2.2 lbs. no way.

[zelph]

Keep in mind it consists of 2 titanium containers that nest purrrfectly and it wood be easy to for a bail wire to be attached for hanging the cooker over a campfire. Wood as fuel ?????

Use one container to hold the freezer bag and heat water in the other.

What???? it's made of titanium :-) The containers are deep drawn...ya gotta admire the technical aspects of manufacturing this cooker. The price is OK ;-)

edit to add: (I'm justifying my purchase ;-) )

[Starchild]

Is this the same thing? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Keith-Ti6300...-/302125657233
it doesn't have the vent doohickey thing(pressure valve) that some videos show. Never heard of a hiking pressure cooker. I think if I did high altitude and / or liked brown rice and lentils this would be ideal. Definitely on my maybe list for new gear. sounds like doable trail food being real food and not just processed Lipton side with a protein added. Great for increased food options for thru hikers who don't mail drop specialized food Thanks for info!

It looks like the same but missing the critical piece to make it work.