Got Pot? - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

What size pot is best to use for boiling water to use for meals (noodles and simple such)? I have a two little pot but would like to go with a one litter. Would this suffice?

Thanks yall,
BP

Texan

#2

We, for two, like the 1.3L Evernew Titanium. We made a lid for it out of some 18ga aluminum sheet which doubles as a toaster for Pop Tarts, fajita browner and food bag mouse deflector with a small hole in the center.

Bushwhack

#3

Have i got pot? looks around… ooooh the cookware kind of pot… i’m with ya now.

I have a .8L msr titanium kettle (hard to call it a kettle… sure it has a pouring lip but its sooo tiny, its easier to call it a pot than a kettle.)

i find with two cups of water or less, my 2min noddles cook perfectly! the .8l is plenty for me.

sits on my brasslite just peachy.

MadAussieInLondon

#4

For most solo hikers on the AT, a one-liter pot will do fine. I used one, and I don’t think there was a single time when I wanted a bigger one. As a matter of fact, for an alcohol type stove I think you’ll find it’s much more efficient to boil two, one-liter pots vs one two-liter pot. But how often does a solo hiker even need more than a liter of boiling water at once?

Colter

#5

oh wrong pot…:pimp

Chef

#6

I use a .8 qt and it works perfect. First I boil the water for dinner/breakfast or whatever, 2 cups. I add it to the bag (I cook in baggies) and while it does it’s thing I heat 2 more for coffee, they get done about the same time and I eat. just doing a couple of cups at a time, water boils really fast.

BearKat

#7

Of corse Pot(s) for cooking with, what other KIND of POT is there? Thanks for the help folks! BearKat, I am unfamiliar with the ‘baggie’ method of cooking, could you explain?

Cheers,
BP

__

#8

Of course Pot(s) for cooking with, what other KIND of POT is there? Thanks for the help folks! BearKat, I am unfamiliar with the ‘baggie’ method of cooking, could you explain?

Cheers,
BP:D

Texan

#9

last year on the PCT, many hikers had a “grease pot” from Walmart. It’s small, similar in weight to the MSR titanium kettle, and cost something like $5. I’ll try to get ahold of my friend D-Low to get the specifics. If I could only post a video here, I could show some good footage of Dangerous D-Low weighing the pot at a Walmart in California.

yogi

#10

No Problem, Instead of cooking your dinner in the pot, you just boil water in it. My dinners I make at home or on the road by putting the ingredients in a Hefty one Zip Freezer Bag. You can add boiling water right into the bag, zip it up and put a towel aroud it. Ramens, instant rice and most dried foods will cook in about 5 to 10 minutes. There’s no clean up, you eat right out of the bag, zip it up roll it up and put it in your trash bag.

Bearkat

#11

Hey Bearkat,

That’s a neat trick, but boiling water has to be pretty close to the melting point of polyethylene. Ever get any melt-throughs? I guess it depends on your altitude. Looks like I’ll be doing some sink experiments this weekend.

Saluki Dave

#12

The only thing is the ‘Ziplock Bag’ method seems to wastes alot of plastic? I guess its just a personal preference, but I wouldn’t feel right throwing away plastic after plastic. I wonder if I could re-use the bags (kinda defeates the easy clean-up aspect though), or recycle?

But anyway,

BP

Texan

#13

check out http://trailquest.net/cookgear.html for info on the grease pot or go to walmart, borrow an ounce scale from the kitchen section, find the grease pot, and weigh it in the store (isn’t walmart wonderful?!?). and a little snippet from bnemcik as seen on a page titled “lessons learned on 2002 south-bound thru hike”: “the grease pot weighs 5 ounces and cost $5.00. A similar size titanium weighs 6 ounces and cost $60.00. This is a no-brainer unless you have loads of money to blow.” and finally, the claims that alzheimer’s disease can be caused by aluminum cookware have been put to rest (if i remember correctly :wink: annnndddd… 1 liter capacity is more than adequate for feeding one hungry hiker. you can throw two liptons in there, or one lipton and some mashed potatoes, the possibilities are endless…

d-low

#14

No to one question and yes to the other. No I’ve never had a melt through. The newer heavier baggies are made to hold boiling water, just be careful which ones you get, don’t get the light cheap ones. As for rcycling, yes I do it all the time. I’ve never used a baggie more than 3 times, but I guess you could if you are careful.

bearkat

#15

I purchased a Wal-mart grease pot last year and is more pot that I would ever need for one person…it costs just under $7 now in Atlanta. Just throw away the strainer; and the pot and lid weight 4.1 ounces on my electronic postal scales.:cheers

Happyhiker

#16

Before somebody suggests toxic effects of using plastic in cooking, check this out; http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-microwave-dioxin2.htm No agreement of risk if you nuke with Saran Wrap. So, leave the microwave at home. HYOH,BearKat!

Jim2

#17

If you use baggies, only use freezer bags. There is not that much waste when you concider that many people repackage cardboard meals (like mac and cheese and rice-a-roni) in plastic anyway. The way I learned to do the baggie thing is to boil your macaroni in the pot, add it to the baggie and add cheese to the baggie. Mix the mac, cheese, powdered milk, butter in the baggie by kneeding it. I just left the starchy mac residue in the pot overnight and it flaked off easily in the morning. I also used baggies to make a trail biscuit. Add water to the bisquick/powdered milk/powdered cheese mix and kneed in the bag. Put it on a fry pan/lid and cook over low heat. The baggie is what made this recipe posible.
TB

TurkeyBacon

#18

I’ll vouch for the grease pot method. I started using one two years ago when I was looking to do some really low cost hiking. It didn’t have a handle and I didn’t have any pot tongs, so I ended up poking two holes in it near the top and using a bent coat hanger so I could remove it from heat and pour out the water as needed. I’ve definitely got my money’s worth out of it.

TheSaint