pot size

I think you will find that freezer bag cooking is more popular than boil-in-a-bag.

–B.G.–

I use an REI (Evernew) .9 Ti Pot. This is wider shallower pot, versus some taller narrower pots. I already had this pot before I made a very simple cat-can alcohol stove, following Andrew Skurka's instructions. He uses this same pot, which is well-suited to the diameter of a 3oz cat food can.

I think any UL pot is going to weigh within 1-2 oz of other UL pots. It is probably more important to get a pot that "fits" the flame pattern of whatever stove you use, rather than getting a pot just based on weight.

Also, a few months ago, Jason Klass had a video about stove and pot sizes you might want to look at.

I have a pocket rocket currently but I have watched that same andrew skurka design and am looking at building one for next spring and summer. Going to use the pocket rocket though for at least the winter. Any particular pots people would recommend for this stove?

Bob, nice job answering his question there :/

For boil in bag meals I hardly use more than 1.5 cups of boiled water. I like my meals a little thicker (less runny means easier to eat) so even for MountainHouse 2-person meals that require 2 cups, I still stick with 1.5. That said, I find a 450ml to 600ml cup to be perfect.

Edit* just saw your new post,. By Andrew Skurka design, are you refering to the catfood can stove? That stove is pretty wide, so mugs won't do a great job capturing the flames, as most of the flames will come out from under the bottom of the mug, and up the mug's sides, losing efficiency. You're going to want a wider pot for a stove like that.

Personally I'm an advocate for the trail designs caldera keg. When I use esbit tabs, my setup weighs less than 3oz (pot, stove, windscreen). With alcohol, it's not much more either. Not as cheap as a DIY cat can, but the whole setup will likely be lighter and more efficient.

I use the Evernew 900 for solo freezer bag cooking. It's overkill for solo, particularly for fbc, but allows me to have boiled water for coffee the same time as my meal.

While that is convenient, I plan to try a 450-600. and just boil water for coffee first, followed by the meal. The extra weight saved is nice, but I'm also interested in reducing pack volume.

I use a Backcountry 700 titanium pot. It fits a gram weenie pro, wind screen, lighter and BPL trapper mug.

we only do freezer bag meals- for two 900 ml, solo 600 ml (I occasionaly use a 450 ml if I know the meals can be covered w/ that size)- I've found those more than sufficient for a wide variety of freezer bag meals (store bought and homemade)

I most often use my trapper mug, but for the stoves you mentioned I would follow the advice already given and get a wider pot that will better fit the flame pattern. I know standard freezer bag cooking uses two cups of water, but I find that I'm happy with closer to one and a half cups.

I'd stick with something like the Evernew 0.9L short… particularly if you'd want a hot drink with a meal. It's a bit more efficient to bring all your water to boil at once, & I've found that the 0.9L allows me to get coffee water & meal water all at once (pouring off beverage water into a ti mug). There's not much of a weight penalty, either: the 0.9L is 4.2oz, the 1.3L is 4.6oz. The 0.6L is 3.6oz.

Most of the meals you see use 2C/500ml of water; even if you use a bit less, I've personally found that 500ml-ish mugs don't allow enough room for a good rolling boil. That might not be a concern for you.

FBC is the way to go! i use a catfood can stove and a snow peak titanium bowl as my pot. the bowl makes for an incredible SUL cook pot!
-its wide so it works great with the cat can stove
-no handle or lid! most SULers remove handles and replace the lids with foil
-2+cups capacity
-has an extremely smooth poor!
-weighs less than 2oz.!!
-costs 16 bucks!!!
i prefer this over my snowpeak trekker mugs and evernew pots.
peace
.maestro.

interesting idea using the bowl. Lightweight and cheap. What do you use for a lid and handle?

edit: sorry, I see you mention removing the handle and using a foil lid. I suppose that answers the "how far will you go" question for me. I like having an attached spot to grab a hot pot and a durable lid. Definitely can see where it would be a sweet solution for some though.

"For boil in bag meals I hardly use more than 1.5 cups of boiled water. I like my meals a little thicker (less runny means easier to eat) so even for MountainHouse 2-person meals that require 2 cups, I still stick with 1.5. That said, I find a 450ml to 600ml cup to be perfect."

Konrad, I think you misunderstood the original poster's question. He was not asking about boiling a couple of cups of water to pour into a Mountain House FD meal bag, because that is not a boil-in-bag meal. A real boil-in-bag meal has to be immersed into boiling water. Rice is done with a porous bag, and Indian food is more of a sealed retort bag. I've never been able to do one of those in less than a liter of boiling water, so a pot size of 1.5 to 2 L is called for. As a result of all of that large water demand, instead many of us do freezer bag cooking where the boiling water is poured into a plastic bag with dry food in it. Less water demand equates to less fuel use which equates to less weight carried.

–B.G.–

i can see boil bag meals being useful in winter where youll melt and boil snow anyways … just stuff the bag in once the snow has melted but before boil

Ah! Good pt Bob. I always associated boil in bag with just freeze dried / dehydrated meals where you drop boiling water into a bag. Oops. Maybe the OP can clarify what he wants. But thanks for the headsup!

It appears that I was not concise enough on my original post. I didnt even know about what you said boil in a bag is bob, interesting idea. I meant to refer to putting water in bag of dried food as konrad and other posters refer to.
thanks

Josh

I typically go with the smallest/lightest option I can come up with. My go to right now is a Caldera Keg-H with Esbit/Gram Weenie. I like the fact that everything fits inside the Heineken can, and because the can is quite durable by itself, I simply use a MYOG cuben stuff sack to keep it all together (and to keep it from getting the other stuff in my pack dirty from the bottom of the pot).

I'm also considering an Evernew 600ml pot with a Caldera Sidewinder setup. This would setup be a bit heavier, but more durable than the Heineken pot long term.

I use a 550ml pot/mug. Even on my PCT thru-hike I found it just large enough for all my freezer bag style cooking meals (add water to food in a freezer bag and let sit); this includes cooking those Lipton Sides packages. If I was just going out for a weekend trip where my appetite hasn't had a chance to grow, a 450ml mug would likely be enough.

If it is just me I carry somewhere in the 1 L range – but I also like a lot of hot water to go with dinner to make tea :-)

Boil in the bag was a term often given to FBC before FBC was coined ;-)

"Maybe the OP can clarify what he wants."

Yes, we don't want to get into the language barriers of the right coast versus the left coast.

Granted, a large titanium cook pot weighs only a few ounces more than a small titanium cook pot, but I find that the large one takes more effort to get it into the backpack. Pouring boiling water into a Mountain House FD bag is most convenient, but it has the highest cost and is bulky to pack. Pouring boiling water into a freezer bag of your own food mix has almost the lowest cost and the least bulk to pack. I gave up on carrying retort bags many years ago, because they were the heaviest. In the world of BPL, lightweight trumps almost everything.

–B.G.–

"I meant to refer to putting water in bag of dried food as konrad and other posters refer to."

That falls more closely into what is called freezer bag cooking. Sarah is one of the experts on that. It is pretty economical on the amount of boiling water needed, so it requires a pretty small cook pot, like 500ml or 600ml for one person. For two of us, I carry a 750ml pot. Geez, some people get by with a simple tin can.

I went on a trip in 1979 with this one old geezer and another person. The old geezer had a backpack frame with no pack bag, so he just lashed stuff onto the frame. For his food, he had one large can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, plus one can of peaches, and another can or two of food. He built a wood campfire and placed the opened stew can on until he could eat it. Then he rinsed out the stew can and used that to make his coffee. He threw his ancient GI sleeping bag down on a bed of pine needles, and when it rained he strung a cord between two trees and threw a plastic tarp over it. You really don't need much!

–B.G.–

"Boil in the bag was a term often given to FBC before FBC was coined ;-)"

Boil-in-the-bag rice has a porous bag full of rice, and it must be soaked/cooked in boiling water for so many minutes. Retort bag meals are common at the Indian food store, and pre-cooked vegetables and sauces are sealed in the bag. The entire bag must be boiled for so many minutes to heat it up. Neither of these uses anything quite like a freezer bag.

You can't have freezer bag cooking without a freezer bag, can you?

–B.G.–

So it seems that people mostly go with a 450-600ml pot for solo hiking and up to 900ml if they want lots of hot water for drinking. Would this be a fairly good summation?
thanks

Josh

yup I think that sums it up pretty well :)

Josh, I agree.

That 900ml size is not unreasonable for one or two people.

I used to travel with my only cook gear being a 2-ounce aluminum water ladle that had a capacity of two cups. It was used over a campfire. You can't get much simpler than that.

–B.G.–