I made myself a little lunch today with my new Caldera Keg-H. I have both fuel options and so I ran it first with denatured alcohol. I put 2 cups of cold water (around 40* from the fridge) in the keg and 15 ml of fuel in the stove and the silicone Beer Band was covering the Heineken label as prescribed for using the 12-10 alcohol stove. It got very hot and the water did not quite boil, but my Ramen noodles tasted good! I did not check the heated water temp, but estimate it around 180*; the water was hot and steaming and plenty of bubbles on the bottom and sides of the can and whatever temp is was re-hydrated my food quite well. I used a lightweight fleece glove and just picked up the keg and cone together and poured the hot water into a freezer bag. I found that you can put the FB in the Trail Designs cozy, and then you have a handy hands-free way to pour in the hot water. After doing so, I put the top on and let the Ramen steep for ten minutes. The contents were still very hot when I uncovered them to eat. The cozy setup with the FB inside worked excellent and because the FB was inside the cozy there was no clean up! Just pack out the FB. Next, I tried the cool titanium Gram Cracker stove with half an Esbit tablet. The two cups of water only got to about 160-165* and I think you need the water to be a bit hotter for good rehydration. So, next I tried three quarters of an Esbit tablet. This time I used only 1.5 cups of water (around 45*) and it boiled before the fuel ran out. I blew out the remaining Esbit and saved several small bits for the next time. I also made a mistake in that I did not adjust the Beer Band for the Gram Cracker-powered stove. When using the Gram Cracker solid fuel kit, you can move the Beer Band up the can to the bottom of the keg ridge, which allows more of the can to be down inside the Caldera Cone thereby making it more efficient. The cone has great wind-blocking properties and was not phased by the 3-5 MPH winds.
After I finished with boiling water, I disassembled the Caldera Cone and put it back in the keg. I discovered that I could fit the cone, 12 Esbit tablets, and the assembled Gram Cracker stove and drip pan all inside the keg. You should be able to get about 16 boils or eight hot meals for two people out of the 12 Esbit tablets. This will definitely work for me, being that my longest trip will be five days this season. It seems that three quarters of a tablet will easily boil 1.5 cups of cold water and that will make for more tasty noodles (instead of two cups and the more watered-down taste). This is obviously a highly engineered cooking system that even when filled with fuel for many nights is very light weight and takes up precious little pack space. I’ve only had the chance to use it in my backyard (so far), but I can highly recommend it. It is easy to use and packs down in a truly UL package. The guys at Trail Designs have done themselves proud. Check them out.
