cook pot size question

I use an evernew ti pot,.9 size is great. water boils fast because the width of the bottom gets more heat than a taller pot with a narrow bottom

Several things come to mind. First of all, see what kind of flame your alcohol stove has. Some put a narrow flame straight up, so they are good for a narrow pot. Others have side jets and put out a broad flame, so they are good for a broader pot.

Titanium pots are lighter than aluminum, but not by a lot. However, they do not transfer heat the same way. So, if you just boil water, titanium is fine. If you like to carefully simmer some food, then aluminum might be better. With some aluminum pots, you can get a non-stick surface, but then you are adding more weight.

If this is for one person, then about the minimum size you want is 0.5 liter. I am generally cooking for one or two, so I select one of my three cook pots which are 0.6, 0.75, or 0.9 liter. If you need to melt snow for drinking water, then double that size.

–B.G.–

+1 on the bottom size, I was greatly disappointed with my Snowpeak 700 kit as the narrow profile of the 700 does not match up with the flame output of the giga stove very well. I mean it is still usable of course, but I will be changing to a wider bottom like the 900/1400 or ti kettle or similar pot soon…

Sizes as above depend on persons… .6-.7 fine for solo and typical rehdration meals, 1-1.5 liter good for multiple persons depending on what you are cooking – ie just boiling water or actually trying to cook/simmer/etc…makes a difference. Ti is great for fast and light, but with a couple or small group on a weekend jaunt a small Al kit works great.

I use a Snow Peak 450 as my pot and mug. I boil water with a tiny Gram Weenie stove that was designed for very small diameter cooking vessels.

It is true that titanium does not transfer heat as well as aluminum, but there is a silver lining in this fact. Once my water boils and the heat source is taken away, any surfaces that are not directly in contact with the hot water (handles and the very top of the mug) cool down relatively quickly. Because of the not-so-great heat transfer of titanium, this allows me to easily hold the mug by the handles and sip my hot coffee without burning myself.

Of course it goes without saying that the liquid has to be a drinkable temperature anyways!

I'm still working on this myself. I started with a .85L went down to .60L then to .44L back up to a .50L all titanium using canister stove, alcohol and esbit. I just made my own Heineken beer can pot, .71L, which is the lightest and cheapest of the lot. I haven't tried the beer can yet or the .50L titanium pot (Evernew). I certainly agree with Bob about fitting you pot to your alcohol stove flame pattern. If a lot of the flames are rolling around the sides your not getting an efficient burn.
With all my fooling around I too think .50L is the right size for a pot if your just heating water for one. Enough for me for a hot drink and meal rehydration.

Don't mean this to sound like a 'duh' answer, but it depends on how much water you will typically want to boil.

Unlike most, I like to boil at least a liter and a half, as I'm a big tea drinker (green in the AM, Sleepytime in the PM), plus need hot water for my shelties' food. So, instead of the one liter or less Ti pots, I use the Evernew Ti Pasta Pot with insulated fold-out handles. It also perfectly fits around a Coleman gas canister, like no other Ti pot does. The Coleman canisters last longer and are much cheaper at Walmart than the high end ones.

As for stoves, I still use a Ti Snowpeak Giga, but with a Ti wind protecter fashioned after the steel one sold by Snowpeak. This setup lasts me a week (six breakfasts and 6 dinners) on one canister. Without the wind protecter, it was more like 5 days. I simmer dinners in a Ti bowl and top with no problem – better actually than the stainless bowl I used to use.

The Ti pot saves 2-3 oz over the slightly even larger aluminum one I used to use.
If you are not into counting ounces, there may be no reason to spend extra for Ti.
Having become a diehard ounce counter, I switched everything to Ti or plastic, and the weight savings do add up. A little here, a little there, and pretty soon a much lighter pack. But it does cost a lot more, no question. Just look at the prices for some of the stuff on this site. Or you could become a MYOGaphobe like Jerry Adams on this site and make all kinds of nifty stuff for almost no $ and save oodles of weight. Still can't quite figure out how he does it.

The only thing I don't like about the Pasta Pot is the top that fits over and outside the rim, not inside, so the top tends to get pulled off in the stuffsack. Wrote them several times, but got nowhere. And I'm not snarky enough to sign the emails 'A. Skurka.'

Good luck deciding!

In a different thread, we were discussing a tiny cooking vessel. It is a tiny aluminum tea kettle that cost only $1.50. I mean, you can't beat the price. It has a kettle neck spout and a foldover handle, but the capacity is only 16 ounces, and the overall weight is less than 3 ounces.

A chain of Japanese stores called Daiso had a bunch of them a few months ago, and I bought one. By the time that my friends were after them a month ago, they were sold out. I keep going by that store every month, just in case they show up in stock again.

–B.G.–

The size of your pot will largly depend on what you want to cook. This determines the amount of water and expansion space of any dehydrated food. For freezer bag cooking (just warmed up) generally a cup less is good. Remember, a full pot does little good because you are always spilling hot water/food, but remains the same for 1 or two people.

So, for solo work I figure around 3 cups. A K-Mart grease pot is my pot of choice for solo. I think these are actually 4 cup (1quart or about a liter) capacity, counting the overflow.

With a partner, I have a 2qt aluminum pot I got about 40 years ago,about 5.25"x5.25". Something comparable would be:
http://www.campready.com/default.asp?SID=xCK4JCM8VAFHSQPTSDYWYE&S=503&A=E&PKV=13160|0

Bail handles are easier than side handles around the fire and stove, just prop them up, over the pot, away from the flame. Pick them out of a campfire with a stick.

Aluminum dents easy, but is much lighter than titanium. Titanium gets it's weight savings from it's thinness, due to it's additional strength. But, the thin ones are prone to cracking/breaking. Aluminum will dent, ti will crack. I have broken a pot on a slip in some scree. I used my cup for the rest of that trip.

Ti cookwear generally has aluminum added, soo, you are not getting away from aluminum, if you subscribe to that line of thought.

Conductance is slightly better than with Al, about 1% acording to R. Coffin. Again, this works both ways, so, it doesn't really matter. I feel it is significant when multiplying by the amount of heat needed to boil water. Roger says not.

Acid can attack aluminum a little quicker than ti. If you are cooking marinara sauce, you might want to go with ti, otherwise they will impart a taste to the sauce.

I have a 550ml ti cup, a 750 ti bowl (1.6 oz), 1 liter SS pot, walmart aluminum pot, IMUSA mugs (both sizes), 2L aluminum pot all for solo use. Why 2L for solo use? i was really hungry and just wanted something not to spill over with a box of easy mac or 2 packs of knorr sides and it was all the car camping store had. Desperation for a huge meal…

To me, 750ml is about the lower limit for 1 person. 550 or 600 is just not practical, except hot drinks. For a longer trip, 1L would be ok. For me though, 1L was still not enough for a big meal.

What I hope to be my final purchase for a long time in the area of cookware is the Montbell Ti Cooker 2. 1.3L, a wide base, $42, and a frying pan lid for certain occasions. I think ill be able to take the handles off too, since Ti cools so quickly. I forget the weight of just the pot part, but it should be around 4 ounces.

Concerning material, it really doesn't matter much. I get an ego boost from Ti, and my spreadsheet likes it. You could just as easily get a super light aluminum pot from kmart or AGG. The Snow Peak SS solo set is the SS pot I have. its about 4 ounces with a foil lid and no handles. A good choice for $15. Happy eating

hey guys
thanks for the replies
i guess i shouls have elaborated a little more on my set up

my stove is the gram weenie pro it is 1-3/4 inches wide and a side burner with about a 3-3/4-4 in diamater flame i have the optimus terra solo cookset which is about the right size and works well on this stove for solo use however
i am starting to bring my 6 yr old boy with me most of the time and he eats like a horse already so im basically looking for a pot that i can boil enough water in to
make meals for 2 people i usually don t make anything requiring more than 2 cups of water but would like a pot that i can boil the water in then add the meal contents
and rehydrate it in the pot i also like to make side dishes such as instant mashed potatoes or stove top stuffing with a pouch of chicken and some cranberries added in (yum) thats one of my favorites so i would like a pot big enough to work well in that capacity doesn t have to be huge i just want something that will work well with the gram weenie pro for 2 person use i was just considering ti because of the light weight but if i can find an aluminum pot the right size i would go for it
thanks for the advice
kevin

you could just make a jim woods super cat stove and have a wider pot. All it takes is a hole punch and a little can. Those seem to have good numbers as far as efficiency goes, and double as a pot stand. end2endtrailsupply.com and antigravity.com gear would be good places to look for pots.
Looks like AGG just uses this set and splits up the parts to sell for their aluminum pots:
http://www.amazon.com/Open-Country-5-Piece-Nonstick-Backpacker/dp/B00028XQOC/ref=pd_sim_sg_4

Do you know what size, in mL you are looking for? How much bigger than your current set?

my current pot (optimus terra solo) is 400ml

i think its a tad small for 2 person duty so im thinking 700 ml to 1.2 ml
would be great as long as it wasn t too wide to fit on my gwp

as to the ti vs aluminum iwas just thinking ti due to the weight difference but don t really have a preference either way

kevin