Cooking setup

[quixoticgeek]

What cooking setup do people use on their bike packing trips, and where do you pack them on the bike? Looking at a lot of the cook pots on the market, the small solo ones seem to be about 125mm/5" on all measurements. Is that something that fits in a frame bag on a non fat bike, or is that wide enough to hit your feet? What do you use?

J

[Aushiker]

My stove kit of choice is a Trail Designs Toaks 850 Fissure Cone Stove System which weighs in at 178 grams. My kit consists of:

Toaks Titanium 850ml (Pot 87g + Lid 16g)
Trail Designs Toaks 850 Fissure Cone
Trail Designs 12-10 Alcohol Stove

This is a solo boil water, re-hydrate/"cook"/eat from setup. Oh I have a cup as well which weighs about 24 grams. You do need to add fuel to the mix which is alcohol based with this system.

[offroute]

No real cooking, just water boiling. Jetboil Sol Ti or Snow Peak Mini with foil windscreen, ti cup and plastic lid.

[RonK]

My camp kitchen:

Vargo Ti Bot 1 litre
Bot Cosy
Vargo Ti 450ml travel mug
Kovea Spider stove
Carbon felt windscreen
Toaks long Ti spork
Leatherman Wave
Jetboil Crunchit.

All nestles together and fits in an anything bag along with a 220gm canister and a stuff sack of personal toiletries, and carried on an anything cage on a fork leg.

[Smithhammer]

After using all sorts of stoves over the years, from alcohol to twig stoves to beasts like the MSR Whisperlite Intl, I've settled on:

MSR Pocket Rocket 2
Vargo BOT
Toaks 450ml ti mug
bamboo spoon

Simple, light and packs easy.

[vikb]

Beer can stove + Ti pot + DIY windscreen = 155g

https://vikapproved.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/bikepacking-cooking-mk2/

I tend to carry it in my backpack as it's light.

[fotooutdoors]

When alone, I'm similar to Vik; a cat food alcohol stove with windscreen and reflector underneath, gsi kettalist pot, and usually the cup that came with the pot. I carry it in my backpack or frame bag, depending on how much food I have, since good is nearly always more sense than the cookset

[heather14]

I have an msr pocket rocket, but this summer I've been using an alcohol cat food can stove which has been working well, msr seagull stowaway pot, sea to summit x-mug that collapses down.  Everything fits into the pot except the bottle of alcohol which is small enough to fit into empty space somewhere.  I put a small dish cloth in the pot to keep things from rattling around.  I dehydrate my own meals so use the pot mainly to boil water to rehydrate meals and make coffee.

[Smithhammer]

I'm curious - for those of you using alcohol stoves, how much alcohol are you packing on say, a 5-day trip, assuming you're going to be boiling water twice a day?

[RonK]

I'm curious - for those of you using alcohol stoves, how much alcohol are you packing on say, a 5-day trip, assuming you're going to be boiling water twice a day?

You may find this blog of interest. Which is Lighter – Alcohol or Gas?

I do think his consumption estimate is a little on the light side. I used around 30ml per burn up to 3 times per day, so probably about 80ml per day.

The issue I encountered was that alcohol is only sold in 1 litre quantities in the region I'm touring, so it was a matter of carrying 1 litre or throwing half away. I've gone back to gas.

Another interesting blog is this one - A Review of Stove Weights, Fuel Weights and Fuel Efficiencies

[heather14]

I'm curious - for those of you using alcohol stoves, how much alcohol are you packing on say, a 5-day trip, assuming you're going to be boiling water twice a day?

The longest trips I've been able to do this summer have been a few 3 days/2 nights.  I carried 8oz of alcohol for all of those and it was enough.  I boiled water for only myself both morning and evening. 

[dh024]

I'm curious - for those of you using alcohol stoves, how much alcohol are you packing on say, a 5-day trip, assuming you're going to be boiling water twice a day?

For oats and coffee in the morning and tea and a rehydrated meal in the evening, I budget about 100 ml per day. I usually carry a bit more to be on the safe side, but I have never needed it, to be honest. Note that the efficiency of your stove, amount of water you boil, and even things like elevation and daytime temperatures can really change these numbers, so view it as a ballpark figure.

[Smithhammer]

Thanks for the replies, folks. I've used alcohol stoves quite a bit. They're nice and simple, and the stove itself is definitely light. But I've recently gone back to an isobutane stove for two reasons;

1) Even with a windscreen I find alcohol stoves are extremely sensitive to wind, and even a little wind can make a big difference in the amount of alcohol consumed. I always try to locate my stove in a protected place to cook whenever possible, but still....

2) I was finding that given the above, I had to err on the conservative side and take more fuel than I might need, and that it ultimately ended up negating a lot of the weight savings of the stove itself, esp. on trips longer than a night or two.

Isobutane stoves have their drawbacks as well (every option does), but there are some very lightweight options now that are very efficient, and they work better in colder temps and wind, in my experience. But of course there is no perfect option for everything, and a lot of it depends on where you are and what is available as well.

Ronk - that link is incredibly in-depth!

[quixoticgeek]

Lots of really interesting replies here. Thanks!

For those of you who didn't state in your reply. Where do you carry your cooking setup? Does a ~4" diameter pot fit in a typical frame bag on a non fat bike?

Cheers

J