[pct-l] folding Bakepacker; alcohol stove baking; Cat Stove simmering - LONG

[rellinwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Robert Ellinwood)]

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A big day for alcohol stove baking around our house:

First, A folding Bakepacker:  Following an idea two hikers suggested over a
month ago, I cut up strips of aluminum roofing sheeting 1" wide and 5.5"
long (8), 5" long (4), 4.5" long (4), and 3.5" long (4), cutting halfway
through at half inch intervals - in short, duplicating a commercial
BakePacker as best I could. The attraction initially was that I would be
able to take it apart in strips and save space in my pack. Well, putting it
together was an absolute royal pain and I began to think, "No way."  But as
I neared completion, I realized that - unlike the commercial one - this
lightweight Bakepacker would simply fold shut into a neat, accordion-like
package. Not only that, but the finished project weighs 1.4 ounces, as
opposed to 2.9 ounces for the commercial BakePacker with outer ring removed.
You win both in regards to space and weight. It works wonderfully.

So, how about the problems of baking on an alcohol stove that I keep hearing
references to.  Well, initially I tried out the new bakepacker on an
nameless alcohol stove and had to refill the stove several times, thus using
almost six (count them) ounces of alcohol before the big package of Golden
Chocolate Chip Snacking cake was done. Delicious, but unacceptable and
impractical.  So, I remembered Roy Robinson's directions for making a simmer
ring for his cat stove.  I got mine out and made it quickly, but with modest
results: With the simmer ring in place (lowered over the outer holes), and
using 2 ounces of alcohol, the water in the pot - up to the grid level of
the homemade Bakepacker - boiled in 7;30 minutes and had a burn-out time of
22:30 minutes. Well, my snacking cake needed a little longer than that, I
thought. So, with Roy's simmer ring lowered in place, I repeated the test,
putting in 2 ounces of alcohol and getting the water to boil in the
bakepacker grid in 7:30 minutes.  The minute it boiled, I took off the pot,
lifted the windscreen and added to the top of the cat stove a wafer thin
washer (weighs 0.3 ounce) that is 2  5/16" in diameter with an opening in
the center that is only =BD" across.  It is the exact former "simmer ring"
that Aaron used to sell with his Brasslite stoves (which I love, but not for
simmering and baking).  Of course, the pot and windscreen were replaced
immediately.  Here's the bottom line... I could not believe it. The stove
continued to simmer, with gentle sounds and a tad of steam rising, for an
additional eighty-eight minutes and twenty seconds (88:20!) That's a total
of 95:50 minutes on 2 ounces of alcohol.  The pot was so hot, even at the
end, that I burned myself touching it accidentally.

This says to me that carrying the cat stove with simmer ring, my 1.4 oz
folding bakepacker, and that 0.3 oz. wafer-like washer, I can bake easily on
the trail. Eat dinner, put in less than an ounce, and let it bake away.
There was plenty of water left in the grid after all that time. Oh, to
duplicate the ring in the commercial BakePacker, I folded a piece of
aluminum foil in a ring around the inside of the pot at grid height. This
insures that the plastic bag will not hit the side of the pot.

Forgive my enthusiasm, but I had no idea that adding that washer to the top
of the cat stove, in addition to Roy's simmer ring, would produce such great
results.

Please try this and then improve on this and make it even better!


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