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Monday, March 12, 2012

Titanium Pots

People have asked me what pots I use, so I thought I'd list out my collection and make a few comments as well.  I've listed all the weights below which may be useful in and of themselves.

Item Capacity (ml) Pot (g) Lid (g) Total Grams Total Ounces Total Pounds
1 Snow Peak Trek 1400 1400 125 62 187 6.60 0.41
2 Snow Peak Trek 1400 with cheap Al lid 1400 125 29 154 5.43 0.34
3 Evernew Ultralight 1300ml 1300 94 42 136 4.80 0.30
4 Snow Peak Multi-Compact 1000ml 1000 100 64 164 5.78 0.36
5 Snow Peak 1000ml with Evernew 1300 Lid 1000 100 42 142 5.01 0.31
6 MSR Titan Kettle 850ml 850 97 36 133 4.69 0.29
7 Snow Peak Multi-Compact 780ml 780 81 51 132 4.66 0.29
8 BPL Firelite 550 550 66 14 80 2.82 0.18

General Comments
Notice first off that in lines one and two that I've listed the same Snow Peak Trek 1400 pot.  The first line is with the stock frying pan lid.  The second line is with a cheap aluminum lid that I bought in a Good Will Thrift Store.  I have lost my stock lid, so I'll have to update that column later, but I'm confident that my 29g aluminum lid (which works perfectly fine) is far lighter than the stock lid.

I also think that a titanium frying pan isn't a very good option for those who want to cook.  I much prefer aluminum fry pans which distribute heat far more evenly.  With titanium fry pans, I usually wind up with a lot of burnt spots.  Also, I find that the handle on a frying pan lid gets in the way.  I much prefer a simple loop or knob atop my pot lids.

As with lines one and two, so also with lines four and five.  Again, I've substituted a lighter lid for the frying pan lid that comes with the set.  I lose weight and gain ease-of-use.  I hate that frying pan lid handle and much prefer the simple loop on the lid of my Evernew 1300ml pot.  Since I very rarely ever take both a 1300ml and a 1000ml pot out on the same trip, using the 1300ml lid for the 1000ml pot works just fine.  On those rare occasions where I need both pots, I just suck it up and take the frying pan lid.

Recommendations
1.  Materials.  Titanium is light, and titanium is strong, but if you want to cook real food, get aluminum cookware.  I find that titanium tends to scorch foods too easily.  Titanium is great for boiling water and melting snow. When melting snow always start with some liquid water in the bottom of the pot.  That liquid water will help distribute the heat more evenly and efficiently and will help to protect the pot from warping.

2.  Size.  I find that around 1000ml is the most versatile size for me.  If I were going to just get one pot, I'd probably get something around 1000ml in size.  Why 1000ml?  Well, here are a few reasons:
  • Efficiency.  Smaller pots are indeed generally lighter and more packable, but smaller pots tend to be narrow.  With a narrow pot, a lot of the heat from a stove gets wasted up the sides.  I find that my stoves are much more efficient with a 1000ml pot with "traditional" proportions (wider than tall).  I do notice, though, that my new 1300ml Evernew pot is a real "bargain" in terms of weight (see above table).  It will take slightly more room in my pack, but weigh less than my 1000ml Snow Peak Pot.  My 1300ml Evernew pot may become my new "go to" pot.
  • Practical cooking capacity.  I find pots less than about 750ml to be impractical.  Not only are they inefficient due to wasted heat, they also lack enough capacity for me to boil enough water for dinner and a hot beverage in one boil.
  • Carrying Capacity.  I like to be able to store my stove in my pot.  With a 1000ml pot, I can lay a Clikstand (for example) down flat inside.  I can also carry a lighter, an alcohol stove, a small fuel bottle, a spoon, and my windscreen inside.
A 1000ml Snow Peak pot can carry an entire cooking set up inside.
  • Safety.  Also, I've had a lot of boil overs with small pots.  I tend to boil at least 500ml (about two cups) at a time.  With a 550ml pot, there's not much distance between the water line and the rim of the pot.  A boil over when working with a gas stove could be quite dangerous since the boiling water could overheat the canister causing a flare or in some circumstances (if the canister were already quite hot) a canister explosion.  Not good.
So there you have it, a few thoughts on pots.

Thanks for joining me on another Adventure in Stoving,

HJ

6 comments:

  1. I actually prefer cooking with titanium because I find it tends to retain heat better than aluminium once you turn the heat off. I cook a lot of rice and bean meals when I camp and I've found that I just get them boiling and then turn them off to finish. No burned food this way. With Aluminium pots I have to keep the heat on or they cool off too quickly.

    Patrick

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice. Sounds like a good technique. Another technique is to set the pot in a knit or fleece cap to let things steep. The hat helps retain heat even more than the titanium. And of course keep the lid on!

    HJ

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  3. I think there's 0.9L Titanium kettle with about 100g of claimed weight.

    You could just boil the water and use a pot cozy made of windshield for fast cooking to minimize heat losses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you could definitely use a pot cozy which is essentially what I'm doing when I use a fleece cap.

      HJ

      Delete
  4. Does the 1000ml fit inside the 1300ml? What are their dimensions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The 1000ml is from Snow Peak and the 1300ml is from Evernew. They do not nest inside one another. Typically, you'd have to get pots from the same manufacturer in order for them to nest.

      HJ

      Delete

My apologies to real people, but due to Spammers I have to moderate comments. I'll get to this as rapidly as possible but do understand that I like to hike and there's no internet in the wilderness. Take care and stove on!