Cooking with the Kovea Spider

The Kovea Spider (KB-1109) is a relatively new remote canister stove.  I recently wrote a review of the Spider.  The Spider has a relatively small burner head, which is good in that it makes the stove compact, but apparently there's some concern out there that the small burner head might make the Spider a poor cooking stove (perhaps small head = small flame = a burned spot in your food?).

Now the fact of the matter is that the burner head angles the flames outward which gives a well distributed flame.  No "hot spotting" here.

The flame on a Kovea Spider is well distributed.

But the "proof of the pudding is in the eating" as they say, so let's do some actual cooking.  It's Saturday morning, so how about a delicious breakfast omelette?  Yum!  Let's get started.

First, the ingredients.

The makings of a nice omelette

For today's omelette, I've brought along:

• Boxed milk of the type that needs no refrigeration.
• Some leftover bacon and ham
• Five eggs
• Some shredded cheese
• A bit of olive oil (to grease the pan)

And for the cooking, we'll need the proper tools.

The tools needed for cooking an omelette

For today's cooking, I'll be using the following:

• MSR Blacklite pan (aluminum, not titanium or stainless steel)
• A Jetboil spatula
• A set of Open Country pot grippers

Note that I'll be using an aluminum pan.  For real cooking, I have a strong preference for aluminum cookware.  Aluminum conducts heat far better than stainless steel or titanium and does a really good job with foods that need low, even heat -- like an omelette.  I suppose one could use cast iron as well, but shall we say that cast iron is none too light to carry.

Well, then, let's crack the eggs.

Our eggs, laid out nicely in a bowl

And add our milk.

Milk makes for a really good omellete

I like to add about 25ml of milk per egg.  Milk gives an omellete a rich, creamy taste.

Next, beat the eggs and milk with a fork until well blended.

Beat the eggs and milk to as reasonably uniform a consistency as you can

There are those who say that the whites should be "beaten until stiff" and then the yolks should be "folded" in.  What a lot of unnecessary faffing about!  You want everything blended together in the end.  Go there directly.  "Beating the egg whites until stiff" is the province of those who sit at home and have no appetite!  I like to roam about the countryside in the out-of-doors.  "I'm hungry, let's get on with it!" is my philosophy.

I then pour the blended eggs and milk into my pan which I have already greased with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle in the cheese.

Eggs in our pan with the cheese sprinkled on.

Yes, I add the cheese before I start cooking.  I like my cheese well melted, and I like all my ingredients good and hot out on the trail.

Next, I break up a bit of bacon.  Today I brought bacon cooked earlier that day, but a package of bacon bits from the market works quite well and is generally more practical for the trail.

Bacon, added to the mix

Lastly, a special treat for today, I add some ham.

Ham, added to the mix

There we are!  Now, we're ready to start cooking, so let's set up our little Spider.

The Kovea Spider, legs deployed.

Now, I know what you're thinking:  "How are you going to cook a proper omelette on that little thing?"  Ah, skeptical reader, bear with me, and you shall see.

I like to add a little disc of aluminum underneath.  The aluminum disc will reflect heat upwards and also prevent any scorching of the picnic table I'm set up on.  The disc doesn't come with the stove, but it's easy enough to buy or make one.  The disc I have is from Flat Cat Gear and has a small hole punched out in the very center where the disk folds.  This hole prevents tearing at the crease, which is a nice feature.

An aluminum disk reflects heat up to your pot and protects the surface you're working on.

Next, I enclose the stove in a windscreen.  Here, I'm using a standard MSR windscreen, but any windscreen will do.  Whereas the aluminum disk is pretty much an optional extra, a windscreen is not.  A windscreen will allow you to use less fuel and give you greater control over your cooking, particularly at low flame.  I recommend using a windscreen any time you cook.

Recall also that one of the benefits of using a remote canister stove as opposed to the more typical upright canister stove is that you can use a fully enclosing windscreen.  Use a full windscreen with an upright canister stove and your canister might just overheat and explode.

So!  Eggs on, let's get cooking.

Cooking the omelette

To start, I use a medium heat.  I want the eggs to start bubbling.  Recall that you want the milk to boil.  It is the boiling milk that puts all those little bubbles into your omelette, giving it that light, fluffy texture.

Eggs, just starting to bubble.

However, just as soon as things start to bubble, you want to turn the heat down to very low.  I've got five eggs here in a relatively small pan.  In order to cook things all the way through evenly without having a burnt bottom, I'm going to have to use a very low heat.  Now, this ought to be a good test of the Spider.  Will that little burner head give me a burnt bottom?  Will it give me a ring of blackened eggs in the center of my pan?  Or will it be able to give me a nice, even heat and cook all parts of the omelette properly?  Let's see.

Looks like things are coming along nicely.  The toughest part of the omelette to get to cook properly is the very top.  Here, I've pushed the edge of the omelette in a bit on the left hand side and allowed any remaining liquid eggs to flow into the resultant gap.  Perhaps that's "cheating," but I look at that as being strictly a practical measure to ensure full cooking of that last little bit of liquid egg that always remains on top -- even when I cook omelettes at home.

Almost done now.

There!  Done at last.  And how did we do?  Let's pull it out of the pan and have a look.

The completed omelette.

Looks good!  Let's pull it out of the pan and have a closer look.

Looking at the omelette, edge on.

The omelette is fairly easy to pick up and move, which shows good cohesion -- meaning that it's cooked all the way through.  The edges look good, showing a nice bit of golden brown.  They're done just exactly right.  The eggs have fluffed up nicely; the omelette is a good bit thicker than my thumb.  I'd say our little Spider has passed with flying colors, but let's continue to examine our omelette.

Looking inside, I see that the eggs are fluffy and still moist but are definitely fully cooked.  All of the cheese is fully melted and has made a nice topping.

A very nice omelette indeed!

The omelette slices cleanly yet easily indicating that while it is fully cooked, it is not overdone.

Sliced, the omelette holds a good ege and reveals it's fluffy inner texture.

Let's flip over a piece and have a look at the under side.  Looks nice and golden brown.  No burning on the bottom.  Nice.

Flipping over a section of the bottom, we see a light browning.  Looks good!

And our pan?  Not that there was any question, but:  no burning.

No burnt on food on the pan.

Well, I for one am fully satisfied with the cooking capabilities of the little Kovea Spider.  I've been able to whip up a number of tasty dishes.  I hope this will dispel an idea that the Spider's diminutive size will somehow prevent it from being a good cooking stove.  I find that though the burner head is small, it's well designed and does a proper job on cooking tasks.

Personally, I find that a remote canister stove is a cook's stove, far more than any upright canister stove that I've used, including ones with larger burner heads.  A remote canister stove permits the use of a full windscreen which allows me to use a very low flame without worrying about the flame being blown out.  The windscreen also creates a very hot environment under that pan, and environment that allows me to have a lot more control over the heat of cooking than I would have with a typical upright set up which is open on the sides.  A remote canister set up also gives me a very stable cooking platform with a lower center of gravity than an upright setup.  I really like a remote canister set up if I want to do some real cooking.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some eating to do.

I thank you for joining me on another Adventure in Stoving,

HJ

Time to eat.  (it was most delicious, I assure you)