Cooking Test

Several days ago I had a chance to try out cooking my meal "trail style", using my Caldera Keg-F Stove System and a Knorr dinner bag. I know it's not exactly like cooking on the trail, but I want to feel confident I use the proper amount of alcohol and water, and get a satisfying meal at the end.

Caldera Keg (with a spare keg), fuel bottle, spork and lighter, and the meal I'm going to eat

For this test, I used just about 20ml of alcohol in the stove. I put in a bit too much water in the keg, so for the next attempt I'll put less. Those 20ml burned for about 8 minutes, though I got a boil at around 7. So again - a bit less fuel will also work for me.

The stove inside the Caldera Cone

After the boil, I poured most of the water inside the Knorr bag (Rice with Mujadarrah), and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Waiting for the rice to cook, while watching "Alone in the Wild" on TV

I think the 10 minute mark for cooking the rice in the bag is good. The rice was completely cooked. Maybe even a bit less time would work, but unless I'm starving I don't think It'd matter much. After the rice is done, I poured in about 1/2 a bag of powdered mashed potatoes, to turn it from a soupy rice meal, into a chunky potato/rice mix. It doesn't look too tasty, but I kinda like it, and it definitely filled me up, and got me warm inside.

Yum yum. It looks oh so inviting.

I already imagine myself wolfing down one of those inside my tent, sitting under my quilt.

Oh - and a happy new year to you all. The year of my Pacific Crest Trail Hike.