[Stoves] Stoves Digest, Vol 7, Issue 34 (cosies)

[Boll, Martin Dr.]

Dear Kyle,

Here some more to your interesting cosy-ideas.

 

Here in Germany I saw at a fairy-market some people finishing rice-cooking
just in a bed under quilts, as an attraction.

 

My simple idea for your backpacking tours: Get your pot to boil, wrap it
into a cooking-foil (which does not melt at 100°C) and put it into your
sleeping-sack. –Possibly wrap first the pot with cloth to catch possible
steam. Naturally you must know that your sleeping-sack tolerates nearly
100°C.

 

I think, for thermal critical areas some cork is very good, because, even if
fire reaches it, it only smells and does not burn.

I lock a wine-cork between pot-lid and its handle, and the same between the
pot and its handle. It is excellent to touch, even when handles are hot from
a gas-burner. - I changed the plastic-handles, because they where hot and
smelling. But cork is perfect.

Try to burn cork with a propane-torch. You will see.

 

Best regards

 

Martin

 

 

Kyle Thompson 
Sun Jan 21 12:38:04 CST 2007

 

Cozies:
 
Thanks Paul for the cozy bullet!
 
Cliff Jacobson has been using them for years camping, and tea cozies are all
over the world "apparently"  The difference Cliff seems to do with his
cozies is that he cooks with them on the pots.
 
You can make a "one" size fits all cozy. Or make bigger ones that can be
trim to fit.  I have also put the cozy on the outside of a metal pot skirt,
which is my preferred method.  This keeps the "fire" away from the cozy and
allows the air to go up the sides of the pot and out the sides.  (Again, the
metal skirt hangs down maybe 2-4 cm below the bottom of the pot.  This helps
to keep the wind from blowing the heat away.  It also keeps the bottom of
the pot off the insulation when you take it off the stove)  I still have a
cozy on the lid, but it is "taped back" with Velcro, which allows the air to
flow around the pot.  I have yet to make a chimney for the pot skirt, but it
would be more efficient, less wood smoke in the eyes, but cumbersome also.
When you are done cooking you can flip the ears down when you take the pot
off the gas stove (or wood gas stove).  With this setup all you have to do
to go from cooking to cozy cooking (type of hay box cooking) is take the pot
off the fire, place it on a piece of insulation(a double or triple layer of
cardboard would work) and flip down the ears.  You don't even have to really
have that much insulation for under the pot, sealing off air flowing under
the pot would be preferential however.  Throw a blanket on it in the woods
if you want even better results.
 
My cozies are made of wool, but wool stinks when it burns.  I don't' know
the thermal efficiency's between wool and cotton.  Maybe I'll make cozy
quilts, or better yet, goose down cozies for the ultra-rich!  I'm going to
make quilted cozies from cotton that are designed to be thrown in the
washing machine.... don't even make fun of me using a $600.00 washing
machine to wash a cozy designed to save $3.00  in fuel!  When i'm not
carrying that 8 lbs of fuel on my back for 5 miles, the cozies are worth
alot more than $3.00!
 
It is interesting to watch the climbers in the Himalayas cook.  They have
all of this high tech equipment, but don't use cozies.  Is it too much
weight to carry up the hill?  Too much hassle? Or have they just not thought
about it?
 
Short of a pressure cooker (which I'm still looking for the perfect small,
light weight camping one, that can also double as a pot) the cozy/skirt/oil
option combination really seams to make cooking much more efficient,
although not everyone likes a little oil in their morning tea.
 
All of this said, I find cooking with cozies cumbersome.  But a great
solution for some applications such as cooking at altitude with limited
fuel, cooking in cold environments to keep food warm after coming off the
stove ect..  The use that no one complains about is using cozies to keep tea
or coffee hot in the morning.  The added advantage is safety.  It is pretty
hard to burn yourself on a cozy!
 
Here in the colonies we even have neoprene cozies, not to be used on open
fires!
 
Thanks for the idea on the quilted cozies. I think that will take care of my
need for better efficiency coupled with durablity.  I'll experiement with
sewing insulation (plastic)  right into the quilt.  Maybe only extra
insulation n the top...???  That should make them:
 
1) Cheap
2) Durable
3) Fire retardant
4) High R value
 
 Kyle