Stove Stories

I've seen a lot of stoves on the trail.
Some guys would get obsessed with having the fastest stove and boil contests would be held. Each person starts with one pint of cold water. Then, lighting the stove, a stop watch would keep track of how long the stove took to heat the water to boiling. Usually the soda can stoves would be in a class by themselves. Backpackers with canister stoves and whisper lights just had too much power behind the flame to be fair.

We had our sleeping bags all stretched out in the shelter on the AT when a guy starts to light his stove next to my sleeping bag. This is so wrong on many levels. Number one, you shouldn't be cooking in the shelter. Course, most of us did anyways. Number two, you should be more respectful of other's gear. What if your stove leaked, exploded or tipped over (as has happened to long distance hikers one time or another)? You could send someones sleeping bag up in flames, especially a down $265 Marmot, like I had.
I politely moved my bag in spite of protestations that he was being careful.

I've seen the screw from a photon stove go flying past it's owner's eye. Another time the guy poured fuel into the priming pan, lit his stove and caught the floor of the shelter on fire.

I knocked my stove and cook pot full of pasta over when I woke up from an accidental snooze while leaning against the shelter wall.
These things happen.

Just to see what would happen, I lit a soda can stove while it sat inside my old silnylon tent, shut the screen and filmed it. Of course, the heat eventually caught it on fire. I posted this on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/brawny03
The response to the video was mixed. Everything from "what a waste of a good tent" "dumbest video ever" to "thanks for posting, you saved lives"

So, when you play with fire, or stoves, expect stuff to happen and be safe.
A way to put out the fire (snuffer, wet cloth, water) and a way to move the pot when the food is cooked are great ideas. Not cooking too near your flammable gear is smart. Stay awake, even if you have to walk around.

Baking With the Soda Can Stove

In my quest for the perfect slow burning stove methods, I revisited the page Rainmaker and I wrote several years ago and posted on our website www.Trailquest.net. Back then we used a set of muffin tins that we cut in a specific way to achieve an adjustable "simmer attachment".

It really worked. We came up with an assortment of good recipes which are online for you to see and use. Rainmaker took the photos. Its still one of the most popular pages at Trailquest.

http://www.trailquest.net/baking.html

Now that I've reread it, I see when baking one should really put oil in the pot, spoon in the cake batter, then put on the flame.
With dumplings or a top crust, heat up the liquid to boiling; with pancakes, heat the oil and pan first.

Its a process, and well worth the learning.

Powdered foods are lightweight and versatile. Having a stove instead of the muffin tin "attachment" will be an improvement because the stove will be sturdier, and give a person two cooking stoves for a two course dinner.