They get a thumbs up from http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/stovescookinggear.htm

BTW, freezerbagcooking.com is a real nice site for those looking to travel lightweight.

For you guys that are having trouble with the web site I do apologize.

We have now added Google Checkout along with PayPal so that might help someone buying a stove. Hope this helps.

My web builder is working on the other problems like the site telling you guys that you need to upgrade your browser, of course doing so wouldn't hurt any way. He had some surgery and is down and out for awhile but he is aware of the problem and will work on it when he is back on his feet.

Thanks for the understanding...

Bill in MT

I actually just ordered a "freezerbagcooking starter set" (with the cozy and the cookbook) and a White Box stove from freezerbagcooking.com.

Its a cool looking stove at a great price and (I think) made in America. Who could ask for more?


Ken K.

Ken,

Yes the cozy, cookbook and the stove are all made in the good old USA.

Bill in MT

My White Box Stove arrived on monday, I've only had time to boil water for tea out on the deck, but I can give a thumbs up to this stove. Using alcohol (not Heet) it primed and boiled up 2 cups of water in probably four minutes, then kept the kettle on the boil for a few more minutes until the fuel ran out. A few minutes after that it was cool to the touch and ready to be packed away. The whole works including wind screen folds and fits inside my kettle, with a few days of fuel to boot. I'm not prone to timed comparisons, but I think this stove uses less fuel per liter than my trangia stove. I'll take it on a day hike this weekend to test it in some less than optimal conditions, for instance see how stable it is on a less than level surface, will my kettle slide off etc. The aluminum wind screen is a nice bonus, better than what came with my Primus stove, I think it will see some double duty there. But there's no doubting the heat output, very strong and steady. A few more uses and I'll notch the inside for enough fuel to boil my kettle so I don't waste fuel.

Bill in MT also did some good customer service after a Paypal snafu, its always good to work with responsive vendors. Its a great value if you boil water or cook with alcohol on hikes, or as an emergency stove for heating and boiling water. Thanks Bill in MT!

Since this thread came up to the "top" I thought I'd mention that I got my Freezerbagcooking.com "starter kit". Nice cozy, but the cool thing I really wanted to mention is that it came with a long Lexan spoon specifically designed by GSI to work well with Ziploc bags and other dehydrated food packets. I really like the spoon.

I used my new GSI Tea Kettle (holds about 1L of water) with my MSR Dragonfly stove last weekend. It worked REALLY well. I like the kettle a lot. It heated up quickly and the orange plastic-coated handle was plenty cool and nicely sized.

I can't wait to try out the White Box Stove next. I'm not expert on alcohol stoves, but my first impression of the White Box Stove was one of quality. The design is clearly something beyond my metal-working ability.

Now I'm wondering if I should have bought the priming ring. I guess I don't really understand what it does.

This freezer bag cooking looks interesting... I was trying to find a dedicated thread on it. What do you think of the recipes? This may be something I want to look into.

Freezer bag cooking is a great way to minimize mess out in the wild, but you do have to be careful. You have to make sure the plastic bag doesn't touch the bottom of the pot while it's on the stove. If it touches the bottom the plastic will melt and dump all your food into the water.

I have the best results when I bring the water to a boil, add the freezer bag of food, then take the pot off the stove and place it in an insulating sleeve. Let the bag/food soak for 10-15 minutes in the hot water, maybe take it out one to "squish" the food around some the heat it evenly.

This works great for canned food, scrambled eggs, etc... When you are done eating cleaning up consists of rolling up the freezer bag and sticking it in a small Lexan bottle. My long-handled titanium spoon gets licked clean and then wiped with an antibacterial handiwipe. It's the safest, laziest way I've found to cook in the woods.

-Blast

Actually the way that Freezer Bag Cooking TM (as put together by the host of freezerbagcooking.com), the freezer bag isn't inserted in boiling water, water is poured into the bag and the meal prepared that way - no muss, no fuss, no broken plastic bags, much as you have your best results Blast. The cookbook's author sells a 'cozy', or insulated sleeve to hold the freezer bag in while the hot water cooks the meal (usually freeze dried) - holding a hot bag for 5 minutes is a prescription for dropping it. Me, I just put it in my cap.

The website freezerbagcooking.com gives a good intro to all this, has reviews of trail food, and some great recipes, although I'd say go ahead and buy the recipe book for some even better ones. The GSI kettle she recommends is good, I have a similar one put out by Primus a few years back. The author is a dedicated PNW hiker, demos her craft at regular outdoor shows, and I believe her cookbook is #1 at rei.com. All in all though its meant to be an inexpensive and lightweight way to eat well outdoors, so all the gear and food recommendations are suited to travelling on the go and survival situations as well (provided you are prepared enough to prepackage the meals). Before a hiking season I usually pack up 10-12 portions at a time, and though I've never adapted that for survival situations it could be easily done. I actually took a couple freezer bag meals in my carryon on a trip to San Francisco, but ate too well to dip into that. However if there had been an earthquake I probably would be grateful to have it.

Lono,

That is how I read it too... all the cooking is done in the bag with hot water poured into it. Some of the recipes look really good and it would be nice to be able to adjust the taste to my liking. Wondering if I should just get a dehydrator as well...

I have a Coleman Xtreme stove that can either take the powermax fuel or a standard threaded fuel cylinder. I carry a nestled set of Snow Peak titanium trek 900 / mini solo cookpots and titanium fork/spoon. I've been looking at alcohol stoves over and over again as another option instead of the Coleman.

Mike