You are right. I drifted away from "just add boiling water" meals because I could never find one I liked. On my short hikes I bring things like canned curry and mix in pouched chicken chunks, then heat it up in the freezer bag in hot water.

On loneger hikes I've used Mountain House and Backpacker's Pantry dehydrated foods as well as the occasional internet recipe. Usually a large portion of it gets packed out to the nearest garbage can.

I made my own pot cozies from closed-cell foam (Military sleeping pad) and another from an "aluminized bubblewrap" windshield solar shade. Both work very well.

Back to the White Box stove, how does it compare to a Swedish mess kit brass burner in weight and heat output?

-Blast