[pct-l] Cookpot size/volume - large vs small

[Paul Mitchell]

On my last little hike I had two stoves and two pots along for two of us.  I
cooked with both at the same time.

Both ordered from gossamergear.com

small:  Go-Torch Stove with MSR Titan Kettle
large:  Fire-Fly Stove with a much larger Terra pot

I found the larger setup boiled twice as much water in half the time the
smaller setup took to boil a couple cups for drinks.  Like, dinner would be
half done in the large pot before the small one was even boiling.

It made me wonder if it's the increased surface on the bottom of the larger
pot.

I'm going to bring the larger setup alone this time.  I like the idea of
having an abundance of space ... being able to boil extra water and make a
drink and then make dinner with the water left in the pot.

For boiling a regular amount of water, like 2 cups for noodles, it makes
sense to me that shallower water in a wider bottomed pot would boil faster
than deeper water in a smaller pot/kettle.  Seems to be plenty of careful
tests done out there so perhaps they contradict this, was just my
experience.

Cheers,
Paul