[pct-l] Praising pot cozies

[ecotopia at mindspring.com (Terriann McGlenn)]

This weekend I ?tackled? a project that I have been skeptical about for
quite some time.  I own a pop-can alcohol stove, a Brasslite Turbo 2-D and a
Snowpeak Gigapower WG stove.  I have food allergies to wheat and diary that
make menu planning just that more difficult, and since I don?t enjoy food
repetition, I end up having a LOT of food that requires simmering to taste
good.  Also, I am a pancake junkie; it just isn?t a BP trip without at least
one breakfast of pancakes (and yes there are no-wheat mixes).  In this
process I?ve been trying to convince the spouse to give up the white gas and
switch to alcohol (we don?t drink either so it?s only a cooking thing :-)).
With a 5 day trip down the coast in Olympic National Park coming in 3 weeks,
I decided to make a pot cozy in hopes of dropping the WG stove and bringing
the Brasslite.

 

I used an old closed cell foam pad that has seen a few seasons under mine or
my husband?s butt, household aluminum foil and rubber cement.  I roughly
followed the directions on the Brasslite website for ?Make Your Own Pot
Cozy? and was done in about 2 hours.  Only the lid and bottom are covered in
aluminum foil, the whole kit and caboodle weighs just under 2 ounces.  So, I
decided to tackle standard white rice first.  In my 65 degree house I boiled
1.5 cups water, added 1 cup jasmine rice and brought to a boil again.  Then
I popped the pot into the cozy and set the timer for 20 minutes.  While
we?re waiting for the rice to cook I?ll tell you that I did some initial
testing first with just water to see how the temperature held.  Water boiled
I put it on the lid of the cozy and checked the temperature to start ? 190
degrees.  Put the cozy over the pot and waited 5 minutes ? 187 degrees.  Ten
minutes ? 185 degrees, 15 minutes ? 183 degrees, 20 minutes ? 180 degrees.
I then checked the temperature of a simmer and it read about 160 degrees, so
I knew that I would be fine inside the cozy for up to ? hour on ?simmer?.

 

So, the rice is done after 20 minutes we checked and found that it was just
a little firm, not mushy and not crispy.  Just the way I like it!!  Next
step will be to take this baby outside where it?s about 40 degrees today to
see if it holds the heat as well 25 degrees cooler outside.  Temperature at
the coast should be between freezing at night and up to 60 degrees during
the day.  I?m so excited, I get to eat good food and maybe prove to my
husband that alcohol is king!

 

Terriann

"Watch your assumptions, they breed like rabbits..."  TM