High Sierra Topix

Freestone. No, just looks like a percolator. It was part of a kit we bought many years ago.

For coffee making we used to carry a lexan french press, which had its own cozy. It fit inside the "coffeepot". Ground coffee has given way to Starbucks Via instant, which while not as tasty, is lighter.

We don't cook in the metal ware so we can safely leave it out in bear country. For fish we either boil in a baggie or take a small backpacker's fry pan.

Everybody develops their own system and I enjoy learning how others solve the cooking issues. Our system works well for 2-5 people. Not good for 1.

depending on the type of meal, my methods differ. My bean soup rehydrates really well, so I just boil water, add the mix, let it sit and eat. The burrito mix takes some extra hydration time, but not a lot, so I add extra water, allow to soak for 20 or so minutes, then a quick reheat on the jetboil and at the end of that I add dehydrated refried beans which instantly rehydrate and get the consistency to what I want. Other meals, like the chili mix I brought along needed to be hydrated in a zip lock for part of the day prior to the meal, then just add hot water and heat the whole mix to final serving temp.

all this is usually done in the Sumo cup on our jetboil. I like that cup so much (great for my morning multiple coffee cups), I think I'll bring it on solo trips as well. Winter is different - that's when the big Jetboil flux capacitor helios pan thing comes along with the upside down canister burner. Actually the best pot for meal preparation, but unless there's a lot of snow melting on the schedule, it's too heavy to pack.

I used to bring cozies and dedicated pots before I went with the Jetboil Sol - haven't really looked at other stoves since. Love that thing. Super fuel efficient, packs easily and the built in cozy works well enough for my needs.

I love good coffee, but in the mountains it's all Starbucks Via for me. Like it, makes life easier. heat the water for 3 cups in the Sumo, make one at a time in my titanium REI cup that has a neoprene beer can cozy from a local motorcycle store wrapped around it. perfect fit, tested over half a dozen Sierra trips by now.

We dehydrate our own meals. We often just eat cold stuff but decided last summer to cook dinners again for the first time in about 12 years. I like to have a ziplock for each dinner meal dump the contents in the boiling pot of water and let it boil while stirring for a few minutes and then cover the pot in lid and cozy and let it set for 20-25 minutes. I use the empty ziplocks to hold tissue and other trash. I don't want a bunch of bags with leftover wet food in them to deal with. We would only be using the stove for dinner. Breakfast and lunch would still be grazing the cold stuff. We can break camp in about 15 minutes when we graze breakfast on the trail. We don't drink coffee so we don't miss it.

I hike with my wife and son so it takes a larger pot to rehydrate food for the 3 of us. I just bought the 1.8 liter version of the MSR WindBurner. It's not crazy light but is very reliable in heavy wind and efficient with fuel. The weight isn't bad for a system supporting 3 people. We would use the included WindBurner bowl for my wife, a larger bowl for my son and I would eat out of the pot. I will make my own custom cozy to cover the pot while it sits.

We use home dehydrate 1 pound cans of chicken in broth or lean ground beef well rinsed of fat and then add in a bit beef base to add salt. We added soup mixes or dried pasta sauce, home dried vegetables cut on small pieces, and home dried brown rise or angle hair pasta. It can be fun to work out your own recipes and portions when practicing making eating meals at home.