Those of you with the Coleman one-burner stove...

[maki2]

You might want to split that slow cooker recipe stuff over to its own thrad in this section.. This discussion was meant to be about the Coleman single burner stove andthe opinions about it of people who own one.  sSow cooker recipes are great but those are not Coleman propane stoves.  It is very easy to hijack a conversation onto a different topic which is what has now happened to this thread.

 

[Qxxx]

We are eating differently when traveling since COVID also.  We used to visit cafe's and make frequent grocery stops, but not now, so I am trying to use more shelf staple items.  I like one-dish options, too, but am amazed at the sodium content in something like Knorr's Alfredo Pasta with something over 1,300 grams per serving!

Yeah, almost every prepared and canned foods and soups in the grocery stores are loaded with huge amounts of sodium. PITA. That's one reason I like the "Minute Rice" as it's very low in sodium, whereas all those Uncle Bens packages are loaded. At home, I have stocked up on dry rice, rotini, macaroni, and lentils, and they all have zero sodium. The dry red beans have a tiny amount of sodium. I have been using some canned veggies like corn and carrots and green beans, but I rinse them good to get rid of some of the sodium. I stopped using Knorrs.

 

[highdesertranger]

well lets get this straight, Uncle Bens regular rice has zero sodium. it's the flavor type rice the easy/instant type that has a ton of sodium. that is true for MOST of the heat and eat type of foods. if you prepare your food yourself then you control the amount of sodium.

BTW regular Uncle Bens is a great rice to have with you it resist bugs, last longer, has more of the vitamins and minerals still there. in other words it's a much better for long term storage and travel Rice. it was developed for the military in WWII.

highdesertranger

 

[nature lover]

High desert ranger - I have sensed that you have a sense of humor. So take this with a smile on my face and on your face. I’d like to Admonish you as a moderator that you are not on the subject of the original post perhaps you are to start an uncle Ben’s thread. I know I have a big mouth but I saw an opportunity and thought I’d take that opportunity for a little smile? do you know that actually felt good to be on the other side of it for once. Keep smiling friend. I really don’t care what you put in the post I like to read them all.

 

[Qxxx]

I meant the Uncle Bens prepared packages have tons of sodium. Like 760-1000 mg per pouch. Like most prepared foods in the stores. You have to look hard for stuff with low salt content.
https://www.unclebens.com/rice-products/all

 

[maki2]

Basically salty characters don't much care what other people think about their diet.

 

[Qxxx]

Follow up to this discussion from a couple of months ago. I did buy both a stove-top pressure cooker and a small 1.5-qt 120VAC 120W crockpot slow-cooker. After using both, I greatly prefer the crock pot, as it's basically painless to use and there is very little mess to clean up.

Another follow-up on the previous discussion re Pressure Cooker on a Coleman stove versus the 120VAC crockpot slow cooker. 

I have now used the pressure cooker exactly 1 time on the stove here in S&B, and don't ever plan to use it again. Way too much of a mess to clean up afterwards, which violates my philosophy of cooking for minimalist cleanup and water usage. Plus it would use too much propane for most cooking, so 3 strikes against in regards van use.

OTOH, I have now used the 120VAC crockpot slow cooker almost a dozen times, and find it vastly easier to deal with. Very little mess, as the stoneware inner pot cleans up easily. A typical preparation takes on the order of 1 1/2 to 2 hours on high (120W), or roughly 20AH from the solar battery. (probably less due to temperature duty-cycling). So with a 100W solar cell at nominal 50% output, about 4A, this should recharge the battery in an afternoon of sun. 

So, this is to me a great addition to using the Coleman stove for all cooking. I can save 50% or more on propane in the van each month by using free energy. Win-win.

Also for anti-salt people: due to covid, I have been using more canned and dry foods the past few months, which tend to have large amounts of salt. So another thing I have been doing is rinsing canned foods, eg meats and veggies, with water before using. I figure pre-rinsing should remove at least some of the salt.

 

[maki2]

having recently purchased a Coleman one burner stove I did notice a couple of things for when I want to use it on the lowest possible heat setting.

`1. you have to be able to actually see the flame to know how low you are setting it and you can't see the blue flame when cooking outside in the daytime.

2. when you do have the flame set very low it can be blown out by a breeze so trying to set it on very low heat when cooking out of doors on a breezy day is going to require good wind screening

3. no matter how low you set it there will of course be a central hot spot directly above the flame ring

4. If you want to simmer something with a low flame on a camp stove you truly do need to use a pot with an internal heat distributing core built  into the base of the pan. Heavy cast iron pans will also help with heat distribution because they are thick pans. Light weight camping pots and pans simply won't work for a slow simmer, you will just end up with scorching inside the pan right above the flame. 

The pans with heat distribution bases are heavier but I am not cooking for a crowd and I am not back packing so having one skillet and one cooking pot with nice thick bottoms is not going to sink my ship...so to speak. You can find them in the Goodwill stores if your budget is really tight, just keep an eye out for one. They are pretty easy to spot by the thick base and the extra weight of the pot.

I tried one of the metal heat  screens with the holes in it that has a metal handle when using my Gas One Mini stove. That screen deflected so much heat back towards the stove that it made the stove's cast aluminum gas burner fitting hot enough to badly deformed the casting and of course that destroyed the stove as that piece is not replaceable. Oh well, live and learn. I am now a believer in the right pan for the job and that means heat distribution pans be they cast iron or pans with cores built  into the base to keep from having hot spots from the concentrated flame areas on camping stoves.

Conclusions the ability to do a good slow simmer requires a pot that makes it easy to do. It is not all about the stove. You can set the flame on the one burner coleman stove to be quite low but it takes more than that to be able to simmer on the lowest flame setting. Plus the burner ring on that stove is fairly large both in height and width and it is a high output BTU stove so it will have more BTU output at its lowest flame setting than some other models of stoves. So this situation has multiple factors going on that contribute to finding a way to get a good slow simmer from a stove, it is not just the dial on the stove you turn to lower the flame that means success or failure in simmering.

 

[highdesertranger]

Maki is correct. I have a Magma Marine cook set that I bought a few years ago. it is stainless and has a super heavy bottom clad. it was a little pricy but it is leaps and bounds better than any outdoor cook set I have ever used. I have used all kinds in my years from cheap junk to supposedly top of the line stuff.

https://magmaproducts.com/product/a10-360l

the Magma simmers beautifully. I even used it to reheat dry stuff like pasta and use them often to keep tortillas warm. once heated the hold heat for quite some time even outside in a breeze. as far as heat retention and spreading the heat out they are great. I highly recommend them.

highdesertranger

 

[Qxxx]

For 3 years in the van, I've used the same nonstick 8" fry pan with the Coleman stove, and it's worked fine for general cooking. It does have an obviously thickened plate on the bottom, which no doubt helps equalize heat distribution. Used 300 or more times with the 1-burner Coleman stove.

I never cook items requiring "long term simmering", as I feel that's basically a waste of propane. So my latest experience tells me the 120VAC crockpot slow cooker is by far the best way to go for that, even with as little as 100W of solar. YMMV. Also, pressure cooker, forget that.

I did just buy a new fry pan this week, as the nonstick surface on the other one is losing its nonstickiness. A selling point of this one is "[font=BogleWeb,]Stainless steel induction plate for fast and even cooking". Even so, simmering is not on my agenda. When using it, cook fast, wolf it down.[/font]
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Copper-Chef-8-Round-Fry-Pan/144495375