footprints: answers

46: how to cook with a trangia stove

Suggested answers

1. 
2. Trangia stoves use methylated spirits (metho) which makes you throw up if you drink it. (See Note 1 below.)
3. Your fuel can leak and spoil food or other things.
4. The rubber O-ring will melt.
5. The metho will evaporate (just like alcohol-based handwash does).
6. The water will boil faster if you put the lid on the pot.
7. a) Turn the heat down (in this case, using the simmer ring).
   b) Remove food from flame.
8. It’s safer & easier to clean up as you go.
9. You can strain cooking water into a hole in the ground which you later cover.
10. Lightweight camping stoves don’t leave fire scars; they don’t depend on ravaging the bush for combustible material & they are less likely to cause fires. (See Note 2 below.)

further activities

Cooking at school – ideally during prac doubles - is a good hands-on way of preparing for camps. This activity can be graduated. The first time you cook, for example, you might just boil water for a drink. The second time you might cook a meal.

notes

1. Methylated spirits is ethanol (alcohol) that “has additives to make it toxic, unpalatable, or otherwise undrinkable. In some cases it is also dyed … Traditionally, the main additive is 10% methanol, giving rise to the term methylated spirit. Typical additives are methanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, denatonium, and even (uncommonly) aviation gasoline.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol)
2. Trangia stoves don’t produce sparks & they are heaps easier to snuff.
3. Some outdoor edders don’t let students fry stuff, simply because it is much harder to scrub the pan.

cooking at Cozy Corner, Torquay

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