[jenjen]

[rooinater]

I used to use my MSR Simmerlite when I used to cook in camp. Cooking became just another pain/chore to do in camp, and added the extra weight and fuel that I didn't need. If you do FBC style cooking in the correct manner, the food tastes just as good to me and plenty of other people. Plus the added loss of excess cooking system weight. My entire cook kit to include the stove, spork, pot, down the line is ~6oz, and .5oz of fuel for every meal I cook. I still get to eat awesome food at the end of the day, and I get the added benefit of not needing to carry a large stove and fuel bottle, which weighs more than my sleeping system.

[dicentra]

Many of my recipes can be done both ways as well. Lighter? It depends on what you are cooking. Clean up for me is just a swish with water and maybe a wipe with my bandana.

[grannyhiker]

I suspect it would be a tiny bit heavier to rehydrate food in the pot. My reasoning is that you carry the food packaging one way or another, and if you rehydrate in the pot you need something with which to clean the pot. However, the difference is probably less than an ounce. If all you are doing is rehydrating food in the pot, you're boiling the same amount of water and therefore using the same amount of fuel either way. To me, the most important thing is that if I rehydrate the food in the freezer bag, I don't have to wash dishes! If you want to cook from scratch on the trail, that's fine. This will add to the weight, though. A 550 ml. thin titanium pot, fine for just boiling water, definitely won't work for real cooking--you want anodized or non-stick aluminum, thick enough to spread the heat evenly. For "real" cooking, just one pot may not be enough. You'll also need more fuel, because you're cooking, not just bringing water to a boil. If, like me, you prepare and dehydrate your meals at home, you basically transfer the cooking time from on the trail to at home. If you prepare several dehydrated meals at home from the same recipe, you reduce the total time spent. I used to enjoy fussing around with gourmet cooking on the trail, but as I've gotten older my preferences have changed to exploring the camp area, admiring the sunset, etc. Or I may hike until later in the day because I don't have to spend time on meal preparation. It all depends on what you want to do!

[dicentra]

I bring a bandana in my cook set no matter what kind of cooking I'm doing - it either gets used as a napkin or as a dishrag. Or both. Same amount of weight because the basic cook set doesn't change. HOWEVER - the types of food I bring may change. On shorter trips I'm more likely to bring heavier food. A fresh avocado on the trail? Apples? Oh yeah.

[GoBlueHiker]

My take on it is... you have the food in bags anyway, right? I mean, I assume you don't carry a stuff sack full of loose rice. The freezer bags are smaller and lighter than the foil bags most freeze-dried food comes in (think Mountain House). I think the gram difference in bag weight (a freezer-bag vs. thinner plastic bag) is pretty much a wash vs. the extra soap (or whatever) you carry to clean the pot every night. I personally prefer the FBC style for the absurdly easy cleanup, but that's just me. As Grannyhiker noted, I'd bet the total weight difference is less than an ounce either way, simply because you carry the packaging anyway. And yeah, there's 4 cups in a quart. You can put 2 cups water plus pasta in a quart-bag and it rehydrates nicely.

2 cups water plus Tomato Bruschetta pasta... yum!

I couldn't blame you if you opted for the cook-pot method instead. HYOH and all, as far as I'm concerned. I don't see a huge difference either way. - Mike

[Seracer]

Won't FBC save on fuel? I mean, you are not simmering stuff in a pot for 10 minutes, right? Bring water to a boil, pour it in, seal it in a cozy or whatever and let the cooking happen. Now if you are just using freeze dry stuff, it's probably no advantage. Other than cost... The cleanup thing is nice too.

[pimaCanyon]

I have a pot cozy for my POT. I prefer to cook in the pot, cozy it for a few minutes, then eat out of the pot. Clean up is with water and my hand or a bandana or snow from a nearby snowfield. No soap.

[Navy salad]

I do the same as theLarch. The advantage of FBC that I don't quite get is the comment about not having to clean the pot. Maybe I just have a lower standard of cleanliness than others, but in my old-fashioned-cook-in-the-pot cleanup, I generally just rinse the (teflon-coated) pot well, rubbing with my fingers, then rinse again and wipe with paper towel. Takes like 30 seconds. (I figure that the next time I use the pot, it will be heated on my stove and that will kill off any bugs that start growing on any bit of residue that my paper towel doesn't get). Not only that, but I can often do 2 or even 3 cleanups on a single paper towel. (Depending on what it is, of course.) The other thing I've found is that some dehydrated foods take more time to rehydrate and sitting in a freezer bag cozy, even though insulated, doesn't always provide enough time for full rehydration before the food cools. And we all know the, uh, side effects of eating food that's not fully rehydrated....

[marzsit]

[Navy salad]

Ok, I totally get it where water is in short supply - I just seldom go to those kinds of places. BTW, I use the portion of the paper towel that hasn't already been used for the next pot rubdown...