I was lucky enough to be sent some shiny bubble wrap recently (thanks Bodunn) and had a go at making a pot cosy. I roughly followed the instructions at Zen Stoves.
I use an Alpkit Titanium mug with a homemade stove and windshield. The cosy was made using a double layer of the bubble wrap all round and is basically a cylinder sized to fit the cup with a circular fixed "top" and a removable circular "bottom". I've used quotes for the top and bottom because I found the easiest way to use it was to sit the cup on the lid and put the inverted cylinder over the top. It's all held together with duct tape and the loose bottom has a pie-dish type foil lining for protecting the bubble wrap from too much heat. I've used it twice so far and the bubble wrap hasn't been affected by the cup full of boiling water.
I had a first go, just to see how effective the cosy was and when I stuck my finger in the water, I was surprised how hot it still was after a couple of hours, so decided it needed some more scientific experimentation rather than just my finger in the water.
I used a multimeter with a temp probe to measure the temperature of the water over time. The results below show how effective the cosy is. It took about 45mins for the un-cosied pot to reach 60°C, whereas with the cosy it was over two hours before that temperature was reached.
I've yet to use it for cooking, but I reckon the cosy will be just the ticket for a slow cooked stew and big savings on fuel use.
I use an Alpkit Titanium mug with a homemade stove and windshield. The cosy was made using a double layer of the bubble wrap all round and is basically a cylinder sized to fit the cup with a circular fixed "top" and a removable circular "bottom". I've used quotes for the top and bottom because I found the easiest way to use it was to sit the cup on the lid and put the inverted cylinder over the top. It's all held together with duct tape and the loose bottom has a pie-dish type foil lining for protecting the bubble wrap from too much heat. I've used it twice so far and the bubble wrap hasn't been affected by the cup full of boiling water.
I had a first go, just to see how effective the cosy was and when I stuck my finger in the water, I was surprised how hot it still was after a couple of hours, so decided it needed some more scientific experimentation rather than just my finger in the water.
I used a multimeter with a temp probe to measure the temperature of the water over time. The results below show how effective the cosy is. It took about 45mins for the un-cosied pot to reach 60°C, whereas with the cosy it was over two hours before that temperature was reached.
I've yet to use it for cooking, but I reckon the cosy will be just the ticket for a slow cooked stew and big savings on fuel use.
