Festival cooking

[12Bore]

Hi All

First post, be gentle....

My daughter is going to Leeds Festival in a couple of weeks, she's done some camping with me and my son, and also with Scouts. Apparently gas stoves are banned at Leeds, so she was going to get one of the Greenheat stoves, till I saw the comments on here! I'm passing Wigan on Tuesday (that'll make my eyes water!) and thought of getting her the Gelert stove from Go Outdoors http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/gelert-solid-style-camping-stove-p118570 I'm guessing there are better stoves, but this looks suitable - not to mention cheap and almost disposable.
Any other suggestions?

Joe

 

[Toddy]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

If they've banned gas stoves what are they recommending that folks cook on ?, or are they expecting folks just to buy from their stalls ?

cheers,
Toddy

p.s. that looks like a civvi copy of the esbit stoves. They're an 'it'll do' but they get hot and aren't safe on a tent groundsheet or if they're not allowed to leave scorched grass. It's not a big footprint though, and if those tablets burn entirely and no bits fall through the base plate; might do ?

 

[rik_uk3]

Really those little solid fuel stoves will make a brew but not much more. Its only two or three days? Bottled water, sandwiches, cakes, chocolate and burgers from the on site stall will do; she won't starve, forget about a stove.

Welcome to the forum though

 

[Mesquite]

If they've banned gas stoves what are they recommending that folks cook on ?, or are they expecting folks just to buy from their stalls ?

I was wondering the same so had a look at the website and this is what they say

Gas canisters and aerosols (over 250ML) banned

For various reasons, mainly your and our staff’s safety, we will not permit any gas canisters, cylinders or petrol cookers in the campsites, or anywhere on site (with the exception of those fitted in campervans/caravans).

Anyone seen with canisters or cylinders will be evicted from site. Please help up with this, plan ahead and have a great camping experience.

NOT ALLOWED:
- Gas canisters (any size)
- Petrol burner
- ANY form of aerosol OVER 250ml

ALLOWED:
- Disposable barbeques
- Meth stoves
- Trangia stoves
- Solid fuel stoves
- Gel stoves
- Green base camp cooker
- Firelighter stoves

So going on that list my personal choice would be a trangia stove.

If you have a Clas Ohlson near you, you can pick up their equivelant for about a tenner

 

[IanM]

I am afraid it became the fashion to throw gas cylinders and aerosols onto open fires, just for fun!

The PC crowd are recommending the Greenheat because it is 'ecofriendly'. Poor cooker but saves the world. Disposable Bar-Be-Ques are also allowed.

 

[Osprey]

Hi 12Bore and welcome to the forum
My son is also going to Leeds and is taking a Trangia to cook on. He went last year and had no problems

 

[shaggystu]

welcome to the foum mate

......Its only two or three days? Bottled water, sandwiches, cakes, chocolate and burgers from the on site stall will do; she won't starve, forget about a stove......

i'd have to agree, i stopped worrying about cooking at festivals years ago, it's just not worth the bother IMO

stuart

 

[Lasse]

At festivals I bring my Trangia 27, works just fine as long as you also bring proper fuel.
I once unknowingly bought some alcohol gel instead of normal alcohol, clogged the burner and produced hardly any heat! So no warm food for me at Roskilde festival that year...

 

[ged]

... stopped worrying about cooking at festivals years ago, it's just not worth the bother IMO

I've never been to a festival but I'll take Stuart's word for it. Anything other than a gas stove takes a bit of getting used to anyway, so if it's going to be the first time she's used it what with all the distractions I'd say there's a lot to be said for taking sandwiches. That wouldn't do for me, but then I just LOVE a big breakfast!

I also love pressure stoves, but they seem to be out although reading the rules she might just get away with paraffin.... Don't go there, it's smelly. Agreed with Richard that the Esbit style stoves aren't a lot of use for cooking (and they're smelly too). If she really wants to take a stove a simple meths burner and stand will probably be easiest and won't exactly break the bank, something like the first two items on this page (which I've never seen before), there are lots of similar ones:

http://www.camping.co.uk/cook-sets-and-stoves.aspx

Unless there's absolutely no wind a windshield is needed, a piece of the thicker aluminium foil from e.g. a disposable BBQ, bent to form a rough cylinder will do. Or you can spend a lot more and get something like a Trangia 25 (for two people) or a 27 (for one) which has its own windshield. Budget about a pint of meths per day for a few mugs of tea/coffee plus the odd can of sausages and beans for two people. The main thing to watch with meths is that it's not easy to see the flame in daylight so caution is advised, you might have a flame where/when you don't know about it. With care and cunning you can use a lot less than my budget but it takes time to learn how to use the things efficiently. Last night I made a very acceptable meal using 24 grammes of meths. I'm just about to start on my menu for tonight...

 

[Ian S]

Interestingly they don't disallow paraffin....I don't think I'd fancy explaining an Optimus 00 to the stewards though.

The Clas Ohlson meths stove at £10 appears to be pretty good - it's a copy of the Optimus 88/91 as far as I can tell. I bought one earlier this year, but I haven't tried it yet.

Cheers

 

[rik_uk3]

No mention of paraffin so I'd take an Optimus Nova or Primus Omnifuel

Serious note, A loaf or two of bread, can of corned beef, spam, tuna, fresh toms and cucumber jar of gerkins and tub of butter(ish) spread and she's up and running. Long life yogurt (no refridgeration needed) and jam sarnies to start the day. Don't forget a jumbo bag of salted peanuts (don't crush like crisps), pepperami's, apples and oranges.

Now, if mom and dad are concerned then
http://www.firebox.com/product/2486/HotCans?aff=1721&gclid=COHRkbyBzaoCFcYe4Qod4kehzQ
is the way to go. Beans and saus for breakie snacks in the day and main meal at night.

 

[12Bore]

Hi, thanks for the welcomes. I think we'll go for the Gelert - she can have a brew and a Pot Noodle! I got hold a couple of cases of the Hot Cans a few years ago, they came in useful for the lad and myself for camping and fishing She'll be fine, she's been camping since she was little, her 5 mates hwever, this is is the first time away for any of them!

 

[ged]

No mention of paraffin so I'd take an Optimus Nova or Primus Omnifuel

That'd do for me. I'd probably set up a stall and start selling tea and coffee.

http://www.firebox.com/product/2486/HotCans?aff=1721&gclid=COHRkbyBzaoCFcYe4Qod4kehzQ

Tell me they're not six quid EACH?????

 

[ged]

...The Clas Ohlson meths stove at £10 appears to be pretty good - it's a copy of the Optimus 88/91 as far as I can tell. I bought one earlier this year, but I haven't tried it yet.

Do you mean this one, or did you just get a burner?

http://www.clasohlson.co.uk/Product/Product.aspx?id=164029951

That package looks like a bargain.

 

[lou1661]

we used to use hot cans at work, not the best taste and plenty of them didnt work either, so cold beans!

 

[Ian S]

Do you mean this one, or did you just get a burner?

http://www.clasohlson.co.uk/Product/Product.aspx?id=164029951

That package looks like a bargain.

The very same. The aluminium appears to be a touch on the thin side and the burner isn't as heavy as the Trangia and doesn't have a simmer ring, but for £10? Bargain, I'd say. It's the same price or cheaper that the Swedish military jobs, and much lighter.

Cheers

 

[ged]

The very same. The aluminium appears to be a touch on the thin side and the burner isn't as heavy as the Trangia and doesn't have a simmer ring, but for £10? Bargain, I'd say. It's the same price or cheaper that the Swedish military jobs, and much lighter.

Yes, although it's a shame about the simmer ring, which makes a big difference to the convenience of using the burner for cooking food. Without some sort of flame control it's easy to burn things. The military burner which comes with the military Trangia doesn't have any flame control either. Most people replace the burner with the lighter civvy one. As an experiment I made a simple flame reducer for the military burner from the lid of a baked bean can using tin snips and it was fine. Three steel wires as a pot stand in the thread that spawned this one work well too, in a different way. I still mostly use the civvy burner though, because it's smaller and then I can get my mug plus a few ingredients in there as well. Unfortunately mine doesn't seal so well as the military one, even though the gasket seems to be in good condition, so I fuel it more or less as required.

 

[shaggystu]

.....She'll be fine, she's been camping since she was little, her 5 mates hwever, this is is the first time away for any of them!

they'll be fine, they even have hair straightening stands at leeds these days!

stuart

 

[para106]

Hi there, I took my trusty Trangia 27 to T in the Park - just the job for brews & brekky.

 

[Satyr]

If you are taking a stove that is only good for boilling water, look to some of the cous cous packets that you can get from most super markets. Boil some water and dump them in then cover and stand for 5 mins. Perfect for a bit of hot filling food with not much hassle.

I pack them for my girlfriend when she works at the festivals (she is doing Leeds lol, tell your daughter to look out for Mand on Gills Smoothie van)