Tips for using storm kettle cookset

[Toadflax]

Continuing my theme of tips on various cooking items, I've just ordered a grid /2-pan cookset for my Eydon storm kettle (Kelly kettle clone) [if my postings about new bits of kit make me seem like a kit collecter, you're probably right ]. Basically, this is a grid that sits over the base of the kettle (not one that goes on top of the kettle itself) http://www.eydonkettle.com/stormcookkit.html.

The storm kettle is brilliant - boils water like nobody's business - and, as my band are playing a small festival in a few weeks time, we'll be camping so I thought I'd get the cookset so I can fry up a bit of breakfast...

...so I'm wondering who else uses this sort of thing, and any tips on how to get the best out of it. I haven't got the cookset yet (postal strikes delaying it) but had a bit of a play with the fire in the base of my storm kettle last night and I'm not too sure how well its going to work.

I'm wondering whether it is better to burn a lot of fuel with the kettle in place to build up a big bed of embers, or whether you have to keep feeding the base with more fuel as you cook. Doing this last night (keep feeding fuel) didn't seem to work too well, I suppose in part because you don't get the up-draft that you would do when the kettle is in place, so the fuel tended to smoke and smoulder, rather than burn, though blowing on it occasionally would eventually get it to flame.

Anyway, any advice gratefully received. I could experiment for ages, but a few tips might save me some time.

Thanks



Geoff

 

[benp1]

my only concern with the set up is that its made of aluminium

i was under the impression its best not to keep a fire going for a while around aluminium as it burns...

 

[treadlightly]

You may well find that once the kettle is removed it is difficult to keep the fire burning well because of the lack of updraft. I have tried using a small grill rack I already had, not one purpose built, which I balanced on the base but it wasn't very successful.

 

[gunnix]

I've put a cooking pot on top of the kelly kettle base quite a few times, I've also barbequed on it. There were two ways which were succesful for me, first way was to burn a lot of stuff with the kettle on top (adding water as it diminishes..) and then getting lots of embers to cook on. Another way I did was to build a tower of sticks like the 10 logs on ths picture http://www.inquiry.net/images/fire07.gif . That burns really hot and fast and leaves a nice bunch of embers in little time. I mostly added some little sticks to the base while the pot was on, to give a bit more heat. Mind you I was cooking then, with lots of water needing to be heated. To fry stuff adding the extra sticks would've made it too hot, I'm sure. Anyway, I haven't used the pots that came with kelly kettle though, as I think those alu pots suck. It's perfectly possible to cook on the base, but it's far from ideal!

The thermette looks like much better to do this, because they have a steel ring with holes in it to put on the base, to increase air and draft. Looks perfect. http://www.thermette.com/thermette_how-to.htm (picture on the bottom)

 

[Ogri the trog]

I don't have a Kelly, but I've seen one in operation.
I think there are two reasons why it causes a fire to roar up as it does.
Firstly, is the action of the heated column that is sealed on top of the fire bed (the kettle full of hot water) - causing a rising column of air, meaning that the fire underneath is being constantly fanned by replacement, incoming air.
Secondly the venturi effect of the inner wall as it tapers to a smaller diameter at the top than the base, causing the rising air to be accelerated out through the opening at the top of the chimney.
As the accessory kit does away with both of these elements (albeit in one piece) you basically have an enclosed fire pit with a restricted air inlet hole! It's not impossible to get a good base of embers for cooking over, but it'll never be as easy as with the kettle in place. To replicate the action of the kettle without the need to constantly replace the boiled-off water, you'll need another chimney. A simple circular bent piece of stainless (for example) would help to guide the gasses away from the fire, but you'd still be lacking the thermal mass of the original kettles water container. In effect the replacement chimney itself would need to weigh as much as a filled kettle - so not exactly lightweight! You would also be missing the venturi effect, so heated air rising off the fire-bed would not be as effective in heating pots or pans placed above it. Nor indeed would the top be as supportive of those pots on account of it being smaller than the base, as originally described.
One other method, is to employ the use of a small battery operated fan to force feed air into the base unit similar to the operation of many home-made fan-assisted wood burning stoves. This is possibly the easiest, though not Bushcraftiest, method that I'd be tempted to try out.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Toadflax]

Thanks for the various suggestions.

The cookset arrived yesterday, so I'm going to be trying it out to cook my lunch today at the bottom of the garden so I'll see how I get on.



Geoff

 

[Toddy]

I've got one of these and it came with the cookset. The kettle is just everything it is advertised to be. The cookset is good but it needs a different mindset to be used effectively. I find It best to lift it off the ground a little bit on some stones (or the previous boilings ash, that acts like a good snug insulation layer and it's more stable too) to allow a better airflow, and think cooking on embers rather than on a *fire*. Get the fire going in the base and put the pot on top of the grill. This allows you to feed the fire little sticks through the spaces without disturbing the pot all the time. Grilling and toasting needs embers, but it's surprisingly effective. Buttered toast and marmite after porage, with a cuppa, is a great way to start or end the day

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Toadflax]

Thanks again for the various suggestions.

It all seemed to work pretty well when I tried it yesterday - I don't think I'd want to use it to try and cook a full meal but If I'm taking the kettle and want a small meal, then it seems to do the job pretty well. If I had the skills and equipment to make a grid for the base unit, then I would have probably done so, as I already have some small stainless pans, but for me it was much easier to buy the set.

I started the kettle off as normal with a bit of newspaper and a few small twigs, but then I packed the chimney with finger thick bits of beech twig and ran the kettle for quite some time after it had boiled in order to get a good set of embers going (maybe for another 5 or 10 minutes). If you are doing this, make sure you have plenty of water in the kettle - mine never came anywhere near to boiling dry, but you wouldn't want to melt your kettle!

I then removed the kettle from the base, prodded the embers down and added the grid, which is a nice secure fit into the base unit.

Then I dropped the frying pan on and added my bacon rashers. It seemed to help to have the pan offset towards the inlet hole in the base (the inlet hole is towards the top left of the picture), so that there was airflow from the inlet hole, across through the embers. It seemed to help occasionally to blow into the inlet hold in the base, but even after about 15-20 minutes there was still a good bright glow from the base unit.

And finally, a fried egg to top things off.

All in all, I think (from only one trial so far) that it does its job pretty well - but it requires (as various people pointed out) a little bit of thought and experimentation - and I think it does the job it is meant to do, which is add a bit of funtionality to the storm kettle.



Geoff