Knockoff backpacking oven

This past weekend I field-tested my knockoff of the Omnia oven, also known as a wonder pot. I had tried this setup at home on my kitchen stove, but I wanted to try it outdoors, too, so I took it on the canoe trip to find out how it would perform. It worked great, in my humble opinion.

This lightweight backpacking oven consists of a heat diffuser (with removable handle from Harold Import Company, also known as a flame tamer, about $7), an aluminum ring mold (which I picked up at a local thrift store for $2), and a round foil pan (three for $1 at Dollar Tree, although you could probably get one for free if you save a take-out container).

The diffuser sat on the burner. The ring mold sat directly on the diffuser. The foil pan acted as a lid for the ring mold. Four small holes punched through the side of the foil pan allowed moisture to escape. The edges of the foil pan were pinched over the mold. I powered the oven using my titanium Monatauk Gnat burner attached to a four-ounce MSR ISOPRO canister.

What did I bake? Two packages of blueberry muffin mix. These are ideal for backpacking because you only need to add water. After adding the water directly to the package and mixing, I squeezed the batter into the greased mold and placed the setup on the stove.

Within a few minutes, the oven thermometer indicated that the temperature had reached 500 degrees, so I turned down the flame. After about 15 minutes, the muffin mix was golden brown on top in just a few spots, so let it bake for a few more minutes. Two packets of mix produced the equivalent of 12 fluffy muffins.

The downside of this oven is that it uses quite a bit of fuel. I hope to find a better-fitting lid, but I’ll need to weigh it (literally) against the foil pan that weighs almost nothing. If I sandwich carbon felt (or even corrugated cardboard) between two foil pans, I might be able to boost heat retention. I’m also searching for an angle food cake pan to see if the mold will fit within it, although this will increase the oven’s overall weight.

The oven weighs a mere 11.9 ounces (337 grams). Total weight can be reduced to 9.2 ounces (260 grams) by excluding the thermometer and removing the handle from the diffuser.

Pan (lid) = 0.5 oz / 13 g
Mold = 3.5 oz / 100 g
Diffuser = 6.4 oz / 181 g (without handle 5.2 oz / 147 g)
Thermometer = 1.5 oz / 43 g
TOTAL = 11.9 oz / 337 g

Recommended reading:

• http://www.omniasweden.com
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Pot
• http://theboatgalley.com/stove-top-baking/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTZJsNdM5eg
• http://www.backpackerspantry.com/products/outback-oven/outback-oven-ultralight.html

East Granby North

We rode for about 2.5 hours on Sunday. We started from a parking lot at Route 20 in East Granby (Turkey Hills Road between Newgate and Canal Roads) and rode north on the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail (map 36 and map 38). This is multi-use trail that runs along abandoned rail corridors. The Farmington Valley Trails Council offers a sensational map of this route.

We continued to pedal on the paved asphalt trail as it made its way into Massachusetts as the Southwick Rail Trail. Further along, it turned into the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail (see google map).

We stopped a few times to regroup. When the trail ended in Westfield, about seven miles from the Connecticut border, we ate a snack and turned around.

This was an especially easy ride, but the pace was tediously slow. Average speed was ten miles per hour. At one point I broke into a mad dash just to get some exercise. When we reached the cars on the return trip, we still needed to pedal a few more miles to reach the 25-mile mark, so we continued south, crossing Route 189 and Salmon Brook before returning to the parking lot.

It was a gorgeous day, sunny, with temperatures in the upper-70s. Many pedestrians and cyclists were also enjoying the trail. Our group was large with 15 or more cyclists. The youngest scouts did well, but I wonder if a few will be able to complete the 50-mile ride in a few weeks.

Keeping track of mileage was easy, thanks to my new Bontrager Trip 2 computer. Somewhat a chore to install (perhaps I should have purchased the more expensive, wireless version), it was a welcome companion on this trip.

NOTE: Convenient, trailhead parking is available at several spots elsewhere along the route:

• Copper Hill Road
• Phelps Road (just south of the Mass. border)
• Miller and Congamond Roads in Southwick
• Shaker Road (at Shaker Farms Country Club)