My cooking gear

[froze]

I have used this spiral pour over coffee maker in airplanes with great success. You have to carry filters but it makes cleanup as easy and removing the spent filter and throwing it in the trash.
https://www.outlandusa.com/p/soto-helix-coffee-maker?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&campaign_id=18134227586&adgroup=&matchtype=&device=c&devicemodel=&placement=&adposition=&gad_source=5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuO6o_9rQhAMV2FFHAR3lvADSEAQYBSABEgIy9fD_BwE

Yes, as interesting as that looks, it doesn't collapse and take up almost zero space, and it weighs more than the GSI.  Weight and space are extremely important in backpacking and bike camping/touring.

[UncaBuddha]

Yes, as interesting as that looks, it doesn't collapse and take up almost zero space, and it weighs more than the GSI.  Weight and space are extremely important in backpacking and bike camping/touring.

It DOES collapse. You compress it like a spring and "weave" the "ears" through the spring to keep it closed. The spiral and 10 #4 coffee filters was about 1/4" thick (or I wouldn't have carried it around the world in the jet. Leaving Anchorage with some Kalahdi Bros fresh ground was MAJIC over the Pacific!!!)

[Ty0604]

I picked it up today at REI. It fits nicely on my collapsible Sea to Summit cup that I use. Also fits into my JetBoil Flash so don’t have to worry about it getting damaged. Thanks for the suggestion!

[froze]

I picked it up today at REI. It fits nicely on my collapsible Sea to Summit cup that I use. Also fits into my JetBoil Flash so don’t have to worry about it getting damaged. Thanks for the suggestion!

I didn't know it fit inside the JetBoil, that's cool!

Play with it a bit before going camping so you know how it works, and how much coffee you need to use for your liking, then you won't be throwing out coffee because it didn't come out right and have to remake it at the campsite.  It is easy to use but a bit of practice before you go out is a good idea.

Don't throw that thing into a dishwasher, all it needs is a rinsing once you flung the grounds out.  I fling my grounds into the woods or weeds, the grounds are very much biodegradable and good for the soil as you probably already know.

Some people use a paper filter, I have never done that, and quite frankly I don't understand why they are.  You may get some settlement at the bottom of the cup, so just don't drink it to the last drop, I probably waste about a teaspoon of coffee.  I let the coffee sit for about 2 minutes to make sure any small grinds sink to the bottom before I drink it.  If the idea of settlement bothers you then get a number 2 white filter, you will have to pre-rinse the filter first before putting the coffee in.  The other thing is that as you pour your water over the grinds, do not just fill the net with water or most of the water will have little contact with the coffee bed, so just like a pour-over you have to first pour enough water in to cover the bed and then let it sit for about 45 seconds so the coffee can bloom, then pour the water slowly in a circle pattern over the bed, keep it moist, don't let the water go all the way through before adding more water. 

Like I said, play with it first before going out, there are also YouTube videos on how to use it as well.

Enjoy!!!

[davidbonn]

I got these admittedly overpriced instant trail coffee options in a sampler from Garage Grown Gear:



My plan is, when it gets a bit warmer and the Co-Motion gets back from the shop, to have #coffeeoutside on morning rides and taste test them and see which ones are the least nasty.  The one on the bottom right actually has a folded paper pour-over thingy in the package so it might actually make a decent cup -- but at over $3 per package it darned well ought to!

A note on milk:  I try to buy the smallest container of milk possible the evening before for the morning oatmeal and coffee.  In the Northwest, at least, Safeway is pretty reliable on having shelf-storable milk in small (250ml) containers at non-crazy prices.  Horizon is a common brand but there is also a house label brand in little bottles that you'll see in the breakfast cereal aisle.

[froze]

I don't carry liquid milk, I do carry powdered milk though, not as good tasting as regular milk, but liquid milk weighs a lot, so I just use water which I have to carry anyway, thus the powder is lighter than real milk.  And I use the instant milk with my oatmeal I cook, so I need more than just a small packet of milk.  I drink my coffee black so no need to carry creamer or milk for it either.

[davidbonn]

I don't carry liquid milk, I do carry powdered milk though, not as good tasting as regular milk, but liquid milk weighs a lot, so I just use water which I have to carry anyway, thus the powder is lighter than real milk.

Yes, for a given amount of milk powdered milk will be lighter.  But you just can't purchase small packages of instant milk while you can purchase 8oz boxes or jugs of milk.  The smallest container of powdered milk I could find weighs about 10oz.  So at least on that first day you are carrying more.  Also, the packaging for instant milk is rarely convenient for being carried inside a pannier day after day.

I usually buy the milk, if I'm having any, at the last market before camp.

Compare this otherwise decent powdered milk:

https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-details.960032423.html

With this little bottle of milk which is shelf storable until you open it:

https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-details.970009922.html

Yes, the small bottles of milk are more expensive on a per volume basis, but I don't consume that much milk so it is noise compared to chocolate bars consumed per day.

[Ty0604]

I’m not too picky on coffee. If it’s too strong I’ll just add more creamer. I’ll also just grind my coffee at home to a coarser grind so nothing gets through the filter.

Thanks for the suggestions though!

[froze]

I don't carry liquid milk, I do carry powdered milk though, not as good tasting as regular milk, but liquid milk weighs a lot, so I just use water which I have to carry anyway, thus the powder is lighter than real milk.

Yes, for a given amount of milk powdered milk will be lighter.  But you just can't purchase small packages of instant milk while you can purchase 8oz boxes or jugs of milk.  The smallest container of powdered milk I could find weighs about 10oz.  So at least on that first day you are carrying more.  Also, the packaging for instant milk is rarely convenient for being carried inside a pannier day after day.

I usually buy the milk, if I'm having any, at the last market before camp.

Compare this otherwise decent powdered milk:

https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-details.960032423.html

With this little bottle of milk which is shelf storable until you open it:

https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-details.970009922.html

Yes, the small bottles of milk are more expensive on a per-volumed basis, but I don't consume that much milk so it is noise compared to chocolate bars consumed per day.

The problem is when I camp, there is no place to get milk, thus carrying powdered milk takes care of that problem, and eventually when you are riding you will run into a Walmart, Kroger, etc that carries powdered milk, I buy the smallest bag I can find and I put the powdered milk into a ziplock bag, and because it's in a bag it can take whatever shape I want it to take, liquid milk by volume of how much powder it would take to make the same volume of milk that you carry is a lot less weight in the pannier.

One cup of milk is 8 ounces like what you buy, it takes 4 tablespoons of powdered milk to make 8 ounces of milk which equals only 1.1 ounces of powdered milk, so the weight is significantly less using powdered milk than it is to carry a bottle and carrying weight is crucial when backpacking or bike packing.  I usually use more than the recommended mix, I put in 4 1/2 to 5 tablespoons.  I usually buy the small 9.6 ounce bag of Carnation, enough for about 8 breakfasts.

[davidbonn]

Well all ride our own rides.

For me, like I said, I usually am able to resupply every day and can do without milk on those days I do not.  And usually when I resupply it is less than twenty miles from there to where I plan to camp for the night.

Sad experience has taught me that ziploc bags containing stuff like powdered milk (or powdered drink mix, or hot chocolate) inevitably fail at inconvenient times and places.  So I always double ziploc bags containing stuff that would make a horrid mess.  Also, the "zipper" on the lightest-weight bags that pack the best also tend to fail sooner.  Freezer bags tend to be bit more durable.

I try to reuse such bags as long as I can, and have recently started experimenting with the fancy ones that are designed to be reused and washed.

[Ty0604]

Well all ride our own rides.

For me, like I said, I usually am able to resupply every day and can do without milk on those days I do not.  And usually when I resupply it is less than twenty miles from there to where I plan to camp for the night.

Sad experience has taught me that ziploc bags containing stuff like powdered milk (or powdered drink mix, or hot chocolate) inevitably fail at inconvenient times and places.  So I always double ziploc bags containing stuff that would make a horrid mess.  Also, the "zipper" on the lightest-weight bags that pack the best also tend to fail sooner.  Freezer bags tend to be bit more durable.

I try to reuse such bags as long as I can, and have recently started experimenting with the fancy ones that are designed to be reused and washed.

If you like creamer, I’ve always had luck stopping at the closest gas station to camp and grabbing some of the single serve creamers for the morning. I usually buy a soda or something and sometimes they charge me 5-10 cents each for them but more so than not they give them to me at no charge.

[froze]

Well all ride our own rides.

For me, like I said, I usually am able to resupply every day and can do without milk on those days I do not.  And usually when I resupply it is less than twenty miles from there to where I plan to camp for the night.

Sad experience has taught me that ziploc bags containing stuff like powdered milk (or powdered drink mix, or hot chocolate) inevitably fail at inconvenient times and places.  So I always double ziploc bags containing stuff that would make a horrid mess.  Also, the "zipper" on the lightest-weight bags that pack the best also tend to fail sooner.  Freezer bags tend to be bit more durable.

I try to reuse such bags as long as I can, and have recently started experimenting with the fancy ones that are designed to be reused and washed.

Of course, I too use freezer bags and double bag them as well, like you said you don't want a mess and neither do I, but that is also why my pannier has a brown garden waste bag that lines my panniers just to be extra careful, and I even put stuff that I don't want a mess to get on into their own plastic ziplock bags, but if something in a bag does not contain anything that could make a mess then I only use one bag.  I carry about 4 extra bags just in case, but so far after several years of doing this I never had a bag fail either the bag itself or a zipper.  I don't reuse my inner bags after one season, I throw them out because the older the bags get the greater the chance of one failing, the other bags will last at least 3 seasons, and the brown garden waste bag has yet to be replaced.

All my stuff that could make a mess goes into one pannier so I would only have one pannier trash bag to replace instead of two, but the chance of something happening in both panniers would be nearly impossible, but I do it to be cautious.  Even the pannier that doesn't have any possible messy stuff, has a garden trash bag so that sinky clothes don't stink up the actual pannier.

While my panniers do have roll tops and they are rated as waterproof, I don't trust that, so the garden trash bags are long enough so I can roll those up before I roll the closure on the panniers, so far not one drop of water ever made it into the pannier even after an all night downpour and the next day I had to ride in it, I wasn't very comfortable that day, but the stuff inside my panniers were nice and comfortable!

Even my handlebar bag I cut a white trash bag to fit inside enough so I can roll it up over my stuff.  That handlebar bag is not waterproof, and even the stupid rain fly that came with it won't keep out driving rain even after I waterproofed treated it and the bag!  But even though there was some small amount of water that got into the bag, no water made it through the trash bag and into my stuff.  Not sure why Topeak didn't design their handlebar bags to be waterproof, even the new ones today are not waterproof, so after 4 years since I bought mine they made no effort to fix that problem.  But I like the bag because it is a large bag, and it has a plastic map holder, so I'll continue to use it, and not worry about it since I have that inner trash bag inside of it keeping water away from my stuff.

[davidbonn]

I too rather like the little packets of half-and-half.  If you can get a half dozen or so they also nicely complement a box of mac and cheese.  The downside is they crush easily and make quite a mess so I usually carry them all in the rando bag.

Yes, I also use various plastic bags as liners to keep stuff dry in my bike bags.  One thing I like to do is loot laundry bags from motels when I stay in motels, as they are a very good size and weight to store clothing.  On the average in my experience you are better off with multiple small plastic bags underpacked over one big bag.

Stuff that absolutely needs to stay dry (sleeping bag, socks, insulated hat) goes into a good waterproof dry bag, which is placed in a plastic bag (possibly with other stuff that isn't quite so critical), and then placed on the drive side (to avoid road spray).  On the average in my experience the stuff packed on the traffic side of your bike will get wetter.

For wet and stinky stuff I have a small mesh stuffsack that I can strap onto the top of the rear rack.

Back to groceries:  usually I have "food bags" which are either pretty heavy plastic grocery bags or a beefy stuff sack (suitable for hanging food if you need to do that).  The beefy stuff sack is also suitable as an overflow bag that can also be attached to the top of the rear rack.  As much as I can I will try to balance the load between L and R by moving food around or putting food on top, and will also stash heavier items (e.g. cans of soup) in the panniers down low and bulky low-density items (like a big salad) in the overflow bag on the rear rack.

[froze]

Where do you find heavy plastic grocery bags?  All the bags I get from grocery stores or even hardware stores are less than paper-thin.  Are you in America as I am?

I put my sleeping bag and tent into another brown garden waste bag instead of a dry bag, fold the bag over the bottom, lay it on my rear rack, and fasten it down with 3 bungee cords.  Anything that I'll need to wear gets rolled tightly and then goes into zip lock bags, which I will smash as flat as possible and then zip it.  I put stinky clothes rolled and also into a zip lock.  Both the sleeping bag and tent came in supposedly waterproof sacks but I wiped those with the same waterproof Nixwax stuff I use on the tent using several coats, I'm pretty sure the brown yard trash bag works the best at keeping water out.  Neither the tent nor the sleeping bag got damp in torrential rain storms I've been in.
 
My panniers, so far after 4 seasons and two torrential rains, I mean rain so bad and so long one of them overflowed a river that went over the top of a bridge on a minor road and they had it closed off, so I had to take a 5-mile detour.  I was riding in that crap, and hated it, but it was hot out when that was happening so I didn't put on my rain pants or rain jacket, just a waterproof helmet cover, so I was soaked, it was so hot that when it stopped raining a couple of hours later I was dry in about 10 minutes! but I digress, not a single drop of water got into either of my panniers, not even when I pulled the brown garbage bags out to check to see if water got into the panniers, nothing, wasn't even damp.  My handlebar bag was soaked inside, even with the rain-fly on, but due to me using a white trash bag as a liner, no water made it past that and into my stuff.

Those rains were so bad I seriously doubt if that had happened at night I would have been able to remain dry.  Tents do wet through if too much water gets on the fabric.  I put 5 or 6 coats of Nixwax on my tent and rain fly, I have slept in minor rain inside that tent but not something major, so not sure how well the fabric would have held up with the Nixwax treatment under torrential conditions.  The reason I put so many coats on is that while the instructions say just one coat is needed, the fabric felt like nothing was on it, after I got done with all those coats, it now has a waxy feeling to it. All I need to do before every season is put on a single coat as long as I can feel it on the fabric.

My panners are Axiom Monsoon Oceanweave 45L panniers I got on sale for half-off 4 years ago.  They don't come with rain-flys because Axiom said they're not needed, but they do make them so I bought a yellow pair, I bought those because the color heightens visibility over the gray-black color of the bags, and the flys will help prevent abrasion wear and keep crud off the bags so all I have to do is rinse off the flys if they get cruddy.  I do treat the flys with waterproofing spray because when it comes to water getting in I get a bit paranoid!  LOL!!  I did test one of the bags by using a garden hose on full force all over the sides and tops of the bag for about 10 minutes without a fly-on, and no water got in, so I think the bags are watertight without the flys, but the flys were cheap so I got them mostly to keep the panniers looking good and visibility.

I always try to talk to other bicycle (or backpackers) tourists/campers whenever I run into them to pick their brains, and they pick mine, it's a long learning process, and what might work for one person another person may not like the idea, which is fine, everyone is different.  For example, I take a 3-panel solar panel to keep my stuff charged, some people I run into don't, they just wait to get someplace they can plug everything in, I rather not have to hunt for an outlet, or stop for a couple of hours someplace to charge, but that's me.  With that solar panel, I can even charge something while riding, it just gets strapped to the front rack and I plug something in, usually the phone when I'm riding, I need the lights as I ride and charge those and the GPS after I get to camp, I carry a very thin lightweight power bank in case there is no sun.  On my first couple of trips I carried a very cheap stove and a separate windshield, one of the other people I ran into used a Solo Windmaster and said he didn't need a windshield with it, so when I got home I ordered one and now I no longer carry the windshield which saved me a little weight and wind doesn't bother it much, not to mention the Solo Windmaster works better than the cheap $12 one I originally bought.

[davidbonn]

In Washington State single-use plastic bags are banned, and you either pay for paper or plastic reusable bags.  Typically seven or eight cents each or bring your own bags.

I run with two small fork cage bags (2.5L each) carrying clothes on the front.  Clothes are typically double-bagged in laundry bags and/or small stuff sacks.

A large Rando Bag (about 12L) carrying tools, lunch, a windbreaker, and small items (e.g. headlamp, spork, wallet, phone)

Right rear pannier carries the sleeping bag (actually a quilt), sleeping pad, other small items I am unlikely to need during the day, and a small amount of food.  The sleeping bag and pad are in a laundry bag, and inside their own dry bags.

Left rear pannier carries shelter, cooking kit, fuel, layers I might need during the day (jacket, raincoat, &c), some spare parts infrequently needed,  overflow bags, and more food. 

The rear panniers are small, about 10L to 12L.

Three water bottles live in the frame and on a stem bag, and there is also a small top tube bag that might carry a few things.

In a full-on bikepacking beast mode I can manage two nights (two breakfasts and two dinners) and three lunches in that configuration.    If I need more food or water the 12L overflow bag goes out and stuff rides on the top of the rack.  In dry environments I'd probably carry 2L bottles of water in the front fork bags and move the clothing to the overflow bag, along with a bunch of other stuff.

As for waterproofness, the Rando Bag is notoriously not waterproof and I have a small backpack cover that attaches and adequately protects it.  The panniers and fork bags are Waterproof Enough if most everything I care about is in a plastic bag and/or dry bag.  Like I mentioned, I also have a small mesh stuff sack that can hold a wet tarp and wet stinky clothes that also often rides on the top of the rear rack.

My experience has been that silicone-coated nylon and silicone-coated spinnaker cloth is Waterproof Enough in a shelter to keep you dry, typically a decent shelter will last over ten years with a reapplication of sealant to the ridge line every two or three years.  I've ridden out quite a bit of severe weather in that configuration and managed to stay dry and comfortable.

I haven't used a solar panel on tour.  Previous to last year I just carried a small USB power strip and plugged in and charged opportunistically, which worked well enough.  With the new bike I had a dynamo hub, primarily for the front light.  It also has a USB charging port and I use that to charge a 10k mAh battery.  With that configuration I can go quite a while recharging my phone, GPS, rear blinky, and a couple of other things.  I got the top tube bag because it is the perfect place to put the battery pack when I am charging.  If I don't need to charge that day usually my wallet and phone go in there.

Where do you find heavy plastic grocery bags?  All the bags I get from grocery stores or even hardware stores are less than paper-thin.  Are you in America as I am?

I put my sleeping bag and tent into another brown garden waste bag instead of a dry bag, fold the bag over the bottom, lay it on my rear rack, and fasten it down with 3 bungee cords.  Anything that I'll need to wear gets rolled tightly and then goes into zip lock bags, which I will smash as flat as possible and then zip it.  I put stinky clothes rolled and also into a zip lock.  Both the sleeping bag and tent came in supposedly waterproof sacks but I wiped those with the same waterproof Nixwax stuff I use on the tent using several coats, I'm pretty sure the brown yard trash bag works the best at keeping water out.  Neither the tent nor the sleeping bag got damp in torrential rain storms I've been in.
 
My panniers, so far after 4 seasons and two torrential rains, I mean rain so bad and so long one of them overflowed a river that went over the top of a bridge on a minor road and they had it closed off, so I had to take a 5-mile detour.  I was riding in that crap, and hated it, but it was hot out when that was happening so I didn't put on my rain pants or rain jacket, just a waterproof helmet cover, so I was soaked, it was so hot that when it stopped raining a couple of hours later I was dry in about 10 minutes! but I digress, not a single drop of water got into either of my panniers, not even when I pulled the brown garbage bags out to check to see if water got into the panniers, nothing, wasn't even damp.  My handlebar bag was soaked inside, even with the rain-fly on, but due to me using a white trash bag as a liner, no water made it past that and into my stuff.

Those rains were so bad I seriously doubt if that had happened at night I would have been able to remain dry.  Tents do wet through if too much water gets on the fabric.  I put 5 or 6 coats of Nixwax on my tent and rain fly, I have slept in minor rain inside that tent but not something major, so not sure how well the fabric would have held up with the Nixwax treatment under torrential conditions.  The reason I put so many coats on is that while the instructions say just one coat is needed, the fabric felt like nothing was on it, after I got done with all those coats, it now has a waxy feeling to it. All I need to do before every season is put on a single coat as long as I can feel it on the fabric.

My panners are Axiom Monsoon Oceanweave 45L panniers I got on sale for half-off 4 years ago.  They don't come with rain-flys because Axiom said they're not needed, but they do make them so I bought a yellow pair, I bought those because the color heightens visibility over the gray-black color of the bags, and the flys will help prevent abrasion wear and keep crud off the bags so all I have to do is rinse off the flys if they get cruddy.  I do treat the flys with waterproofing spray because when it comes to water getting in I get a bit paranoid!  LOL!!  I did test one of the bags by using a garden hose on full force all over the sides and tops of the bag for about 10 minutes without a fly-on, and no water got in, so I think the bags are watertight without the flys, but the flys were cheap so I got them mostly to keep the panniers looking good and visibility.

I always try to talk to other bicycle (or backpackers) tourists/campers whenever I run into them to pick their brains, and they pick mine, it's a long learning process, and what might work for one person another person may not like the idea, which is fine, everyone is different.  For example, I take a 3-panel solar panel to keep my stuff charged, some people I run into don't, they just wait to get someplace they can plug everything in, I rather not have to hunt for an outlet, or stop for a couple of hours someplace to charge, but that's me.  With that solar panel, I can even charge something while riding, it just gets strapped to the front rack and I plug something in, usually the phone when I'm riding, I need the lights as I ride and charge those and the GPS after I get to camp, I carry a very thin lightweight power bank in case there is no sun.  On my first couple of trips I carried a very cheap stove and a separate windshield, one of the other people I ran into used a Solo Windmaster and said he didn't need a windshield with it, so when I got home I ordered one and now I no longer carry the windshield which saved me a little weight and wind doesn't bother it much, not to mention the Solo Windmaster works better than the cheap $12 one I originally bought.