More Primus, More spirit

Mimer in action 1

First, a solo effort with the Primus Mimer stove. Here I could choose a more pit-like enclosure near Alppipuisto and Linnanmäki, hoping the trees and stones would protect from the wind. This also allowed more secrecy, as the trees are still lacking leaves. This did mean the view was not all that impressive, though.

The area has a reputation of attracting weirdos, but in this weather, in the late morning hours, no-one interfered.

Watch out for those low branches

I did some bag pasta, Coop-variety Fusilli Cheese. Primus Mimer did well here, but I have to say it's tricky to keep the flame down enough while protecting it from the wind. 

Even this enclosure wasn't enough to prevent occasional gusts from reaching the stove. So, the solution is to move the food around very quickly while keeping the flame a little larger than I'd want to.

The Coop Fusilli Cheese was ok, but perhaps not as good as the Knorr bag foods.

I forgot to take my plasma igniter and the aluminum handle with me. This wasn't too problematic as the aluminum pot edge doesn't get all that hot, it can be handled with gloves. A pan would have been different matter. As for ignition, I fortunately had some matches.

Pornaistenniemi

Another session with three enthusiasts in Pornaistenniemi recreational area, the eve of May Day. We could use the covered tables, so a lot of gear was on display and in use.

Here I finally used the spirit alcohol burner again, as it could be trusted to boil 0.5 liters of water. It did feel slow after all the experiences with gas, but it got there in the end.

A tiny bit of water was added to the alcohol mix, to prevent soot. The pot wasn't all that dirty after the spirit burning, which was a relief compared to the winter experiences.

Also the ignition was much faster, even with the plasma igniter.

Trangia windshield and various utensils. Alcohol burner at the right, actual alcohol in the middle.

After winter, I had figured of some premature pros and cons between spirit and gas. I had seen gas in operation only a few times, mostly in extreme weather, and it looked like this sputtering thing that needed constant adjustment.

Spirit appeared more reliable and was easier to handle, and the spirit bottle was smaller than a gas cartridge, which needed to be connected to the burner.

Since then I've worked more with gas and although adjusting it is kind of volatile, it really is faster and I've not been able to burn my food yet. 

With spirit there's no adjusting what you can't adjust! I'm looking forward to using it during the summer more, but it might be useful to have the gas burner at hand too.

Mimer in action 2

I chose to use the Mimer again to fry some vegetable sausages, which was quite effective. Again I would have preferred to have a more nuanced flame, but no such luck.

As with the pasta, I just kept moving the sausages constantly in the oil. Also, I occasionally moved the pan a little further away from the flame, as if with working with a tiny campfire. It has to be said the mimer gives a good flame spread, so I never get a feeling it's only heating the center.

One more picture from the Linnanmäki site