Buying from the pictured links helps sustain this website without costing you anything extra. Thank you.
Cooking kit for Wayfarers
A hot meal is a soul-enriching reward for a long day’s Wayfaring.
Cooking safely and well is an important Wayfaring skill, for although it is tempting to have pubs and cafes cook for you, this soon becomes prohibitively expensive.
I describe Food for Wayfarers on another page. This page is about what you might need to cook for yourself on the path.
Stove
There is a recent trend in USA ‘thru-hiking’ (set-route Wayfaring) for cold food, as this saves the weight of carrying a stove. I do not recommend this. A hot meal is good for you in many ways.
Cooking on an open fire is an option sometimes, but not very often. Fire is dangerous, visible, and inappropriate in a number of situations.
The far safer and easier way to cook is to carry a dedicated stove. For me, this is either a gas stove or a twig stove. The latter is an effective and safe way to enjoy the blessings of fire without the danger of ground-scarring. A twig stove encloses the fire in a metal box, and often includes ‘gasifying’ air vents to promote secondary combustion of the wood gases, reducing smoke and increasing heat. These clever little devices can be found in a number of forms, from flatpack slot-together, to fold-out, to stack-up. They are made from steel or titanium. The latter is light and strong, but thin and is prone to warping. And expensive. Steel is cheap and durable, but heavier.
Twig stoves have the advantage of not requiring any shop-bought or factory made fuel sources. It can feel rather odd carrying fossil fuels into the woods. Wood is carbon neutral, and burning a few twigs is not going to cause any harm, especially in an enclosed box. And you can usually find dead twigs almost everywhere.
However, twig stoves still need careful placement, and to be treated with care. These stoves get very hot, and can scorch the ground below. So place them carefully, cut away turf, and do not use an item like this somewhere with peaty soil.
The other main option for a Wayfaring stove is Gas. This is the quickest and easiest way to heat water or cook a basic meal. The problem is that you will need to replenish your Gas reserves quite regularly. In certain environments - like South England - this will not be a problem. But in wilder landscapes this can be tricky.
As well as twig stoves, there are also alcohol/meths stoves available, and also hexabit stoves. I do not have much experience with these, so do your research elsewhere for this.
Twig Stoves
OneTigris ‘Evil Eyes’ Titanium Twig Stove - 400g - £36
With a large opening for feeding in longer twigs. This is slot-together system flatpacks into a well-sealed case for clean transport (once cooled).
Tomshoo Steel Gasifier Stove - 570g - £28
This type of stove stacks together and includes a base plate to prevent scalding the ground. These are closer to ‘rocket stoves’, as they feed wood gas back into the fire. This makes a more efficient system. This is quite heavy, but very well reputed.
Toaks Titanium Gasifier Stove - 225g - £65
Stacks down to the size of a cup, and weighs very little. A very efficient system. Award-winning for its quality, and priced to match.
Ohuhu steel Camping Stove - 970g - £18
If you are walking in a group, you may share the burden of cooking. That means one stove - though heavy - will be enough for all 3 of you. The great advantage of a bigger twig stove is that you can safely use it as a fire for warmth, as well as for cooking. The fire box is high off the ground, which helps ensure your warmth will not cause damage.
Twig Stove Accessories
It can be useful to have a fire blower for your twig stove. An Elder branch can also work.
Fire Blower - Made in UK - 25g - £7
Gas Stoves
Gas is the quick and easy way to heat water or cook basic meals on the hoof. An advantage of these stoves is that they are controlled, do not scar the ground, and are low risk. Also, nobody will ever come looking, as they are pretty much invisible. You can use a gas stove to cook supper in the vestibule of your tent, or under your tarp. You may want to carry a gas stove as well as a twig burner, for the added flexibility? This is where Wayfaring in a group of two makes sense…
You can also buy a Jetboil style of gas burner, which includes a built in pan with neoprene insulation. This is convenient, but less flexible and more expensive and heavy. Plus the pans are all Aluminium, which may have Alzheimers risks…
SOTO Windmaster 4 Flex - 87g - £44
Lightweight gas burner with piezo ignition and excellent windproofing. Best in class. Buy gas separately.
Gas Canister Stand - £15
For adding stability to your gas stove setup - important when a large pan of boiling water is top-heavy balanced. You don’t want to mess with boiling water.
Cookpots
What you need depends on the size of your group, and your cooking style. Avoid aluminium pans, which have been linked to Alzheimers. The best materials are steel and titanium. Steel has greater heat dissipation, meaning fewer hot sports (less burnt food). Titanium, on the other hand, can burn water. But it’s super lightweight and strong.
Toaks 900ml Titanium pot - 120g - £45
iBasingo Titanium pot - 2.9L - £48
Big enough to boil up water for a shower. A significantly large pot. Be sure your stove can balance it!
MSR Stowaway Steel Pot - 1.1L - 440g - £22.45
Heavier than Titanium but with a very secure sealing mechanism, and a long handle. Also, better for cooking evenly than Ti.
Plate/Bowl
You probably will not want to eat out your cookpot - though it remains an option. But sharing becomes trickier, and it can be a grubby way to eat if the base is soot-blackened. Having a plate or bowl makes sense. A lipped plate can act as both, to hold the sauce of your stew or the gloop of your porridge. If needs be, a metal plate can also double as a frying pan - though you’ll need something with which to grip it.
Lifeventure Titanium Plate (with lip) - 76g - 19cm - £16.50
Bamboo Bowl - 136g - 450ml - 4 for £17
If you prefer a more natural and less clangy dining solution, a bamboo bowl is a lightweight option.
KFS - Knife/Fork/Spoon
You may already have a blade for cutting, but a knife for eating with is useful too. And a spoon is vital for cooking, as well as stirring tea.
You could bring these from home, if they are light enough, or you could get hold of a special set of Wayfaring cutlery.
Avoid sporks imo.
iBasingo Titanium Knife Fork Spoon - 46g - £18
Mug/Cup
There are many options available for this most important of morning drink holders. What matters is a handle - for propriety - and sufficient size - for ample refreshment.
I recommend a double insulted metal cup for comfort and keeping your drink warm. A single layer of metal is too hot to hold, and then suddenly your drink is cold.
Lifeventure double-insulated steel mug - 110g - 200ml - £7.50
Not very large, but possibly big enough. The double insulated steel means it warms your hands without burning you, and keeps your drink warm.
GSI Outdoors Insulated Infinity Mug (with lid) - 110g - 450ml - £15
A mug made of plastic, but with a lid and a puffy jacket. This will keep your hot drink warm for hours. And 450ml is a very large mug of tea. When each cup counts, this is a very solid option. But not as durable as metal.
Wooden Mug - 170g - 230ml - £10.50
You may prefer to drink from wood, for natural insulation. These need more cleaning, to not soak up smells.
Thermos
An insulated flask will keep multiple cups of hot water at high temperatures for many hours. Modern vacuum flasks work incredibly well. And come with an attached mug.
The best option by far is the Thermos Ultimate. The only choice is how much liquid do you want it to hold?
One good way to use a thermos is to fill it with hot water at the beginning of the day, and then forage wild herbs to make yourself a Wayfarer’s Herbal Tea. Just be sure to regularly clean out your thermos, or everything will taste of the last drink you left in there…
Thermos Ultimate 500ml - 275g - £31
Chopping Board
It is possible to chop food on your plate or bowl, but then you need to clean them before eating. Far easier is to use a dedicated chopping board.
GSI Outdoors Large Ultralight Chopping Board - 15.8” x 9.1” - 160g - £10
