Reviews > Cook Gear > Cook Sets > AntiGravityGear Mamas Kitchen Cookset > David Anderson > Long Term Report

Name: David Anderson
E-mail: danderson@backpackgeartest.org
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2" (1.87 m)
Weight: 285 (125 kg)
City: Olympia, WA

I grew up car camping with my family in California, and started backpacking sometime around 5th grade. As an adult I've lived, worked and backpacked in New England, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. I've also gotten involved in sea kayaking in the last few years.

My backpacking style is generally heavyweight, though I choose the lightest gear that will allow me to maintain my comfort level on the trail and at camp.

This is the complete Mama's Kitchen.
Two pots, their pot cozies, Tinman alcohol stove,
windscreen and pot grabbers.

The complete kit packs inside the large pot cozy.

Product Info

Manufacturer: AntiGravityGear

Year: 2003

Mama's Kitchen is comprised of two lightweight, aluminum non-stick pots, and their pot cozies, which are made out of aluminized bubblewrap insulation. In addition the kit contains pot grabbers, and an optional Tinman alcohol stove, made from soda cans, and a windscreen.

When packed up, the stove and pot grabbers go inside the small pot. The small pot goes in its pot cozy, which fits snuggly inside the large pot. The windscreen wraps around the large pot, and this slides right into the large pot cozy.

The complete Mama's Kitchen, packed up and ready to go is a compact 5 inches (13 cm) tall, 6 inches ( cm) in diameter and weighs less than a pound (0.45 kg).

Long Term Report

For my testing since the field report, I have started splitting up the set and bringing favorite pieces along and leaving others behind.

As with the field test, all backpacks and day hikes have been in western Washington State, with almost all of it in wet conditions. The temperatures have been between 25 F (-4 C) and 85 F (30 C). There have been some very windy days mixed in there too, with gusts over 60 mph (97 km/h) on at least three occasions.

Stove: I really like how this little stove works for me when my only goal is boiling water. I simply light the alcohol through the open top, wait for it to get hot enough to send flames through the holes in the side, and set my pot on top. There is no requirement for a pot stand. If I am going to be doing some actual cooking instead of just rehydrating my food, I will bring this stove along with another stove that has a more controllable flame, which gives me a two burner kitchen. In these cases I will use the tinman stove to make tea or soup water while doing my simmering on my other stove.

I have made one addition to the kit when I am bringing along the Tinman stove. I use the top of a tuna can as a heat barrier when I am cooking with the stove directly on the duff. This seems to be sufficient to keep the needles from starting to smolder while I am cooking.

Windscreen: While the windscreen works well enough when using the stove with the AntiGravityGear pots, if I am only going to use the stove for boiling water, I prefer to use a taller windscreen that is custom fit to my kettle.

Pots: I have to admit that these pots are definitely not my first choice to bring along on trips. They are light weight, and they clean out really nicely, but the smooth bottom is a real pain when it comes to keeping the pot from sliding off the stove. Even though I have continued to burn off more of the non-stick coating on the outside, I still have problems with the slipping.

I believe the sliding problem could be solved by stamping concentric ridges around the bottom during manufacture. This would give the teeth that are on most of the pot stands on commercial stoves something to grab onto, even with the non-stick coating. It would also provide more surface area for heat transfer from the stove flames.

Pot Lids: The flat lid for the large pot, on the other hand, has a plain old D-ring attached to the lid near one edge. The way it is mounted allows the D-ring to lay flat on the surface, making it difficult to grab ahold of on the hot pot. This not only makes it hard to grab the handle, it also makes it just about impossible for me to use the lid as a strainer when cooking pasta or grain.

The lid on the small pot is much nicer. It is slightly domed with the handle in the center, mounted in such a way that it stands up slightly so I don't need any tools to grab it. Being centered, it also allows me to use it as a strainer. Unfortunately, most of the food that I would want to strain requires a larger pot.

I would really like to see a lid more like that for the small pot adapted to the large pot.

Cozies: The pot cozies are by far the best part of this system. They work way better than the foil bags that come with freeze-dried meals for holding the heat in while rehydrating food. By keeping the water at a higher temperature for a longer time, the food does seem to rehydrate better, especially the meat.

I still haven't had much luck with actual cooking in the cozies. It works okay for some grains and legumes, but if the food really does need boiling water to cook, it just does not work out as well as really cooking it. Instant rice and beans work well, but quinoa and millet require that the water be boiling the whole time to "pop" them.

While the cozy will work for cooking pasta, it seems to end up with more of a soggy texture than I normally like. Unless I am trying to conserve fuel, I would rather use the rather small amount necessary to finish cooking it the way that I like.

As I said in my field report, for me the real advantage of using the cozy is when it is time to eat. The food is not only warm when I start my meal, it is still warm when I finish! And I never burn my hands trying to hold the still hot pot while I'm eating. These things are definitely on my "always pack" list.

It might seem odd that I will often bring the cozy, but leave the pot that it fits behind, but I have found that my GSI FairShare mug fits well in the large pot cozy. This is a really excellent arrangement, I rehydrate my meal in an easy to clean lexan container with lid that screws on, then eat it while still warm with the cozy wrapped around it.

The large cozy has shown continued signs of wear, but the wear has not been advancing anywhere near as fast as in the first couple of months. A few more flakes of the foil have come off, and a few more bubbles have popped, but at this point it looks like it should be able to survive well into this hiking season, if not longer.

Summary

I am quite pleased with the capabilities of this cookset, and like most of the components, not to mention the concept. If something could just be done about the slipping problem and the lid on the large pot, this entire set would probably become my cookset of choice in the future. As it stands now, I will probably be retiring the large pot, and buying another cozy to fit one of my other larger pots. Unfortunately this probably will not pack as nicely with the small pot and cozy inside.

If the problems with the pot sliding, and the troublesome lid design for the large pot are addressed, this would be an almost perfect cook set. Light weight, durable, easy cleanup, and it keeps my food warm. What more could I ask for.

Reviews > Cook Gear > Cook Sets > AntiGravityGear Mamas Kitchen Cookset > David Anderson > Long Term Report