Boiling water In A Bamboo Pot

[Mistwalker]

I have seen a lot of different material on using bamboo too cook with but mostly baking and steaming dishes with a thick consistency. I am more of a broth, soup, and stew type person if I have my choice so I decided to experiment some. I wanted to make a pot and hanger system from nothing but bamboo and see how long it could boil and simmer liquids before failure.

I used the saw spine to cut the "pot" to length, and to cut in the square holes in the sides at the top.

I have been messing around with the SOG team leader lately and got some ideas from the review I did.I used small diameter bamboo for the up-rights. I left part of one section of the limbs to make the "Y" for the cross piece to sit in. I used the saw to square cut the top ends at a joint, and just cut a sharp bevel on the other and drove them in the ground.

You can see the water level here.

and here it is boiling

At about an hour and fifty minutes or so the "pot" failed. It split and started dripping water into the fire.

The bottom looks a lot different know.

I've got my eye on some larger diameter stuff that looks interesting.




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[sicily02]

Wow very cool mistwalker, Neat project.

Bryan

 

[John G]

A fine first attempt! Thanks for the pics, and please keep us updated.

 

[dawsonbob]

Pretty cool, Mist. Out of curiosity, what was the water level inside when the "pot" failed?

 

[batosai117]

Great shots of the bamboo and the team leader :thumbup:

I was curious to know if you boiled the water all the way until the bamboo gave out, or did you boil, dump the water, boil again, dump that water, etc...you know, a situation where you might be boiling a bunch of water and moving it into a container and/or platypus pouch.

 

[Mistwalker]

Wow very cool mistwalker, Neat project.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan, glad you liked it, it was a fun experiment.

A fine first attempt! Thanks for the pics, and please keep us updated.

Thanks, I'll be doing more experiments as soon as I find new material.

Pretty cool, Mist. Out of curiosity, what was the water level inside when the "pot" failed?

Thanks Bob, about an inch and a half or so had steamed out of it before it failed but it was still higher that the top of the longest split in that picture.

Great shots of the bamboo and the team leader :thumbup:

I was curious to know if you boiled the water all the way until the bamboo gave out, or did you boil, dump the water, boil again, dump that water, etc...you know, a situation where you might be boiling a bunch of water and moving it into a container and/or platypus pouch.

Thanks J, glad you enjoyed it. I just put it on let it boil like I would if it had been a soup. However the bamboo was pretty dry when I started.

 

[hushnel]

Thanks for the thread. You may be able to get the bamboo to last longer if you use the technique of dropping heated rocks into the broth. Among the peoples who had no metal these cooking stones where heirlooms and an important part of the kit. In fact with the stones alone, broth and stews could be made utilizing wood, large leaves, coconut, fired clay or any container that can handle boiling water but not fire and found as needed.

 

[softrockrenegade]

Pretty cool!!! Who saw Les stroud boil water in a plastic water bottle?

 

[TheGame]

Very cool, Mist. I was wondering when you were going to try this. I just knew it would be done sometime

 

[riz_aaroni]

Could you try heat only, no flame? Like dig a hole, fill with big rocks and build a massive fire, then place a bamboo container in there to boil? Might be able to use a thinner piece of bamboo too.

Very cool pictures once again though!

 

[sawgrass7]

Mistwalker - I know you have lots of expereince. How comfortable do you really feel using that blade? I ask becasue I have handled it and like the concept, but dang - there is something just plain skeery about those pics of you sawing and looking right at that edge!
I always enjoy your posts!

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks for the thread. You may be able to get the bamboo to last longer if you use the technique of dropping heated rocks into the broth. Among the peoples who had no metal these cooking stones where heirlooms and an important part of the kit. In fact with the stones alone, broth and stews could be made utilizing wood, large leaves, coconut, fired clay or any container that can handle boiling water but not fire and found as needed.

I could definitely see trying that with some larger bamboo...with this size it might be a little iffy.

Pretty cool!!! Who saw Les stroud boil water in a plastic water bottle?

Thanks.

Though I heard about it and read about it I missed it as it was "pre-cable-upgrade".

Very cool, Mist. I was wondering when you were going to try this. I just knew it would be done sometime

Lol, well you know me...given unlimited time and unlimited resources my life would consist of unending experiments

Could you try heat only, no flame? Like dig a hole, fill with big rocks and build a massive fire, then place a bamboo container in there to boil? Might be able to use a thinner piece of bamboo too.

Very cool pictures once again though!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the pics.

When I tried keeping the container away from the flames altogether the water would steam but didn't seem to want to boil. I'll try more experiments later...maybe next weekend.

 

[riz_aaroni]

Wish I had some around here to mess with, would be cool.

How well does bamboo burn btw? It is notorious for growing like a weed, though if it burns well, it may be an easy source of tinder or fire 'wood'.

 

[Mistwalker]

Wish I had some around here to mess with, would be cool.

How well does bamboo burn btw? It is notorious for growing like a weed, though if it burns well, it may be an easy source of tinder or fire 'wood'.

When dry it makes pretty good tinder but I'm not sure on the firewood part. I know it will burn, and that it needs to be split first to avoid showers of sparks, but I'm not sure how long it will burn. I think that will likely be an upcoming experiment as I do have a bit of a mess to clean up from previous experiments.

 

[dawsonbob]

Just a heads up before you try it: split the bamboo lengthwise before you burn it, or it could explode.

 

[Mistwalker]

Just a heads up before you try it: split the bamboo lengthwise before you burn it, or it could explode.

Ok, lol, so I didn't make that part clear enough...I did give the warning

 

[TheGame]

Just a heads up before you try it: split the bamboo lengthwise before you burn it, or it could explode.

But ... things that go boom are cool

Just kidding, (they are cool, but not worth an injury over) I remember watching Ray Mears cooked food in one, but I can't quite remember how he did it.

 

[dawsonbob]

I used to love making things go boom — just not my food.

 

[Mistwalker]

But ... things that go boom are cool

Just kidding, (they are cool, but not worth an injury over) I remember watching Ray Mears cooked food in one, but I can't quite remember how he did it.

If memory serves..in the ones I saw they split the bamboo to make a covered pot, placed the food in and put the cover back on and placed it over the coals.

I used to love making things go boom — just not my food.

Sizzle, crackle, and pop are all good...but not so much the boom

 

[jca21]

sweet post dude. i wish bamboo grew here, i've used it alot back home in asia since it grows everywhere but the only bamboo i see here is the bamboo they sell for luck in florist shops lol.


great post. that sog looks like a heckuva knife.



JC