Trangia stoves

[Heltor Chasca]

Will a Trangia be powerful enough to get a Bialetti Brikka brewing do you think?

How were you planning to support it over the flame?
I use a Trangia but to tell the truth find it easier to put my Bialetti on a small Pocket Rocket gas stove knock off.

Very fast and convenient. Seems faster than the stove at home in fact.

Three cheap and nasty tent pegs through the base air holes make for a reasonable Bialetti support.

I love a good solution AS. All my holes are in the lower section of the stove unit. I'm lost [emoji848]. I cut the handle off a metal noodle strainer I didn't use. Fits perfectly in the nest of bowls and balances my 3 cup and 6 cup Bialettis.

[Sweep]

Any problems with the flame when using a Bialetti on a Trangia?

Anyone who has used one on the stove at home knows that, if you want it quickly, you want as big a flame as possible without it creeping up the sides to burn/melt the handle.

Isn't it possibly rather slow on the Trangia?

I do like clever "bodged" solutions but am wondering whether it is all too much bother.

[Heltor Chasca]

Any problems with the flame when using a Bialetti on a Trangia?

Anyone who has used one on the stove at home knows that, if you want it quickly, you want as big a flame as possible without it creeping up the sides to burn/melt the handle.

Isn't it possibly rather slow on the Trangia?

I do like clever "bodged" solutions but am wondering whether it is all too much bother.

No. If anything a Trangia is the ideal stove for a Bialetti. You aren't meant to use a fierce heat with a Bialetti as it 'cooks' the coffee. If you need your brews done super fast, the Trangia is not for you. Meths burns with a 'cold' flame. Perhaps instant coffee would suit your purposes.

EDIT: To add, I did a tour with a friend who had Buddhist parents. I had a bag of roasted, spicy sunflower seeds as one of my snacks. They were too fiddly for my liking and taking the husk off each seed was a chore. So I gave the lot to her.

The next day while we were snacking, she explained that in Buddhist learnings, the sunflower seed is an ideal snack. You can't whatever you do consume a great deal of food and whilst de-husking the seed, you have a chance to contemplate the creation of the food, your surroundings, your day, your life, etc etc.

I liked this lesson and I am enjoying learning to chill out and enjoy. [emoji120]

[Sweep]

Perhaps instant coffee would suit your purposes.

What a peculiar response.

I have been drinking espresso for close on 40 years, had a Blaletti when they were pretty unknown in the UK, have several, have a Gaggia Classic and a Gaggia grinder, very rarely drink instant. Have drunk about 3 espressos already today.

[georgew]

Any problems with the flame when using a Bialetti on a Trangia?

Anyone who has used one on the stove at home knows that, if you want it quickly, you want as big a flame as possible without it creeping up the sides to burn/melt the handle.

Isn't it possibly rather slow on the Trangia?

I do like clever "bodged" solutions but am wondering whether it is all too much bother.

Your advice goes directly against all advice when using any Moka-type coffee maker. They should be used with the smallest flame possible allowing the coffee to ooze into the upper chamber and the pot should be removed from the heat directly the process is finished.

" For gas stovetop, make sure the flame is not larger than bottom of pot. The flame should not come around the sides of the pot."
http://www.bialetti.com/coffee/stovetop ... _7_22.html

[Sweep]

" For gas stovetop, make sure the flame is not larger than bottom of pot. The flame should not come around the sides of the pot."
http://www.bialetti.com/coffee/stovetop ... _7_22.html

Yes, I do realise that. Hence my question. I have melted the odd handle through being careless. And the classic handle almost seems designed to increase the chances of it melting/leaving you with a strange acrid pong in the kitchen. I have even, shock horror, known a fair few Italians do this by accident. Hence the wide availability of spare handles in Italian shops. It happens a lot.

[Heltor Chasca]

Perhaps instant coffee would suit your purposes.

What a peculiar response.

I have been drinking espresso for close on 40 years, had a Blaletti when they were pretty unknown in the UK, have several, have a Gaggia Classic and a Gaggia grinder, very rarely drink instant. Have drunk about 3 espressos already today.

Serious quantity that. Cheers.

[emoji23] If you hadn't have said you had been drinking espresso for 40 years I would have pigeon-holed you as a hipster-bistro-coffee-you-know-what.

If you need a quick brew a Bialetti is not your weapon of choice. A calming herbal tea like chamomile might be a worthy prescription too [emoji6]

[Sweep]

Your posts get odder and odder and I seem to remember another similar exchange.

The espresso is the perfect fast coffee for any number of reasons.

Have you been to Italy?

Seen the speed with which it is often served up and drunk (very often standing)?

Few folk hang around in your average Italian city cafe

[psmiffy]

Perhaps instant coffee would suit your purposes.

What a peculiar response.

Not really - I don't like coffee made in a Bialetti - I do like instant coffee made with my brand of choice and to my taste so that is what I drink first thing in the morning on tour - I do like espresso made from a machine so that is what I drink at my cafe stops - there is far too much snobbish prattle about coffee - drink what you like - what is not the same is not the same

[Heltor Chasca]

Perhaps instant coffee would suit your purposes.

What a peculiar response.

Not really - I don't like coffee made in a Bialetti - I do like instant coffee made with my brand of choice and to my taste so that is what I drink first thing in the morning on tour - I do like espresso made from a machine so that is what I drink at my cafe stops - there is far too much snobbish prattle about coffee - drink what you like - what is not the same is not the same

Absolutely. There are some interesting assumptions about Italians and coffee. I personally don't like the way the *cough* Sicilian offshoot of the HC tribe make coffee. I also find the 'speed' that they do things is peppered with utter chaos and heightened emotions. You should see them drive [emoji51] My claim to fame is that 3 of the family now cycle [emoji106]

A Bialetti with Ethopian coffee on my Trangia outside on a beautiful morning is pretty lovely. And then when I get back to the real world, it's Nescafé Azera (instant) IF I can get it on special. I'm such a mongrel.

[Aunty Social]

How were you planning to support it over the flame?
I use a Trangia but to tell the truth find it easier to put my Bialetti on a small Pocket Rocket gas stove knock off.

Very fast and convenient. Seems faster than the stove at home in fact.

Three cheap and nasty tent pegs through the base air holes make for a reasonable Bialetti support.

I love a good solution AS. All my holes are in the lower section of the stove unit. I'm lost . I cut the handle off a metal noodle strainer I didn't use. Fits perfectly in the nest of bowls and balances my 3 cup and 6 cup Bialettis.

3 pegs in an equalateral triangle. Choose holes to suit.

[Heltor Chasca]

Thank you Aunty Social. You got me onto something. I tried out your peg method but hung the pegs and triangulated them as you suggested. See the photos. Thumbs up to you. More stable than my sieve method. And the pegs weigh 57g. My sieve 90g. You win.

Using COLD water it took 5 minutes and 15 seconds (6 cup) on a typical, gentle Trangia flame. Take note the flames won't jeopardise any careless placement of the handle. In my world, sat in the beautiful outdoors, surely this is quick enough for anyone. I stand to be corrected of course [emoji6]



As a caveat to my choice of stove top coffee maker: it has nowt to do with my cultural influences. I just like the picture of the little Bialetti man.

[Sweep]

Perhaps instant coffee would suit your purposes.

What a peculiar response.

Not really - I don't like coffee made in a Bialetti - I do like instant coffee made with my brand of choice and to my taste so that is what I drink first thing in the morning on tour - I do like espresso made from a machine so that is what I drink at my cafe stops - there is far too much snobbish prattle about coffee - drink what you like - what is not the same is not the same

Not sure what all your bold is about smiffy - I didn't tell you what to drink - wouldn't dream of it - my response was to an apparent insinuation from heltor that I somehow wasn't up to the holy intricacies of espresso - and why he thought I was a hipster I have no idea. Cos I'm in London? With your bold and heltor's emoticon ridden posts I think I had better get shades on the reading glasses. Camping (in fact at home as well) I generally drink espresso, for a variety of purely personal reasons. But as I say, drink what you want - vodka for breakfast if you like.
Thanks for the peg suggestion aunty but I can see myself coming to grief with it - I carry the pocket rocket knock-off anyway so that I have a cooking alternative so I may as well use that. all the best - great name by the way.

[hamster]

Love the peg method. 10/10 for ingenuity.

Of course it will need to be Ti pegs as the steel ones are unacceptably heavy.

[Gattonero]

......It also requires skill - like lighting the meths without taking the hairs off your hand .....

Either a long nosed butane gas lighter or firesteel (keep the metal blade still and draw 'stone'/flint back towards you) are the easier lighting methods I find (long lighter is of course the easiest).

Flint is your friend.
Get the "friendly Swede", is the best I've used. One stroke and the stove is lit, no problems. I also bring a cheap lighter, just in case I need ready fire, although I never had the need to replace the flint for this purpose.