Doc, have you compared this new model with an older xgk? how would you say it compares heat output wise to the nova at full throttle?
Hello, 111T, Though I have used X-GK's for years, and have several older ones, which I trust completely, I have not done a head-to-head test of the older versions with the newest one. I will try to do that and will post the results. I think that the older ones simmer better, even without a simmering plate. But, all versions of that stove can benefit by the use of a simmering plate like I used for cooking my dinner the other night. As to a direct comparison to the Nova, I've not done that, either, but will try to do so. If I have to choose between the two stoves, I'd be tempted to take the Nova. BUT, none of my X-GK's has ever let me down, and I trust that stove, especially with the new MSR pump, 100%!!! So, it would really be hard to choose!!! I can tell you that the Nova is rated at about 9,700 BTU's, and I seem to remember that the older X-GK'S were rated around 10,000 BTU's. So, they are comparable. The newer MSR stoves are not rated in BTU's. I can tell you one other thing, though about the X-GK stoves: none of them has EVER lived up to it's rated boil times!!! I was so disappointed with my first one, expecting a volcano boil time, that I returned it and got another one, which performed exactly the same as the first, if not a little worse!! My MSR Firefly boils water faster than any stove I've ever owned, or seen!! It SMOKES the X-GK, when it comes to boiling water!!! Of course, it smokes all other stoves, too, so that's not a fair comparison! The good thing about the X-GK is that it always works, and it does so in every kind of weather, no matter what fuel you want to use. NO, it does not boil water as fast as MSR says it does!! But, then most other stoves fall short of achieving their published specs, too. So, there you have it. Good questions, though, and I'll attempt to answer some of them next week. Got too much going on, right now, with all the bead bagging, and such!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
Well i found out one thing a pot that is 7 or 8 o. d. will boil faster then a small one same amount of water trust me.
Only problem with such a simmering plate seems to me that handle, when taking it along backpacking or such. But then the handle could be screwed or sawn off, I suppose. Even better would be if the plate could be used for eating as well - imagine a pre-warmed plate when winter camping! - but that would take an altogether different kind of plate.
I wondered about the handle too Jur, but more along the lines of how hot it would get. What is it made of to withstand direct connection to a simmering plate
The dried and shaped tissues, consisting mainly hydrocarbons such as cellulose and lignin, of various arboreal species ... ...or to you and me, wood.
Morning, Lads, Yes, as Ian has said, the handle is wood. From the one useage, it suffered not at all, and was very convenient for adding and removing the simmering plate. I don't think it would bother me, when adding it to my pack. Afterall, I've used my older X-GK's for many years, and every single one of them has had the old, solid fuel tube sticking out of it! It's all a matter of packing it right. I suppose you could just saw the wooden handle off, but I'm somewhat loathe to do that, at least until I use it for a bit more. So far, the handle is a plus, rather than a minus. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
Hey, Guys, Actually, the bottled sauce we use is very, very good, and we enjoy it quite a bit. Sweet Bride can create some delicious home-made sauces, when she's here. But, when I'm on my own, I have no time for such things, and "make do", nicely, with our favorite bottled sauce. 8) I'd be surprised if there's one amongst us who does not use such conveniences, at least now and then. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
There are some good sauces in jars out there, and likewise I'll use one from time to time. Debbie makes a great spaghetti sauce, but since the kids have long since grown and gone, the call for it isn't as great anymore. Besides, though, in making her sauce she'd use commercially processed tomatoes and tomato paste, rather than buying tomatos by the bushel, crushing them, drying paste, etc. I wanted to tell her she was lazy, but figured my head would get served along with the Italian sausage that would go into her pasta... 8)
Not a spag bol type no, not allowed here, even the supposed good sauces are crap, and you can make really good sauce yourself. You'l be asking if I use jars of curry sauce next Ian
Most of the commercial spag sauces are too sweet. That they are also too salty almost goes without saying. Can never figure out why they put the sugar in, beyond that undetectable amount needed to counteract the bitterness of tomato paste. As far as curries go, they are of course here nothing like the familiar thing they are to the Brits. Growing up, all you could get around here were the yellow "curry powders" with that distinctive "curry" taste which of course wasn't actual at all. Here being close to the Canada border and being ethnic Canadians with family still there, we would get spices in Vancouver to make proper curries with. Eventually, like many other good comestibles, proper Indian and other spices became available here on a significant scale.
My kids won't eat any sauce which has a chunk of anything in so we need to buy the blandest sauce made. I may experiment with homemade sauce and run it through a blender on puree and see if that passes the pickiness test. The texture would be smooth and hopefully the flavor would improve.
