Popcorn revisited

[Pat]

Egon, My favorite backpacking fry pan was non stick coated aluminum and wasn't much thicker than freezer wrap (You know the "weight thing." It has a folding handle and fit in a small bag so yo didn't have to clean off the ugly stuff the fire puts on the bottom. Looking back I don't recall ever having popcorn while backpacking except JiffyPop, those little aluminum pans with foil on top that swell up as the corn pops. DEER do love to comeinto camp after you go to bed so they can finish off the last of the oil and salt in the bottom of the JiffyPop pan.

Pat

[egon]

I never had a deer problem but bears seemed to like my water bottles that had contained fruit juice! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

I had one Teflon pan and the rest were stainless steel. I've still got them. Used several different models of MRS stoves.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Egon, One of the mathematicians at the lab where I worked went to Alaska to go backpacking for a vacation. He was smart enough to stop at the ranger station nearest their start point (not a published trailhead) to let the ranger know the two guys were going in and when to expect them back. The ranger tried to get them to take a bear proof (bear resistant?) food container.

It is essentially a piece of really heavy wall grey plastic pipe with flat ends inserted and held in placed with set screws with heads below the surface. There are O rings for seals. Not much odor leaks out and it is super tough for the bear to get into one.

HE declined as it required (get this) a $25 refundable deposit!

Soon after they started out they got into brush territory and had to hike stooped way over to get under the intertangled branches. They pushed on. (Note, that this guy competes in the Iron Man and such and is no girlie man.) They push on, confident that it will get better but it gets worse and they are reduced to nearly crawling hoping it will get better.

They camp near a river and set up two areas, one for food and food prep and one for sleeping to dodge the bears. This is day three of the trip and the first night with a set up camp. The bears come the first night they had a camp and ate all their food, even canned stuff (canned stuff on a back pack trip? Remember he is an IRON MAN!)

Now they are three days of very difficult hiking from the nearest civilization (back the way they came) and all they have are partial canteens of water (but can get water with some difficulty along the way) and a couple candy bars and a couple granola bars. They make it tired, hungry, thirsty, and totally out of sorts back to the ranger station and check out so no searches will be started.

They return to San Diego and we all get to hear them complain!

In contrast my wife and I are in a tent in Yellow Stone. I'm (now I make the connection to the subject of the thread) enjoying the last of a pan of Jiffy Pop over her protests against bringing food into the tent. I promise to pick up anything that falls on the floor and to take the empty away from the tent. I keep my promise. Now the only trace of popcorn is just a bit on my breath. Shortly after we go to sleep we are awakened to the snorting of a mama bear with two cubs. The cubs circle the tent with the longer hair of their coat sticking through the fabric.

I am armed with a Coleman lantern and a small hatchet. I decide that if a bear comes in the tent I will split its nose with the hatchet and we will make a run for it hoping the bear is distracted by a serious wound. Mama calls the cubs to her and they wander off and all is good. They are black bears and less likely to chase you down than brown bears. Next day bears shop up at breakfast and try to mug me for the flapjacks, bacon, and eggs. I shared with them. I enthusiastically shared some golf ball sized rocks with them. I pitched baseball in high school and could be lethal with rocks. They left to look for easier prey except for the one that climbed a tree near our tent and slept all day. We went out for a hike and it was gone when we returned. That was my last popcorn inside a tent.

The deer that came into camp to get the last of the old maids and oil and salt didn't hurt anything and their buddies the racoons didn't scatter our trash much. The worst thieves going in the mountains are marmots. They not only come for left over popcorn but will carry off your salt pork.

Pat

[egon]

My food was in a metal storage locker but the little devil went after the water bottle on my bike.

Strangely this yearling bear also was the recipient of a flying rock as the destruction of my only bottle had irritated me and common sense had gone by the wayside.

As this happened in a campground on the highway between Jasper and Banff it was not hard to find some pop bottles to replace the water bottle.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Egon, Bears like pop. My mom's uncle used to have a bear at his restaurant/store in Marlo, Oklahoma. The bear loved to drink bottles of soda pop. Folks bought lots of it just to get to see the bear chug them.

I used to use pepper (black or even better cayenne) as a bear deterrent. You sprinkle copious quantities over your food cache and it puts the bear off the scent. Of course I still had the butter, bacon, and similar bear magnets in a burlap bag on a light rope out on a limb 20-30 feet above ground. Not that bears don't climb but it kept the smell from touching down near camp so they didn't go for it. I never had my aerial cache disturbed.

I developed the pepper thing in response to bears coming through camp every night in Yellowstone. They ate my dry pancake mix Macaroni and cheese mix, and all the freeze dried casseroles etc. or at least scattered it. After I started using pepper they went elsewhere for easier pickings. To avoid having eggs broken I put them in a sealed container filled with water to cushion any motion. It worked.

I have eaten boiled eggs prepared by dunking them in a really hot hot spring and checking back later. the bears didn't find them.

Pat

[pappy19]

A "Whirley Pop" is by far the best popcorn popper ever designed, IMHO. As quick as microwave and 10 times as good. Best I ever found and I now use "baby white" Amish popcorn as it is the tastiest ever. I think I need some now, bye.

[Pat]

Pappy, Who washes it? I get good results with microwave popcorn but the new air popper does a good job and there is no need for oil or washing it out.

I went to their site and checked it out. Looks to be a good machine and it should last a good long time and there warranty sounds great.

Pat

[jml755]

Wife and kids use microwave popcorn. Personally, I can't stand the smell of it. (I think it's the chemicals in the bag outgassing.) I use an air popper. Works great. Put the popcorn in and by the time I melt the butter in the microwave, it's done poppin. Couple of minutes, tops. Usually can make a batch during a TV commercial on Modern Marvels or Dirty Jobs (two of my favorite shows). And, as Pat says, when I'm done, just empty the couple of kernels that didn't pop and put it away. (Of course, you do have to wash the bowl). This thread reminded me to ask for a fireplace popper for Christmas, for those nites when I want to aggravate the kids by doing something "old-fashioned" (along with the requisite lecture on how easy they have it). [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[pappy19]

Pat-

I usually just wipe it out after it cools off. I gave one to my son in law and he makes a batch EVERY DAY, and has done for 2 solid years. That Whirley Pop is amazing. If you ever try one, you'll be hooked. Get some baby white from www.Lehmans.com; they sell the Whirley also but you can get one cheaper at ebay.

[maryjstar89]

i love popcorn but i cant really eat any with a lot of butter. i always have to stick with light