Review: the Stanley Cook Kit is a great fit for a go-bag

Josh CentersContributor - November 25, 2020

A dedicated cooking/boiling kit is one of the first things experts recommend adding to your go-bag once you’ve got the basics covered. Because a good
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You’re supposed to slide the “thingy”  (seen in the picture of the folding spork next to your pinky) towards the joint when the spork ist unfolded. That prevents it from folding back accidently. I have the same spork and was also annoyed at first, but then discovered this safety by chance. 

 

Thanks, that is a game-changing tip!

 

What made you choose this over a standard mess kit?

 

I have a mess kit, but I don’t like it. You can’t really boil water in the little skillet thing.

 

Good point. Hadn’t thought about it before but you really can’t boil very much water in that shallow aluminum skillet. 

 

There are SO MANY THREADS where this topic can belong that I finally just had to pick one.

Today I used my “Go Sun Go” for the first time. I bought it last year, pre-inflation and supply chain chaos, so had gotten it at a much better price than the current $129.  They have sales all the time (too many sales actually – it gets overwhelming), so I would recommend keeping an eye out.

Suffice it to say that I am THRILLED!  It is a very sunny day today and I packed it with mixed vegetables and let it cook.  I didn’t align it perfectly – I don’t have a sun dial or anything, so just did my best. And after 20 minutes it was still kinda lukewarm. So I aligned it better and 20 minutes later – WOW!  Super, super hot and my veggies are cooking like crazy.  I would definitely recommend this fuel-free cooking solution.  The main reason I bought it was to boil water in a grid down situation but being able to cook is an added bonus. It is very easy to set up and use  

A friend of mine bought the “Sport” version, which is larger, and she cooks with it every weekend. She even said she prefers it to cooking with a stove, in part because she can just “set it and forget it” while she gardens (vs worrying about her regular oven starting a house fire if she forgets about it).  The “Go” is very small and only enough for a meal for one person, but HEY. It’s super light (2 pounds) and could be something to even keep in a car for emergencies. It is breakable – the tube is glass – so probably not the best for a BOB.

Naturally there are plenty of options for building your own solar oven but I am as successful at building as I am at gardening, which is to say not at all. So I use my considerable other talents (ha) to earn money to buy things from people who know what they are doing! I will be keeping an eye out for a sale and buying some of these as gifts for friends this year. 

 

All the times I’ve done solar cooking it just turns out so moist and delicious. Pretty nuts how that heat from the sun has traveled 93 million miles and still has enough energy to cook food.

After cooking in yours, do you like the size you got or wish you had a larger one? A benefit I could see with a larger one is to cook your lunch and dinner at the same time while the sun is out.

Let us know if you ever see them go on a good sale.

 

Well, Gideon, I have a bit of a gear problem. So I actually own TWO “Go Sun Go” models and ONE “Go Sun Sport“. I am very glad I bought them LAST year, when the prices were much lower. I got this combination because I thought it would be good to have one meat course in the Sport and two side dishes in the “Go” (and also because I needed an excuse to buy more gear – HA!)

I’d love to have the Fusion, too, since it has a powered option and is MUCH larger. As for sales, I actually had to unsubscribe from their mailing lists because they were INUNDATING me with them. But if you sign up, they’re likely to send you all kinds of deals all the time so just set in your mind the price you’re willing to pay and nab it when it hits that price.  (Sometimes their deals are AMAZING, sometimes so-so, but they last only about 24 hours each). 

If you’re only going to get ONE, I’d probably go for the Sport.