Powerless Cooking With the Kelly Kettle Base Camp

Using old Irish technology, the Kelly Kettle boils water faster than any non-gas stove I own.  The hollow, double walled, chimney design makes fast fire and uses all the rising heat to heat your water.  Kelly Kettles can also be used to cook on top of, although pot size couldn’t get too large due to stability issues.  I loved our Kelly Kettle Trekker so much I bought the larger Base Camp model to go along with it.

To use a Kelly Kettle:

1.  Fill it with water.  If it is too full, the water will boil over and spit out the spout.

2.  Build a fire in the base.  Use short sticks so your kettle will be able to sit on top of it easily.

3.  Once you have a fire built, set the kettle on the base.  Be sure the kettle plug is removed from the spout!  Angle the air vent hole toward or away from the prevailing breeze to control airflow.

4.  Add sticks through the chimney to feed your fire as needed.  It won’t take much to get the water boiling.  You may need more if you want to cook on top of the kettle as well.

5.  Use the optional pot support to cook on top or the optional grate to cook over the coals left in the pan after you remove the kettle.

6.  Use the handle and the stopper chain to pour water from the kettle.

The Base Camp heats approximately 6 cups of water at a time, the Scout holds about 4 cups and the Trekker around 2 cups.

Here is our Kelly Kettle Base Camp in action:

Also check out my review of the Kelly Kettle Trekker for a smaller version that would work for a portable emergency kit.

Keep preparing!
Angela