The Pot Cozy

What is it?  An extremely light, custom fitted insulator for camping pots containing hot foods or liquids.

Why use it?  The main benefit of the pot cozy is to save fuel weight.  Hot food or water placed into the cozy will remain hot for very long periods of time (if the cozy is made and used properly).  This means that you don't have to keep food on the stove to keep it warm, and you can heat all needed water at once, use the hot water needed for dinner, and set the remainder aside in a cozy to keep warm for KP.  One thing to remember - if you don't use a tight-fitting lid on your pots, then the cozy will not provide any benefit to you.

Measuring boiling water to pour into the dehydrated meal in the turkey bag in the "dry" pot. Stirring the meal before covering and allowing to re-hydrate for 10 minutes. Hot water for KP in other cozied pot.

What do you need to make your own pot cozy?

  • The pot and lid you are making the cozy for
  • A roll of REFLECTIX or similar foil/bubble/foil rolled insulation - We use the 16" wide rolls.  One roll will make more cozies than most groups need for all of their pots if cut carefully.
  • Aluminum tape - Duct tape will not work here.  You need the metal aluminum tape to make your cozy.  Buy the best aluminum tape you can afford.
  • Good scissors - You need scissors that will not dull cutting the insulation and tape.
  • A 12 inch ruler or a square - I use a roofers square 12" x 18" - allows for precise marking on the insulation.
  • A long straight edge - A yardstick will work fine.
  • A Sharpie marker - To mark the insulation as you measure for your cut lines.

 

How to make the pot cozy:  (I will describe our method for making a cozy to fit my 4-qt pot and lid made by Open Country - the pots and lids we use for Philmont.  You can modify this method as needed for your specific application.)  I will begin by describing how to make the "tube" part of the cozy body, then on to the "bottom" part of the cozy body, then the "lid" of the cozy.

Making the cozy "tube":

1.  Measure the distance from the surface to the lower edge of the pot's lip.  This distance will be the height of your cozy.
2.  Unroll a length of Reflectix from the roll on the floor.  You are preparing to measure the length of Reflectix needed to make the tube.
3.  Lay the 8-qt pot on its side on the unrolled Reflectix, and roll the Reflectix around the pot.  Mark the edge of the Reflectix with the Sharpie where you want to cut the tube length.  You want the tube to be snug, but not tight.  Here it is better to make the length too long rather than too short.  You can always cut some of the extra length off if the tube is not snug.  
4.  With your square, mark a line up the Reflectix that is equal to the height of your pot (from step 1).
5.  With your long straight edge, mark a line across the Reflectix that represents the cozy height (from step 1) across the length of the tube (from step 3).  The 16" wide Reflectix should be wide enough to make two tubes for 8-qt pots from one length of insulation.
6. Once you have marked a rectangle on the Reflectix that represents the tube height and length, cut carefully along the lines.
7.  Fit the cut tube piece on the pot to see if any fine-tuning is needed.  Remember, you want the tube to be snug, but not tight.  Do any trimming needed and fit the tube on the pot again.
8.  When you are satisfied that the tube is cut to fit the pot correctly, tape the ends of the tube together with aluminum tape.  Do not overlap the ends (or your tube will be too small to fit the pot).  Use aluminum tape on the both the inner and outer surfaces of the tube, being sure to go over both the top and bottom of the tube.
9.  Fit the tube onto the pot up to the point that the bail connects to the pot.  Mark the bail connection on each side of the tube.

10.  Measure down from the lip of the pot to the bottom of the bail connection.

11.  Trim the bail connections from the cozy tube.  This allows the cozy to reach to lip of the pot completely around the entire circumference.

Making the cozy "bottom":

  1. Unroll a length of Reflectix from the roll on the floor.
  2. Set the 8-qt pot on the Reflectix, bottom down.

 
3.  With the Sharpie marker, scribe a line around the outside circumference of the bottom of the pot.  Try to make this line straight down from the sides of the pot.
4.  Cut out the circle scribed in step 3, being careful to stay on the outer edge of the line.  Again, it's much easier to trim off excess than to have to start over.
5.  Turn the pot upside down and place on the ground.

6.  Place the cozy tube on the pot.

7.  Place the bottom circle cut out in step 4 on the bottom of the pot.  You want the circle to fit well with the sides of the cozy tube.  Trim the bottom where needed.
8.  Using squares of aluminum tape, begin attaching the bottom of the cozy to the cozy tube.  Be very careful to cover the entire joint as this joint is the weakest part of the cozy.  You only need to tape the outside of the joint.  Tape inside will cause the cozy to become too tight to use on the pot.

Making the cozy "lid":

A note on the Open Country lid we use.  We use the flat aluminum lid that is designed for both the 8-qt and 10-qt Open Country pots.  This lid has a raised, rolled rim and fits tightly on the pot (as long as neither has been abused and bent).

  1. Unroll a length of Reflectix from the roll on the floor.
  2. Set the pot lid on the Reflectix.
  3. With the Sharpie marker, scribe a line around the outside circumference of the lid.

 
  1. Cut out the circle scribed in step 3, being careful to stay on the INNER edge of the line (staying on the inner edge will allow for the lip on the top of the lid).
  2. Fit the circle cut out in step 4 on the lid (right side up) and trim as needed for a good fit inside the lip of the lid.
  1. Using a piece of aluminum tape, fashion a "grab tab" in the middle of the cozy lid to allow easy removal without burning your fingers.

We order our 8-qt pots and lids directly from Open Country.  Their website is http://www.opencountrycampware.com/about_us/index.phtml.  They are extremely friendly and helpful.  The 8-qt pots are not listed for sale individually on the website, but can be purchased individually from them.  The lids we use are listed as 10-qt kettle lids in their catalog (it took awhile for them to find the lids the first time we ordered from them).

This page was last updated on March 06, 2007 .
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