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Wilderness Survival - Food & Cooking
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Boiling With Hot Stones -
Part 2
Text and Photos by
Storm
(Part 1
Part 2)
View this article as a PDF
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Wooden tongs are quite useful in
handling the heated stones. Notice the steam escaping from the
bottom of the rock as it hits the lake. |
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Rocks relaxing in the “hot tub.” I
subjected all rocks to at least five hot immersions (unless they
broke before the fifth trial). Which will survive...which will
crack under pressure? p.s.—I love those tongs. Made from
Yellow Cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis)...lightweight,
easy-to-carve...just the right width to afford a strong purchase
on it when handling an awkwardly-shaped rock. |
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Poor granite. This species
suffered a near 100% failure rate. I’ve been told by a geology
professor that water can infiltrate the interstitial spaces
between the relatively-large quartz, feldspar and mica crystals
and expand the rock when heated. To it’s credit, granite never
sent shrapnel flying when it cracked. |
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Quartzite fared a little better,
being smaller-grained and more homogenous throughout it’s
structure. About 50% of these survived. I will note that when
quartzite cracked, it sometimes exploded (but shards never
traveled more than a foot or so away from the wooden bowl. |
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And the winner is...
Basalt out-performed the other species of rock by far. And
yes--this photo (used twice in this article) is of the basalt
rocks post-fired. Only about 5% of these cracked with use.
A few years later, I still use these particular pieces of
basalt. They show no signs of giving out. Incidentally, one can
purchase smooth basalt cobbles in fancy home/yard furnishing
stores.
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After I get established in the San Gabriel
Mountains of southern California this Fall, I look forward to testing
the various rocks—gneiss, schist, talc, actinolite, pure quartz,
feldspar, marble--found there. I’ll let you know how they work out.... |
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(Part 1
Part 2)
Text and Photos Copyright by Storm
www.stoneageskills.com
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