- [Barry] Welcome to the French Alps.
(rock music)
- [Ben] Two weeks ago Barry said he wanted to go to the mountains
and he got his way.
And now here we are.
(rock music)
-[Barry] Over the next four episodes
we'll be exploring this incredible region
in some mountainous food adventures.
-[Ben] Wow. Stunning.
- [Barry] Pushing ourselves to the limit
in an unfamiliar environment.
- [Ben] Can we do fine dining up a mountain?
(rock music)
- [Ben] And overcoming the odd personal hurdle?
- Seamless.
I'm sure that's how all the pros do it.
- [Barry] But we've got each other
and a familiar face to join the adventure.
- Fancy seeing you here.
(guys laughing)
- [Ben] This was gonna be one hell of an experience.
- Snowball fight?
-Not gonna lie, this is slightly ridiculous.
(rock music)
We just couldn't wait to start the adventure.
- But first, let's test some outdoor kitchen gadgets.
- Mr Mountaineering Currie himself.
- Now you choose to come back.
- Fancy seeing you here.
(guys laughing)
- We have three stoves to test.
Let's lift the closh.
- You've outdone yourself with the closh.
A solar cooker.
- Oh!
- So, it looks like a big mirror that you sit on the beach.
(disc scratching)
Anywhere sunny.
All temp outside, everywhere.
- Yes, James, this is the Sungood Foldable Solar Cooker.
It can be set up in one minute without any tools
and could be easily slipped into a bag,
without fire or flames,
it has the advantage of being usable, everywhere.
Parks, beaches, even the snow.
- Okay, I'm intrigued.
It doesn't look like there's any heat source
apart from mirrors
and I dunno how you cook food like that.
- There is no chance this is gonna work, surely.
- I dunno, but if it does, it's free energy,
always available, ecological and sustainable.
- All right.
Question is, how long is it gonna take you to make it James?
- Do that one, James.
I'll find the pieces, you build them up.
(mischievous music)
- Barry, get involved mate.
- It's gonna take about 10 minutes to get this thing set up.
- This is deeply frustrating.
- I mean, look at the surroundings
and they're already moaning.
- It's because I want to be appreciating the surroundings.
- He's got cold fingers.
He can't peel the sticky part off.
- Ah!
- And Barry eventually joined us.
- Oh my God, that's annoying.
Are you guys doing this bit?
- Remove the protective film, mother (beep).
(mischievous music)
-It's blinding me!
- Having a lovely time James?
- It's not love at first sight.
(guys laughing)
- It doesn't look very ready.
It looks like it's more for tanning purposes
than cooking purposes.
- So, on the box it says it cooks vegetables
in an hour to an hour and a half.
So, we've got all the ingredients with potato and leek soup,
white wine, butter, bouquet garni, potato and leek.
- Oh, it looks delicious.
- I've been hoping to escape to the Alps
to films and videos for years now.
This is not how I expected to start the trip.
- Before we can go on any adventures,
we need to test the kit we might need to take with us.
And now just shimmy to your left
and leave it for 90 minutes.
- Ah, no Ben.
We'll leave it for 90 minutes.
You need to turn it every 30 minutes with the sun.
- Right, I'm gonna start a timer
and see if our "Brother" can use solar to cook us lunch.
- Snowball fight?
- Don't get snow in it! - Barry!
- It's gonna melt.
James, it's been an hour.
Should we have a look?
- Oh.
- Yeah, I can see condensation from here.
- Let me just dig into it, why not?
Okay.
- The fact that you're picking up the saucepan
with your bare hands.
(James laughing)
- Yeah, it doesn't bode well, does it?
It's warmer than cold on the bottom.
- Did the butter melt?
- The butter didn't melt.
I mean we've given it an hour, which is not long enough
but like Ben said, giving it another 30 minutes,
is not gonna change anything.
Giving it another four hours,
maybe it would get somewhere but is it worth it?
Is it really making that much of a difference?
I don't know.
- Although it hasn't worked here, I like what it stands for.
The eco element of it.
The fact that there's no lit flame is a lot safer.
- It's a lot safer, it's a lot more sustainable.
I'd say we used our hour
aside from going to get coffees to warm up
to look at some online reviews
and there's lots of people using it
and giving it 3, 4, 5 stars.
They are also all acknowledging
that the hour and a half recipes sometimes take five hours.
- If this is ever gonna work,
I think you pretty much have to be on a beach
or in a park in a very sunny place.
You do not wanna be in the mountains for five hours
waiting for something to heat up.
This is not the area to do it.
It's not a survival gadget, in any way.
- James, I can also tell you this comes in at 69.99
and with that in mind, how many stars are you giving it
and what's your online rating?
- I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to give it 3 out of 10.
- Ooh.
- I don't think it really does what it promises,
even in this situation.
I do like the sustainability aspect of it
and how it doesn't have a flame or anything.
Online Review,
"Took it up a mountain, didn't work.
"My feet are freezing off."
- Ooh!
Harsh review but probably fair.
- Should we try something else?
- If you are enjoying this,
there are some small things you can do
that make a big difference to us.
Like the video, subscribe if you aren't,
click the notification bell and select all.
Thanks.
(chill music)
- Okay, Ebbers, new location, new gadget.
Lift the closh.
- Not going to lie, this is slightly ridiculous.
And we have a mini stove.
(metal clanking)
It feels very compact and complete.
- So Ben, this is the Brukit by Alpkit.
Ditch the flask of stew tea
and make a fresh brew on the trail.
Or go further with a hot soup or nutritious one pot wonder.
All the Brukits bits can be stored inside the canister
including the hundred pot gramme of gas.
The other reason we are testing this gadget now
is because tomorrow we're taking it up a mountain
and the conditions might be slightly more extreme.
- But there are definitely two elements to this.
This one clips straight in
or that gives you more height if you've got a separate pan.
If you're not cooking direct in this
but the container you carry it in
is also your cooking container.
So, it is all contained.
(gas hissing)
Oh my goodness.
Flipping heck.
- Okay, now we've got it working.
Ebbers, I'd like a hot chocolate please.
- Here we go.
Cow juice with one blade of grass,
which is fine it's what cows eat.
One bar of chocolate.
(Barry laughing)
- Body temperature.
- I went for an interesting choice.
It's got bits of biscuit in it.
(Barry and James laughing)
- Ebbers, you're a keen walker in camp
and you've used stoves quite a lot in the wilderness.
How does this compare?
How is it different?
- I'm gonna be honest, Baz,
I'm a fair weather walker and I like a good pub.
I plan the routes around good gastro pubs.
But yes, I have cooked on stoves before.
It's nice and compact.
All right, hang on.
- Sorry, what?
I didn't bring the whisk.
You bought that from home.
- This particular chocolate is speculoos,
it's got some spicing in it,
but we do a little bit of cinnamon as well.
- You're unbelievable.
(upbeat music)
I think what I like about the fact
that it all clicks together
and it's the heat,
the heating element's really close to pan
because if you are at high altitude and it's really windy
your flame can get blown out really easily.
Where as that, the wind can't get to it.
The heat gets the pan quicker.
It should bring you boiling water in no time.
- Does it say how much time?
- It claims instantly hot water,
but I'd take that with a pinch of salt.
- Talking of a pinch of salt.
- No!
- Little bit of Maldon.
Counteract the sugar in the chocolate.
So, I know it's only a small amount of milk
but it turns out this thing packs quite a punch
and while I was chatting to Baz it boiled over
because I was not paying attention.
So, more for me, but we have hot chocolate.
(Barry giggling) - Thank you sir.
Ooh crikey, save the cup.
If I had dropped that Ebbers.
So like, as the name says this is a Brukit,
it's kinda like made to brew drinks.
How do you think it would do with like food?
- So, already I like the fact
that it's quite deep so it can do a litre
although you might wanna have it right up to the front.
So, about does a litre of liquid
but that is tea, coffee, hot chocolate, maybe a soup.
I don't think you'd want to do anything more than that
because the bottom would burn before the top cooks.
It's not practical for cooking
but for heating up liquids, it's done a great job.
- If the Brukit comes in at 59.99,
Ebbers, what's your rating and what's your review?
- Straight out the box,
having never used it, didn't really need instructions.
Simple, quick, it worked.
It would do a litre, it is practical.
It does need washing up before you can put it away
because it's now all mess
and it all needs to go back inside.
But I think that is a solid 8 out of 10.
- Great gadget.
Amazing hot chocolate.
How are you gonna clean it up?
- I'm going to delegate.
- James get to-
- No, not James, you.
- Oh (beep)!
- I just made you a hot chocolate.
(Barry laughing)
- Baz what are you doing?
- I'm trying to find a good bit of stream-
Oh, good wash it.
(guys laughing)
Mind out mate there's a stream there!
You all right?
(mellow music)
- Good evening James.
- Hello Barry.
- Are you ready for some more gadge?
- I am.
- James, please lift the closh.
- To be fair, the closh is doing its job.
Oh, okay.
Got some firelighters.
- Yeah, that's fuel mate
but you're looking at the thing underneath that.
- It's a chimney surrounded by a cage
and something sits on top of that.
- Well James, this is the Horizon Rocket Stove.
It's a portable eco-friendly rocket stove,
ready to cook in seconds.
It's smokeless once lit
and uses gasifying technology to give a complete burn.
Its sturdy design means it can serve large groups
and hold big pots of food.
It claims to boil a pan of water
using just a few pieces of kindling.
So, it's super efficient as well.
Also, this one has been handmade by Hugo.
- Right, I'm gonna need some help with this.
Get in here.
- Gimme a mat.
Do you mind?
I think the dog can smell sausages.
- Feed a few small twigs or pieces of kindling
into the chamber of the front.
So, you feed it in there,
drop a match or fire lighter down the hole
and wait until it catches.
Nice.
(mischievous music)
It's all right, we've got two more.
(Barry and James laughing)
(mischievous music)
(Barry and James laughing)
(mischievous music)
- God we look like idiots-
What are you doing?
-Keep your hand there!
- One more time.
Luckily we have more matches.
- Where's the wind coming from?
- Oh, God.
(mischievous music)
- The thing I like about it already
is like it's relatively compact and sturdy.
- And it's not hot at all around the outside.
Like at all.
All the heat is in the centre
which is exactly what you need for cooking.
- Whether or not it works or not, I don't know,
but I love the look of it.
It does look cool, it does look cool.
It's nice. - Go on.
- I've got a pan.
Okay, so let's see how long this takes to get hot.
It's warm, it's warm already.
All right I've just been testing it with my hand
and I now can't touch it for more than a second.
So, I think that's hot enough.
- Get the sausage in.
- If that amount of fuel cooks these sausages through,
sizzling, that's super impressive.
With what?
Three bits of kindling and a block.
(Barry mumbling)
Barry's cold, guys, Barry's cold.
- I'm really cold and hungry.
What a selection of sausages.
- Mate, we're in France.
I'm excited man, I'm excited.
This is great.
What I love about it is that it's concentrating the flame.
It's super, super easy to set up,
if you're not Barry and James.
It's still not hot on the outside.
Like I can fully, fully touch the outside,
which is quite cool.
- That's a big deal.
That's a big deal, we'll carry it away.
So now that the bangers are done.
- Banging.
- I've got one more gadge for you.
- A double gadge in the mountains?
What is it?
- This is the Highlander 4 Slice Stainless Steel
Foldable Camping Toaster.
- Oh, this is a toaster.
Of course it is.
- Take the luxury of hot toast with you when you go camping
with a 4 slice camping toaster.
Simply place over a gas hot flame or real wood.
- Nice.
- Lay bread onto the supports
and heat until the bread is perfectly toasted.
So this works for normal slices of toast.
- Yeah.
- So we've got some baguettes.
- Baguettes and sausies.
- Okay, so while that cooks,
let's talk about the Horizon Stove and what you think of it.
- I think I like it.
I think it's really good.
It's clever.
Obviously, it's not compact,
but you know that's not what we're reviewing it for.
Does it say what it does on the tin?
100%, yes.
Like it was pretty easy to put together.
It cooked sausages, they were sizzling.
So yeah, it's great.
It's great.
- Right, so, how many stars would you give it
and what's your online review for this gadget?
- I would give it a strong 8 out of 10
and my online review would be,
"Ordered this for the beach, ended up in the Alps,
"works exactly as advertised."
(Barry and James laughing)
- Now moving on to the toaster.
Has it made toast?
- It's not robust.
- Okay.
- It's a little bit flimsy.
It's a little bit hard to put together
but I can imagine if you are toasting
square slices of bread on it, it could work.
- Okay.
- Right, now that these are toasted, let me construct them.
I've brought some Dijon mustard,
and of course some salad, needs salad.
Put it all together into a baguette.
- Thank you sir.
- I'll give it a 6 out of 10
because it didn't toast the bread,
but we didn't use it properly.
- Well that's what James thinks, but what do you think?
What was your favourite gadget?
Also, give us some ideas
for more camping gadgets and adventure gadgets.
We want to do more of these for obvious reasons.
(mellow music)
(tense music)
Next time, we plan our biggest challenge yet.
(tense music)
- Can we do fine dining up a mountain?
(tense music)
- I like the fact you've just given me all the food
because you know that I'm gonna fall over the most.
- Ben is seriously anxious and really worried about this.
- This is the first time we've done skis in a long time
and I was never very good at it then.
What could possibly go wrong?
(mellow music)