cooking Archives - Page 3 of 3 - The Outdoor Adventure

DIY: Improve that portable backpacking wood gasifier stove

April 9, 2011 cooking, DIY, video 1

Many people complain about the high efficiency wood backpacking stove, saying that it makes your pots too sooty. Check out this little adapter and let me know the results:

I’ve removed the side air intake for the inner can and expanded the air intake on the outer can. Also, to make it burn more cleanly I added a reflector that forces the unburnt fuel out next to the jets.

Thanks to bmadau on http://backcountryforum.com/

Please try it out and give your feedback.

Gear Review: Military surplus solid fuel pocket stove (Esbit type)

February 22, 2011 cooking, gear 2

Even in Bolivia you can find backpacking gear. There are two North Face stores that sell primarily South American made gear (yes, I didn’t miss the irony) and an army surplus store that, amongst other things, sells classic solid fuel (esbit style) stoves.

It has some real treasures. They sell a light, aluminum army surplus pot and frying pan (the peanut shaped one), the Swedish military trangia cook set (not so light, but includes base, stove, pot and pan in a collapsible set) and the esbit stove that they offered me at the right price.

Esbit pocket stove (click to buy from Esbit)

Positives:

The real benefit is size, weight and simplicity.

It folds up to about the size of a deck of cards.

It is light, but not made of aluminum so its a bit heavier.

It is chemical based and easy to light (with an open flame). ç

The tablets allow easy measurement of fuel use.
It and the fuel is cheap. (less than $10 for the stove and less than $10 for the fuel)

Downsides:

The esbit style stove isn’t extremely fast and uses chemicals.

I bolied 2 cups of water at 3200 meters 10500 feet in about 10 minutes. That’s slower than my high efficiency wood stove.
The military surplus fuel tablets I got said to make sure the powder doesn’t get in your water and to wash hands before eating. That is kind of obvious, but a usefule note of caution.

The other white fuel tablets that I got shows an obvious chemical burn that lets off an obvious chemcial smell. Make sure you use this in an open space.

It doesn’t come with a wind shield.

Use:
What can you use this for? boiling water. Thats about it. If you are looking to do more, look somewhere else, the high efficiency wood stove, the trangia set or the alcohol burner are better choices, but for something compact, light and cheap (available for $10 online… mine was cheaper).

Will I use? This summer I intend to take several different stoves with me to try them out on the trail and see what I like. I think this is going to be for shorter trips where I’m not in a rush and can’t use my high efficiency wood stove.

Military surplus esbit stove review

February 11, 2011 cooking, gear, video 0

Here’s a video review of the esbit style stove:

Please note that esbit makes tablets that are much better than the two I’ve tried.

DIY Video: High efficiency backpacking wood stove

February 3, 2011 cooking, DIY, gear 4

Alright, for those of you who live in areas where wood heating is common, you know the benefit of a good, efficient wood stove. Well… all those who pay heating bills (be it electric, gas, wood or pellet or ???) appreciate an efficient stove. Even backpacking we appreciate it. That’s what floats our boat.

There is an old saying, “White man builds big fire, stands back. Indian builds little fire, huddles close”. The point is, you want to get the job done, and while the more pyrotechnical minded like big fires, the less work, the better.

Now if you combine those principles (efficiency, price and purpose) you have the high efficiency wood backpacking stove. Think of it as a wood stove with an afterburner… yes like a jet, but no, not that fast. You add extra air at the top of the fire to burn any left over gasses. With only a handful of twigs you can boil a few cups of water and in the end, there is hardly anything leftover, just a bit of charcoal. And all you need is 2 tin cans!

In reality its purpose is to cook food. at 3200M (10 500 feet) I have boiled 2 cups of water in 8 minutes and 4 (1 liter) in 13.5.

What are the benefits?
For longer trips you don’t have to bring your own fuel, making it lighter than conventional stoves, especially on long trips.
It needs hardly any fuel (1 handful). Much less wood than a conventional fire.

What are the downsides?
Slightly longer to boil water than with an alcohol stove.
Slightly heavier than an alcohol stove.
It relies on finding dry fuel.
Take a look at the video for a how to:

How to make aPenny Alcohol Backpacking Stove

December 14, 2010 cooking, DIY, video 0

So I managed to make a video of me putting together my version of the Penny Alcohol Stove.

I’ve used it Backpacking with my wife and daughter and it worked excellently. We managed to boil water in about the same time as some of the other expensive and heavier stoves.

Check out Mark Jurey’s blog for detailed instructions and efficiency tests.
Please post your feedback and/or questions.