There are basically three types of fuel used for the home made stove. They are, wood, gel (sterno) and alcohol. After some experiments with the different fuels, I decided to go with alcohol. The alcohol I use is Methyl Hydrate 99% pure and sold at Canadian Tire as Gas-line antifreeze. With this fuel a cup of water boils in 3 minutes and burns very clean. Wood as fuel is not reliable, hard to find dry twigs after a rainy day, and it creates lots of smoke. Using gel as fuel, a cup of water boils in 12 minutes, way too long for me.
My cooking system consists of an alcohol stove and a cooking stand, a pot and a pan.
Unlike the many fancy home made stove I saw on you-tube, my alcohol stove is just an empty small "Clover Leaf Flaked Tuna" can. I am able to do this because I am using a separate cooking stand.
The cooking stand has several functions; besides holding the pot or pan during cooking it also provides wind protection and flame containment, which are very important when you are cooking outdoors. The stand could be used with wood, gel or alcohol as fuel. It is made from a large empty can of bamboo shoots. The can was cut and drilled to provide air flow, access and rack support; its diameter was also re-sized to match the size of the pot. The rack to support the pot or pan is made of clothes hanger wire.
The system is put together to be simple and functional, complementing the pot and pan set (Primus 1L) that I already have.
The pot stand is a large empty bamboo shoot container, cut and holes drilled and diameter re-sized to be just slightly larger than the Primus pot.
Here is how they are stored. The stove, base, cups (2), spoon, fork, knife etc goes inside the pot. The pan goes on top of the pot as a cover. The pot and pan handles are folded in. Then the pot stand goes over the whole thing and they all fit inside the Primus storage bag.
Total material cost.........$0.00.
I had a great time experimenting and putting them together. Retirement time well spend.......-:)
