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Alcohol Stoves are Easy
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Alcohol Stoves are Easy There is nothing difficult about cooking with Alcohol, that is a no brainer, hack of the bottom one inch of any can, fill it with alcohol and you can cook.
What is difficult is making a cook stand that works, that is light, sturdy and easy to pack. This guy below seems to say a coat hanger works. I can tell you one thing, I am going to keep my eyes open for one of them extra strong ones you find once in a while.
That's a pretty cool burner, I'll put that on the list of things to make. I notice that the video showed using some sort of anti freeze, I thought that was odd, I'd be much more comfortable using rubbing alcohol.
It also looks like the burner was set on an upturned saucepan of some sort, not too handy for a traveler. Have you tried some sort of potholder? They have silicone potholders that are nonslip, protect your table top and are easy to clean.
I use a ring of "hardware cloth" for my pot support. The galvanized wire stuff that hss about 1/4-1/2" squares. Burn it outdoors the first few times to burn off the galvanization. (Toxic fumes). It's about 3" high and slightly smaller in diameter that my pot. It fits in the pot for storage.
I also use a windscreen made of aluminum oven liner. Heavy aluminum foil, like an aluminum pie plate. Small holes around the bottom for air and extends up to cover about 2" of the pot. Fits tight around the pot to concentrate the heat. Can be adjusted for tightness with a paper clip.
I think I know this Hardware Cloth, I will go see if I can buy here in Thailand give that a try also.
My pan within a pan from a Dutch Oven works good.
There is this variable, Travel Backpacker do not need to cook, we can go buy dinner at a restaurant. However, to be healthy and travel cheaper, I cook.
When the burden increases, we just go eat at the restaurant. Need to keep the burden of cooking to a minimun.
I am going to make my very simple cooking video tomorrow. I have been avoiding too long. Really makes all this look complicated. However, my Dutch cookers are hard to find, and if I lose them while I am traveling, then the coat hanger starts to look good.
OK, I made the stove like in the video and everything is great aside that it isn't lighting. I have a feeling that it's my fuel that's the problem. I've got 70% rubbing alcohol but I think there is a stronger one that I should be using. Andy, I'm looking forward to that cooking video. I would also love to see what your pantry looks like. I'll have to do a search on your blog though, I will admit that I haven't read a lot of your entries before I started following your blog.
Cooking. in. the. shower? IN the shower? What exactly do you cook in there?