nickdutch wrote:Have you tried cooking or heating water on that thing as of yet? I would have a concern about the temperature being a bit low
The heat output is a little dissapointing using standard cans of gel fuel. Good enough to heat precooked food but I wouldn't want to depend on it for boiling a pan of spuds. I tried completely removing the top of a can of gel fuel with a can opener and the heat ouput shot up, but the fuel burned completely away in about 40 minutes instead of the usual 3 to 4 hours. If a complete circle of metal was removed from the top of the stove instead of just drilling holes and the fuel was raised on an internal base or I found a decent burner design it would probably improve it's efficiency as a means of cooking, but as a means of emergency heating it does make a difference to a cold room. Much better than the 'flowerpot' candle heaters.
It might be worth while going back to a normal alcohol stove for normal cooking
reperio a solutio
Resident and Co-Ordinator of AREA 2 Area 2 = Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Bucks
nickdutch wrote:Have you tried cooking or heating water on that thing as of yet? I would have a concern about the temperature being a bit low
The heat output is a little dissapointing using standard cans of gel fuel. Good enough to heat precooked food but I wouldn't want to depend on it for boiling a pan of spuds. I tried completely removing the top of a can of gel fuel with a can opener and the heat ouput shot up, but the fuel burned completely away in about 40 minutes instead of the usual 3 to 4 hours. If a complete circle of metal was removed from the top of the stove instead of just drilling holes and the fuel was raised on an internal base or I found a decent burner design it would probably improve it's efficiency as a means of cooking, but as a means of emergency heating it does make a difference to a cold room. Much better than the 'flowerpot' candle heaters.
It might be worth while going back to a normal alcohol stove for normal cooking
Excellent to keep a kettle of water warming up before transferring to a normal stove for boiling. Very common to see a great big kettle at the back of the range in Irish farmhouse kitchens years ago, before being placed onto a ring for boiling, although there was usually a slight condensation problem too!