Sterno cooking

[Airman]

Has anyone ever used the simple sterno cook set? I'm not planning on cooking elaborate meals. I just like to heat up water for coffee and freeze-dried meals. Any suggestions.....

[HiKen2011]

Alky stove.

[Bati]

I've not used the set, but I have used sterno after the TSA decided that my empty fuel bottle posed a huge risk and I landed on an island with no place to buy a new one.
Sterno was heavy, and cooked slowly, but it cooked as long as we were at low elevation. We tried to boil water with it at 3000 meters and it failed rather miserably.
I would recommend it whenever you have a complete failure to find any other type of fuel, especially if all fires are banned. However, I would never intentionally bring it as a stove choice. I prefer alcohol/white gas/unleaded gas/butane stoves instead, depending on the travel logistics and weather.

[yellowsirocco]

Sterno is just gelled alcohol. If you are looking for simplicity then a basic alcohol stove is even simpler plus it is lighter and cheaper.

[chilln]

I was in the infantry all I used was sterno. It worked fine. Although i used it mainly for hot drinks. I'm sure you could improve the efficiency by adding a cone for your pot.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Why carry the extra weight of water and gel in addition to the alcohol in Sterno, and get less heat output (barely enough if enough)? Just get an alcohol stove.

[Wise Old Owl]

Chilln I am sure they use it in the cafeteria today on occasion - but I would not haul that out in the field. Almost all MRE have the iron - salt heater.

I would still pull the jelly out put a wick and replace the ethanol

[Panzer1]

sterno is what i used for years when I first started hiking. I don't use it anymore though.

Panzer

[vamelungeon]

I had a complete Sterno set when I was a teen. Like the others have said, I wouldn,t carry all that junk now. Just get an alcohol stove. Its simpler and lighter.

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[leaftye]

I used it as a boy scout. If you want something that's about as cheap, but much lighter, you should check out Esbit.

[Tinker]

Sterno is just gelled alcohol. If you are looking for simplicity then a basic alcohol stove is even simpler plus it is lighter and cheaper.

I played around with Sterno (and other non- name brand gelled alcohol fuels) when I was experimenting with homemade alcohol stoves. It doesn't provide nearly as much heat as denatured alcohol per oz. of weight, so if you want to carry more weight and have to wait (pun intended) longer, it might be the fuel for you. The only plus is that it can't spill or leak.
It's pathetically slow as a cooking fuel - Esbit tabs are faster, lighter in weight, and also can't spill. You may want to check them out.