View Full Version : Using beer can pot (HKC) with canister stove?
First post here.
I'm wondering about the feasibility of using a beer can pot (24 oz. Heineken can) with a canister stove.
I've been experimenting with alcohol stoves and Heineken can pots for several weeks. At this point, the 'fiddle factor' with alcohol stoves is exceeding what I would be content with in the back country. However, in my research on alcohol stoves and freezer bag cooking, I discovered Skidsteer's excellent idea for packing a kitchen into a modified Ziploc Twist-n-Loc container. I made one for myself and I really like it (kudos to Skidsteer).
But, if I decide to go with a canister stove instead of alcohol and if a Heineken can does not work with a canister stove, then the Ziploc kitchen container doesn't work for me and it's back to the drawing board.
Please don't 'dis' me because I'm considering canister over alcohol. I've put in a lot of hours fiddling with alcohol stoves (just ask my wife) and thinking about what works best for me (HYOH). I'm just looking for information on how a Heineken can works on a canister stove.
Thanks.
Two Speed
03-06-2008, 16:58
I'm just looking for information on how a Heineken can works on a canister stove.That may be a brand spankin' new question; don't know that anyone's tried it. Why don't you give it a shot in your back yard and see if it works?
BTW, :welcome
swellbill
03-06-2008, 17:22
Is your concern whether the beer can pot can handle the heat? My guess is yes because some scouts in our troop have boiled water in plastic water bottles over a camp fire. The plastic bottles did get a little warped but the flames didn’t melt a hole in them due to the fact that when a liquid evaporates, it takes heat with it. I’m not sure how tough a Heineken can is (I Prefer Yuengling) :D but if it will fit on your pot support – go for it
Thanks for the welcome.
Regarding trying it in my backyard ... Being in a somewhat financially embarrassed position ... I was trying to figure out which brand of stove would work with the HKC before breaking my piggy bank. Kind of a chicken and egg thing...
Maybe if I took that pile of aluminum shrapnel accumulating in my garage to the recycling center, I could generate a some income toward a canister stove. >B-)
Swellbill - One concern was the flame spread. If the flame spread from the canister stove is too wide, then the heat misses the can and it doesn't work. Another concern is if the supports on the stove are too wide to support the can.
I guess I need to take my can to the local outdoorsy stores and give it a test fit. The Heineken can, that is... That would answer the support question.
swellbill
03-06-2008, 17:30
Maybe if I took that pile of aluminum shrapnel accumulating in my garage to the recycling center, I could generate a some income toward a canister stove. >B-)
From what I understand from reading here and viewing the gallery, there are some people here who are sitting on a fortune of aluminum if they ever scrapped their stoves. Not that anyone should ever dream of turning a perfectly good alky stove into scrap
My Vargo Jet-Ti stove works just fine with a Heineken can. I used it three days ago in New Hampshire. I even used the pot stand/windscreen around the cannister, stove, and bottom of pot. Cannister never got hot. Temperature was around 30 degrees.
The only thing to be concerned about is how stable the pot will be on your stove, and if you have a stove with a pin-point flame, you may need to throttle it back a bit (I never use my stove full blast unless I'm using a large pot - the heat goes right up the sides).
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2169084910059664855FDLUcf
Here's the link to my stove.
StepChld
03-06-2008, 22:44
what you could do is take a lid from a can that you've removed from a normal tin can, then drill a central hole about 1-1 1/2"diameter, along with several secondary holes about 1/2" in diameter in a circular pattern around the central hole. Then place this lid on the pot supports of your burner and now set your HKC on top of that. With this set-up, you've effectivey reduced the space btwn. the pot supports and given the HKC a more stable platform to sit on.
Skidsteer
03-06-2008, 22:56
I've been working on one.
Burnt the stand/heat exchanger up on the first try but the Heinie can held up fine.
May take a while to get it light and right.....
jeepmedic
03-07-2008, 10:36
I tried one of my heineken pots on my MSR pocket rocket and it worked fine with no need to fabricate or modify anything. My want to give it a shot. And you can sometimes pick one up on ebay for ~20 bucks
NICKTHEGREEK
03-07-2008, 17:17
Thanks for the welcome.
Regarding trying it in my backyard ... Being in a somewhat financially embarrassed position ... I was trying to figure out which brand of stove would work with the HKC before breaking my piggy bank. Kind of a chicken and egg thing...
Maybe if I took that pile of aluminum shrapnel accumulating in my garage to the recycling center, I could generate a some income toward a canister stove. >B-)
Can you afford the empty heinekin can?:-?
Can you afford the empty heinekin can?:-?
A man's got to have his priorities. :sun
I found an empty on New Year's Day and recently coughed up $2.99 + tax for a full one. I needed to ... ahem ... run side by side tests with the stoves / stands I was building. I double my test time that way.
The truth of the matter is, I only took a few gulps before the rest was used for drain cleaner. I imbibed enough in my younger days to last a lifetime. I just take a little taste once in a while these days.
I tried one of my heineken pots on my MSR pocket rocket and it worked fine with no need to fabricate or modify anything. My want to give it a shot. And you can sometimes pick one up on ebay for ~20 bucks
So far we have success reported with a Vargo Jet-Ti stove and an MSR Pocket Rocket. (Thank you for the info.) :D
Anyone else...? Snowpeak Gigapower? Coleman F1 Ultralight?
I made one a few months ago with the intention of using it along side an MSR pocket rocket. I testes it out and although it boiled water really fast, the hieny can got super hot. I could easily see myself getting the crap burned out of me at some point on the trail. I also figured it would get all bent up and dented. Not too much of a big deal because you can technically get another one for very cheap. Just gonna be a pain on the trail without plyers to get the top off. The hieny pot also didn't fit on the pocket rocket flanges at all either. Personally I'd stick with something more along the lines of a grease pot with a canister stove. Hieny pot also is also really narrow. and the bottom isn't flat at all. Might be hard to get the lexan in there.
StepChld
03-07-2008, 23:21
To be perfectly honest, I just don't understand the fascination of the HKC. For just a few $ more you can get a perfectly usable and non-denting (relativley speaking) two pot cook set for <$14 https://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?krypto=J4RGVCOx1NUYX9rrhIiCX6uD5Bbx 8Kd49LEasddS8TiV01xxr2pYIlrNeLyo%2BMzMk%2B06Ags34E TY%0A30H6qxRrySQ9Bfegt2lAWK94JDPwOYU%3D
non-stick too. And you don't have to take both pots. I usually just take one. And you don't have to fiddle with the pot to make sure it'll fit the burner stand.
For less than $10 you could even go with this https://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?krypto=J4RGVCOx1NUYX9rrhIiCX6uD5Bbx 8Kd49LEasddS8TiV01xxr2pYIlrNeLyo%2BMzMhUo6gBpNDlBx %0AZNqWiYl%2BJauinZJ4lO5JAIlJA54lEOI%3D
I guess it doesn't have the "cool" factor and the whole DYI factor either but still...sometimes for me I like some products better than what I could make.
1/4 moon
03-08-2008, 03:34
a month or so ago i went out for the night with some buddies and i had a new stove i hadn't tested but didnt bring a spare because one of my friends had his pocket rocket. long story short, the stove didn't work, put the hkc on the pocket rocket and no issues at all.
Skidsteer
03-08-2008, 10:30
To be perfectly honest, I just don't understand the fascination of the HKC. For just a few $ more you can get a perfectly usable and non-denting (relativley speaking) two pot cook set for <$14 https://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?krypto=J4RGVCOx1NUYX9rrhIiCX6uD5Bbx 8Kd49LEasddS8TiV01xxr2pYIlrNeLyo%2BMzMk%2B06Ags34E TY%0A30H6qxRrySQ9Bfegt2lAWK94JDPwOYU%3D
non-stick too. And you don't have to take both pots. I usually just take one. And you don't have to fiddle with the pot to make sure it'll fit the burner stand.
For less than $10 you could even go with this https://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?krypto=J4RGVCOx1NUYX9rrhIiCX6uD5Bbx 8Kd49LEasddS8TiV01xxr2pYIlrNeLyo%2BMzMhUo6gBpNDlBx %0AZNqWiYl%2BJauinZJ4lO5JAIlJA54lEOI%3D
I guess it doesn't have the "cool" factor and the whole DYI factor either but still...sometimes for me I like some products better than what I could make.
The differrence is in weight.
From your link example the weight saving is over a half pound if you go with the Heinie pot.
StepChld
03-09-2008, 01:54
The differrence is in weight.
From your link example the weight saving is over a half pound if you go with the Heinie pot.Hhmmm... the weight of my 3 cup hard anodized pot is only 3.7 oz. w/ lid (2.45 w/out lid, using tin foil in place of). What's the weight on an HKC w/ lid? Maybe an ounce difference for a more stable and crush resistant pot?
The link I gave was for two pots, which when combined equaled 11 oz. I only use the smaller one unless I have company, then I swap for the bigger one or sometimes bring both (rarely).
Another factor would be the surface area...wider pot can absorb more heat, thus becoming warmer quicker, unlike a narrow bottom pot. Although I would imagine the difference in heating time would be really hard to discern except by a stopwatch.
Food for thought for sure:-?
For me it's not an issue of weight, but of utility and convenience. I'm sold on the concept of freezer bag cooking. I ran across Skidsteer's video on freezer bag cooking and I was impressed by his kitchen / freezer bag cozy / freezer bag holder / coffee maker concept. I tracked down some of his pictures and he graciously answered some questions I had about his setup. Then I made one for myself and was very pleased with the results. (A big thank you to Skidsteer).
However, I'm not quite sure an alcohol stove is going to work for me (I'm still messing with them in my barbecue laboratory), so I started wondering if I could use a canister stove (I don't own one... yet) with an HKC and still fit it all (except fuel) into the container. The HKC fits neatly into the container, but most other cook pots won't.
I know I might have to give up Skidsteer's container concept in the end, but I want to explore all my options before I do. My goal is a stove I'm willing to take on trail and a kitchen that fits into the container. Thus the question ... how well does a beer can pot work with a canister stove? :-?
I visited the new REI in Monterey (Marina), CA. I took in my HKC and tried it on for size on a Snowpeak GigaPower and MSR Pocket Rocket. I didn't do any actual testing, but the HKC fit on both stoves. I liked the fit on the Snowpeak better than the MSR because the Snowpeak has 4 supports instead of 3. But we know from other responders (thank you) that it works on the Pocket Rocket just fine.
So, the definitive answer is 'Yes'.
One side note: I don't think it would work well on a stove like the MSR Superfly because the flame spread would be too wide. But for a canister stove with a narrow flame spread, it's good to go.
Thank everyone!
FWIW: The inner ring of a dual sized petfood can plastic top (available at pet stores - duh??:D fits a Heineken can top perfectly.
That may be a brand spankin' new question; don't know that anyone's tried it. Why don't you give it a shot in your back yard and see if it works?
BTW, :welcome
And furthermore ... sorry to revive an old thread, but I took Two Speed's advice and bought a Snowpeak Gigapower. It works great with a HCK pot. Needs a heat reflector / windscreen thingie though. Last night, 48 degrees with breezes swirling it took 9:30 to boil two cups of water with no wind screen. I had to help #2 son with homework, then came back for a test with windscreen. Unfortunately the breezes had died away. 5:30 to boil two cups with wind screen (but no wind). Took it for a day hike today. Windy day, but found a spot out of the wind and boiled water for a freezer bag lunch for daughter and me. It works great.:clap