Sterno folding stove and fuel?

[Five Tango]

Glad you're liking it. It comes with a 6"EZ-Fold windscreen. Once my inventory is gone, I won't make anymore. The heavy duty Venom bottles are no longer made ;-(

Wow!Do you mean to tell me I have purchased a collector's item?!Can you adapt your other models to use the slide collar for simmering?I really like the slide collar and the flame pattern.It boils and then simmers for quite awhile too.Hard to beat it.......I also like the simmering model you make as well.

[fboggess]

When I first started backpacking with friends in Texas back In the early 70's I used a friends hand me down Kelty external frame and did not have a tent so I used a tube tent that me maybe $3. Then I used a stereo stove. We would backpack in the fall and early spring to avoid E. Texas Mosquitos. That cost for the sterno and stove was a few dollars. My sleeping bag was a Coleman. I would still consider a tube tent and the sterno stove even today out on the trail.


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[Siestita]

Like others here, as a Scout I learned that STERNO works poorly as a cooking fuel. Others will correct me if I'm wrong about this, but I suspect Sterno's limitations have a simple explanation.

Reportedly Sterno is just alcohol, but in solid form. Not enough oxygen reaches that jellied alcohol to enable it to produce very much heat. By burning slowly, at buffet events Sterno can keep pans of food warm for quite a while, but the stuff is worthless as cooking fuel. The company (and perhaps Walmart as well) should be ashamed of themselves for marketing Sterno as "camp fuel" and describing gadgets associated with it as "stoves". To me, "Sterno stove" is an oxymoron.

"My dad is going to help me make the alcohol stove. I'm not particularly good with metal DYI projects. Does anyone here use a windshield for it? If you do is it collapsible or not?"

I'm not inclined towards doing DYI projects using metal either, but I have learned that even very simple "equipment" can enable me to do backcountry cooking with fuel alcohol. In other words, liquid alcohol can be an excellent cooking fuel even if you don't have a fancy stove. All you need is:

(1) a small metal container in which in hold the alcohol while it is burning. I currently use Fancy feast cat food cats for this purpose, with, of course, the lid and contents removed. Fortunately, a can opener is one of few tools that I know how to use. If you want more or less heat that you'll get using a little fancy feast can, try using instead a container with a larger or smaller diameter.

(2) A means of holding your pot above your 'burner', while simultaneously permitting oxygen to reach to alcohol to enable it to burn. I currently use a small "pot support" made from metal "hardware cloth". But, this challenge can also be addressed in other ways. Reportedly some people use tent stakes or small rocks as their pot supports. Another approach is to empty three small (8 oz.) cans of tomato sauce, turn them over, and then use them to hold your pot above your Fancy Feast can burner.

(3) A windscreen. A folded piece of aluminum foil (preferably 'heavy duty') can serve this purpose. When they wear out those windscreens are easily replaced. Or, a slightly heavier but more durable folding aluminum wind screen can be used. Such a wind screen can either be purchased or produced DYI.

(4) Liquid alcohol, for example Heet (Yellow bottle, auto supplies) or 'painting supply alcohol' such Walmart's SLX.

You and your Dad may have in your home, right now, everything the two of you would need to immediately use fuel alcohol to do back country cooking. You could together do some experiments, first at home and then later along a trail. Always light stoves outdoors, rather than inside your house.

[Five Tango]

If you want to use Sterno,just don't eat,sniff,or drink it and NEVER put it in your NASCAR.The things you didn't know until you came to WB and went googling the history of Sterno.Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterno

[fboggess]

On a recent section hike, I shared camp with joe from Ohio who used the sterno stove for dinner and breakfast. We talked about past sterno experiences. He was with the Boy Scouts for many years and likes the stove. I think the key for him is using two sterno canisters at one time instead of just one. The stove itself can hold a good size pot. At the same time I was cooking with a bottle rocket - great stove - only complaint is that the top is limited in the size of the cooking pot that will fit without falling over.


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[Indigo Hawk]

You and your Dad may have in your home, right now, everything the two of you would need to immediately use fuel alcohol to do back country cooking. You could together do some experiments, first at home and then later along a trail. Always light stoves outdoors, rather than inside your house.

Thanks so much for all the advice! I have three spoiled cats so the cat food cans are easy to come by. Would a bigger can (say Friskies as opposed to Fancy Feast) be hotter or colder? Also, my friend has a sterno stove (Scouts dude) that he's looking to get rid of; would I be able to combine the stove part and the Fancy Feast can to hold my pot above the flame or would that be too high?

[booney_1]

The CAT alcohol stove does need need a stand...in fact it won't work if you use one. The pot seals the top and the flames come out the holes punched in the top. I don't think a larger can would be Hotter...you might be able to cook longer as you can put more fuel in it. But if you are just boiling a couple of cups of water the fancy feast works fine.

[Indigo Hawk]

The CAT alcohol stove does need need a stand...in fact it won't work if you use one. The pot seals the top and the flames come out the holes punched in the top. I don't think a larger can would be Hotter...you might be able to cook longer as you can put more fuel in it. But if you are just boiling a couple of cups of water the fancy feast works fine.

Thanks! I'm new to all this so this is really helpful. I'll have to try both just to see which I like better. I've decided on one pot instead of the cook set so I'll just see which one I like with that pot. Thank you, seriously.

[Grinder]

the very simplest alcohol stove is the bottom inch or so of a 3 OZ juice can, a wind screen made from two aluminum beer cans and a small tomato sauce can drilled full of holes for a pot stand.
I have used the same set up for at least 7 years. several years ago I reduced the hole size in the burner because Skidsteer said it would burn more efficiently.

I'm not sure it made any difference.

[plexusbritt]

(Raises had sheepishly) I still use one. I don't mind it at all. It's fine in the wind and fits in with my goals.

I hike to slow down. Escape the microwave society. If I weren't so adamant about LNT, I'd probably be trying to figure out how to cook over a fire.


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[vamelungeon]

If you want to use Sterno,just don't eat,sniff,or drink it and NEVER put it in your NASCAR.The things you didn't know until you came to WB and went googling the history of Sterno.Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterno

Sterno was a plot device in Michael Crichton's science fiction book "The Andromeda Strain", an old man drank it after squeezing it through a cloth.