I use the catfood can style home made alcohol stove. It's a little easier to make than the soda can style, I think. It works great. I always hated the smell of the white gas I used in my MSR Whisperlight. And a friend had the hose on his MSR spring a leak while cooking. The white gas spraying everywhere didn't catch fire, but the whole situation made for a few seconds of terror.
On Aug 12, 3:01 pm, velomann <velom...@gmail.com> wrote: > I use a homemade pepsi alcohol stove a lot - mostly just boiling water > since i never bothered with making any kind of simmer mechanism. I use > denatured alcohol. One nice thing about alcohol is it can be > transported in little plastic pop bottles. Just make sure to label > them clearly, since it looks like water. > > On Aug 12, 8:12 am, Anne Paulson <anne.paul...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > I had to ask for it at an automotive parts store. They carried it, but > > it wasn't on the shelf. Hardware stores only carried red HEET. But I > > live in a mild-winter area; friends who live where it freezes in the > > winter said they have no trouble getting yellow HEET. > > > Denatured alcohol is widely available in gallons and quarts. Nobody > > wants to carry a gallon of fuel, but for a tour lasting more than a > > week, starting with a quart isn't ridiculous, especially since alcohol > > stoves burn more fuel per unit of heat than gas stoves. > > > On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 7:13 AM, Lisa <ukulele.l...@mac.com> wrote: > > > Is yellow HEET still available? or is there some other common > > > automotive additive that's really just methanol / ethanol? > > > > Since I bought a Trangia stove this spring, I've been keeping an eye > > > out for HEET in roadside gas stations, truck stops, etc. They all > > > have ISO-HEET (red) but not the yellow methanol HEET. > > > > Perhaps yellow HEET is no longer of interest to drivers since gasoline > > > has ethanol added to it these days? > > > > Lisa > > > > On Aug 12, 12:19 am, Anne Paulson <anne.paul...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >> I recently bought a Trangia stove with the pot and frying pan set. > > >> Rivendell sells this fine product and recommends it for campouts. > > >> Based on my recent experimentation, I concur. Here's a report on my > > >> experiments: > > > >> Water for a cup of tea boils quickly. I didn't time it, but something > > >> like four or five minutes, perfectly fine for a camping breakfast or > > >> for an afternoon warmup on a long cold ride. And unlike my MSR white > > >> gas stove which roars like a freight train, the Trangia is completely > > >> silent. > > > >> But what about actual food? I tried pancakes, made with Krusteaz > > >> buttermilk pancake mix, on a sub-24. I brought along some Krusteaz in > > >> a ziplock. At the campsite, I mixed it with enough water to make a > > >> pourable batter, just stirring so that most but not all the lumps were > > >> gone (why yes, I do bring along a wire whisk when camping, why do you > > >> ask?). I used the Trangia without the simmer ring; pancakes cook > > >> fairly quickly. I made two or three little pancakes in the frying pan > > >> at a time, turning them over when the bubbles popped. Results: > > >> Delicious. I spread them with Nutella. > > > >> Emboldened, I moved on to a biscuit. For this, I used a homemade mix > > >> of 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup powdered milk, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 > > >> teaspoon salt,1 tablespoon Crisco. I mixed the dry ingredients > > >> together, then cut the Crisco in using two knives. (If I made a bigger > > >> batch, I'd mix in the Crisco in the food processor with six or eight > > >> quick pulses.) I took about 1/3 cup of the mix, and mixed in just > > >> enough water to make a stiff dough. I formed it into a biscuit-shaped > > >> round about half an inch thick, and cooked it in a lightly greased > > >> frying pan, covered with a makeshift aluminum-foil lid. I had to > > >> experiment with the simmer ring setting. The first time, I had it set > > >> in the completely open position, but that resulted in burned outsides > > >> and gummy insides. The simmer ring about half covered worked better. I > > >> cooked it about eight minutes on the first side, turned it over, and > > >> cooked it around five minutes on the second side. Result: delicious. I > > >> was home this time, so I put on butter and honey, but a biscuit like > > >> this would be good with dinner too. > > > >> The biscuit mix would work well for pancakes too-- just add an egg if > > >> you have one, plus enough water to make a pourable batter and maybe a > > >> bit of sugar if you happen to have any. Then cook and enjoy. > > > >> The small cookset, which is what I have, is really only adequate for > > >> one. I was able to boil spaghetti for one (about 1/6 lb) successfully, > > >> but when I tried spaghetti for two there wasn't enough room in the pot > > >> for the noodles plus the water to cook them. For two people, I > > >> recommend the bigger cookset. Cooking for a group of four or more, I > > >> recommend a gas stove. > > > >> Here's the recommendation: If you do sub24s, buy a Trangia. They're > > >> simple, they're light, the whole cookset packs up in one neat small > > >> package*, they burn HEET** and denatured alcohol***, both readily > > >> available. > > > >> * The Trangia comes with a screwtop so that if there is still fuel in > > >> the stove when you're finished cooking, you can snuff it out, let it > > >> cool down, then screw on the lid. However, unfortunately, you can't > > >> transport the stove (say, in your panniers) with alcohol in it, > > >> because it will leak, even with the screw top. I emailed Trangia to > > >> ask, and that's what they told me. So use up all your fuel in the > > >> morning. > > > >> ** HEET in the yellow container. The red container HEET is the wrong > > >> stuff. > > > >> *** but do not buy Sunnyside brand denatured alcohol, the house brand > > >> of Tru Value hardware stores. It smokes. > > > >> -- > > >> -- Anne Paulson > > > >> My hovercraft is full of eels > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > > For more options, visit this group > > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > > -- > > -- Anne Paulson > > > My hovercraft is full of eels -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
