Originally Posted by
Western Flyer
I have been working on diffusers to get better heat dispersion with my titanium cookset. One problem that immediately became apparent is that thin camping cookware bottoms often get bends, bumps and heat warps. This makes for uneven contact between the diffuser plate and the pot and results in just moving hot and cold spots to different locations and with greater fuel consumption.
A side cutting can opener is my principle machining tool for my cat can alcohol stoves, so my first diffuser was an aluminum lid cut off a cat can. It of course had good heat transfer, but my “anemic, BTU challenged” alcohol stove melted the lid! So next I cut the top off a similar sized steel tuna can. It got red hot pretty fast but the flame reaching beyond the lid heated the pan's edges much hotter than the center, so my ultra-scientific test omelet was burnt at the outer edges and raw near the center, plus the above mentioned problems with the uneven pot surface. So I pretty much reversed the original heat distribution problem.
I am currently drilling holes and making test omelets using 28 oz. steel tomato can lids. The idea is to find the optimum number, size and placement of holes to get even flame distribution. It seems like a lot of hassle for a problem, which is easily solved by using an aluminum pot at 2 times the weight or cast iron at 2[SUP]n[/SUP] times. Is there a thermal engineer on the forum?
The one test material that seems to work very well is a square of fiberglass cloth. It can withstand my alcohol flame. I think a canister stove might melt it. It folds up easily and can’t weight more than a gram or two. The problem is the fiberglass has a very slack weave and wants to fall apart with repeated handling, making it a poor candidate for touring unless I can hem the edges. While the glass was a free scrap from my kayak repair kit, I am hesitant to spend the $25.00 for the high temperature thread, to sew a hem around a scrounged scrap of fiberglass, for a stove made out of recycled aluminum pet food cans. There is a cost symmetry that needs to be maintained for aesthetic values. (Sigh! I’ll probably buy the tread just to put my curiosity to rest.)
If you're looking for ideas - the material used in this is very similar to what you're looking for, although the spproach is different.
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Hiking...ontent=Default
I have the SS diffuser plate on that set myself. Its OK but its also important to select a pan / pot size that will work optimally with the flame diameter and output of your stove. Those smaller burners are more effective with smaller diameter pots and pans.
A number of companies make stove-to-table items in sizes intended for individual servings. No reason to bring a 10" skillet if a 5" one will do a better job. Most aluminum ones are rated for a maximum of 400 degrees, SS multiply for 450 degrees. Le Creuset says their cast iron is OK at any temperature a home stove can generate and some specialty restaurants use bare cast iron almost red-hot to make fishes like blackened fish. Any camp stove will put out enough BTUs that it will require heat regulation to avoid burning food. Pressurized stoves are most popular with campers that primarily just want to boil water.
On the other hand, Reinhold Messner, probably one of the most famous mountaineers in history - regularly used an alcohol stove at altitudes over 8,000ft. I'm sure he had other options - that one obviously has advantages he liked.