stoves
 

What type of stove do you use and why?

I know there are many different opinions but would love to hear what you all use for touring.

Optimus Nova, this model:
http://www.optimusstoves.com/en/opti...ptimus-nova-1/

I like liquid fuels because they're available everywhere and I dislike carrying canisters. This is a multi-fuel stove, making it more versatile. I like that it has all metal parts and is easy to field strip.

Depending on the tour, we may not carry a stove at all. No stove has cascading weight and volume savings: no stove, no pots, no stove accessories, no stove fuel, no bulk foods or spices to carry along because they don't come in one meal serving sizes, etc., etc.

I use a Trangia alcohol stove, both for hiking and bicycle touring.
Advantages: very stable, very durable, works very well with a lot of wind, fuel is easy to find in super markets and it's easy to see how much fuel you have left, can be modified to work with gas if you want to
Disadvantages: lighter weight options are certainly available (a Trangia 27-1 weighs 690g including the windscreen and burner and 2 pots, a pan, a handle and a belt)

I have looked at the earlier model on line before. Thinking about getting one to use instead of my Dragonfly, at least when I tour without the GF. Do you know if the dimension of 4.6 inches is the diameter unfolded?

I like the Dragonfly because it's stable and has great flame control, which suits the sort of cooking I do. (I mostly cook as opposed to heat up things from cans.) What I don't like is that it's bulky/oddly shaped when folded. Seems to waste space and never quite fit in the pannier neatly.

Though I have an excellent MSR Pocket Rocket stove that uses isobutane (which can be a royal pain to find at times), this little cat stove is what goes with me most any more. Cheap, light as a feather, denatured alcohol or Heat easy to find, and can get 2 cups of water boiling in 4 minutes or less. Did I mention cheap and light?

http://andrewskurka.com/how-to/how-t...alcohol-stove/

I use a Heineken-can penny stove with denatured alcohol. Some people hate these things. I've found it to be very efficient and versatile with a simmer ring. I can boil water to make pasta, rice or beans for dinner. In the mornings, I use it to make coffee and then add a simmer ring to make pancakes.

I usually have a 50/50 mix of S-L-X denatured alcohol and HEET. If that runs out, I can find either one of them at almost any gas station or hardware store. Heck, if a liquor store is the only place around, ever-clear works almost as well.

In the picture, you can see the stove in the wind-block on the right, my soda-can percolator on the left and my coffee in the middle.

That is really nice, I'm going to make one and see how it actualy works. Thanks for the tip.

Not just any can will work, make sure it is aluminum. A larger Armour Vienna Sausage works great as well and will hold more fuel.

http://www.armour-star.com/images/pr...iginal_5oz.jpg

chefisaac, what do you use mainly for your chef duties?

I use Trangias. I have done for years. I also tried a propane pocket rocket at one stage. I didn't like its instability and the inability to determine how much fuel I had left.

It's personal choice. I like the Trangias for their stability, performance in the wind, and their slow cooking (like indyfabz, I like cooking rather than just reheating or boiling water). The slow cook might be an advantage for chefisaac... thin pots and pans can be very difficult to use with high-intensity flames, in my experience.

An off-the-shelf system also is probably advisable for a newcomer, rather than trying to get catburners and others to work.

I would suggest that whatever system you choose, experiment with it at home to get to know its idiosyncracies. The aforementioned heat control is one, but also the amount of fuel that you might burn or any particular task. You can also experiment with things like pot-cozies to see how they work with stuff like rice and conserving fuel.

I should also mention that it is not unknown in the bicycle touring world for people to take small cast iron pots and pans with them... but that does tend to be overkill, in my opinion.

Years ago I used butane canister stoves, but I also found them to be unstable and got frustrated by never knowing how much fuel I had left so i went over to a Trangia. I used this with an Antigravity Gear solo cookset for a while, but as I mostly just make tea and heat up noodles, soups and couscous it seemed like overkill. I like the Trangia style of stove, but now have the Evernew TI version and use it with am Evernew, 2 cup, TI mug. There's no need for a pot stand as the stove has 2 sets of holes and the mug sits directly on the stove leaving the lower set open, it's actually most efficient in this configuration, and I just have a roll of AL foil as a windscreen.

I also used to use a pot cozy, but socks and other items of clothing work just as well. After I have boiled a couple of cups of water in my TI mug I usually use half to make tea in a Sea to Summit X-mug and then I add half a cup of couscous and some chicken stock, or part of a flavour pouch, or some honey to the water left in the mug. I then wrap the mug in socks or a T-shirt and wait 10 mins for the couscous to cook.

MSR Dragonfly, offers use of unleaded pump gas, (or Kero)

My because: Fuel for cars are everywhere, alcohol for stoves less so..
butane cartridges even less common..

I've refilled my fuel bottle at petrol stations for 25p .

and it uses 2 valves , 1 on the tank/ fuel bottle, that is the shut off,
and another on the Burner.. so can be full roaring boil or throttled down to a simmer..

you can cook on it as opposed to just boil, etc, with high heat.

I have an alcohol stove that I made out of a venom energy drink can which performs well and I have no issues with it for solo trips. I also have an inexpensive Primus http://store.primuscamping.com/backp...ail-153-stove/ ...I ended up getting one for $25. it's nice because it has the ability to simmer and holds a pot well. I like that when I have partners or just want a little more versatility.

OT but...I also bought the Primus because the butane works in my big comfort item This lantern http://store.primuscamping.com/lante...ntern-w/piezo/ I really like this lantern, it's nice if you don't have a fire, adjustable, sheds a lot of light and is easy on fuel.

I haven't had a problem running out of fuel but my rides are usually around a week long.

Canister stoves that set on top of the canister aren't terribly stable, and that can make actual cooking a real pain. However, there is an easy way to determine the amount of fuel you have left. I've been wanting to try a remote canister stove like the MSR Windpro, that should solve the stability issue.

This is probably the most important thing said on this forum so far. Use your gear at home, get to know it under non-demanding conditions, understand how it works, and how it doesn't work, and only then, take it on tour.

I should clarify...I run most efficiently on carbs so I make a lot of pasta. I like the Dragonfly because I can boil water quickly, which is particularly handy when cooking a big meal for two. When the GF and I tour together, we can easily consume 12 oz. of dried pasta between us. That requires a big pot with lots of water. But with the highly (and easily) adjustilble flame control, the Dragonfly can slow cook rest of the meal.

And White Gas makes a handy campfire starter. Just don't use too much. I learned that the hard way, losing some hair on my forearm in the process.

Farfalle with fresh garlic, tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms and grated cheese cooked in camp with nothing but the gear we were carrying.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=285983

The great thing about couscous is that it's large surface area means that it cooks quickly and you don't need to boil any water you don't consume. It also fits into small cooking pots

I have an old MSR stove that runs on any liquid fuel, but I also primarily use a variation of the can you linked to. (I bought a pre-made one for a few bucks instead of making my own.) I still use the nice wind screen that the MSR came with, so it wasn't a complete loss.

I use a canister (Primus Classic) or alcool stove (tuna can). Had both on my last trip and I don't think I'll bring the canister stove anymore except for short 4-5 day trips.

Both are small and light. There are lighter canister stoves than the Primus Classic. It's easy to light and it simmers well. Canisters can be a bit hard to find and that's why I'll keep it for short trips. Most canister stoves can't be used with a regular windscreen.

The alcool stove is ridiculously light, easy to make, easy to light up, is quiet and alcool isn't too hard to find. It cost me a few cheap paper punches and a beefier leather punch. The can costs "nothing" since I eat the content (I use 85g tuna cans, not cat food). With a windscreen, it's surprisingly fast to bring water to boil. It doesn't simmer at all and I've learned to live with it. Some people make alcool stoves with a "simmer ring".

I also have a MSR Dragonfly with 2 broken pumps. I was brought up and I swore by white gas stoves until I used the Dragonfly. It's heavy, expensive, hard to pack, embarassingly noisy, not very stable (wires are slippery and pot can fall in the middle, something you don't expect), and after two broken pumps, I figured I'd try something else. It's powerful and simmers well and I might fix/change the pump for winter camping. I met a guy who got his empty fuel bottles taken away by airport security. Around here, I'd say fuel is a little easier to find than canisters and perhaps a little harder to find than alcool but a litre of naphta lasts than a litre of alcool.

The MSR WhisperLite has worked well for me.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=286013

Thanks for the info.

I use everything when in a kitchen and out (spits, BBQ, smokers, etc) but I know there are more proper stuff for touring.

On many Euro tours I camp without cooking stuff, it really lightens the load*, but on my big adventures, i take a Trangia 27. Fuel usually comes in 1l bottles in Europe and 500cc in the UK. The bottles are not always pannier-proof so keep them upright. I have my eye on some Trangia bottles, 2x500cc for convenience rather than one big 1l one. There is a lot of variation in fuel strength, I managed to flame out with some German rocket fuel; could have been dangerous so always test new fuel. A few drops of water in the burner will tame a strong blend.
I like to cook real food, eg veg from the market. My finest meal was a 3 course steak dinner followed by pears poached in wine and honey, it required lot of pan jugging and careful use of the simmer ring. I've tried lots of different carbs, pasta takes up too much water, rice is OK but couscous is the most efficient in terms of fuel, water and time.

I made a cat stove this summer for an ultralight trip. My neighbour has a cat so i had plenty of cans to punch patterns in. I found them a bit slow compared to Trangia, not as stable or versatile but OK for a light weekend trip/brew kit.

As an OT comment, I bought some denatured alcohol in Edinburgh at an outdoor shop that was dyed purple, and it was lousy when used in my Trangia. It also left the jets in the burner clogged. It was messy. And it was available only in 500ml bottles. I'm not saying that was the norm, but it was an outdoor shop, after all.

On the other hand, I picked up a litre of 90% denatured alcohol at a Dutch "dollar" store for less than half the equivalent price of the Edinburgh batch. It lasted us the tour up the Rhine River (although we didn't cook much in Europe overall), and I liked its efficiency. It also didn't leave a nasty black, oily deposit on the bottoms of the pots like the methylated spirits does in Australia, but rather a light brown one.

I noticed in a hardware shop in France that 90% and 80% (IIRC) blends were available.

Another Nova user. I carry a spare fuel bottle in a waterbottle holder on the bottom of the downtube just above the bottombracket.

If I am riding through an area with stores, I go raw. I don't miss the stoves, and cookware, fuel, etc... Most of what it does is not a benefit to the body, assuming one can get clean food and water. But for stoves...

https://www.minibulldesign.com/produ...p?idCategory=2

https://www.minibulldesign.com/produ...=3&viewAll=yes

A little sold out at the moment, but there could be a reason for that...

Here is a nice reasonably priced kit:

https://www.minibulldesign.com/produ...50&idcategory=

I just like machined aluminum, but he is moreso renowned for these stoves.

Many decades ago when I worked in an outdoor store, we sold Coleman white gas. It was after all the company that made iconic white gas stoves. That stuff burned so black it was disgusting. But in comparison, the junk from the hardware store was great.

With alcohol, it gets real specific. Water content can make a huge difference, and different alcohols work in different stoves, and the alcohol can accept more moisture over time. So who knows.

I love my Jetboil Sol Aluminum Cook System. It's light, compact, nests together and burns very hot and efficiently.

I have to disagree. I don't find canister stoves to be particularly unstable nor do I find determining how much fuel I have left to be difficult. I can determine the amount of fuel left by three methods. The canister cools significantly during use...it's called the Joule/Thompson effect. The liquid fuel is slightly warmer than the gas over the liquid. I can also tell by weight. The contents of the canister also slosh when the canister is shaken.

I also question the ability to tell how much fuel you have left in the alcohol 'cat can' stoves or stoves like the Trangia. Since they are mass burn stoves, you really have no idea how much fuel you have left. And what happens if you run out of fuel during cooking? I can change canisters on the fly if I run out but how do you add more fuel to a hot stove when you have to pour it in? I work with flammable materials all the time so I have a overdeveloped safety nanny sense but I'm not about to try to pour fuel into a stove that is even warm and try to reignite it.

There is also the issue of handling the fuel. At least with butane stoves and pressurized liquid stoves, the fuel is contained in a vessel and metered through a valve. If something goes wrong, I can close the valve and stop the process. With mass burn stoves, there is no valve. Someone here in Colorado started a forest fire with a mass burn stove when it got away from him.

I also "cook" on my stoves. I don't just reheat water. The control valve on every butane stove I've used is fine enough to have a hard boil or a slow simmer and every thing in between. If anything the control is almost better than my kitchen stove.

Have tried many. Alternate now depending on trip.

Stoves without good flame control are less versatile. Some foods burn or scorch easily with these stoves.

The Dragonfly has good flame control.

It's loud but you can buy or make silencers.

Multifuel stoves are nice for some trips. The option of using gasoline can be good to have. After I started using a light-weight siphon system, my happiness or satisfaction level with these multi-fuel stoves went up several notches (and it was already high). May start a thread in case others would be interested in some of the details of how and why.

The canister stove I use is the hose-to-MSR-bottle type -- more stable than burner-over-canister types. And much better for windscreen use.

Canister stoves are clean, easy to light (esp. those with piezo ignition), require no priming or waiting, often have good or excellent flame control, and many people love them. Others don't care for the canister availability issues in some areas and countries, among other things.

They are the simplest to use.

Alcohol stoves are just too slow and weak for the types of cooking I do.

Sometimes I go stoveless but take a light titanium pot. Then I use it as a bowl, and occasionally cook something in it, over an improvised twig-fire hearth or mini-trench. Weighs nothing but still allows you to cook once in a while.

I can look in the burner to see how much fuel is left. And I can look in the clear plastic bottle, or inside the Heet bottle to see how much I have left for multiple usage.

The safety aspect of refuelling a hot Trangia burner is overstated. If it extinguishes, I just refill it. The burner is not hot enough for it to set alight the new fuel without a flame.

You should also know that immediately you put any fuel under pressure, the dangers associated with it go up. Alcohol stoves don't use fuel under pressure.

If a forest fire was started by someone using an mass burn stove, then tell us what type and how it was being used. I can then tell you about people who have been burned very badly by propane explosions in their tents. Or how they've singed their eyebrows trying to bring a rampant pressure gas stove under control.

Plus, we have already advised the OP to practice at home, which includes judging how the type of fuel he chooses does work.

I specifically mentioned the Pocket Rocket as being unstable. Others may or may not be. I commented on what I found with that burner. I like the way Trangia sets work with a stable base that by their very design help prevent pots from being spilled.

You may be a competent cook with the stove you desire to use. I have seen many others who are not. This largely comes back to the type of stove they have been using, and they weren't alcohol ones.

I also have issues with propane cartridge disposal. You can't refill them...

Gas has additives that aren't nice, and any leakage into a pannier is going to be awful to clean up, unlike alcohol that simply... evaporates.

I've also seen the result first hand of neglect with a propane gas stove, left on as its owners went to bed in a tent. The explosion resulted in shrapnel being scattered up to 20 metres around the campsite. Fortunately, no-one was hurt.

I think we've all used different stoves over a period. Your long-held belief that alcohol simply isn't efficient enough in BTU terms for you is OK. For others, they choose what works for them. The OP then can weigh up the pros and cons, including and beyond the BTUs (as a professional chef, I'm sure he is aware of those issues), and go from there.

What types of cooking do you do? I am (again) genuinely curious. Perhaps you can post some pictures of your culinary delights. I mean, I can post some of my work with alcohol stoves, and we can compare...