Rocket Stoves

H

Hotrod

Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Messages
978
Hi guys,

Found something cool the other day, called a rocket stove that might come in handy for anyone needing to cook without a whole lot of fuel.

Basically you make an L-shaped tube, and insulate the heck out of it... and can use a hand full of twigs for cooking, rather than having to build a large fire. Something like 25% more efficient than just hanging a pot over the flames, and gets even more so if you have a shield to drop around the pot to heat up the sides.

Here is a how to video to build a tin can version:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=797446823830833401

Some of them call for fire bricks, but the tin can method uses ashes as insulation. This video shows how to make a brick stove, along with how to make refractory bricks: http://www.aprovecho.org/web-content/media/rocket/rocket.htm

I'm thinking to build one of these for the back yard. Seems like collecting fuel for cooking just got a whole lot easier! http://www.homegrownevolution.com/2007/11/our-rocket-stove.html

Cheers
 
I really like that rocket stove. I think I'm going to build one out of an old popcorn tin I have laying around.

With some good cast iron cookware, and a "grill" insert of cast iron, I bet it would work just like any BBQ grill would. Never buy charcoal or propane again!
 
Maybe I've been living under a rock but I never knew about these. I've been doing some research since you posted that vid and I'm really excited about them.

I'm going to build one to try out. Would be great for car camping, a cabin, or just cooking for free.
 
That's what I said! Pretty slick/simple idea. Looks like it beats the heck out of a hobo stove.

Evidently the guy that invented them came up with the idea back in the 70's...

They seem to be really big with the sustainable living folks, which is weird... 'cause I always thought they were a bunch of hippies, when it sounds like they've got what we talk about down to an art form. :D
 
you'd be surprised- remember that hippie once meant what we'd call anti-globalisism, not "say no to anything and everything except giving bad kids hugs"

Here in Davis, it's hippie heaven, right? We've got thousands of student, graduate, and long term environmentalists, ecologists, sustainable living advocates, hikers, and organic farmers. And while it is definitely a mixed bag, you'll find few vegetarians among the really doing it homesteaders and organic farmers, plenty of field ecologists who appreciate a good knife, and several environmental consultants who hunt with the construction and mining crews they go work with.

Thinking that the richest country in the world should be able to handle universal health care or whatever the trigger issue of "liberalism" is this week doesn't mean you don't know how to skin a goat you raised from a kid, or live comfortably off the grid

One friend out here rents backyard space for a tent and uses a stove like this constantly in the winter (he eats mostly raw in the summer) and it's free tree trimmings.
 
i'm going to build one, such a simple design!

found some pics of different materials, common builing supplies:

pijpg.jpg


http://www.cato-projects.org/ArLivre/RocketStove1.htm
 
Huh, since there is an abundance of tree limbs lining the streets(thanks hurricane Ike) I might have to try this. I'm already going to lowes so I guess a few more things won't hurt.
 
I like the idea of building one that is a little more 'permanent' in the backyard for grilling, etc. I wonder how hard it would be to adapt this to make a smoker... seems like if you directed the heat into a side 'oven' you'd be set. I think you could even go so far as to make it so that you could change the direction the heat traveled and switch between smoker and grill. Of course, from what those links said, it burns up the wood pretty quick, so a smoker may not be a good option either. Man, great links, now I have too many ideas running through my head! Thanks for sharing :D
 
I think the style has been around for quite a while. There is the "soyers stove" and this photo is from a Revolutionary War encampment. I was told it was a field kitchen style that was in common use.
 

Attachments

  • PICT1279.jpg
    PICT1279.jpg
    100.2 KB · Views: 30
It's not completely dissimilar to a central european masonry stove, either- except that the masonry stove is as portable as a caravansary.
 
I've made one before, they work pretty well. Others are right, the basic design has been around for a long while. It's like using a chimney or whatever they are called to get charcoal going, the rocket stove get things hot fast.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top