Portable stove
Encyclopedia
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
or heating is needed. Portable stoves can be used in diverse situations, such as for outdoor food service and catering
Catering
Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...
and in field hospital
Field hospital
A field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities...
s.
Since the invention of the portable stove in the 19th century, a wide variety of designs and models have seen use in a number of different applications. Portable stoves can be broken down into several broad categories based on the type of fuel used and stove design: unpressurized stoves that use solid or liquid fuel placed in the burner before ignition; stoves that use a volatile liquid fuel in a pressurized burner; bottled gas stoves; and gravity-fed "spirit" stoves.
Europe and North America
Early portable stoves burned animal fat and polar explorers continued to use blubber as a supplement for cooking fuel into the early 20th Century.In the 1850s, Francis Fox Tuckett
Francis Fox Tuckett
Francis Fox Tuckett FRGS was an English mountaineer. He was vice-president of the Alpine Club from 1866 to 1868, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.-Life and family:...
had developed an alcohol stove for campers and mountaineers known as the "Russian furnace," and also as the "Rob Roy," after John MacGregor
John MacGregor (sportsman)
John MacGregor , nicknamed Rob Roy after a renowned relative, was a Scottish explorer, travel writer and philanthropist. He is generally credited with the development of the first sailing canoes and with popularising canoeing as a middle class sport in Europe and the United States...
, the canoeist also called called "Rob Roy." MacGregor's 1866 book, "A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe" was an international success and described his camping methods. Tuckett's stove and integral cook kit was designed to hang from a cord in the interior of a tent.
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a...
developed an alcohol stove in the 1880s based on the work of Adolphus Greely
Adolphus Greely
Adolphus Washington Greely , was an American Polar explorer, a United States Army officer and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.-Early military career:...
that improved on early designs and later became the basis of the Trangia
Trangia
Trangia is a trademark for a line of alcohol-burning portable stoves manufactured by Swedish company Trangia AB in Trångsviken. These stoves are designed primarily for backpackers, with a focus on light weight, durability and simple design...
cooker.
Carl Richard Nyberg
Carl Richard Nyberg
Carl Richard Nyberg was the founder of Max Sieverts Lödlampfabrik, then one of the largest industries in Sundbyberg, Sweden. Nyberg was born in Arboga. After school he started working for a jeweller and later he moved to Stockholm and worked with various metalworks. He later got work at J. E...
invented the blowtorch in 1882 and began manufacturing Primus stoves a decade later. The first model, called Viktoria, wasn't very successful, but the later Svea did better. Other sources credit Frans W Lindqvist for the same thing at the same time.
A portable stove was invented in 1849 by Alexis Soyer
Alexis Soyer
Alexis Benoist Soyer was a French chef who became the most celebrated cook in Victorian England. He also tried to alleviate suffering of the Irish poor in the Great Irish Famine , and improve the food provided to British soldiers in the Crimean War.-Biography:Alexis Benoist Soyer was born at...
. The design of Soyer's "Magic Stove" is based on the same principle as a kerosene lamp
Kerosene lamp
The kerosene lamp is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. This article refers to kerosene lamps that have a wick and a tall glass chimney. Kerosene lanterns that have a wick and a glass globe are related to kerosene lamps and are included here as well...
, in which a wick is used to draw fuel from a tank or reservoir to a burner. Due to their superior performance in extreme conditions and high altitude, early 20th century polar expeditions relied on pressurized burner designs such as the kerosene-burning Primus stove
Primus stove
The Primus stove, the first pressurized-burner kerosene stove, was developed in 1892 by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, a factory mechanic in Stockholm, Sweden. The stove was based on the design of the hand-held blowtorch; Lindqvist’s patent covered the burner, which was turned upward on the stove...
. Because of its fuel efficiency and high heat output, the pressurized burner stove remains in wide use to the current day.
Portable stoves also use other types of fuel, such as alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
or propane
Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...
. The use of single burner alcohol stoves for camping, similar to the contemporary Trangia
Trangia
Trangia is a trademark for a line of alcohol-burning portable stoves manufactured by Swedish company Trangia AB in Trångsviken. These stoves are designed primarily for backpackers, with a focus on light weight, durability and simple design...
brand, was reported as early as 1919. For many years alcohol-based stoves were used on sailboats rather than stoves using kerosene for safety reasons; these have since been largely replaced by stoves using compressed gas (such as liquefied petroleum gas, butane
Butane
Butane is a gas with the formula C4H10 that is an alkane with four carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of two structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, butane refers only to the unbranched n-butane isomer; the other one being called "methylpropane" or...
or propane) in disposable or refillable canisters. Stoves designed for military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
use, such as the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era G.I. Pocket Stove
G.I. Pocket Stove
The G.I. Pocket Stove is a World War II-era portable pressurized-burner liquid-fuel stove made by the Coleman Company of Wichita, Kansas.- History :During World War II, the U.S. government tasked Coleman to develop a compact stove for military use...
, were designed to run on gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
. So-called "white gas
White gas
White gas is a common name for two flammable substances. In its most common modern usage, it is used as a generic name for camp stove and lantern fuel, usually naphtha....
" or naphtha
Naphtha
Naphtha normally refers to a number of different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons, i.e., a component of natural gas condensate or a distillation product from petroleum, coal tar or peat boiling in a certain range and containing certain hydrocarbons. It is a broad term covering among the...
is commonly used as a fuel for camping and backpacking stoves, such as the compact Svea 123
Svea 123
The Swedish-made Svea 123 is a small liquid-fuel pressurized-burner camping stove that traces its origins to designs first pioneered in the late 19th century.-History:...
. Newer camping stoves are capable of burning multiple types of fuel, which makes them well suited for international travel where some particular types of fuel may not be readily available.
The use of lightweight portable stoves for camping became commonplace in Great Britain and Europe in the latter half of the 19th Century. The practice gained acceptance later in North America, and coincided with increased awareness of the environmental impact that backpackers had on the areas where they travelled, beginning in the 1950s in parts of Europe and the 1960s in the United States. Prior to their use, the usual practice when backpacking was to build an open fire for cooking from available materials such as fallen branches. The fire scar left on the ground would remain for two or three years before the vegetation recovered. The accumulation of fire scars in heavily travelled areas detracted from the pristine appearance that backpackers expected, leading to more widespread use of portable stoves.
Japan
The ShichirinShichirin
]The shichirin is a small charcoal grill.-Description:The shichirin is a lightweight, compact, and easy-to-move cooking stove. Charcoal is chiefly used for the fuel of shichirin. It has had prototypes since ancient times, and it is said that shichirin roughly the same as today's were made in the...
is a light-weight, compact, and easy-to-move cooking stove. Charcoal is chiefly used for the fuel of Shichirin. It has had prototypes since ancient times, and it is said that Shichirin roughly the same as today's were made in the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
. Old shichirin are mainly ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
and many can be found in old houses. Most modern Shichirin are made by heating diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth also known as diatomite or kieselgur/kieselguhr, is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from less than 1 micrometre to more than 1 millimetre, but typically 10 to...
, but the raw materials are not uniform. There are also Shichirin such as those made with a double inside and outside ceramic structure. The shape is mainly cylindrical, square, or rectangular, and the size also varies. Many varieties of Shichirin are made for different uses. In the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, they are also known as "Hibachi
Hibachi
The is a traditional Japanese heating device. It consists of a round, cylindrical or a box-shaped open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal....
" or "Hibachi-style".
Uses
Stoves differ widely in their size and portability. The smallest models are generally termed backpacking stoves. They are designed for use in backpackingBackpacking (wilderness)
Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...
and bicycle touring
Bicycle touring
Bicycle touring is cycling over long distances – prioritizing pleasure and endurance over utility or speed. Touring can range from single day 'supported' rides — e.g., rides to benefit charities — where provisions are available to riders at stops along the route, to multi-day...
, where light weight and small size are paramount considerations. Backpacking stoves consist only of the burner, fuel tank and pot supports. The legs – if any – are collapsible to minimize the space required. The weight may range from about 1 to 2 ounce
Ounce
The ounce is a unit of mass with several definitions, the most commonly used of which are equal to approximately 28 grams. The ounce is used in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of the imperial and United States customary systems...
s (30 to 60 g) for simple alcohol stoves, 11 to 14 oz (311.8 to 396.9 ) for MSR-type stoves (without fuel weight) and canister stoves (with gas cartridge), and up to 1 pound (0.45359237 kg) for larger stoves. Single burner alcohol stoves, beverage can stoves, and small liquid fuel and gas canister stoves are well suited for backpacking.
Camping stoves are designed for use by people travelling by car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
, boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
, canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
, or on horseback. They are similar in function and ease of use to kitchen stovetops, usually with two burners set into a table-like surface, and often with a folding lid for stowage and wind protection. This increases the weight accordingly.
Unpressurized solid or liquid fuel stoves
Single burner alcohol stoves
The simplest type of stove is an unpressurized single burner design, in which the burner contains the fuelFuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
and which once lit burns until it is either extinguished or the fuel is exhausted. There are both liquid- and solid-fuel stoves of this variety. Because they are extremely small and lightweight, this type of stove tends to be favored by ultralight backpackers
Ultralight backpacking
Ultralight backpacking is a style of backpacking that emphasizes carrying the lightest and simplest kit safely possible for a given trip. Base pack weight is reduced as much as safely possible, though reduction of the weight of...
as well as those seeking to minimize weight and bulk, particularly for extended backpacking trips. Solid-fuel stoves are also commonly used in emergency kits both because they are compact and the fuel is very stable over time.
The Trangia
Trangia
Trangia is a trademark for a line of alcohol-burning portable stoves manufactured by Swedish company Trangia AB in Trångsviken. These stoves are designed primarily for backpackers, with a focus on light weight, durability and simple design...
stove is a popular commercial alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
stove, which is available in many different models, from a single bare burner to an integrated expedition cooking system. Some of these come with a sealing cover, allowing the burner to be packed while still containing fuel, although putting the lid on while the stove is hot can damage it. An even simpler system is the Sterno
Sterno
Sterno is a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol. It is designed to be burned directly from its can. Its primary uses are in the food service industry for buffet heating and in the home for fondue and as a chafing fuel for heating chafing dishes...
heater, in which the can that contains a jellied fuel also serves as the burner. Homemade beverage can stoves (or "Pepsi can stoves") are similar. These are made from discarded aluminium beverage can
Beverage can
A beverage can is a tin can designed to hold a specific portion of a beverage. Beverage cans are made of tin-plated steel or aluminium.- History :...
s, and come in a wide variety of different designs.
Gravity-fed spirit stoves
The gravity-fed spirit stove is still found in many pleasure boats, although it has largely replaced by compressed gas stoves.
Lighting a gravity-fed spirit stove is similar to lighting a traditional Primus stove. Around each burner is a priming pan used to preheat the burner. To light the stove, the burner is first turned on to allow a small amount of fuel to pass through the burner and collect as a liquid in the priming pan. The burner is then turned off, and the fuel ignited to preheat the burner. When the fuel in the pan is almost all gone, the burner is turned on again, and fuel passes into the burner where it is vaporized and passes through the jets.
These stoves look and even sound a bit like pressurized burner stoves, but the fuel tank is under no pressure. They remain popular for small boats owing to the minimal fire risk they pose in a confined space.
Solid fuel stoves
Billycan
A billycan, more commonly known simply as a billy or occasionally as a billy can , is a lightweight cooking pot which is used on a campfire or a camping stove.-Usage and etymology of the term:...
or cooking vessel. This design is scalable, and may be used for anything from tiny backpacking stoves to large portable woodstoves. More complex stoves may use a double-walled design with a chamber for partial biomass gasification and additional mixing to increase heat output and provide a cleaner, more complete burn.
Among compact commercial models, the Esbit solid fuel stove burns small tablets of hexamine
Hexamine
Hexamethylenetetramine is a heterocyclic organic compound with the formula 6N4. This white crystalline compound is highly soluble in water and polar organic solvents. It has a cage-like structure similar to adamantane. It is useful in the synthesis of other chemical compounds, e.g. plastics,...
or trioxane
Trioxane
Trioxane refers to a pair of isomeric organic compounds having the molecular formula C3H6O3. Each contains a six membered ring with three carbon atoms and three oxygen atoms.The two isomers are...
in a folding stand made of aluminium or other base metal, and is a German design that dates from World War II. Generally intended for use by a single person, the fumes will tend to taint food if exposed to the burning tablets, and will also leave a messy residue that may be impossible to remove from cookware.
The single AA battery
AA battery
An AA battery is a standard size of battery. Batteries of this size are the most commonly used type of in portable electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of a single electrochemical cell...
operated, fan driven Sierra Designs "Zip" stove burns small twigs, pinecones, bark or other small flammable items. The fuel is placed into a small damper and, with the fan turned on, burns at a very high heat output of 15,000 BTUs/hr (4.40 kW), about twice that of typical gasoline stoves. Because the wood burns quickly in a Zip stove, it needs to be constantly refueled during cooking. However, because of its ability to take advantage of whatever small bits of wood that can be scrounged from the forest floor, the additional weight and bulk of packing additional fuel supplies is avoided. Ed Garvey, the noted Appalachian trail
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
benefactor and multiple A.T. thru-hiker, carried a Zip stove with him when he hiked trail at the age of 75.
A simple hobo stove
Hobo stove
A hobo stove is a style of improvised heat-producing and cooking device used in survival situations, by backpackers, hobos, tramps and homeless people...
is constructed out of a discarded tin can of any size by removing the top of the can, punching a number of holes near the upper edge, and punching corresponding holes in the opposite base. Wood or other fuel is placed in the can and ignited. A pot (or larger tin can) is placed on the top of the can for cooking. Stoves of similar design can be made out of materials other than cans, such as discarded duct pipe.
While simple, solid fuel stoves have several disadvantages. In most cases, the burn rate may be controlled only by varying the amount of fuel placed on the fire, while fluid fuels may be controlled precisely with valve
Valve
A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically pipe fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category...
s. In addition, no solid fuel burns completely. It produces considerable amounts of ash and soot
Soot
Soot is a general term that refers to impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolyzed fuel particles such as cenospheres,...
, which soils both the stove and the cooking vessels. In addition, because some of the chemical energy
Chemical energy
Chemical energy is the potential of a chemical substance to undergo a transformation through a chemical reaction or, to transform other chemical substances...
of the fuel remains locked up in the ash and soot, solid fuel releases less heat, gram for gram.
Another type of a solid fuel stove which has been becoming more common is what is called the rocket stove
Rocket stove
A rocket stove is an innovative clean and efficient cooking stove using small diameter wood fuel which is burned in simple high-temperature combustion chamber containing an insulated vertical chimney which ensures complete combustion prior to the flames reaching the cooking surface. The principles...
. It is found more commonly in the third world countries where wood fuel sources are more scarce but it has been introduced to developed countries in recent years. There are a couple of different designs that are used but smaller ones are portable and are made of steel and other materials with insulation inside a double-walled design with a chamber for partial biomass gasification and additional mixing to increase heat output and provide a cleaner, more complete burn. The advantage of these rocket stoves is very little fuel they need, such as wood and dry weeds, to be able to cook a whole meal with it, keeping the air more clean with less hydrocarbons.
Primus stoves
Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist
Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist was a Swedish inventor. He designed the first sootless kerosene stove, operated by compressed air. He started a company, Primus, to manufacture and sell the Primus stove....
, in 1892. Lindqvist's stove was based on the pressurized blowtorch but fitted with an upturned burner assembly of his own design. Together with partner J.V. Svensson, Lindqvist established the Primus brand of stove, which quickly developed into a worldwide market leader.
The kerosene burning Primus stove
Primus stove
The Primus stove, the first pressurized-burner kerosene stove, was developed in 1892 by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, a factory mechanic in Stockholm, Sweden. The stove was based on the design of the hand-held blowtorch; Lindqvist’s patent covered the burner, which was turned upward on the stove...
s and their imitators were made of brass and were a significant advance over previous designs, which had used a wick to supply liquid fuel to the burner by capillary action. The Primus burner vaporized the fuel in a loop of pipe which rose up from the fuel tank at the stove's base, and which was pre-heated with alcohol (or "methylated spirits") before being combusted in the burner. Initial pressure is provided by a small, hand operated pump integrated into the stove's fuel tank. The flame on a Primus stove is adjusted by using the pump to increase the pressure in the tank to make the flame larger, or by venting the tank to reduce the pressure and make the flame smaller. Later models used a separate valve to adjust the flame. Primus-style stoves were made in a variety of sizes and styles, and many were designed to be disassembled for storage and transportation in a separate case.
Compact camping and hiking stoves
White gas
White gas is a common name for two flammable substances. In its most common modern usage, it is used as a generic name for camp stove and lantern fuel, usually naphtha....
and did not have the additives and other constituents contained in modern gasoline
Gasoline additive
Gasoline additives increase gasoline's octane rating or act as corrosion inhibitors or lubricants, thus allowing the use of higher compression ratios for greater efficiency and power, however some carry heavy environmental risks...
. Similar in design to the kerosene burning Primus-style stove, the smaller white gas stove was also made of brass with the fuel tank at the base and the burner assembly at the top. Unlike the Primus-style stove, however, priming both pressurizes the tank and pre-heats the burner assembly in this type of stove. Once lit, the heat from the burner maintains the pressure in the tank until the flame is extinguished. The Svea 123
Svea 123
The Swedish-made Svea 123 is a small liquid-fuel pressurized-burner camping stove that traces its origins to designs first pioneered in the late 19th century.-History:...
, introduced in 1955, is among the most popular of these "self pressurizing" stove designs, and is generally considered to be the first compact camping stove. Optimus of Sweden manufactures a line of similarly designed stoves in which the stove's components are entirely enclosed in a folding metal case, the most popular of which were the Optimus 8R and Optimus 111 (and still in production as the Optimus Hiker).
In the early 1970s, Mountain Safety Research
Mountain Safety Research
Mountain Safety Research, or MSR, is an American corporation located in Seattle, Washington, and owned by Cascade Designs. It was founded in 1969 by Larry Penberthy because he was not pleased with the safety and reliability of outdoor equipment....
(MSR) designed a pressurized burner stove intended to address performance shortcomings of white gas stoves in cold or adverse conditions, in particular for mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
use. First introduced in 1973 and designated the Model 9 (and later as the XGK Expedition), the MSR stove had four main parts: a free-standing burner assembly with integrated pot supports; the fuel bottle, which doubles as the stove's fuel tank; a pump that screws into the bottle; and a flexible tube or pipeline connecting the pump/bottle assembly to the burner assembly. This type of stove design, with the "outboard" fuel tank held away from the burner, is primed in the same manner as other white gas stoves; however, because the tank is not self-pressurizing, the tank must periodically pumped to maintain pressure to the burner. Most commercial liquid fuel camping stoves on the market today are of this design.
Pressurized burner stoves are now available that are capable of burning multiple fuels or volatile liquids with little or no modification (due to variability in the volatility of different fuels, the "jets" of multi-fuel stoves may need to be changed according to the type of fuel used), including alcohol, gasoline or other motor fuels, kerosene, jet propellant, and many others.
Coiled burner stoves
The "coiled burner" stove is a variant on the pressurized burner design, in which the burner assembly consists of a coiled loop with a small hole in the lower part, through which the vaporized fuel exits and combusts. Generally small, lightweight and cheaply made, these were sold under the brand name "Stesco", "Tay-Kit", "Handy Camper" and others. A more substantial version of the coiled burner stove is the Swiss made Borde stove.Gas cartridge stoves
Butane
Butane is a gas with the formula C4H10 that is an alkane with four carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of two structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, butane refers only to the unbranched n-butane isomer; the other one being called "methylpropane" or...
, propane
Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...
or a mixture of hydrocarbons – that is held under pressure. While the gas in the cartridge is in a liquid state when stored under pressure, it vaporizes immediately as it leaves the storage bottle (i.e., without priming), arriving at the burner as a gas. The principal advantage of gas cartridge stoves is convenience: no priming is required, they are generally maintenance-free and capable of immediate high heat output, the flame is easily adjusted and they are generally considered simpler to operate. There are two basic designs for most gas cartridge stoves used for camping: the burner assembly is fitted into the top of the gas cartridge, which serves as the stove's base, or the stove is free-standing and the cartridge is separated from the burner and connected by means of a small hose or pipe. Single burner propane stoves commonly used in food service have the gas container integrated into the body of the stove.
Refillable gas bottles are heavier and tend to be used on larger stoves intended for car camping or expedition base camps, or residential use (as for barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
s).
Multiple burner stoves
Stoves with two or more burners that may be operated together or separately are common for use in base camp, car camping and other situations involving cooking for larger groups. The folding "suitcase" style by ColemanColeman Company
Coleman Company, Inc., is an American company that specializes in outdoor recreation products. Historically, Coleman is known for camping gear....
is the best known of this design, and is intended to be used on a flat, stable surface such as a tabletop. This type of stove may have a separate fuel tank for each burner, or more commonly a single tank shared by both burners. Multiple burner stoves generally use compressed gas, alcohol or Naphtha
Naphtha
Naphtha normally refers to a number of different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons, i.e., a component of natural gas condensate or a distillation product from petroleum, coal tar or peat boiling in a certain range and containing certain hydrocarbons. It is a broad term covering among the...
(also known as White gas
White gas
White gas is a common name for two flammable substances. In its most common modern usage, it is used as a generic name for camp stove and lantern fuel, usually naphtha....
or Coleman fuel
Coleman fuel
Coleman fuel is a petroleum naphtha product marketed by The Coleman Company. Historically called white gas , it is a liquid petroleum fuel sold in one gallon cans. It is used primarily for fueling lanterns and camp stoves. Originally, it was simply casing-head gas or drip gas which has similar...
).
Advantages and disadvantages of different liquid fuels
| Fuel type | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| White gas White gas White gas is a common name for two flammable substances. In its most common modern usage, it is used as a generic name for camp stove and lantern fuel, usually naphtha.... |
High heat output Spilled fuel evaporates quickly Readily available |
May produce sooty smoke Priming required Spilled fuel highly flammable |
| Kerosene Kerosene Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros... |
High heat output Readily available internationally |
May produce sooty smoke Priming required Spilled fuel evaporates very slowly |
| Butane Butane Butane is a gas with the formula C4H10 that is an alkane with four carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of two structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, butane refers only to the unbranched n-butane isomer; the other one being called "methylpropane" or... |
Instant high heat output No priming required |
Lower heat output than white gas Canister disposal required High cost Poor performance in cold weather Potentially explosive |
| Propane Propane Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central... |
Better in cold than butane Larger containers refillable |
Limited availability High cost Canister disposal required |
| Alcohol Alcohol In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms.... |
Quiet Clean burning Readily available |
May produce sooty smoke Lower heat output Longer cooking time Must be pre-heated in cold weather (not required for jellied alcohol ("Sterno Sterno Sterno is a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol. It is designed to be burned directly from its can. Its primary uses are in the food service industry for buffet heating and in the home for fondue and as a chafing fuel for heating chafing dishes... ")) |
| Unleaded auto gasoline Gasoline Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain... |
Inexpensive Readily available worldwide High heat output Spilled fuel evaporates quickly |
May produce sooty smoke Additives clog the stove Priming required Spilled fuel highly flammable |
See also
- Beverage-can stoveBeverage-can stoveA beverage-can stove is a homemade, ultralight portable stove. The simple design is made entirely from aluminium cans and burns alcohol. Countless variations on the basic design exist....
- Dutch ovenDutch ovenA Dutch oven is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens have been used as cooking vessels for hundreds of years....
- HibachiHibachiThe is a traditional Japanese heating device. It consists of a round, cylindrical or a box-shaped open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal....
- Hobo stoveHobo stoveA hobo stove is a style of improvised heat-producing and cooking device used in survival situations, by backpackers, hobos, tramps and homeless people...
- Hot plateHot plateA hot plate is a portable self-contained tabletop small appliance that features one, two or more gas burners or electric heating elements. A hot plate can be used as a stand alone appliance, but is often used as a substitute for one of the burners from an oven range or the cook top of a stove...
- Outdoor cooking