One is broad and the other is tightly focused.Įven the burning of the fuel is better. The heat is funneled into one area rather than going every which way, so your pot or pan gets most of the heat. With a rocket stove, however, cooking is a lot easier. I suppose you could burn a pallet, but if you do, please pick up the nails afterward. You either have to buy firewood or gather large armfuls of fuel. The heat goes every which way, which warms people near the fire but does not efficiently warm the food.Īn open fire takes a lot of wood to cook something. This is because the burning wood undergoes an incomplete burn. But an open fire has plenty of downsides. You then apply that heat to the item you want cooked. When you build a campfire and use it to cook, you convert the potential energy stored in the wood into heat via combustion. Make sure to let it cool down, and you can stuff it your backpack or toss it in the back of your truck. Since rocket stoves are small, they can be pretty portable. Only the part of the wood in the middle of the stove burns, so you have to push the wood further into the chamber on occasion. The end inside the chimney burns.Īir gets warmed as it is pulled through the magazine so the fire burns more efficiently, and since there is a narrow opening at the top of the chimney, most of the heat goes to the cooking apparatus. Twigs and small branches are lit then inserted into the fuel magazine. The vertical cylinder is the chimney, and the horizontal one the fuel magazine.Ī shelf is inserted into the magazine to hold the fuel off of the bottom, so air flows underneath. These stoves are basically a smaller horizontal cylinder attached to a larger vertical cylinder. It can be made from scrap metal, coffee cans, soup cans, or other materials you probably already have.Īnd it is efficient.

They are especially great when you’re roughing it in the woods on a hunting or fishing trip The rocket stove is a solution for cooking at the campground – or even home if you like, I suppose. If you are willing to throw fistfuls of dollars at any problem, someone has a solution.īut what if you do not want to spend a bunch of money, and want a fuel efficient method of cooking food you can make yourself?Įnter the rocket stove.

I could have had a dinner of cold hot dogs and cold beans, but surely there are better ways. It’s fun, but I have also had a fair few nights where either because of a lack of wood or the weather, a campfire was not an option. Telling tales to my companions, cooking hotdogs and marshmallows over the fire, and enjoying watching other people try to dodge the smoke. I have spent many nights in front of the campfire. For some light reading, check out our affiliate disclosure. Buying something through these links doesn't cost you anything and helps support Know Prepare Survive.

Best rocket stove design