One of the things I have really enjoyed as part of my morning routine is to head to a scenic location, go for a walk, and then make myself a cup of coffee or tea. It’s relaxing and a great way to start the day. I have been a huge fan of quiet and hot burning alcohol stoves for camping and making my brewed beverages. But I recently saw a video for a solid fuel stove and started to poke around Amazon for a version of it. I hoped it would be another way for me to use both the solid fuel but also my alcohol stoves. I’ve built up a small collection of them- some DIY and some purchased.
The alcohol stove won’t work well with a standard alcohol stove but will work with a puck style and solid fuel tabs.
The downside? Many of the solid fuel tablets sold here in the US stink. Thus far I’ve had one style which smells like burning plastic and rotten fish. They also leave plenty of residue on the bottom of my pots and in the burner itself. I don’t like the mess.
I learned through blogs and YouTube videos that many of the solid fuel tablets are also sold as fire starters.
I ordered a package of these and these and these, but the last one has not yet arrived.. I decided that even if I don’t like them I can use them as fire starters this winter.
This one seemed pretty promising. Simply light the corner of the baggie and it acts as a wick. They claimed it would be odorless. They lied. These smelled first like burning plastic and then filled the area with the smell of rotten fish. They also left a huge amount of soot on my pot. Enough that I would consider scraping it off to create lamp black ink. What a mess. It also left behind a hard crusty residue in the burn cup. They did not burn hot or long enough to bring the water to a full boil. These will be used to start fires, not as a fuel for making coffee or tea. GAG! This is probably for the best as these are 75 cents per unit.
These feel a bit wasteful, as I ended up getting a display box of packages of 8 tablets. However they do burn quite hot and for about 12 minutes. I need to do more testing and place the tablet in a few configurations and test in another stove, but they ALMOST get 500ml of water to a boil. 2 tablets bring the water to a roiling boil. They have a slight odor but it’s not awful. They do produce some soot but not much. At 10 cents per unit these were the cheapest so far.
These have not yet arrived but everything I’ve read and watched about them indicates that I’ll like them the best. They are a solidified alcohol, much like sterno gel. They are also mot the most expensive of all of them at 79 cents per unit.
Anyway I’m not giving up on my trangia knock off- either the brass or the titanium version! They are solid and just work really well. Plus they don’t stink!