The Rocket Stove

Lovely day today for some jobs in the woods.  I did some log moving and splitting and had a couple of bonfires to burn up some of the old larch rubbish.

At lunchtime I used my rocket stove to do the cooking.

I made this stove a couple of years ago as a project.  I understand that rocket stoves were originally designed to help people in the third world who had little fuel to cook with.  Instead of lighting a fire with valuable wood and losing most of the heat, the rocket stove just uses a few twigs to do the cooking with. Also, with the third world in mind, they are cheap to make.  The design of the stove concentrates the heat where it is required.

The secret of the design is an L shaped tube in which the combustion takes place.  When its up to heat, which is quite quickly, the flame swirls up the chimney. 

I made the stove by folding some sheet steel into a box with a bottom and welding it together.  Then I inserted the L shaped tube.  This was made from a stove pipe elbow and a bit of flue tube.The whole box is then filled with vermiculite which is a good insulator and easy to use. This keeps the heat in the tube. Then I cut out the top part with a hole for the chimney tube and fitted it in. Finally a small plate is fitted into the horizontal part of the tube so that a draught is maintained under the fuel. 

Its easy to light, just a little kindling and some dry leaves or paper then feed in the twigs. On with the burger for lunch

Followed by the kettle for a cup of tea.

The combustion is very efficient, there is very little smoke.  All you have to do is feed in the dry twigs to keep it going.  If you want more information on rocket stoves, Google it and there's loads of stuff, mostly in the U.S.