Alcohol Stove FAQs

1. What sort of alcohol stoves are available?
2. Do these things really work?
3. Are soda can stoves reliable?
4. Are the stoves dangerous?
5. Do the stoves crush easily?
6. What kind of fuel can be burned?
7. Does the stove work at high altitudes?
8. Does the stove work at low temperatures?
9. What is the best type of soda can to use?
10. How does the cat can stove compare?
11. What about the penny stove?
12. What do I use for a pot stand?
13. What do I use for a windscreen?
14. You hypocrite! You have ads for commercial stoves on this site!
15. Where can I find denatured alcohol?
16. The stove is light, but what about the fuel?
17. You can't simmer with an alcohol stove.

What sort of alcohol stoves are available?

This website, naturally, focuses on the soda can variety of alcohol stove, but you can burn alcohol in all sorts of ways. Some people use it in a cat can stove. There are even commercial alcohol stoves available, though admittedly, I've never seen anyone use those. In a pinch you could even cut a soda can in half, pour in some denatured alcohol, and light it to get a stove. It's probably not the most efficient stove option, but burning alcohol isn't a particularly high tech task either.

I'll leave it up other websites to provide designs for alternative types of alcohol stoves. Most of them probably work just fine, but I'm happy with my soda can stove and haven't felt the need to check out alternatives. A lot of the information about burning fuel in alternative alcohol stoves is exactly the same as using a soda can stove, however, so I'll sometimes use the terms interchangeably.

Do these things really work?

Absolutely! Ten-thousand thru-hikers can't be wrong! They aren't perfect for all situations, however, so you need to decide if it suits your needs. This is a 3-season stove and not suited for extreme winter conditions. It's not well-suited for cooking large amounts of food so if you have a hiking partner or two, a 'real' stove may work out better. If you have to melt snow for drinking water, the amount of fuel you'll need increases dramatically and you may prefer carrying a more fuel-efficient commercial stove. If you enjoy creating elaborate meals in the backcountry such as pizza or cinnamon rolls, these stoves are not ideal. (It can be done, but it's not easy.)

The light weight of the stove makes it perfect for backpacking, but on rafting trips or while car camping where weight is not an issue, a traditional stove may be more comfortable to use. The soda can stove does work, and is extremely reliable, but it does have limitations and you should understand them before depending on it.

Are soda can stoves reliable?

Thru-hikers everywhere carry them thousands of miles without trouble. They have no moving parts that might break or need cleaning, and no filters that can clog. As a result, they tend to have fewer problems than commercial stoves. I've never had a soda can stove fail on me in the field, and I've carried the same stove as many as 2,000 miles at a time on a thru-hike. Roland Mueser surveyed hikers on the Appalachian Trail for his book, Long-Distance Hiking, and this was the only type of stove with a 0% failure rate. If the worst should happen, however, the stove is easily replaced with materials found at the local hardware store for a few bucks.

Are the stoves dangerous?

They can be if you don't treat them with respect and take simple precautions, but that applies to any stove. The alcohol fuel can easily spill if you knock the stove over or someone bumps the table that you're working on too hard. Sometimes, the surface the stove rests on may catch fire. Once, while trying to put the stove out, I accidentally knocked the lit stove into my lap and my crotch caught on fire. So yes, they can be dangerous. Make sure the area you use the stove is clear of flammable material and always have a bottle of water nearby to put out inadvertent fires. Better safe than sorry!

The flame, in daylight, is nearly invisible so be careful not to burn yourself or others. And don't leave burning stoves unattended.

Do the stoves crush easily?

They're made of soda cans, so of course they crush easily! Store the stove in your cook pot or some other hard-sided container when it's not in use.

What kind of fuel can be burned?

Denatured alcohol is your best bet. You can find it at any hardware store, usually somewhere in the paint section. Paint stores will also carry it. (Supposedly, it has other uses besides as a fuel. Who'd have thought?!) It consists primarily of ethyl alcohol. Pure ethanal can be used, but few hikers use it as a fuel since it's subject to a liquor tax. On the other hand, if you enjoy alcoholic beverages, that could be considered a benefit!

Pure methanol will also work in an alcohol stove. Methyl alcohol is also sold in hardware and paint stores as 'wood alcohol' and is the main ingredient in some automotive gas line de-icers such as HEET. In a pinch, HEET can be found in many gas stations and auto-parts stores if a hardware/paint store with denatured alcohol isn't readily available. HEET comes in two versions: yellow and red—make sure to get the yellow. Neither burn as well as denatured alcohol, but the red HEET makes a terrible fuel and creates an enormous amount of soot.

Does the stove work at high altitudes?

The stove allegedly burns less efficiently at higher altitudes, but it still works. Thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail have had no trouble using the stove in the heights of the Sierra Nevadas at over 13,000 feet above sea level, so in most cases, altitude should not be a problem. I have absolutely no idea how well it would perform at elevations above that level, but I wouldn't recommend depending on a soda can stove if you're climbing such extreme heights. (If you do decide to take a soda can stove with you, however, I'd be very curious as to how well it performs for you!)

Does the stove work at low temperatures?

Yes, the stove works at low temperatures, however the efficiency allegedly goes down. I've used the stove in temperatures as low as 20°F (-7°C) and can't say I noticed any noticeable difference in performance, but those technical-minded geeks claim there is. I have no reason to suspect they're wrong, but in the real world, the stove does still work just fine at very low temperatures. If you're going into the Antarctic where it's 50 below zero, it might be issue. For normal 3-season use, it's not an issue. I have noticed that it can be more difficult to light the stoves in low temperatures—I suspect that the alcohol doesn't vaporize as readily so I really have to get in there to get the stove started. Once it's burning, though, I've never had any issues.

What is the best kind of soda can to use?

Pepsi has a reputation of having the best type of can for making stoves based on the shape of the bottom of the can. I've used Coke cans, A&W Root Beer cans, Safeway-branded grape soda, among others and I haven't noticed any discernible difference. They all work, and my opinion is to use the can of the drink you like drinking best. After all, you do need at least two empty cans. Whether it's beer cans or soda cans, use whatever is most available.

How does the cat food can stove compare?

I'm not a big fan of the cat food can stove because I don't have a cat and don't care for the taste of cat food. As a result, I tend not to have many cat food cans laying about. If it floats your boat, by all means, use that instead. Check out Roy "TrailDad" Robinson's cat food can stove design if you're interested. I have no idea of the relative merits between the two, but I've met plenty of people who are completely happy with their cat can stoves. It works, and in the end, that's what counts the most.

What about the penny stove?

There are people who swear that the Penny Stove is the ultimate in soda can stoves. The stove is pressurized which, in theory, makes it burn hotter and more efficiently. It's also more likely to explode due to the pressure, and thus a small hole with a penny on top for the pressure to vent in case the pressure builds up too much. I tried making and using one, and I can't say I noticed a significant difference, but my experiments were hardly scientific and I wasn't sitting around with a stopwatch timing how long it took to boil a liter of water. The simple, original soda can stove has worked just fine for me, so I haven't been inclined to spend a lot of time or effort trying out other designs. It does work, however, and if you want to give it a try, by all means, go for it. It's just not my thing. *shrug*

What do I use for a pot stand?

Make your own! I use rat wire (a.k.a. hardware cloth or chicken wire depending on who you ask), held together with those metal twisty ties. I'll post pictures... someday. =) The key factors to keep in mind is that it needs to allow air into the stove, and it should be small enough so your pot doen't fall through the center. It's also convenient that it's small enough that you can store the pot stove inside of the pot. And it should hold the pot about 1 to 1 1/2 inches above the top of the stove. There are as many designs for pot stoves as people who make them—a quick Google search can give you ideas. You could even hang your pot from a tree with a little extra rope rather than sit it on a stand! (I've never actually seen anyone do this, but technically speaking, it certainly is feasible.)

If you really want to travel light, you could forgo making a pot stove completely and find rocks or bricks or other materials around camp to support your pot. The downside, of course, is that you have to spend effort finding materials to support your pot each time you want to cook.

What do I use for a windscreen?

Most of the time, I don't use one at all. If it's windy out, I'll set up my stove behind a log or set up a series of rocks around it to break the wind. Sometimes I've even just cooked with the wind to my back so I could use myself as a wind break. And if the wind is really bad, I'll often just eat food that doesn't require cooking. But if you do want to carry one, you might be able to cook in wind that I find difficult to deal with. =)

Windscreens used with commercial stoves work just fine with a soda can stove as well. The windscreen just needs to fit around the pot you use, and protected against wind from ground level to at least an inch or two above where the bottom of your pot will rest. And, preferably, the windscreen can fit inside of your pot.

You hypocrite! You have ads for commercial stoves on this site!

That's not a question, but let me be clear—I have no problem with commercially made stoves. In some situations, a commercial stove is the better option: extreme weather conditions, extreme geographical locations, having to cook for a large group of people, car camping, and so forth. Soda can stoves are optimal for 3-season use when pack weight is a concern. My problem isn't commercially made stoves—it's the lack of information they'll provide about this cheap alternative, and often times the less ethical sellers of such products will even promote half truths and untruths about the soda can stove. If you want to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of liquid fuel stoves vs. canister stoves, external websites will have more information. If, after considering your personal situation, you decide that a commercial stove best suits your needs, by all means, buy one. You won't get any complaints from me.

Where can I find denatured alcohol?

Any hardware store should have some available, usually hidden in the paint section. Even the dinky little mom and pop hardware stores I've been to have always had some available. You'll want to pour it into an empty water bottle or something similar—the metal cans it comes in are heavy! Paint stores should also have it available, though they are usually harder to find in a strange town than a hardware store. Most outfitters will carry it, and often times even places like Wal-Mart have been known to have it in their camping section.

The stove is light, but what about the fuel?

Some critics of the soda can stove will point out that the weight you save with a lighter stove is lost by having to carry more fuel since it burns less efficiently. While there is some merit to the charge, the problem is usually exaggerated. If you're on a short overnight or weekend trip, liquid fuel has the advantage that you can take only as much as you need for a trip. The canister stoves are relatively hefty (even when empty!) and you have no control over how much fuel to take with you. The white gas stove does allow you to take only as much fuel as you need, but the system to pressurize the stove is quite hefty, so several days worth of denatured alcohol may still weigh less than the added weight on a white gas stove.

The soda can stove fuel burns less efficiently, but it doesn't leave you with heavy canisters or heavy pressurized systems to lug around by the end of the trip. So even if the weight of the stove and fuel starts heavier, after a few days of use, the whole system may actually weigh less. By the time you hike out back into civilization, the combined stove and fuel weight will definitely be lighter than a canister or white gas stove.

In a nutshell, there's not a simple answer to the question. The alcohol stove does require more fuel to burn the same amount of energy, but whether the total weight is more than other alternatives depends on multiple factors including how often you cook and how long until you can resupply. And while critics of the soda can stove can often point to the starting combined weight of the stove and fuel as being higher for the alcohol stove than alternatives, they fail to note that the ending weight is often much less.

On my thru-hikes, I'll use a 20 oz. water bottle for my fuel which typically lasts about 10 days, cooking one meal per day. On overnight trips or weekend trips, I'll only fill half the bottle with fuel. Your results may vary.

You can't simmer with an alcohol stove.

Again, not a question, and not even a true statement. It is possible to create simmer rings for the stove depending on how much heat you want transferred to your pot. It's not a finely controlled flame—basically it comes in two settings: full blast and whatever simmer ring you put over it to reduce the flame. You could, in theory, have multiple simmer rings with different sized holes for different amounts of simmering, but it seems like overkill. I've been able to bake pizzas with the stove using the simmer ring, but it's better suited for actual simmering—something I do quite often with Hamburger Helper products.

When simmering, this stove will burn for over an hour. It's not as simple as turning a knob, but it can certainly be done.