UL fuel efficient cook system

Choot

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After reading this page I started poking around and happened to find 3 of the sterno pots at an ace. I hate stuff rattling around so I got a piece of thin toolbox mat to pad under the fuel canister, and then took the pieces I cut from the top and bottom of my coozy and glued them together to slip over the canister. Everything is snug now and eliminated all rattles. Also is there any way to get my hands on one of those carbon or aluminum lids? I can’t seem to find them anywhere
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Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
2,702
After reading this page I started poking around and happened to find 3 of the sterno pots at an ace. I hate stuff rattling around so I got a piece of thin toolbox mat to pad under the fuel canister, and then took the pieces I cut from the top and bottom of my coozy and glued them together to slip over the canister. Everything is snug now and eliminated all rattles. Also is there any way to get my hands on one of those carbon or aluminum lids? I can’t seem to find them anywhere
View attachment 685305
Any interest in selling me one of those sterno pots?
 
Joined
Aug 17, 2015
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Iowa
I ended up cutting the slots in the bottom of my pot a little wider to make it easier to get the pot on and off with my PR deluxe. I also have a BRS which i don't like or use because it seems to take forever to boil in the slightest breeze, so i chopped it up the other day before seeing this thread, so it will fit into the fire maple pot. I used the stove the other day on a shed hunt and there was definitely an improvement with this pot.

You probably didn't compare them directly while you were out shed hunting, but I'd be curious to know if there is much of a difference between the PR deluxe and your modified BRS in breezy conditions... Mostly curious about boil times, not so much if there is 1 or 2 grams of fuel difference between them.
 

sr80

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Feb 19, 2014
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You probably didn't compare them directly while you were out shed hunting, but I'd be curious to know if there is much of a difference between the PR deluxe and your modified BRS in breezy conditions... Mostly curious about boil times, not so much if there is 1 or 2 grams of fuel difference between them.
I haven't, but definitely will. Im betting the PR deluxe will still knock it out of the water. I find that BRS pretty slow, specially when there is a light breeze. The BRS gets so many positive reviews and its super cheap, so i ordered one last fall to try out and tried it once hunting and was shocked how long it took, so it been sitting on the shelf ever since. Thats why i had no problem cutting it up to modify it for this pot. Ill report back this weekend with a side by side.
 

BBob

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Something’s wrong with your BRS (or your setup with it) if it’s as slow as you say. Mine are not appreciably different time to boil than others when using with a HX type pot. Keep in mind though that I’m balancing boil time to fuel usage so I end up somewhere in the range of 3-4 min boil times. As I’ve said many times I’m not running any of the stoves at full burn with these cobbled together systems. If I had to wait like you say you do with the BRS I would have scrapped them.
 

sr80

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Feb 19, 2014
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Something’s wrong with your BRS (or your setup with it) if it’s as slow as you say. Mine are not appreciably different time to boil than others when using with a HX type pot. Keep in mind though that I’m balancing boil time to fuel usage so I end up somewhere in the range of 3-4 min boil times. As I’ve said many times I’m not running any of the stoves at full burn with these cobbled together systems. If I had to wait like you say you do with the BRS I would have scrapped them.
think so? I do remember my first time using it outside of the garage that it struggled to boil 500ml of water
 

BBob

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So I tested the Petrel (with a JetBoil cozy attached) with two stoves. 2c water, 2.6K ft elevation. Tested to fair boil not roiling. In the field I don't even go that far, I stop when it looks ready to boil. I ran each stove three times. This was also a spur of the moment quick and dirty test so your mileage may vary ;)

1) Windmaster/Triflex support.

Avg boil time 2'45" with avg fuel used 5.3gm. Time and fuel used were very consistent. Pretty good performance. Burner is shrouded by the bottom of the pot and sits very close to the base of the pot. This combo should do very well in the wind. Ran the stove moderately to keep from killing the fins and from melting the neoprene cozy. This is typical for these hybrids and pretty subjective as I hold my fingers down around the bottom near the cozy just to guess what's too hot.

A note on this combo: With the pot on the stove it will not light with the self igniter. I have to lift and angle the pot away from the burner to get it to light. It just poofs (mini explosion) and goes out. I assume it's because the stove sits very close to the bottom of the pot and there's not enough air to mix and light.

2) BRS with shortened pot supports to fit my Inferno pot. Still sits at normal height so the burner is exposed below the pot. Might not be great in wind.

Avg boil time 3'13" with avg fuel used 4.7gm. Time and fuel used were very consistent. Same subjective guess as to how hot to run it.

The subjective finger test to how hot to run these stoves may contribute to the longer or shorter burn times and the amount of fuel used. It would be interesting at some point to test the Windmaster further away from the burner to see if more air would make it more efficient. Let's see what adapters FlatCatGear comes up with down the road for this pot.

Edit: Dug out an older test. Sterno Inferno with a BRS stove on pretty conservative low ish heat trying to eek out efficiency is 2C, 3.5-4 min boil, 3.5g fuel. On the above two tests I was pushing for quick boil times.
 
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Joined
Feb 2, 2020
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So I tested the Petrel (with a JetBoil cozy attached) with two stoves. 2c water, 2.6K ft elevation. Tested to fair boil not roiling. In the field I don't even go that far, I stop when it looks ready to boil. I ran each stove three times. This was also a spur of the moment quick and dirty test so your mileage may vary ;)

1) Windmaster/Triflex support.

Avg boil time 2'45" with avg fuel used 5.3gm. Time and fuel used were very consistent. Pretty good performance. Burner is shrouded by the bottom of the pot and sits very close to the base of the pot. This combo should do very well in the wind. ran the stove very moderately to keep from killing the fins and from melting the neoprene cozy. This is typical for these hybrids and pretty subjective as I hold my fingers down around the bottom near the cozy just to guess what's too hot.

A note on this combo: With the pot on the stove it will not light with the self igniter. I have to lift and angle the pot away from the burner to get it to light. It just poofs (mini explosion) and goes out. I assume it's because the stove sits very close to the bottom of the pot and there's not enough air to mix and light.

2) BRS with shortened pot supports to fit my Inferno pot. Still sits at normal height so the burner is exposed below the pot. Might not be great in wind.

Avg boil time 3'13" with avg fuel used 4.7gm. Time and fuel used were very consistent. boil but less fuel. Same subjective guess as to how hot to run it.

The subjective finger test to how hot to run these stoves may contribute to the longer or shorter burn times and the amount of fuel used. It would be interesting at some point to test the Windmaster further away from the burner to see if more air would make it more efficient. Let's see what adapters FlatCatGear comes up with down the road for this pot.

I think that fuel usage would also even out if the setup was exposed to a breeze where the burner having a wind shroud would handle it a bit better.
 

BBob

WKR
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
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Location
Southern AZ
I think that fuel usage would also even out if the setup was exposed to a breeze where the burner having a wind shroud would handle it a bit better.
I agree and it's been my experience that they all get more efficient if you don't run them too hard. Totally subjective and it takes a little playing with them to get a feel for it. In the field I'm not in a hurry because I'm usually multi-tasking while it's running.
 
OP
AK Troutbum
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
7,540
Location
Chugiak, Alaska
So I tested the Petrel (with a JetBoil cozy attached) with two stoves. 2c water, 2.6K ft elevation. Tested to fair boil not roiling. In the field I don't even go that far, I stop when it looks ready to boil. I ran each stove three times. This was also a spur of the moment quick and dirty test so your mileage may vary ;)

1) Windmaster/Triflex support.

Avg boil time 2'45" with avg fuel used 5.3gm. Time and fuel used were very consistent. Pretty good performance. Burner is shrouded by the bottom of the pot and sits very close to the base of the pot. This combo should do very well in the wind. ran the stove very moderately to keep from killing the fins and from melting the neoprene cozy. This is typical for these hybrids and pretty subjective as I hold my fingers down around the bottom near the cozy just to guess what's too hot.

A note on this combo: With the pot on the stove it will not light with the self igniter. I have to lift and angle the pot away from the burner to get it to light. It just poofs (mini explosion) and goes out. I assume it's because the stove sits very close to the bottom of the pot and there's not enough air to mix and light.

2) BRS with shortened pot supports to fit my Inferno pot. Still sits at normal height so the burner is exposed below the pot. Might not be great in wind.

Avg boil time 3'13" with avg fuel used 4.7gm. Time and fuel used were very consistent. Same subjective guess as to how hot to run it.

The subjective finger test to how hot to run these stoves may contribute to the longer or shorter burn times and the amount of fuel used. It would be interesting at some point to test the Windmaster further away from the burner to see if more air would make it more efficient. Let's see what adapters FlatCatGear comes up with down the road for this pot.

Edit: Dug out an older test. Sterno Inferno with a BRS stove on pretty conservative low ish heat trying to eek out efficiency is 2C, 3.5-4 min boil, 3.5g fuel. On the above two tests I was pushing for quick boil times.

Yeah, that’s pretty consistent with the fuel consumptions I was getting a few years ago. Burning approximately 3g of fuel to boil 16 oz. of 45°F water, inside so wind wasn’t a factor, and using the BRS/Inferno/JB cozy combo. I pretty much do all my cooking inside my shelter, so wind is really never an issue, and if all that is correct, it seems like a person should theoretically be able to get 33- 16 oz. boils out of a single 100g fuel canister.


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BBob

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Location
Southern AZ
it seems like a person should theoretically be able to get 33- 16 oz. boils out of a single 100g fuel canister.
Seems about right. One trip year before last, Sept, CO between 8-10K ft, 7 days, two burns a day and I had plenty enough fuel left in a small canister to easily go 10 with a good cushion left. I've since gone 10 with no worry. I need to add a cozy to the Inferno and bump those numbers up ;)
 
OP
AK Troutbum
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Chugiak, Alaska
Seems about right. One trip year before last, Sept, CO between 8-10K ft, 7 days, two burns a day and I had plenty enough fuel left in a small canister to easily go 10 with a good cushion left. I've since gone 10 with no worry. I need to add a cozy to the Inferno and bump those numbers up ;)
The cozy improves the efficiency considerably, and IMO easily offsets the wt. penalty. I forgot to mention, my tests were all at the house (800' elevation), so basically sea level.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
2,702
It sounds like I need to work on my systems efficiency. I have been using a super old (fist or second gen) jetboil flash. I'll take a 100g canister and go out for 8-9 days. 9-11k feet, water temps usually below 40 I'm guessing, and daytime highs between 35-50. 2 boils a day with no more than 2 cups. It seems my canister is very nearly empty on that last day
 
OP
AK Troutbum
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
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Location
Chugiak, Alaska
It sounds like I need to work on my systems efficiency. I have been using a super old (fist or second gen) jetboil flash. I'll take a 100g canister and go out for 8-9 days. 9-11k feet, water temps usually below 40 I'm guessing, and daytime highs between 35-50. 2 boils a day with no more than 2 cups. It seems my canister is very nearly empty on that last day
Yeah, at 10k feet water boils at 20* cooler temp. (192*), than at sea level (112*), so obviously takes less time to bring to a boil and use less fuel.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2018
Messages
509
Location
Alaska
Listening to some podcasts of ultralight backpackers, many of them recommended the msr pocket rocket deluxe and soto wind master as the most efficient stoves for use away from a controlled environment.

I was hoping they would get into pots but never did. Currently I use a pocket rocket deluxe paired with the FM petrel and a jetboil zip cozy around it. Comes in at 9oz total for stove and pot which is about the lightest I think I can get and still have great efficiency even with wind.
 
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