Boil to heat?

Post by **MCIera** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:45 pm

And for those who may be clumsy, accident prone, mechanically challenged, or just plain not terribly well-versed, a can of gelled alcohol (e.g. Sterno) would probably be safest.

Isn't denatured alcohol composed of ethanol with toxic ingredients added to prevent/discourage human consumption?

donaldjcheek wrote:As MCIera & Treesuit pointed out, the pressurized stoves work faster - but they are far more expensive, complicated, and can be difficult to light.

The alcohol "tuna can" stove works best with denatured alcohol, but will burn isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) or ethanol (medical alcohol) as west. The three big advatages are: 1) cheap, 2) simple, and 3) really easy to use.

Treesuit · Post by **Treesuit** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 11:16 pm

That's a good point.... I remember reading something like that on a old can of sterno. I thought it was kind of silly but once I thought about it does look like candied goop. I guess if there are small children around you wouldn't want them to eat it by accident.

Anyway I kind of gave up on the canned sterno long ago, it seemed like a hundred years had past just getting the water to a roiling boil.

thechip1 · Post by **thechip1** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:21 pm

Hi Treesuit. I too love my Jetboil stove. In fact, that was really why I started this thread, as I just bought one, primarily for day hikes with my two young sons. They like eating MREs with me, but they don't like waiting for the FRH to work. So it was a good excuse to buy a new stove. I also have an old MSR Firefly, but I didn't want to bother with the gas. That Jetboil is great; it heats up two cups of water with a couple of rations stuffed in there in 3 to 4 minutes. And every minute counts when you have two kids yelling at you that they are hungry!

Post by **MCIera** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:43 pm

Ethanol is ethyl alcohol, alcohol that is distilled from grain (aka grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, moonshine, etc.) If it's not denatured with the addition of toxics that would make it unconsumable, it would have to be sold as liquor and come under the umbrella of BATF and local liquor control agencies. Sterno and other similarly gelled products serve a purpose, and are generally safer for the general population to use and is also safer to use in areas where there are large gatherings of people (e.g. parties and other social gatherings for chafing dishes,) and is safer to use in indoor environments. It is not a terribly efficient means of boiling water and certainly not what you would want to use if you wanted to boil water for pasta, but it is a viable means for heating foods in a pinch if you don't want to risk someone knocking over an alcohol stove.

Treesuit wrote:That's a good point.... I remember reading something like that on a old can of sterno. I thought it was kind of silly but once I thought about it does look like candied goop. I guess if there are small children around you wouldn't want them to eat it by accident.

Anyway I kind of gave up on the canned sterno long ago, it seemed like a hundred years had past just getting the water to a roiling boil.