19 December 2010

ROCKET STOVE - DIY













Well, thanks to either blogger...or my lack of computer skills (or both)...the pics are in reverse sequence obviously.


This is a "rocket stove" some of you may have seen in various locations online. Supposed to be very efficient with the kindling firewood fuel for a very hot cooking area for a pot or pan.


You don't have to use a metal flue pipe, but I had one laying around and some designs use this, but others just use the brick interior with no pipe.


I used true firebrick (the kind used for masonry fireplace interior firebox areas), which I suppose is best if you use this stove often. I had saved these from a house remodel where these bricks were part of the central flue stack for the kitchen and various rooms that had wood burning heaters connected to a central stack as was typical for simple homes built in the 1920's and 30's. For occasional short term use I'd think regular clay fired solid bricks would work, especially if you used a metal flue pipe too.


Mine ended up being about waist high for me only due to the length of the vent pipe I had. Using old broken pieces of marble tile I made the final resting level for the recycled stove pot grate work with the top of the flue pipe. Takes about 50 regular sized brick, less if not as tall.


Supposed to work well with just a big handful of twigs and kindling. Didn't test mine today as it's damn windy out today.


This will be something we plan to build at the place near Terlingua, for summer outdoor cooking (don't wanna add any more heat to the kitchen during hot summer temps)


I set mine up one some old CMU (cinderblock) bricks just so I don't have to bend my

tootall-fatass down to the ground to load with fuel....could be built at ground level easily.


Now I need to load up some local kindling to haul down to Brewster County, cuz there ain't much of that down that way.


This deal only takes about 20 minutes to build, and as I finished it I noticed the brand name of the old firebricks..."KOOKEN"....someday we'll be a'cookin on our Kooken Stove...


Hardeee, Har, HAR!!!


Happy Kawanza to you all...!!

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