beer can cookers

Elvis · Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 11:28 pm Post subject: beer can cookers

havent seen anything on here about these and being the tightwad that I am. having finally managed to get them to work I thought I would share .
when I manage to take photos small enough to post I will stick some up.
basically all you need to do is carefully cut two aluminium cans off about 3/4" high and keep the two bases....you then "shoehorn" one inside the other with bases out forming a small semi sealed wee tin. you have the inner one on top and drill 4-5 1mm holes in centre and series of 1mm or smaller holes around the outer rim Ive got two types first has 1.5mm holes about 8mm apart around the rim...this burns for quite a long time at good heat.. the 2nd has heaps of 1mm holes about 6mm apart all around rim,this one burns very hot for less time. I used smaller can( same size as red bull)and cut cans so assembled it fits inside an old school heximine cooker frame folded up...it will boil 500 mls of water in a couple of minutes and uses 30 mls of meths to do so......
you also need a small coin with non ribbed rim/smooth edges the coin is placed in centre of top over the 5 wee holes once you have poured your meths in. it forms a good enough seal to allow it to pressurize.
fill cooker with meths,fill it over full so a little stays in dimple on top ,place coin in dimple to form said "semi seal" and light it...this is where meths is great as it lights without going WHOOOOOF the heat from meths burning on top will heat up inside container and start to pressurize it,the gas then comes out of holes around rim and ignite making things even warmer. if you place cooker in shallow dish (tiny paint tin lid works) and spill a wee tad meths in here it works as a primer and starts it off quickly.

to give you an idea how efficent these are,last weekend I had trip up onto tops and boiled up 4 times using 80-100mls meths which fitted into a tiny pill bottle.
Im sold on the concept.

Elvis · Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 11:46 pm Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

so you should be able to get gist of it from here guys.
red one burns slower for longer,darker one is fast and hot.

Elvis · Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:50 am Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

chai latte coming right up.....

gelandangan · Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 4:49 pm Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

Yeah, I used one of these before, a bit flimsy with soda cans, so I use thicker can from a beer bottle (cant remember the brand)
Works as well but take a bit longer to cool down after use.

Vince · Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 4:56 pm Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

Brilliant mate. I’ve seen these before and they do a great job. Best part is it is compact, light, easy to use and very light to carry. I’ve thought about using a little petrol instead of metho, but I’m not sure if it would be safe.

My daughter and her husband have a neat little petrol stove that closes up to a rather small and light package. Biggest part is the petrol bottle. They carry this when they go out into the bush with their motorcycles.

Elvis · Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 7:19 pm Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

Ive got an old school white spirits cooker that folds up on itself into a tin about 6" high by 9" square,it works great but is a tad heavy for long trips and uses a fair bit of fuel by comparison.
Gel Im looking at all sorts of cans now,SWMBO hairspray ones look interesting and feel quite solid...the two cookers pictured above are made with redbull sized cans so are quite robust compared to the larger coke/beer can size,I think making them short helps too as there is stuff all side panel to dent.
Vince...meths is cheap enough and less messy than petrol if you have a spill,more user friendly by far as it doesnt go WHOOOF when lit.

Azar · Member Joined: Jan 04, 2010 Posts: 275 Location: Utah

Sorry for the "translation" request, but what is "meths"?

gelandangan · Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

Azar wrote:

Sorry for the "translation" request, but what is "meths"?

methylated spirit
mɛθəleɪtɪdˈspɪrɪt/
noun
noun: methylated spirit; noun: methylated spirits

alcohol for general use that has been made unfit for drinking by the addition of about 10 per cent methanol and typically also some pyridine and a violet dye.

Elvis · Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:17 pm Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

also used for cleaning windows and stainless steel benches etc.
not to be confused with crystal meths...that the crap the druggies make ...

Azar · Member Joined: Jan 04, 2010 Posts: 275 Location: Utah

Hmmm, methylated spirits didn't ring any bells either. I googled that: denatured alcohol. Ah, okay! Now I'm on the same page. I guess I've never heard it reference by anything but denatured alcohol.

Thanks for the education.

dhc4ever · Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 6:19 am Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

Look up trangia.
Its a cooking system based on a very similar burner albeit somewhat less crude.
Works extremely well.

Another burner is half a beer can filled with sand, with either petrol or avaition kerosene poured in.
Burns quite well in a controlled fashion and quite able to boil a cups canteen fir a hot cuppa.

For a fire starter in wet weather or as a fire starter in general, drink 1 can of beer, cut in half, using the bottom half fill with alcohol or petrol, light with match or lighter, build fire over the burning can.

radar · Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:05 pm Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

Elvis -try using the heavier screw top V cans - I’ve mucked around making a heap of variations of these, neat fun, I can boil a litre of water in 4 min ion my good one - all fits into a big enamel cup - using methylated spirits

Elvis · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:18 am Post subject: Re: beer can cookers

hmmmmm thats a thought. but the word "heavy" is an oxymoron for a lightweight cooker........ lol
I did look at red bull screw top stubbie sized bottle/can
I guess you are using the screwtop vcan cut off so you have screw top still at top for filling????