Doing Without Gas

[VanFan]

Propane, butane and I have not been getting along as well as we used to.  Buying, storing it, and disposing of containers has gotten to be more of a headache, and I've had some problems with failed valves on (new) green bottles.

Electric hook-ups have spoiled me (electric skillet; electric kettle), but I hope we can get away from the increasingly crowded campground scene someday again soon.  Solar cooking has the potential to really expand our gas-free options, too.  The Sterno Inferno is a nice back-up for hot water on cloudy, no shore power days.

The latest thing I've tried is a DIY "mini" stove/grill.  It is a contraption built from the bottom up of an old cake pan, folding Sterno stove from my retired backpacking stash https://www.amazon.com/Sterno-Single-Burner-Folding-Stove/dp/B000OD158E, a canning jar lid, and a stainless steel vegetable steamer (like this:  https://www.amazon.com/Sayfine-Vege...steel+vegetable+steamer&qid=1601761305&sr=8-7) used as a fire bowl.  The stove is very sturdy, and will support a 2-quart pot of water just fine.  I've also used an 8" stainless skillet on it.

The other night I cooked two foil packs of Andouille sausage, red new potatoes, green beans, red bell pepper, onion and butter on top of ten Match Light charcoal briquettes.  Yum!  The charcoal smells horrible until ashed over, and ten is really more than needed.  I carried "sets" in zip lock bags, in a plastic coffee can, in a bear bag.  Wood charcoal or tinder might be better.  Fumes aside, it is a very compact, sturdy, and efficient option.  (The stove can be used for low-heat cooking with Sterno, too.)

We'll see.  I would love to ditch the gas and still have the cooking bases covered.

 

[nature lover]

I have a hankering to do some Cast iron cooking. I’ve done some in the past but I’d really like to get into it in a bigger way. I have a great bake lima bean recipe That tastes great when slow cooked in a Dutch oven. I have a friend who literally made the best sourdough biscuits I’ve ever had the privilege of tasting in a really old grungy looking cast-iron Dutch oven. Once I did chicken and dumplings in my bigger Dutch oven wow that went over good. Problem is when I moved in the nursing home I got rid of all my cast-iron and it’s expensive to start a collection again and heavy to haul in the van. I think I’ll start for a couple smaller pieces just cooking For me Dutch oven‘s come in as small as 1 quart size There is a lot Of videos on the web with recipes and techniques to Learn how. Now I,m hungry. God bless the nomads and satisfy their hunger.

 

[abnorm]

Location location location

All the West is under a burn ban.....................

 

[MrNoodly]

I hope you're not using the charcoal in an enclosed space.

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah Doug that's exactly what I was thinking. are they back east? that Sterno stuff ain't going to fly right now. no charcoal for Dutch ovens either. highdesertranger

 

[desert_sailing]

Location location location

All the West is under a burn ban.....................

welll, besides half of Wa. state. We don't have much out here to burn.

https://lcvalley.dailyfly.com/Home/...Lifts-Fire-Restrictions-in-Eastern-Washington

 

[maki2]

a lot of boats use alcohol burners for cooking. Many van dwellers have o idea how many grat options there are that are used on boats but will also work for use in RV situations. Of course as always for any type of cooking gear carefully read, reasearch and follow the safety recomendations.  Bob Wells does have a video reviewing cooking on an alcoho; stove. Just do a search using those keywords on his youtube channel.

 

[nature lover]

This thread got me to thinking about the possibility of cooking With methane. If you use methane to cook beans and then eat them therefore generating more methane Theoretically you’ll never run out of fuel. Sort of like the elusive perpetual motion machine. Then losing your sense of smell to Covid would have fringe benefits. (Why does my mind do this at 3 o’clock in the morning?)

 

[maki2]

Because you are full of methane?

 

[Sofisintown]

It's just wind people....

 

[jacqueg]

This thread got me to thinking about the possibility of cooking With methane.  If you use methane to cook beans and then eat them therefore generating more methane  Theoretically you’ll never run out of fuel. Sort of like the elusive perpetual motion machine.  Then losing your sense of smell to Covid would have fringe benefits. (Why does my mind do this at 3 o’clock in the morning?)

So how would you capture the methane?

The only methods I can come up with would make you look pretty....odd.

 

[eDJ_]

I experimented with an old oval shaped metal satellite dish this past spring.   I was using spray adhesive on the face of the dish and metalized Mylar film and clean dry sand to try to get a smooth guild without any or too many wrinkles.   I wanted to take the arm that held the LNA's were mounted on the end of and make a mount for a skillet or pot.  I need to weld up a rebar tripod to mount the dish so it will be stable enough to hold the utensil and food I'm trying to cook. 

I think Solar cooking could do much when weather permits.  Then save the propane for rainy days.

[img=300x268]https://pimages.solidsignal.com/sl5t-swm_medlrg.jpg[/img]

 

[nature lover]

As to the collecting and storing of the methane I was thinking about a short piece of garden hose and some of those really tough Military communication balloons. Getting a proper seal (on the balloon end - where was your mind?) Would be critical. Some type of regulator Between the stove And the ballon to keep the methane from escaping too quickly would be necessary. WAITE A MINITE that regulator could have multiple uses in fact if we forget the stove and just develop a regulator for the emission of methane we would have a market for that. What if we make that section of hose like 10 feet long so that the exit could be in the air above most peoples heads and noses. Think of the marriages we could save. Anyone who might be serious about investing in this project can email me or just send money.

And I can’t help but add this:

Question - what is the difference between a pun and a fart.
Answer - A pun is a shift of Whitt

Forgive me!

 

[highdesertranger]

I think the methane issue has been covered. please get back on topic. highdesertranger

 

[Sofisintown]

Yes Master!

 

[nature lover]

Understood - I was being a bit childish but it is quite difficult for my type of personality to not act that way. It literally runs in my family.

To keep this Thread on track I would like to see a pic of this “Invention “ In use. I never use match light of add starter fluid because of the taste and the thought of what that stuff might do to you via inhalation and ingestion. I use a charcoal chimney to start it.

 

[hugemoth]

How about a little wood burning stove? Pick up a few sticks and you're all set.

 

[highdesertranger]

"How about a little wood burning stove?"

burn bans.

highdesertranger

 

[maki2]

In addition to burn bans...

There is a lack of sticks in many of the BLM desert areas.  So you still have to buy fuel or collect it elsewhere and store it. Or ask for scraps at lumberyards and construction sites. But in winter the employees have first dibs on the scrap wood bins for their fireplaces and woodstoves.  Some camping areas prohibit the gatering od firewood. But at least a rocket stove can use small branches and twigs that have fallen to the ground

Of course you will be dealing with sooty bottoms and sides on pots. It is always something, no cooking system is without disadvantages. 

I vote for having several available options for ways to cook food including using foods that need no heating. When you are on the road you have to be able to adapt to changing circumstances especially as concerns the weather. So don't  settle for just one method, be prepared to adapt.

 

[LargeMarge]

.
re -- cast-iron skillet, Dutch oven
.
I owned a restaurant business for ten years, I avoid cleaning splatters by avoiding splatters.
The tall sides of our Dutch ovens contain a lot of side-splatter.
.
Last evening, I made a sweet-n-sour curry gravy, then laid my meat chunks in to braise.
I brought it to a light bubble-boil, shut-off the heat, put on the lid, and set it up high on the wire-rack shelf... three calorically-inquisitive RedHeelers.
We went to the gym for our laps in the pool while everything slow-cooked on residual heat in the cast-iron.
.
A couple hours later, I re-heated it, then stirred in some commercial boxed dehydrated mash-potato flakes as a thickener.
.
.
For cold weather, I tend to have a couple-three sources of heat.
For meals, I tend to have a couple-three ways to heat food.
For diesel, we have three separated tanks with independent filters.
For entertainment, we have books, holding hands watching the sunrise, slow-waltzing to the rhythms of our heart, and telling tall-tales around the campfire.
And 'yes', we are known as the Weirdos Of Redundancy.