Rocket stoves are easy to carry around as a small camp stove whenever you’re out. They are efficient and burn for a long time, so you need less fuel to keep the fire alive.
The log rocket stove has limited uses, but it’s the easiest and fasted to make.
First, we will need to get all the necessary items to make this:
- A piece of log (the diameter of the wood will determine for how long you can reuse it)
- A wax crayon
- A drill with a flat wood drill bit, size 35
- A stove grill or anything that is flat enough to sustain the pots (I will also use a piece of an old engine that I painted with heat-resistant spray paint.)
- Heat-resistant spray paint (optional)
Step One: Drilling Out the Inside of the Log
First, attach the drill bit to the drill and carve a hole on top of the log, drilling down as far as you can.
After the hole has been drilled, measure its depth and then drill a hole on the side of the log according to the depth. Remember, the two holes should meet, forming an L shape.
Related: How to Make Firebricks (fire logs) and Wood Stove Logs for Free
Step Two: Secure the stove grill
Based on the size of your stove’s burner grate, draw a circle onto the top of the log and hammer nails into the base, following the lines of the circle that were previously drawn. This will serve as our base for the grate.
Place it onto the nails, and your first rocket stove is done. I tried it with engine parts that I found around my house from an old rusty engine. I just spray painted it with heat-resistant spray paint.
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Step Three: Trying It Out and Tips on How to Light It
Log rocket stoves work by lighting the inside of the log on fire. This is initially quite difficult, but once accomplished, it will give it a slow but long-lasting burn. Use something that burns fast and with big flames. Woods that make resin are perfect for this. Because of this, I used pine needles and stuffed them down both holes. Make sure that you leave enough space for the fire to breath.
After enough coals were collected in the middle of the log and it had a small but stable flame, I started adding small twigs and wood chips to the fire to help it burn even better.
After a while, the fire crept up the log and started burning better inside.
You can actually see how the inside is just covered in flames. The wood won’t heat up outside, so you can hold it and carry it, but I wouldn’t recommend this as you could disturb the fire and it could die down or you could burn yourself.
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I put some water in a cup onto the fire to demonstrate that it actually works. A couple of minutes and the water was boiling.
With this stove, you can heat up a whole meal for a family, of course, that is, if you have enough time and patience. But if one is too slow, why not go bigger and use four at the same time?
With four of these, I was able to fry the bacon and the sausages faster than I actually thought I would be able to. They generate great amounts of heat and will burn for hours.
This article first appeared on Ask A Prepper.
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