Thanks newguy! The variety of solar cookers was good to see, I've been wanting to try building a solar cooker and this gives me lots of new ideas.

Re: the White Box Stove...

I watched the YouTube video of the guy reviewing the WBS, and my brother said they look like they were made from some kind of beer can that is heavier than a regular Coors (etc) can. He said he has seen heavier aluminum beer cans that sort of look like aluminum bottles with a neck. Looking at that review video, the inside is smaller than the outside.

Is this true? Is there such a thing? If so, can you give brands?

The WBS maker's site says its made from "recycled materials". WHAT recycled materials?

Sue

Aluminum beer bottles are just starting to hit the market in a lot of places. So far I've only heard about Anheuser Busch, Iron City Beer and Heineken. I've only seen a few of them in clubs thus far and haven't seen any on store shelves.

Well... Clubs and ebay of course... You can buy anything on ebay.

Then again, I really haven't been looking at the local market. Perhaps I'll make a run tomorrow and see what I can find.

I am about 99.9% positive that they are the aluminum beer bottles that Bud/Bud Light come in. I am half way done making a WBS, just gotta cut the neck down to fit upside down inside of the base, then pop rivet the sucker together. Measuring for the inside part is gonna require some exact measurements, so that the shoulder of the neck part fits just right inside of the base, and the end of the neck just hits the bottom of the base (does all that make sense?). If/when I ever get it done I will let you know...

Adding to the list of beer brands available in aluminum bottles; "JW Dundee's - Pale Ale" from High Falls Brewing Co., Rochester, NY and "Moose Drool - Brown Ale" from Big Sky Brewing Co., Missoula, MT. I've heard that there are a couple of Mexican brands available in aluminum bottles but I haven't tracked them down yet. The "bottles" are of much heavier aluminum than cans.

The "JW Dundee's" have a recessed but flat bottom and the "Moose Drool" bottles have a concave bottom that looks like it would lend itself nicely to the "penny stove" design in a sturdier version.

Mini (5.5 Fl. Oz.) "V8 Juice" cans look like they'll fit nicely inside the cut down beer bottles and a regular soda/beer can will fit over them for a "stove snuffer". I'll post a report after I build a couple of stoves.

No markings anywhere on my stove to suggest where it came from. It's a double wall type. Center opening is smaller than the outside. Measuring across the bottom it's about 2 1/4 inch while the hole in the center is a little over 1 inch. It has a sort of foot/rim on the bottom with the bottom being indented but not dished. 2 1/4 in height. It is much thicker than a soda can, made from aluminum. weight on postal scale is a hair under 1 OZ. I believe I read somewhere that is was made from some type of beer can, and it looks as if you cut off the top and flip it, then jam it into the bottom. The top edge is smooth with no leaks (or glue) I can see. Well polished,no burrs, simple clean design, well executed IMO.

In looking at the neck I seen no indentations of threads but I am looking at the inner side of the can and the part with the threads may have been cut off. Wider pots were recommended due to the side burning flames and the supplied windscreen didn't fit the pot I chose. Through e mail I mentioned this and was sent a new longer and wider screen to fit. good service.
(no affiliation, just satisfied customer)

No threads on the "bottles" I picked up, just a rolled over lip for the regular style bottle cap (for those that remember bottle caps) to be pressed onto.

Sorry for the delay in responding - I was on vacation.

Yes, its a Biel tool by Paratech. It's not made cars; it's a fireman's forcible entry tool. I am confident it will bypass the siphon blocker. :-> (My assumption is that it is a long term emergency, so damage to cars is irrelevant when human life is at stake.)

Hey Thanks Tirec,

I recently heard a story on my local NPR station about a microbiolost at California State University, Sacramento that has been using solar cooking to not only cook food but also pasturize water in some 3rd world countries. I did some searching for commercial solar ovens for those of us not too confident in the efficiency of our building abilities or don't appreciate the long term utility of aluminum foil and cardboard.

Check out this Solar Oven. It weighs 20 lbs so you wouldn't be bugging out on foot with this thing but I could see using this on the weekends, in an power outage or even tailgating. All you need is a sunny day (even if its freezing outside) apparently.

Cheers,
Nemo

Now that is a nice tool, my nod in that direction is the significantly cheaper Stanley Fubar II (the mini Fubar) which I thought was a nice small scale solution but it pales next to your Beil!