i tested mine esbit stove today for the first time and tryed to boil water on top of the stove in a aluminium mess tin. the underside blacked a bit, not very suprising, but what i saw on the other side was some brown staining, wenn i wiped it off with a tissue ( after emtying the tin) and got some black stuff on it.
what is that black stuff ? and are there any health conserns with that brown/black stuff ?

Thats just the residual unburned binder. Just remember the fumes are toxic in enclosed areas. You can dramatically increase stove performance with a windscreen.

i was refering to the brown stuff on the cooking side ( were you put the food on ), unburned binder can't go through a alluminium mess tin, right ?

That sounds like your mess tin oxydized. Maybe that tin or the the water had acids in it. It isn´t directly related to the use of the esbit stove. Black residue on a cloth after cleaning aluminium without anodized surface is quite common.
Some people assume that there might probably be some possibility that the aluminium that is disolved in the food could possibly be related to a vague chance of developping Alzheimer´s. Their evidence however barely supports the firmness of this statement. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

May be I should open a new thread, but I think my question is complementary with PC2K's one, which seems more a container pb than an esbit pb.
(PC2K : I remember my mother always boiled some milk in new aluminium stew-pans and throw it away (the milk, not the pan !!), before using the pan for real cooking.)

Here it is :

I want to use empty tinned preserve cans as boxes for a few PSKs (I get plastic lids to close the opened cans).

Among other stuff, I will store a few esbit blocks and matches etc... inside, plus 3 flat pieces of metal, that will link together to form a stand for the empty can, so I could boil some water, using the esbit blocks underneath.

Question : is it safe to boil water in a tin can ?
As far as I know, there is some kind of coating (varnish ??) inside the can. Won't this be armful once the can has been heated on the fire ?
<img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Any opinion on this ???

TIA

Alain

Alain, the coating is usually PE and will stand the temperature of boiling water. The water tends to pick up some taste. However the outside will rust pretty quickly once it has been exposed to fire. Storing something - especially hard objects - in the tin can will damage the coating. So I would rather spend some money on stainless steel cups.
I wouldn´t store esbit in can that´s used for food either.

I intended to use these "canned" PSKs for emergency only, not as EDC ;
just a can you leave in the trunk of the car or at the bottom of a rucksack ; and this for not-bothered-to-be-prepared friends/relatives ; just so they would have a PSK anyway. Because I care, even if they don't !

Once used, and back to a safe place, the can itself would be thrown away and replaced.

And the pieces and bits (*) stored inside will be individualy wraped ; esbit in particularly will be stored in small sealed plastic bags.

(*) esbit, 2 fire starters, tinder, water purification pills, tea bags, coffe doses, sugar, 3 one-liter ziploc bags (water containers + alternate containers for these same bits and pieces ..), whistle, small blade, a.s.o. .... (well ... as much as I will be able to stuff inside <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)
+ wraped around the tin : space blanket, big garbage plastic bag, paracord ;


Do you still think it's not a good idea ???

In which case, I could check if there is any reusable steel container (with lid) about the same size ...


Alain

Alain,

Try it out. I think it would be OK - if you have trouble because of the Esbit fuel, substitute a small can of gelled alcohol.

Not all cans have plastic coating on the inside - depends on the original contents. Probably acidic foods need the plastic. An ordinary plated can should be OK for use, even if there is a little rust on the inside.

Regards,
Tom

if the can is truely tin and not aluminum or steel then I wouldn't cook in it. Tin contains Zinc and Mercury both of which will come out in the cooking. The plastic lining might prevent this as it does when the food is initially packed in the can. Most canning is done at around boiling temp if not slightly higher to ensure that the food is sterile when packaged. This is fine until something scratches the plastic lining. If you have a can that is un-lined and used to contain food then it is probably not tin since that would have been very un -healthy in the first place. I would think that, unless you are on a severely constrained budget that the cost of a stainless container would be worth the price. You might check into the picnic boxes that truxbx found. or the simple coleman cook set which is made from nesting aluminum boxes. If you want to put your cook pot in your stove then you might check out these cooksets

or this stove and cookset

go to your local takeway, i prefer indian, and ask for a foil container, they'll most likely give you an extra free with a meal if you ask. pack down small, high thermal conductivity and weigh less than a knat's knacks.
steve