I came across this the following in a blog while doing a search about alcohol stoves.

"Cheese Puffs: The ubiquitous solid fuel tablet.

Sold as Ch****s Puffs or a thousand other off-brands, the unique chemical makeup of preservatives, oil and chemical cheese powder make cheese puff snacks an excellent improvised fuel source, producing a bright, long lasting flame and ten poofs can boil a beer can full of water. They can be burned in any empty can or a small wood stove and reduce to dust and a suspicious looking residue on the bottom of your pan. Probably carcinogenic, I would suspect Ch****s to be the most poisonous of camp fuels. If you should accidentally ingest one, contact a ranger station immediately. I’m not joking, try burning cheesy poofs. It has to be the poofy kind, the mini cheese walking sticks won’t cut it. @5500 BTU/Lb"

I just had to try this one so on the way home from work I picked up a bag of the name-brand cheese puffs. I put two puffs in a metal pan and lit one more in my hand. I only took about five seconds for the puff to catch fire. I laid it on top of the other two and all three burned for about two minutes! They didn't burn into a dust but did leave a liquid residue in the bottom of the pan. What's in these things!!

Without checking the ingredients on the bag, I'd say mostly cooking oil. Fritos burn pretty well too... hmmm ground corn, oil, and misc. other combustables... imagine that!!!

Troy

Ok This might sound stupid to some, but this is this Australian - American language barrier again. We dont have Cheese Puffs down here, or at least we dont call them that.
Without doing some research, ie going and hiring some videos to see if someone mentions Cheese Puff, what is a Cheese Puff?

"Man's Life Saved by Cheesie Poofs"

What a scary headline

(Not posting a live link on purpose. Cut-n-paste the following into your favorite browser.)

<pre><font class="small">code:</font><hr>http://www.cheetos.com/parents_products.php</pre><hr>

American junk food at its finest. Like edible aerogel with a spicy coating. Leaves your fingers and mouth covered with a fluorescent orange powder. Yummy.

I think they are puffed up corn meal and oil, covered in powdered cheese-like substance.

Well I pictured a lot of thing in my mind, but I didnt picture that one. I guess Ive learnt my new word for the day.

If you drop one onto a piece of paper and leave it over night you'll see the oil seep out and leave a coloured ring on the paper. It no wonder they burn so well.

rather bulky for fire starting material however, they don't weigh much, but they do take up a lot of room

On the plus side, they can also double as insulation. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Isnt it a good idea to carry multi use items <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I dont know how many would make it to the fire though <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />