Aloha Chris,

You wrote about cooking rice with an Esbit stove. I didn't want to hijack the other thread so here goes in a new one.

I need your expert advice! I can't even get my Esbit to boil 2 cups of water in a Primus kettle. How do you do it? Anyone else is welcome to chime in too.

Mahalo in advance.

My zebra is @ 16cm and similar to the rectangular unit on the PEARL website. It has a full volume capacity of 2 measured cups . This works out to the standard ratio of @ 1/2 cup rice to 1 1/4 cup water, oatmeal etc. My ESBIT has 2 additional side wind screens fabricated from aluminum cans that nestle nicely inside. with this setup and the lid fitted I can bring water to a boil easily with one tab and toss in the rice,stir and then with the last of the fueltab and gathered tinder simmer for a full 10 minutes. This is standard not minute rice; basmati, jasmine,brown or whatever the cute vegan I hike with feels like. It's a matter of thinking small container and big efficiency with these stoves. You will go broke using the esbit tabs exclusively. I find TRIOXANE is fussier to handle, but seems anecdotaly to burn better. Either way, after that initial boil from a fuel tab I switch to fuels just enough to maintain the container's heat for slow simmering.

Aloha Chris, Thanks for the prompt reply and good information. Oh, and congratulations on the cute vegan!

Did you just cut out pieces from the can to fit the sides? And did you add any vent holes in the can pieces? And finally, how do you keep the can wind screens in place? Do you have a fold on the top perhaps? I wonder if heavy duty foil would do.

Sorry for the dumb questions, I am new to the Esbit stove use. I prefer an open fire, but most places do not allow one. And a small fire in the Esbit would be more efficient.

Have you tried the Esbit with a home-made alcohol stove by any chance? Since I wasn't able to get water to boil no matter what I tried before, I was thinking of making an alcohol stove, but I will try the wind screens first.

i assume you mean a alcohol stove, seperatly? I never had trouble boiling water with an alcohol stove, made many meals on them, there also much cheaper. The too, work best with an windscreen.

Want to convert your Esbit stove to alcohol?
How about this: Yet another use for an Altoids tin!

I made something like this years ago with the bottom of a round can, cut off to just fit inside the folded up Esbit stove. The can is filled with steel wool (you can use fiberglass insulation also). In the link above, they use perlite, which is supposed to be better, but the steel wool does not fall out. so I like it better. I use this stove, and prefer it to Esbit tablets, if I am out in the woods and want a nice hot cuppa.

My screens are two rectangles with a small lip forming an L . These rest nicely against the two open sides, no vents as the bottom has enough draft. They also fit neatly inside the stove for carry. With a small unit thermal efficiency is everything. People have cobbled all manner of screens. This works for me. My Zebra is substantial steel guage for it's size, so the simmering is helped by heat retention much like a dutch oven. Alcohol stoves et al are fun. Whatever you choose, remember the concept, like a PSK is to have something on you. The ESBIT works for me.

I've done similar by digging a small, tight hole just deep enough to set the esbit down in with about a finger's width around it. I line the hole with a little aluminum foil, letting the foil stick up past the hole a ways. Then sit the stove down in it and light the cube. I flare the aluminum out at the top of the hole so I can sit my pan inside it. I don't bind the aluminum too tight, just enough to duct the heat up around the pan and allow enough draft (a small straw stuck down through the aluminum might help draft it better. I can get a good boil going on two cups of water this way fairly quick, though I haven't timed it. The water boils before the esbit is consumed.

I wish I had a picture of it. Hopefully you get a good sense of what I am talking about. I came up with this after thinking about how a dakota hole works.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. More suggestions are welcome.

Here's a dumb question...what kind of alcohol do you use in the alcohol stove? And how much do you use?

I prefer the methanol available in most paint store miscellany. I have also used gas line anti-freeze (yellow label burns cleaner) and Sterno fuel (the liquid). Grain ethanol should work, though I haven't used it (if you can get potable then you could have a party, too!) I use about 1 oz. to boil a pint of water. To get best efficiency requires good windshield. I make my own with 6" alum. flashing with holes punched around base with paper punch.

think about your Esbit stove as just a pot holder and the
fire cube as a firelighter and use whatever will burn to
feed that fire..